GM Vladimir Akopian defeated top-seeded GM Alexander Onischuk in a blitz tiebreak playoff to win the 2026 U.S. Senior Championship held at the Saint Louis Chess Club, which concluded on Saturday, July 25. Akopian was awarded $26,000 for his efforts, which included the winner’s bonus of $5,000.
WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia was the runaway winner of the U.S. Women’s Senior Championship by a full-point margin at seven points from eight games. She received the first prize of $17,750, which included a winner’s bonus of $2,750. This was the first time that the championship has been held concurrently with the other senior and junior championships.
GM Andy Woodward retained his title at the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, overtaking the 2023 U.S. Junior Champion GM Abhimanyu Mishra in the final two rounds to win by a full-point margin. Woodward received $23,000 for his efforts, which included a winner’s bonus of $3,000.
FM Zoey Tang retained her U.S. Girls Junior Chess Championship title with a thumping two-point margin, scoring 7.5 from nine games, remaining undefeated throughout the tournament. She received $15,000 for her efforts, which included a winner’s bonus of $2,500.
For the first time ever, the U.S. Championships for seniors, senior women, juniors, and junior girls were held together at the Saint Louis Chess Club, with a combined prize pool of $285,000. The main beneficiary of this was the senior women’s championship, whose total prize fund got enhanced to $60,000 from the previous year’s $8,400.
Akopian Wins U.S. Senior Championship
Onischuk seemed to start the tournament as a huge rating favorite thanks to his incredible Elo of 2618. Though undefeated throughout the main event, he had a relatively slow start, unable to score fluent victories till the final stretch, with his only noteworthy win being against GM Joel Benjamin in the sixth round.
Champion of the 2024 edition, Akopian impressed with his steady play throughout the tournament, having taken the early lead with three wins from as many games at the start. His most noteworthy win was in the fifth round against GM Alexander Goldin, his other co-2500+ Elo rated player.
Though he lost in the fourth round to GM Alexander Shabalov, Akopian scored successive wins in the next two rounds to gain the lead with five points from six games.
Meanwhile, the defending champion GM Alexander Fishbein had a decent run throughout, scoring three wins in the first seven games with no losses. Thus, at the end of the seventh round, the leaderboard read:
1. Akopian 5.5/7, 2. Fishbein 5/7, 3. Onischuk 4.5/7
In the two dramatic final rounds, while Akopian scored just two draws, Onischuk scored wins against GM Stuart Rachels in the penultimate round and a crucial win against Fishbein in the final round. Fishbein scored just half a point from the final two rounds.Â
So at the end of the round-robin stage, Akopian and Onischuk had tied for the top spot with a score of 6.5 points each from nine games, thus ensuring a quickplay playoff.
U.S. Senior Championship 2026 | Round-Robin Final Standings
After the first tiebreak match with a rapid time control of 15+10 ended in a victory each for both players, the second tiebreak match with a blitz control of 3+2 ended in a 2-0 win for Akopian.Â
The first blitz game had its especially dramatic moments, with Akopian being alert to capitalize on Onischuk’s errors.
The final blitz game was an even more thrilling see-saw encounter, which again ended in a win for Akopian, enabling him to capture the tournament title. By the way, don’t miss the final twist in the tale!
The dramatic final moments of the U.S. Senior Championship pic.twitter.com/I7RBPc2pWi
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) July 24, 2026
U.S. Senior Championship 2026 | Playoff Score
Belakovskaia Wins U.S. Women’s Senior Championship
The tournament was reduced by one participant when WCM Diana Lanni withdrew after playing the first round due to a medical event.
Top-seeded Belakovskaia, the winner of the 2023 edition with an Elo of 2168, won the event comfortably with six wins and two draws, finishing a point ahead of twice defending champion WFM Natalia Tsodikova. Belakovskaia was almost never in danger of losing a game except for her second-round draw against WIM Beatriz Marinello. Her steady win against Catherine Dodson in the fifth round is an example of how easily she won the tournament.
Being on the receiving end of the ‘winner’s luck,’ Belakovskaia scored a topsy-turvy win in the eighth round against WIM Alexey Root.
U.S. Women’s Senior Championship 2026 | Final Standings
Andy Woodward Wins U.S. Junior Championship
Defending Champion Woodward was the only undefeated player of the event, and his score of four wins and five draws was surprisingly enough to win the event outright. Rated at an identical 2638 Elo, it was Mishra who called the early shots, capturing the lead on 4/5 with a miniature win against GM Nico Chasin.
Mishra kept up the lead right until the seventh round, all the way pursued by Woodward half a point behind. Woodward scored a hard-fought endgame win against GM Brewington Hardaway in the penultimate round to finally catch up with Mishra on 5.5/8.Â
It was a test of nerves for the joint leaders in the final round, where Woodward came out on top. He managed to keep his cool from a slightly inferior position and went on to win the game, whereas Mishra squandered a winning advantage and even ended up losing to IM Bach Ngo.
U.S. Junior Championship 2026 | Final Standings
Zoey Tang Wins U.S. Girls Junior Championship
Just as in the women’s senior category, this too was a one-horse race, with Tang winning the tournament with a two-point margin to retain her title for the third year in a row. Though by no means flawless, she showed good resourcefulness in many of her games to grab her chances whenever presented with the opportunity.
U.S. Girls Junior Championship 2026 | Final Standings
The U.S. Junior and Senior Championships took place in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 12-25. Each group was a 10-player round-robin. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move. Draw offers were not allowed.