Wesley So and Alice Lee advanced to their respective American Cup finals Tuesday, both surviving tight semifinal matches at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
So beat Fabiano Caruana 3-1 in rapid games, avoiding tiebreaks entirely. Caruana won game one and looked set to control the match, but So responded in game two with sharp Ruy Lopez preparation his opponent had no answer for. Games three and four both went So's way, ending the match before the Armageddon rule came into play.
Lee's match against Jennifer Yu was much harder to call. Yu dominated game one, Lee equalized in game two, and games three and four were both drawn, sending the match to Armageddon. Lee won the decisive game with Black, which required only a draw to advance. She held comfortably and moved on.
The finals start Thursday. So faces Hikaru Nakamura, who beat Sam Shankland convincingly in the other men's semifinal. Lee faces Irina Krush in the women's bracket. So versus Nakamura is as close to a chess rivalry as American players have. They know each other's preparation thoroughly, and this match will come down to who improvises better.