SAINT LOUIS, MO — Round 3 of the 2025 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship was a day defined by high-accuracy chess and strategic comeback victories. While IM Nazi Paikidze and IM Anna Sargsyan held the lead with 2.5/3, the chasing pack saw a significant split, with GM Irina Krush and IM Alice Lee consolidating their positions among the elite.
GM Irina Krush and IM Alice Lee both delivered crucial wins to advance to 2.0/3 points, positioning themselves just half a point behind the duo lead.
Eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush delivered a critical comeback performance, defeating FM Rose Atwell. Krush played a fantastic White side, securing the full point with a very high 90.8% accuracy. The pressure was so effective that Atwell resigned on move 60, by which point Krush had a significant 12-minute time advantage on the clock while Atwell was on her last minute.
Irina also had a bishop and a pawn over Atwell and was confident in converting the advantage to a victory. The sign of a great player is also accepting that your opponent would not make any mistakes, and Atwell did so by resigning.
IM Alice Lee overcame FM Megan Paragua with a solid 88% accuracy. The young prodigy highlighted her strategic depth, specifically pointing to her move with the Bishop on h6. Lee explained this was a key strategic manoeuvre because, with her other bishop already effectively pinning a knight, the move allowed her to open more prospects for her position, successfully converting her advantage. However, Lee also mentions in her post-game interview that her middlegame was very shaky, and it could have gone either way.
WGM Thalia Cervantes Landeiro defeated WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan in a game of remarkable quality, but the win places her in the T-5 with IM Anna Zetonskih at 1.5 points each.
Cervantes was virtually flawless, registering an astonishing 97% engine accuracy. She established a winning advantage early, gaining a full rook by move 47, which prompted Pourkashiyan’s resignation. This exceptional display of near-perfect chess brings Thalia’s total score to 1.5/3.
The day’s most enduring battle was the marathon draw between co-leader IM Anna Sargsyan and WGM Jennifer Yu. The game was an incredible, extended struggle that lasted 97 moves.
An engine analysis of the final position revealed a rare and remarkable statistic: both Sargsyan and Yu played with an identical and exceptionally high accuracy of 92.8%. While the draw cost Sargsyan her run at the $64,000 “Fischer Prize” for an 11-game win streak, the quality of play in this 97-move epic stands as a testament to the field’s fighting spirit.
