The Open now has two leaders. Fabiano Caruana beat Ray Robson in round 4 of the 2026 U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis to draw level with Wesley So. In a round full of long endgames, Alice Lee also took the outright lead in the women's event.
According to Chess.com, Caruana's win over Robson was a long grind. The game turned into a double-rook ending by move 23, came down to one rook each by move 68 and ended on move 77.
Wesley So drew with Levon Aronian, as ChessBase reported. The two leaders have 3/4, with Awonder Liang and Andy Woodward trailing them by half a point.
ChessBase counted four decisive games in the Open. Besides Caruana, Hans Niemann, Jeffery Xiong and Grigoriy Oparin won, and Chess.com described all three wins as endgame victories.
The theme ran through both events, Chess.com noted: four Open games went beyond move 50, and five did so in the women's championship.
Caruana's rook endgame grind
Chess.com made Caruana-Robson its Game of the Day and called it an absolute masterclass in rook endgames. Its report said Caruana stood better throughout and never loosened his hold.
Caruana is the defending champion and a five-time U.S. champion, according to ChessBase. After a round 1 draw with Aronian, he beat Oparin and then Robson.
Xiong's win handed Liang, who had Black, his first loss of the event, ChessBase reported. Their game reached an endgame from the Berlin Defense that at first seemed to offer little to either player.
The Berlin Defense endgame Xiong reached against Liang in round 4.
Xiong gave up one of his two minor pieces on move 29 to create an unbalanced fight, Chess.com wrote. As ChessBase noted, Liang ended up a piece ahead but struggled to find exact moves with little time left.
Engines flagged many moves in the game as inaccurate, ChessBase added, but Xiong kept pressing and finished in style. He had opened with a win over Sam Sevian before losing twice in a row.
Niemann, who lost to Liang in round 1, got back to an even score by beating Abhimanyu Mishra. He had the bishop pair and more active pieces, and ended the game with a short tactic.
Oparin's win came in an ending where his queen and knight faced a queen and bishop. A passed pawn and an active king helped him convert, according to Chess.com.
Alice Lee leads the women's event
IM Alice Lee beat FM Megan Paragua, who had shared the lead overnight, and now leads alone on 3.5 points. ChessBase gave Paragua's age as 13.
Lee converted an ending of rook and pawn against bishop, according to Chess.com. The site described it as a fundamental endgame for grandmasters that demands precise play with rook and king.
WGM Thalia Cervantes sits next on 3 points after drawing a complex, unbalanced endgame against IM Anna Zatonskih.
Elsewhere in the women's event, Irina Krush beat Nazi Paikidze for her second win, ChessBase reported.
What comes next in St. Louis
Both championships are 12-player single round-robins in St. Louis, scheduled from October 9 to 22, 2026, Chess.com reported.
The Open has a $250,000 prize fund, with $55,000 going to the winner. The women's event offers $152,000 in total and $35,000 to its champion.
After a rest day, play resumes with round 5 on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 1 p.m. ET.
Practice endgames on Chessiverse
Round 4 was a reminder that patient endgame play can decide a game long after the opening is forgotten.
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