Three Tied Atop US Masters: Day 4 Recap!
With only two rounds left at the annual US Masters tournament in Charlotte, three GMs stand tied atop the standings with 6/7. But with a whopping nine players on 5.5 behind them, there are plenty of players left in contention for the tournament's top prize.
The US Masters is an annual nine-round tournament hosted by the Charlotte Chess Center over Thanksgiving weekend. USM is the strongest open tournament in the United States, with only titled-strength players eligible to participate (view eligibility requirements here). At stake is a guaranteed prize fund of $25,000, as well as points towards both the US Chess Grand Prix and the FIDE Circuit!
Heading into Saturday's games, GM Andrew Hong was the only player still boasting a perfect score. Hong wasn't blessed with good luck on Saturday, as he was given black twice in a row against GMs Koustav Chatterjee and Awonder Liang. Still, drawing solidly against each, he retains a share of first place.
After losing in the fourth round to GM Jeffery Xiong, GM Razvan Preotu has now won three games in a row to pull himself back into first. Here's his seventh-round victory against GM David Brodsky:
Joining Hong and Preotu in shared first on Saturday was GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux of Canada, with draws in rounds one and four and wins in all his other games.
Rodrigue-Lemieux benefited from his opponent's tactical weakness down the long light-squared diagonal in round six.
The players on 5.5/7, directly behind the three leaders include pre-tournament favorites such as GMs Liang, Xiong, and Donchenko. GM Ivan Schitco recovered from a third-round loss to join them, while GMs Francesco Sonis, Mahel Boyer, and Bryce Tiglon got there with four wins and three draws. IMs Tanitoluwa Adewumi and Sai Krishna are also in this group, with full, updated standings of the USM viewable on our website.
GM Tiglon drew two of his first three games but has now scored 3.5 in his last four, using some early pawn storming to take down his opponent's London System on Saturday:
Live games from the US Masters can be found right here on chess.com. Alongside the USM, the concurrent NC Open is also being held at the same location. Last night's blitz championship crowned GM Vasif Durarbayli and IM Liam Putnam as co-champions, with full blitz standings available here.
Another big thanks to Kelly Centrelli for the photographs, as well as to all our tournament directors who make this event possible! We'll see you here tomorrow with our final recap of the 2025 US Masters.
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NM Dennis Norman
Chess Coach - Club Journalist
