Chess News: Who will be the next USA Chess Champion

The United States Chess Championship started on the 12th of October 2025, with this edition coming with more intrigues. Starring in this edition is Hans Niemann, the grandmaster who is on a mission to become the next world chess champion. Honestly, I'm quite interested in how far his chess journey will go.

_chess.com

He is a grandmaster, but like life, coming with its various stages of battle, so is chess. When you become a chess grandmaster, you realize there are more hurdles to jump over. You have other talents; chess grandmasters compete for prestigious titles and tournament wins just like yourself.

_{Hans with his hands out}

Some may be higher rated and others may be lower rated, just like there are chess grandmasters who are 2500 rated, there are more who are 2600 rated, 2700, and the highest rated club with only a few members, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, the 2800 club.

Will Fabiano Caruana get to retain his title for the year 2025, or will he be knocked out by one of the other chess players? The action does not end with only the male session but the female session, packed with A-list female chess grandmasters ranking, including young prodigies like Carissa Yip, the defending champion, Jennifer Yu, and Irina Krush, the eight-time US chess champion.

_{Fabi in an interview}

Both the male and female have youngsters, Mishra and Woodward for the male section, and Carissa and Jennifer for the female section. Trust me, these players are not likely to be dealt with; they can be brutal with their moves on the chessboard. The tournament has 12 players playing in each session with an 11-round robin system. Every player in each session will get to play with the others. This makes it more interesting.

_{Carissa Yip, Female Defending Champion}

Sadly, the event is not broadcast on Lichess, which means you can only get to watch the game through the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube page.

Use this link to access the YouTube page:
Saint Louis Chess Club Youtube Page

Also, you can watch the games on chess.com
US Championship 2025

Games start at 1:30 p.m. Central Time

The first round did not fail to disappoint, with Fabiano Caruana grabbing his first win against Grigoriy Oparin in only 27 moves. That shows how deadly the game was, and Fabiano will not be going down without a fight.

Here is the game link to the game
Caruana vs Oparin

The second win in the male session was the game between Levon Aronian against Andy Woodward. It was a revenge comeback for Levon because he lost to Andy in the recently concluded FIDE Grand Swiss, where Anish Giri emerged victorious.

Here is the game link:
Woodward vs Aronian

For the ladies, Atousa Pourkashiyan brought down Carissa Yip in the first round. I guess Atousa is at that event to make a dramatic presence because what is bigger than beating the defending champion in the first round of the tournament?

Here is the game link:
Carissa vs Atousa

While there was a total of 3 wins in the ladies' section, the next impressive win came from Irina against Alice Lee. She shows that she is back to win the championship for the 9th time, meaning she has no time for jokes.

Here is the game link:
Irina vs Alice

Nobody can tell what might happen next with the remaining rounds to go, but one could say for sure that there are going to be more upsets to come in the tournament. I will be looking forward to seeing how far the young stars perform in the event. If you do not know it yet, the chess world is currently faced with OGs being challenged by youngsters with computer analysis and engine moves who have come to change the way the game has been played in the past. Let's see how thing plays out in the US Chess Championship.

for more information about the event read:
https://www.chess.com/events/info/2025-us-championships#format

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_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

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