Wesley So and Alice Lee won the 2026 American Cup at the Saint Louis Chess Club, taking their respective titles on the final day of the event.
So beat Hikaru Nakamura 3.5-2.5 in the men's final in a match that lived up to its billing. Nakamura won games one and five, taking the lead on two occasions. So won games two, four, and six to close it out. His ability to stay composed while trailing was what separated them. He never forced, never panicked, and eventually Nakamura's positions ran out of steam.
Lee won the women's final against Irina Krush in four games, the most dominant performance of the week. She controlled every game from the opening, and Krush could not find counterplay in any of them. Lee used Sicilian structures on the Black side that Krush never looked comfortable against.
Both winners received the first-place prize and automatic invitations to next year's event. So has now won the American Cup twice. His technical style holds up in rapid formats where most players' calculation starts to deteriorate. Lee, at 21, is the best female rapid player in the United States by a wide margin.