Wesley So maintains his commanding position in the men's championship after drawing with Hans Niemann in round 10. The three-time champion holds a full-point advantage over both Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin heading into Wednesday's finale. So dispatched his game quickly, using the theoretical Nimzo-Indian Defense to reach a simplified endgame where trades dominated the position. He expressed a philosophy of removing complications from the tournament in the closing stages.

Two decisive games punctuated the men's round. Sam Shankland defeated Sam Sevian in a sharp Sicilian Najdorf Poisoned Pawn Variation, with Sevian ultimately committing a fatal error at move 35. The other victory went to Levon Aronian over Ray Robson in a queen endgame where Aronian's passed pawn proved decisive despite Robson's valiant defensive try. Caruana and Oparin each drew their games, leaving them still a point adrift of So.

Rookie Rachael Li controls the women's championship with an identical one-point lead over Alice Lee. Five decisive games emerged from the six matchups in round 10, with Li securing victory to maintain her advantage. Lee forced a win of her own to keep pace, meaning the women's title will be decided in the final round. The dramatic round saw wins distributed among multiple competitors, keeping the tournament competitive in multiple sections.

Li operates with remarkable composure despite the championship pressure. The 17-year-old described her mindset as treating each game as practice for future tournaments, claiming she doesn't experience the emotional swings others might expect. Her approach to preparation is equally distinctive: she played 38 classical games in a single month during August, sometimes competing in four or five games across two days while managing travel commitments.

So's path to a fourth national title requires either a win or a draw in the finale, with Caruana or Oparin needing to defeat him while also winning their own games to force tiebreaks. The men's championship concludes Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, with the women's championship running on the same schedule. Li stands to gain over 50 rating points and is performing at approximately 2600 strength, placing her 31st in the world.