2013 U.S. Women's Championship Overview

The 2013 U.S. Women's Championship is the most prestigious women's event in the United States, and will feature 10 of the country's strongest female competitors. It will be held concurrently with the 2013 U.S. Championship at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, from May 2nd to May 13th.

There is more than just pride on the line. These challengers will be vying for the title of U.S. Women's Champion and a top prize of $18,000. In addition, the top three competitors qualify to play in the Women's World Championship cycle.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will host the U.S. Women's Championship. In honor of this five-year anniversary, the 2013 U.S. Women's Championship will be a 10-player Round Robin, the same format that was featured the first time the CCSCSL hosted the Championship in 2009.

Meet the Field

* Based on the May FIDE ratings list.

Schedule

Prizes

Chief Arbiter: Carol Jarecki, IA, NTD

Chief Arbiter for the U.S. Women's Championship, Carol Jarecki’s credentials are extensive. Awarded the International Arbiter title by FIDE in 1984 she served as deputy in several Olympiads and Candidates matches as well as the FIDE World Championship in Lyon, France, 1990, and Las Vegas 1999. Carol was Chief Arbiter for the FIDE World Youth Festival held in Fond-du-Lac, WI, the only time it was organized in the U.S. She was also chief arbiter for the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship, all of which were held in Saint Louis.

She was Chief of the 1994 and 1995 PCA Grand Prix events in New York, the PCA World Championship match Kasparov-Anand at the top of the World Trade Center in 1995 as well as the famous IBM Deep Blue-Kasparov match in 1997. Jarecki even was arbiter for the original Kasparov-Deep Thought match in NY, the program developed by the team that then went on to work with IBM on Deep Blue. In 1989, as Chief Arbiter of the Karpov-Hjartarson FIDE World Championship Quarterfinals in Seattle, she was the first woman to serve in that position for any world-championship-cycle match. Among many other international events she has been the Chief of the annual Bermuda Open and Invitationals for the past 21 years.

As a U.S. National Tournament Director (NTD) she has covered an array of events, large and small, from National Scholastics to previous U. S. Championships. Carol is a member of the FIDE Rules and Tournament Regulations Commission. She co-authored the USCF Official Rules of Chess, 4th edition. In 1993 Carol received the USCF Distinguished Service Award and, subsequently, the initial award for the Top Tournament Director of the Year. 

Jarecki graduated from the Graduate Hospital, University of PA, with a certificate in anesthesia and worked in that field in NJ for several years before starting a family and spending seven years living in Europe. There she took up aviation as a hobby and has been an avid pilot ever since. She has two daughters, one living in Sydney, Australia, the other in the British Virgin Islands. Her son, John, once the youngest U.S. Master at age 12, lives in New York City.

Assistant Arbiter: Alex Marler, NA, LTD

Alex Marler is the assistant manager at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. Since he started working for the club in 2008, Alex has directed over 60 tournaments and over 600 sections. He has served as the assistant arbiter for the 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship and the 2012 CCSCSL GM and IM Invitationals.

Marler, a Saint Louis native, graduated from Missouri University of Science and Techology with a Bachelor's of Science in civil engineering.