Liang opens with the Italian Game, a classical choice aiming for quick development and central control.
Wesley develops his knight with a tempo, immediately putting pressure on Liang’s central pawn.
Liang advances his pawn to defend the center and simultaneously opens the diagonal for his dark-squared bishop.
Wesley develops his bishop, aiming for king safety with an upcoming castle.
Liang moves his king to safety with kingside castling.
With Wesley’s kingside castling, both players have safely committed their kings. The Italian Game enters the middlegame phase.
Liang moves his rook, maintaining flexibility in development.
Wesley advances his pawn, opening the diagonal for his light-squared bishop.
Awonder advances a pawn, creating space for his bishop to retreat if challenged by Wesley’s knight.
Wesley moves his knight, directly challenging Liang’s bishop while also preparing to advance his c-pawn.
Liang retreats his bishop to the safe square created by his earlier pawn push.
Wesley pushes his c-pawn as planned, gaining space on the queenside and preparing for further piece activity.
Liang develops his bishop, subtly attacking Wesley’s knight on the flank.
Wesley retreats his knight, avoiding a potential trade and maintaining flexibility.
Liang develops his knight to the corner for now, planning to maneuver it to active squares later.
Wesley advances his pawn, setting up a potential b-pawn break.
Liang plays a prophylactic pawn move, preventing Wesley from developing his bishop and creating a pin.
Wesley develops his bishop, challenging Liang’s bishop and initiating a potential trade.
Liang accepts the bishop trade offered by Wesley.
Wesley recaptures with his pawn, accepting a doubled pawn but gaining a half-open f-file.
Liang advances his pawn, opening a square to reposition his knight.
Wesley plays a prophylactic pawn move on the kingside.
Liang repositions his knight, now targeting a central pawn break.
Wesley places his rook on the c-file, ready for potential action.
Liang launches a central pawn break, challenging Wesley’s setup. The game could open up with exciting middlegame possibilities!
Wesley trades a pawn in the center, removing his doubled pawns.
Liang recaptures the pawn back, with his pawn.
Wesley pushes his central pawn forward, challenging Liang’s control and opening new lines for play.
Liang captures Wesley’s pawn, exchanging in the heart of the board.
In the last few moves, six pawns have been traded! The center has simplified, reducing tension and opening lines for the pieces.
Liang pushes his pawn on the queenside, gaining space.
Wesley retreats his bishop, stepping out of attack from Liang’s queenside pawn push.
Liang advances his pawn further, directly attacking Wesley’s knight.
Wesley’s knight is under attack, but he plays an intermediate move, putting pressure on Liang’s f-pawn.
Liang responds by moving his bishop, intercepting Wesley’s attack.
Wesley moves his knight to a safe square, removing it from danger.
Liang moves his knight, attacking Wesley’s isolated central pawn.
Wesley moves his queen to attack Liang’s knight while also connecting his rooks.
Liang trades his bishop for Wesley’s knight, clearing some pieces from the board.
Wesley recaptures with his queen, now coordinating with his knight to target Liang’s f-pawn.
Liang moves his queen, defending both his e- and b-pawns.
Wesley shifts his rook from the c-file to the e-file, directly opposing Liang’s queen.
Awonder lifts his rook, preparing to move it along the third rank.
Wesley repositions his queen, attacking Liang’s undefended knight.
Liang moves his queen to defend his knight and simultaneously steps away from the e-file, avoiding potential pressure from Wesley’s rook.
Wesley’s queen grabs the b-pawn, which was left undefended by Liang's last move.
Liang shifts his rook to the b-file, preparing to reposition his knight for a potential discovered attack on Wesley’s queen and the pawn behind it.
Liang has 47 minutes on the clock, while Wesley trails with 25 minutes.
Liang maneuvers his knight, creating a discovered attack and a skewer against Wesley’s queen and pawn.
Wesley retreats his queen, stepping out of Liang’s discovered attack.
Liang cannot capture Wesley’s b-pawn yet, as moving his rook would leave his knight undefended.
Wesley moves his queen to challenge Liang’s queen, offering an exchange.
Liang takes Wesley’s queen, simplifying the position.
Wesley recaptures Liang’s queen with his knight. With the queens off the board, the game transitions into the endgame.
Liang uses his rook to regain the pawn, restoring material balance. Both sides now face an equal endgame.
Wesley moves his rook, offering an exchange of rooks.
Liang accepts the rook trade, simplifying the endgame further.
Wesley’s knight takes back the rook, keeping the position equal.
Liang shifts his rook to the seventh rank, targeting Wesley’s undefended knight.
Wesley moves his knight to safety, escaping Liang’s rook attack.
Liang moves his knight to the center, maximizing its control.
Wesley moves his rook to challenge Liang’s, offering a trade.
Liang declines the rook trade, keeping the game sharp. Both players must stay alert for tactical shots!
Wesley moves his king, out of check.
The board shows a very equal endgame, with material fully balanced.
Liang’s knight sets a sneaky trap: if Wesley captures the knight, a precise in-between move would immediately win for Liang!
We’ve reached move 40! Both players now get an additional 30 minutes on their clocks.
The game remains equal, provided neither player falls for tactical tricks from the remaining knights.
With the knights traded, tactical tricks are removed. The game transitions into a rook endgame, appearing balanced and likely headed for a draw.
A long, balanced draw after 55 moves in today’s matchup between Awonder Liang and Wesley So. The game opened with the Italian Game, quickly evolving into a positional battle where both players demonstrated precision and patience, carefully navigating the complexities without giving each other any real chances.
With this result, and Fabiano Caruana also drawing his game, the leaders Wesley So and Caruana now share the top with 5.5/8, while Levon Aronian trails closely on 5 points.
Three rounds remain in this tightly contested championship, and the race for the U.S. title is heating up. Tomorrow is a rest day, but we’ll be back the day after with live games and commentary, don’t miss the action!
We’re back with live commentary as the tournament heads into Round 8, just one day before the second rest day. After seven rounds, the race for the title is heating up, with Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So sharing the lead at 5/7 points. Today, we’re following one of the leaders, Wesley So as he takes on Awonder Liang.
Liang comes into the round on 3 points, having suffered a defeat in Round 7 against Dariusz Swiercz, while Wesley is riding high after a victory over Andy Woodward. With momentum on his side and the leaderboard tight, Wesley will be aiming for a big win to maintain his position at the top and put pressure on Caruana.
Liang will look to bounce back, but Wesley’s consistency and form make him a formidable opponent. Can he continue his winning streak and stay in the driver’s seat for the championship?