One Square Away: Megan Paragua Beats Carissa Yip in Round 2

Illustration of Megan Paragua at the chessboard. This is not a real picture of Megan Paragua, and the pieces and clock shown are not from this game.

Let us start with a puzzle from the game. It is White to move, and the black bishop has just given check. White has five legal moves. Only one of them keeps the game level. Can you find it? The answer is at the end.

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White to move, after 37...Bxe5+. The white king on h2 is in check. Only one move keeps the game level. Find it.

Analyze this position in the full game

Carissa Yip 0-1 Megan Paragua 2026 U.S. Women's Chess Championship, Saint Louis · Round 2 · 10 October 2026 White: IM Carissa Yip · Black: FM Megan Paragua

Round 2 in Saint Louis

The U.S. Women's Championship is a round robin at the Saint Louis Chess Club: 12 players, each meeting every other player once over 11 rounds. Each player gets 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 seconds for every move. This game ended before move 40.

Carissa Yip, an International Master rated 2484, has won the last three U.S. Women's Championships and is trying for a fourth in a row. Megan Paragua is 13, the youngest player in the field, and a FIDE Master rated 2234, 250 points lower. This is Paragua's second U.S. Women's Championship. In round 1, Paragua beat Anna Sargsyan and Yip drew with Alice Lee.

After this game, Megan Paragua and Thalia Cervantes share first place with 2 points from 2 games.

This article follows the whole game. Its lesson is about king safety when the clock is short: before you move your king out of check, look at every check your opponent can give next.

The Game: Yip v Paragua

The opening: knights chase each other

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.c3 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bd7 10.Qb3 Nxe5

Paragua answered 1.e4 with the Sicilian Defence, 1...c5. White's pawn pushed the black knight away from f6, and then the white bishop chased it again. On move 10, the black knight took the white knight on e5.

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Position after 10...Nxe5, with White to move. The pawn on d4 is the only white piece that can take the knight on e5.

Analyze this position in the full game

11.dxe5 Bxb5 12.Qxb5+ Qd7 13.Qe2 g6 14.O-O Bg7 15.Rd1 Qc6 16.Nd2 O-O 17.Nf3 Rfd8 18.Bg5 Qe6 19.Qe4 h6

White took back with the pawn, and the bishops were traded on b5. Yip kept the queens on the board with 13.Qe2. Both players castled, and our Stockfish 17.1 check at depth 20 rated the game close to level.

Move 21: Black wins a pawn

20.Bf4 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Qxa2

Our engine preferred 20.Be3 for White. After 20.Bf4, the rooks were traded on d1, and the black queen took the pawn on a2. No white piece was guarding that pawn.

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Position after 21...Qxa2, with White to move. Black is one pawn ahead.

Analyze this position in the full game

Black was a pawn ahead, and our engine rated Black better by a little more than half a pawn.

Moves 22 to 29: White fights back

22.h4 Qa4 23.Rd4 Qc6 24.Qd3 Rc8 25.h5 Qc2 26.hxg6 fxg6 27.Qa3 g5 28.Be3 Qc6 29.Qxe7

Yip pushed the h-pawn up the board to open lines near the black king. After 25.h5, our engine's choice for Black was 25...g5. After 25...Qc2, the position was level again. Then the white queen took the pawn on e7, and material was level.

Moves 29 to 37: a race against the clock

29...Nd5 30.Qa3 Nxe3 31.fxe3 Qc1+ 32.Kh2 Qc7 33.Qb3+ Kf8 34.Rd6 Qc4 35.Rd8+ Ke7 36.Qxb7+ Rc7 37.Qa8

The black knight took the bishop on e3, and White took back with the f-pawn. The white king moved to h2. Both queens and the white rook started giving checks.

After 36.Qxb7+, White was one pawn ahead. The clock mattered more now. After 37.Qa8, Yip had 40 seconds left. Paragua had more than three minutes.

37...Bxe5+

The black bishop took the pawn on e5, with check to the white king on h2. Material was level again. This is the puzzle position from the start of the article. Our engine rated it 0.00 if White finds the right move.

The finish

38.Kh1 Qh4+

Yip moved the king into the corner. The black queen came to h4 with check, and every White reply now loses to checkmate.

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Final position, after 38...Qh4+, with White to move. Every white move is met by checkmate.

Analyze this position in the full game

White has three legal moves here, and our engine finds checkmate after each one:

• 39.Nh2 Qxh2 is checkmate at once.
• 39.Nxh4 Rc1+ 40.Rd1 Rxd1 is checkmate.
• 39.Kg1 Rc1+ 40.Rd1 Rxd1+ 41.Ne1 Qxe1 is checkmate.

The game ended there, 0-1.

What to Learn

1. When your king is in check, look at all of your choices. In the puzzle position, White had five legal moves. Two of them, 38.Kh1 and 38.Nxe5, lead to checkmate. Two more leave White far behind, by our engine's count. Only one keeps the game level.

2. Look at your opponent's next check, not only this one. After 38.Kh1, the black queen could check on h4, and the black rook could check on c1. White's king had no way out of the checks.

3. A pawn can block a long diagonal. The black bishop on e5 was aiming down the diagonal at h2. A white pawn on g3 would stand in the way.

4. Save time for the end of the game. Yip had 40 seconds for the move that decided the game. Paragua had more than three minutes. When the position gets sharp, a few extra minutes help you check every reply.

Puzzle answer: 38.g3. The pawn steps in front of the bishop and blocks the check. The king stays on h2, the bishop's diagonal is closed, and our engine rates the game level.