Rachael Li beats Alice Lee as Caruana and Liang join So and Woodward in four-way US Championship lead

Round 6 of the 2026 US Chess Championships in Saint Louis on Thursday, 15 October, turned both title races upside down. Defending champion Fabiano Caruana and Awonder Liang won to join Wesley So and Andy Woodward in a four-way tie at the top of the open section, while Rachael Li handed Alice Lee her first defeat to create a three-way lead in the women's championship. The round followed Woodward's win over Caruana in round 5, when Lee looked to be pulling clear.

Caruana bounces back against Shankland

A day after losing to Woodward, Caruana responded with the black pieces against Sam Shankland in a Queen's Gambit Declined. The game swung on Shankland's 26th move, a king walk to d3 that commentators judged a mistake, and Caruana finished the job 11 moves later. Liang also won, beating Levon Aronian in a game where the queens came off on move 29. Liang now leads their career head-to-head with four wins to Aronian's one, with seven draws.

The two overnight leaders could only draw. So pressed against Abhimanyu Mishra and was briefly a clean pawn up in a winning position, but Mishra found a series of only-moves to hold. Woodward, slightly worse against Hans Niemann in a Ruy Lopez, defended a queen ending a pawn down to secure his half-point. The remaining games in the open section were drawn.

Four leaders, seven players within a point

So, Woodward, Caruana and Liang all have 4/6, with Jeffery Xiong half a point behind on 3.5. With five rounds still to play in the 12-player round robin, seven of the 12 players are within a point of first place. None of the four leaders meet each other in round 7, so the tie could easily survive another day.

Li stops Lee's winning streak

In the women's section, Alice Lee had won four games in a row after a first-round draw and led by a full point. With the black pieces, Rachael Li took advantage of an ambitious 13th move from Lee that overextended White's position, and converted to bring both players to 4.5/6.

Thalia Cervantes joined them at the top after beating Nazi Paikidze, winning with a queen against two rooks while both players were short on time. Irina Krush beat Anna Sargsyan to move to 4/6, level with Megan Paragua, who drew with Tatev Abrahamyan. Defending champion Carissa Yip picked up her first win, beating Anna Zatonskih in 30 moves after Zatonskih, down to around two minutes against Yip's 20, lost a piece. Jennifer Yu saved a rook ending two pawns down to draw with Rose Atwell.

What's next and timings in Malaysia

Round 7 is on Friday, 16 October at 1pm US Eastern time, which is 1am on Saturday, 17 October in Malaysia. In the women's section, the leader Lee faces Atwell. The championships run until 22 October, and the time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one.

The open title carries a USD 55,000 first prize from a USD 250,000 fund, while the women's winner receives USD 35,000 from USD 152,000. A separate USD 5,000 bonus in each event goes to the best performance across rounds 6 to 11.

Key takeaways

• Caruana, Liang, So and Woodward share the open lead on 4/6, with Xiong half a point back.
• Caruana beat Shankland with black a day after losing to Woodward; Liang beat Aronian.
• Rachael Li ended Alice Lee's four-game winning run to create a three-way women's lead with Thalia Cervantes.
• Carissa Yip, the defending women's champion, won her first game of the event.
• Round 7 begins at 1am Malaysia time on Saturday, 17 October.

FAQ

Who leads the 2026 US Chess Championship after round 6? Fabiano Caruana, Awonder Liang, Wesley So and Andy Woodward are tied on 4/6 in the open section.

Who leads the US Women's Championship? Rachael Li, Alice Lee and Thalia Cervantes share the lead on 4.5/6, with Irina Krush and Megan Paragua on 4/6.

When does round 7 start in Malaysia? Round 7 starts at 1pm US Eastern on Friday, 16 October, which is 1am on Saturday, 17 October in Malaysia.

Sources: Chess.com, ChessBase