Friday, April 12, 2013

US Chess Championships in Saint Louis

The fields are set for both the 2013 U.S. Championship and 2013 U.S. Women’s Championship, scheduled to be held simultaneously May 2 through May 13 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL).

This marks the fifth consecutive year that each of these prestigious events will be held in Saint Louis. The opening ceremony takes place on May 2, and the first round for both events will kick off at 1 p.m. CDT on May 3.

In honor of the five-year anniversary, the 2013 U.S. Championship will feature a 24-player Swiss, the same format that was featured the first time the CCSCSL hosted a national championship in 2009. This year’s event will feature a guaranteed prize fund of more than $180,000.

GM Hikaru Nakamura, the reigning U.S. Champion, declined his invitation to play in this year’s event, opting instead to compete in the Norway Chess 2013 super tournament featuring World Championship challenger GM Magnus Carlsen.

With Nakamura out, a number of youthful challengers hope to usher in a changing of the guard including reigning World Champions IM Kayden Troff (U-14 World Champion) and IM-elect Sam Sevian (U-12 World Champion). Among other new faces at the U.S. Championship is GM Timur Gareev, who recently transferred federations from Uzbekistan and is coming off of an undefeated, first-place finish at the North American Open in Las Vegas this past December.

The complete list of players and their current USCF ratings

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