Photo: Frans Peeters from Roosendaal, The Netherlands / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Ray Robson played the last 44 moves of this game with less than two minutes on his clock each time. He got 30 seconds more after every move, and he used them to defend a hard ending against Wesley So for move after move. Then, on move 78, his king went one square the wrong way, and the game was over.
So won in 92 moves in Round 7 of the 2026 U.S. Championship in Saint Louis on Friday, 16 October. He now leads alone with 5 points out of 7. Fabiano Caruana and Andy Woodward, who beat Caruana in Round 5, are half a point behind.
The puzzle
Here is the moment that decided the game. It is White to move, on move 78. Black has two extra pawns, but White can still hold. Where should the white king go? The answer is at the end.
White to move. Black has two pawns on g5 and h5. Which king move keeps them from running?
The Game: Robson vs So, Round 7
Ray Robson 0-1 Wesley So, 2026 U.S. Championship, Saint Louis, Round 7, 16 October 2026.
Robson presses, then the clock bites
The game began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5, the Italian Game. 4.d3 d6 5.c3 Bb6 6.O-O h6 7.b4 Nf6 8.a4 a5 9.b5 Ne7 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.d4 Ng6 12.Re1 Re8 13.h3 exd4 14.cxd4 d5 15.exd5 Rxe1+ 16.Qxe1 Nxd5 17.Nb3 Be6 18.Bd2 Ndf4 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Qe4 Qd5 21.Qxd5 exd5. The queens were gone early, and White was a little better.
Robson pushed his kingside pawns. 22.Kf1 Kf7 23.h4 Ne6 24.Re1 Ne7 25.g4 Nc8 26.Ne5+ Kg8 27.Nd7 Kf7 28.Ne5+ Kg8 29.Nd7 Kf7 30.f4 Nd6 31.f5 Nf8 32.Nxf8 Rxf8. Around move 31 our Stockfish 17.1 run rated White about a pawn and a half better. But Robson had spent his time: after 32.Nxf8 he had 53 seconds left, against So's ten minutes.
33.Nc5 Nc4 34.Bc3 h5 35.g5 Nd6 36.Re5 Kg8 37.Ke2 Nxf5 38.Nxb7 Nxh4 39.Nxa5 Ng6. With seconds on his clock, Robson went for the queenside pawns, and So took the kingside ones. After 39.Nxa5 the engine had turned to Black, by more than a pawn.
40.Re3 Ra8 41.Nc6 Rxa4 42.Ne7+ Nxe7 43.Rxe7 Ra2+ 44.Kf1 Kh7 45.Re5 Ra3 46.Be1 Ra4 47.Rxd5 Rxd4 48.Rxd4 Bxd4. All the rooks and knights came off. What was left was a bishop ending.
efAfter 48...Bxd4. Both bishops move on dark squares. Black has three pawns, White has two.
Bishops on the same color
Both bishops here move on the dark squares. That matters. When the bishops are on different colors, the side that is behind can often build a wall the other bishop can never break, and many of those endings are draws. When they are on the same color, the bishops can attack and block each other, and an extra pawn gives real winning chances. It is still hard work, and our engine rated Black better by only about half a pawn to a pawn for most of the next 30 moves.
So did not rush. 49.Bg3 Bb6 50.Kg2 Kg6 51.Be5 Kf7 52.Kf3 g6 53.Bg3 Ke6 54.Ke4 Ba5 55.Bh4 Bb4 56.Bg3 Bd6 57.Bf2 Be7 58.Bg3 Bd6 59.Bf2 Be7 60.Bg3 Bd8 61.Bh4 Kd6 62.Kd4 Be7 63.Bg3+ Kd7 64.Bh4 Ke6 65.Ke4 Bb4 66.Bg3 Ba5 67.Bh4 Bd2 68.Bg3 Kd7 69.Bh4 Kd6 70.Kd4 Bf4 71.Ke4 Bc1. For 23 moves he moved his king and bishop around, testing square after square. Robson answered each move with about a minute on his clock.
Two pawns, and a blockade
Then the position opened up. 72.Bg3+ Kc5 73.Bxc7 Kxb5 traded Black's c-pawn for White's b-pawn. After 74.Ke5 Kc6 75.Bb8 Bxg5 So won the g5 pawn too. Black now had two pawns and White had none.
After 75...Bxg5. Black has two extra pawns, but the white king is close to them.
Two pawns up sounds easy to win, but it was not. Our engine still saw a blockade: if the white king could stand in front of the pawns, and the white bishop could watch the squares they needed, they could not move forward. 76.Ke6 Be3 77.Kf6 g5 brought us to the puzzle position.
The wrong square
Robson played 78.Kg6, going after the pawn on h5. So simply pushed it: 78...h4. Now the h-pawn had a free path, and the white king stood beside the pawns instead of in front of them.
After 78...h4. The white king is beside the g-pawn, not in front of the h-pawn. Nothing can stop both pawns now.
Our engine, searching to depth 26, rated 78.Kf5 and 78.Ba7 at under one pawn for Black: the blockade would hold. After 78.Kg6 h4, it rated Black completely winning.
79.Kf5 Kd5 80.Bc7 h3 81.Bh2 Bf4 82.Bg1 Bc1 83.Kg4 Be3 84.Bh2 Ke4 85.Kxh3 Kf3. White won the h-pawn, but the black king reached f3, right next to the g-pawn's path. 86.Bc7 Bf4 87.Bd8 g4+ 88.Kh4 g3 89.Bb6 g2 90.Kh3 Bg3 91.Bg1 Be1 92.Kh2 Bf2, and Robson resigned.
gThe final position. White has two legal moves, 93.Bxf2 and 93.Kh3, and after either one the g-pawn becomes a queen.
What to Learn from Wesley So
1. Put your king in front of enemy pawns. The puzzle in one sentence. 78.Kf5 stood in the pawns' way. 78.Kg6 stood beside them, and that was enough to lose.
2. In bishop endings, check the colors. Bishops on different colors often mean a draw, even a pawn or two down. Bishops on the same color give the stronger side real chances.
3. Be patient when you are ahead. So moved his king and bishop around for 23 moves without forcing anything. Each move asked White a small question, and in the end one answer was wrong.
4. Save time for the ending. Robson was better in the middlegame, but he had under a minute on his clock by move 32. The 30-second increment kept him alive, but defending a hard ending with one minute a move is very difficult. Use your time when the position needs it, and keep some for later.
Puzzle answer
78.Kf5. The king goes in front of the pawns. From f5 it watches g4 and keeps the g-pawn from moving, and the white bishop can guard the h-pawn's path. Our engine rates it, along with 78.Ba7, at under one pawn for Black. In the game, 78.Kg6 h4 let the pawns go.
Standings after Round 7
So 5, Caruana 4.5, Woodward 4.5, Liang 4, Oparin 4, Xiong 4, Mishra 3.5, Aronian 3, Niemann 3, Robson 2.5, Shankland 2.5, Sevian 1.5.
So's earlier win in this event: One Knight, Two Rooks: So beats Jeffery Xiong in Round 2.