The Pawn That Reached d7: Rachael Li Beats Rose Atwell and Needs Just a Draw for the Title

Illustration of Rachael Li at the chessboard. This is not a real picture of Rachael Li, and the pieces shown are not a position from this game.

Rachael Li's game against Rose Atwell was the last one still going on Tuesday in Saint Louis. It lasted four hours and 42 minutes. When Atwell finally resigned after Li's 60th move, Li was alone at the top of the 2026 U.S. Women's Championship, a full point ahead of Alice Lee with one round to play.

Li is 16, and this is her first U.S. Women's Championship. If she draws on Wednesday, she is the champion.

The game had everything: a pawn that marched almost to the end of the board, a sneaky knight, a race against the clock, and a long ending that Li won with patience. Here is how it went, from move 1.

A quiet start

Li had the white pieces and began 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 b6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.g3 Bb7 7.Bg2. Both sides developed their pieces and castled. After 7...Nbd7 8.O-O Bd6 9.Re1 O-O 10.b3 Re8 11.Bb2 a6 12.Rc1 Rc8, all the knights, bishops and rooks were out, and no pieces had been traded yet.

Then the pawns started to move: 13.d3 c5 14.d4 c4 15.Nd2 b5 16.bxc4 bxc4 17.e4 dxe4 18.Ndxe4 Nxe4 19.Nxe4. Many pieces came off after that: 19...Bb4 20.Bc3 Bxc3 21.Nxc3 Rxe1+ 22.Qxe1 Bxg2 23.Kxg2.

Look at the pawn on d4. No black pawn stands in front of it on the d-file, or on the c-file or e-file ahead of it, so no black pawn can ever stop it. A pawn like that is called a passed pawn. Black's pawn on c4 is a passed pawn too. But Li's d-pawn was about to become the star of the game.

The march of the d-pawn

After 23...Qb6 24.Nd5 Qc6 25.Qe4 Kh8 26.Qf3 Qd6 27.Ne3 Kg8 28.Nf5 Qe6, Li sent her pawn forward: 29.d5 Qf6 30.d6.

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After 30.d6. The white pawn is on the sixth row, two steps from becoming a queen. Black to move.

Analyze this position

Passed pawns love to be pushed. Each step forward makes the pawn more dangerous, and the other side has to use pieces to stop it. Our Stockfish 17.1 engine gave Li an edge of about two pawns here.

From now on, Black's pieces would have to keep watching that pawn.

A sneaky knight on f2

Atwell looked for counterplay. After 30...Ne5 31.Qe4 Rf8 32.Re1 Nd3 33.Re3 g6 34.Qxc4, her knight jumped into White's position with 34...Nxf2.

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After 34...Nxf2. White to move. The king on g2 can take the knight, but look at the black queen on f6 and the white knight on f5.

Analyze this position

It looks like White can simply take the knight with 35.Kxf2. But then 35...Qxf5+ takes White's knight with check, and Black wins her piece back. This is a trick worth remembering: before you take a piece, check what your opponent can take back.

Li did not fall for it. She moved her knight first, with check: 35.Ne7+ Kg7. Now her knight was safe, and the black knight on f2 was still stuck in her camp.

One step from a queen

After 36.Qe2 Rb8, Li pushed again: 37.d7.

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After 37.d7. The pawn is one step from the last row. Black to move.

Analyze this position

It was also the only good move. Our engine checked White's other choices, and every one of them, like 37.Qf3 or 37.Qxf2, let the position slip back to equal. Li found the one move that kept her big edge.

Now the pawn was just one step from becoming a queen. Atwell put her rook in front of it with 37...Rd8. When a piece stands right in front of a passed pawn to stop it, that is called a blockade.

At this point our engine rated White almost three pawns better. Atwell was also very short of time. After her 37th move she had under four minutes left for three more moves before the time control at move 40, where each player gets 30 extra minutes.

The pawn falls, the game goes on

Then Li played 38.Rf3, and the game changed. Atwell answered 38...Qd6, and now the queen and rook both attacked the pawn on d7, while no white piece guarded it. After 39.Kxf2 Rxd7, Li had taken the knight, but Atwell had taken the famous pawn.

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After 39...Rxd7. White has an extra knight, but Black has an extra pawn and a queen and rook close to White's king. White to move.

Analyze this position

Our engine thought 38.Nd5 would have kept a big advantage. After 39...Rxd7, it rated the position as equal. How can that be, when White has a whole extra knight? Count the pawns: Black has four and White has three. And Black's queen and rook were close to the white king, ready to give checks. A king without pawns around it is easy to attack.

Atwell made it to move 40 with less than a minute left after 40.Re3 Qf6+. Then both players got their extra 30 minutes.

Trading queens

After 41.Kg1 Kf8 42.Nc8 Rd8, Li saw her chance. She brought her queen to c2 and then to c3, offering a trade: 43.Qc2 Qd4 44.Qc3 Qxc3 45.Rxc3.

Once again, 43.Qc2 was the only move that kept White clearly better. Our engine rated it more than a pawn in White's favor. Other moves, like 43.Ne7 or 43.Na7, gave a level position. The queen on c2 also guards the knight on c8.

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After 45.Rxc3. The queens are gone. White has a rook, a knight and three pawns. Black has a rook and four pawns. Black to move.

Analyze this position

This is a very useful rule. When you are ahead in material, trade the queens. Without her queen, Black could no longer chase White's king with checks. Now the extra knight counted. Our engine agreed: after 42...Rd8, it rated White more than a pawn better, and by the end about five pawns better.

The long ending

Atwell's rook was active, and it grabbed a pawn: 45...Rd1+ 46.Kg2 Rd2+ 47.Kh3 Rxa2. But Li's rook soon took one back: 48.Rc7 Rd2 49.Ra7 h5 50.Rxa6 g5.

Now Li did what strong players do in endings. She used her king as a fighting piece. After 51.Nd6 f6 52.g4 hxg4+ 53.Kg3 Ke7 54.Ne4 Rd3+ 55.Kxg4 Rd4 56.Kf5 Rd5+ 57.Kg6, the white king had taken the pawn on g4 and walked right up to Black's last pawns.

Then the knight took the f6 pawn: 57...Rd4 58.Nxf6 Rd2 59.Ng4 Rd5 60.Kh5.

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The final position, after 60.Kh5. The white king attacks the pawn on g5, and the knight guards the pawn on h2. Black resigned.

Analyze this position

Atwell resigned here. White had a rook, a knight and a pawn against a rook and a pawn. The extra knight was too much. Our engine rated White about five pawns better.

The title race

Here is the top of the table after Round 10:

• Rachael Li 8
• Alice Lee 7
• Irina Krush 6.5
• Thalia Cervantes Landeiro 5.5, Megan Paragua 5.5

Li has seven wins, two draws and one loss. Lee beat Thalia Cervantes Landeiro on Tuesday to stay in the race. Krush drew with Paragua.

In Round 11 on Wednesday, Li has Black against Anna Zatonskih. Lee has Black against Anna Sargsyan.

• If Li wins or draws, she is the 2026 U.S. Women's Champion. Nobody else can reach 8.5.
• If Li loses and Lee wins, they tie on 8 and play a playoff.
• If Li loses and Lee does not win, Li is still the champion.

What to take away

• Push your passed pawns. Li's d-pawn tied up Black's pieces for many moves.
• Before you capture, check what comes back. 35.Kxf2 would have lost the knight on f5 to a queen check.
• Guard your far-advanced pawns. The pawn on d7 fell when no white piece was watching it.
• Ahead in material? Trade queens. It took away Black's checks and let the extra knight win.
• In the ending, the king is a fighter. Li's king marched up the board, took a pawn on g4 and went after the last black pawn.

Want to know more about Li? Read her story and her win over Alice Lee, and her first-round win over Irina Krush.

In the open section on the same day, Wesley So drew Hans Niemann and is also one draw from the title.