Lee Takes the Lead: A Missed Tactic and an 85-Move Grind

Photo: Stefan64 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Let us start with a puzzle from the game. It is Black to move, in the position below. Black had a winning tactic here and did not play it. Can you find it? The answer is in the article.

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Black to move, after 33.Bd7. Black can win material here.

Analyze this position in the full game

Alice Lee 1-0 Megan Paragua, 2026 U.S. Women's Championship, Saint Louis, Round 4, 12 October 2026.

The round in one line

Round 4 of the Women's section had two decisive games. Alice Lee beat Megan Paragua in an 85-move game between two of the three co-leaders, and Irina Krush beat Nazi Paikidze. Lee is now alone in first place on 3.5 points.

An English, then a long maneuver

The game opened 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 e6. Once White plays c4, this is an English Opening, an opening built around the c-pawn instead of the e- or d-pawn. By move 18 the queens had been traded, and what remained was a queenless middlegame: rooks, bishops, knights and a lot of maneuvering. These positions look quiet, but they are full of small traps. This one had a big one.

Lee pressed gently. A rook went to the open c-file with 20.Rdc1, and the white king stepped up to f2 on move 26. Paragua defended well. Then, on move 33, Lee played 33.Bd7, attacking Black's rook on c6. It looks natural. It was nearly a disaster.

The tactic Black missed

Here is the puzzle position again, Black to move. Look at the bishop on d7. Which white piece protects it?

Only the knight on c5. So Black had 33...Rxc5! The rook simply takes the knight. After 34.dxc5, the bishop on d7 has lost its only defender, and 34...Kxd7 takes it. Count it up: Black has given a rook and won a knight and a bishop. Two bishops are worth more than one rook, and our Stockfish 17.1 run at depth 22 rates the position close to three pawns better for Black. In plain language, Black would be winning.

Paragua played 33...Rb6 instead, moving the rook away, and White was better again.

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After 33...Rb6. The danger has passed, and White is better again. One move earlier, 33...Rxc5! would have won two pieces for the rook.

Analyze this position in the full game

There is a lesson here that has nothing to do with long calculation. When your opponent's last move attacks something, ask what it left behind. 33.Bd7 attacked the rook, but the bishop on d7 was guarded only by the knight on c5, and that knight could be taken.

The long grind

What followed was 50 more moves, and this is where Lee won the game for real. Pieces came off one by one. After 60.Rxa7, Lee had a rook and a pawn on a2 against Paragua's bishop, and Black had no pawns left at all. A rook is stronger than a bishop, but winning this kind of ending still takes care. Lee did three things that every beginner should copy.

First, the rook found the seventh rank. On move 77 Lee played 77.Rb7+. A rook on the seventh rank attacks pawns, cuts off the enemy king and keeps checking it.

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After 77.Rb7+. The rook on the seventh rank checks the black king and keeps it away from the a-pawn.

Analyze this position in the full game

Second, the king marched up the board. In the opening the king hides. In the endgame the king is a fighting piece, and it belongs near the action. Lee's king walked from e4 to d5 to c6 and on to b5 and a6, staying close to the a-pawn.

Third, the passed pawn moved: 81.a4, 82.a5 and 83.a6. Passed pawns must be pushed. After 82...Kc8 our engine already calls it completely winning for White. Paragua resigned after 85.Kb5, with the white king and the pawn closing in together.

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After 83.a6. The passed pawn marches on, and Black has no pawns left anywhere on the board.

Analyze this position in the full game

What you can steal from this game

First, tactics hide behind quiet-looking moves. 33.Bd7 looked like a normal attacking move, and it nearly lost on the spot to 33...Rxc5. Always ask what your opponent's move left undefended.

Second, in the endgame, activate everything. Lee's rook went to the seventh rank, the king marched up the board, and the pawn kept moving. Passive pieces lose endgames. Active pieces win them.

Third, convert patiently. Lee needed 50 more moves after the missed tactic to finish the game. There was no rush. Lee improved the pieces, pushed the pawn one square at a time, and let the position do the work.

The rest of Round 4

Irina Krush beat Nazi Paikidze in 31 moves, with the black pieces. The key moment came early: after 18.f5, Krush replied 18...Nxf5, and after 19.Bxd5 Qxc2 Black was a pawn up. Krush converted it.

Jennifer Yu drew Tatev Abrahamyan. Defending champion Carissa Yip drew Rachael Li. Thalia Cervantes drew Anna Zatonskih, and Anna Sargsyan drew Rose Atwell.

Standings after Round 4

Lee 3.5, Cervantes 3, Paragua 2.5, Krush 2.5, Li 2.5, Zatonskih 2.5, Sargsyan 1.5, Yu 1.5, Abrahamyan 1.5, Atwell 1, Yip 1, Paikidze 1.

Tuesday is a rest day. Round 5 is on Wednesday, 14 October.