MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American chess Grandmaster Wesley So topped the 2026 United States Chess Championship for the fourth time, beating top American players, including world-ranked number three and five-time US champion Fabiano Caruana, who ruled the four previous tournaments. So immediately took the free pawn and with it, a lot of territory on the chess board. So castled his king on the queen-side and advanced his king-side pawns toward Caruana’s castled king.