Champions Bracket News Today

Day 2 of the American Cup saw the end of the first stage of the Champions Bracket, with several matches (Caruana-Robson, So-Shankland, Aronian-Dominguez) all decided in a rapid playoff. Meanwhile Nakamura was able to draw the second classical game after winning yesterday, relegating Sevian to the Elimination Bracket. In the Women’s Section, favorites Krush, Lee, and Tokhirjonova all managed to win their second games despite only needing a draw, while Paikidze defeated Zatonskih in convincing f...

The 2023 American Cup kicked off with several decisive games on the first day of action, with Nakamura, Krush, Lee, & Tokhirjonova all taking a one-point lead in their initial matches. Their opponents (Sevian, Abrahamyan, Pourkashiyan, and Nemcova) will now have to win tomorrow’s game in order to force their match into a playoff. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

After defeating GM Leinier Dominguez in a dramatic playoff, GM Levon Aronian (pictured) qualified for the finals of the 2022 American Cup, where he will face GM Fabiano Caruana for the 1st place prize of $50,000. In the women’s field, FM Alice Lee earned herself a rematch in the $25,000 final against GM Irina Krush, after winning an incredibly close match against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan that went all the way to Armageddon. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Bryan Adams

Both GM Fabiano Caruana (pictured) and GM Irina Krush managed to qualify to the finals of the American Cup, after drawing the second game and avoiding a playoff in their Champions Bracket matches against GM Leinier Dominguez and FM Alice Lee. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana (pictured) and Irina Krush are one step closer to the finals of the American Cup, after winning the first games of their final matches in the Champions Bracket. This means GM Leinier Dominguez and FM Alice Lee are in a must-win situation in Monday to force a playoff. | Photos: Bryan Adams and Lennart Ootes, Saint Louis Chess Club

An action packed day saw five matches decided in the playoffs and one match (Caruana-Xiong) made it all the way to Armageddon, finishing in a dramatic time scramble. After all was said and done, Aronian, Dominguez, Sevian, and Caruana from the Open Field along with Krush, Tokhirjonova, Lee, and Abrahamyan from the Women’s Field advanced to the next stage of the Champions Bracket. | Photos: Austin and Crystal Fuller, Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

The inaugural American Cup kicked off today with plenty of decisive action as several players drew first blood in their individual matches within the Champions Bracket. Samuel Sevian (pictured) caused the biggest upset: he won with Black against Wesley So. | Photos: Austin and Crystal Fuller, Saint Louis Chess Club

That is not a rhetorical question. IL Indoor is opening it up to you to vote in a tournament-style bracket to decide which of the team that have captured the NLL championship in the 21st century would win if they were all competing for the title of grand champion. We have seeded the 20 winners. To do so, we looked at won/loss records, goals for and against differential, where they finished in their division and overall in the NLL, considered all the variables and ranked them from 1 to 20. Today...