The Field

At the age of eighteen, Sam announced his retirement from the world of professional chess; however, having made a prior commitment to play in the 2010 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, he played and managed to win a difficult  tournament.  The victory earned him an invitation to play in the 2011 U.S. Championship, which proved to be a difficult offer to refuse.

In 2016, the American GM won the Edmonton International as well as Fargenes International. Sam’s strong, sometimes unpredictable play is sure to keep this year’s field on their toes, and the chess fans on edges of their seats.

The weather in Mongolia was so harsh during the years that “Var” spent there as a child, that his father forbade him and his sister Armine from playing outside.  He taught them chess, which fascinated the young Akobian.  “From the very beginning,” Var says, “I was different from the other chess kids.  It was never just a game for me.  I always wanted to be a Grandmaster, and knew that I would do what it takes.”  As a teenager living in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia,  Akobian spent his days on chess and soccer.  His teachers encouraged him to focus on chess, so much that Var says: “If I went to high school in here [in the U.S], I never could have spent so much energy on chess.”

In 2002, a year after immigrating to the U.S., he earned the Samford Chess Fellowship.  The Fellowship grant, which allowed the young Var to study and improve his chess, yielded quick results with a tie for first at the 2002 World Open and First Place at the Irme Koenig GM invitational.  The following year, he won the 2003 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, earned his GM Norms in June 2004, and then won the World Open for a second time.

An excellent positional player, GM Akobian admires the games and style of Armenian Hero, former World Champion Tigran Petrosian.  He admires him so much so that he became an expert in the French Defence, one of Petrosians most played openings with the black pieces. Var offers this advice for aspiring club players: “Don’t expect to see constant improvement. You build knowledge and work hard, and after a while you’ll see a big breakthrough.”

Surya Ganguly achieved the IM title at age 16, and the GM title at age 19. Since then, Surya has become a six-time Indian chess champion. He has received numerous accolades for his achievements in chess, including the Arjuna Award for outstanding achievement in sports, the Shera Bengali award as a spokesperson for Bengal, and the Bangabhusan award which is the second-highest civilian award in West Bengal.

Jeffery Xiong of Coppell, Texas, is the highest ranked player in the world under the age of 18. He has shown tenacity and maturity in chess well beyond his years. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 2016 at the age of 15, which was the first time an American chess player has won in 2 decades. He is also the youngest winner of the Chicago Open Chess Championship in history. He was awarded the prestigious Samford Chess Fellowship in 2017. He has represented the USA in the 2017 World Team Championship and FIDE World Cup.

From a very young age, Xiong has seen his losses, though painful, as an opportunity to improve. While some of Xiong's older competitors have been known to display their frustration with difficult losses, he remains collected—analyzing where his play could have been stronger.

Awonder is one of the most impressive chess prodigies in recent history.  The youngest GM in this years field, he tied for first at the 2011 U8 World Youth Chess Championship and went on to become the youngest American to ever earn the Master and IM titles.  He enters this tournament after a year of  important successes, earning his final GM Norm in May 2017 and winning the 2017 U.S Junior Closed Championship.  The Chess world can count on an impressive performance from the young American GM in this year’s U.S. Championship.

Cemil Can is a 20-year-old Grandmaster from Turkey. His current FIDE rating is 2538. He is currently a sophomore at the Saint Louis University studying Computer Engineering. He has a unique achievement of winning the European Youth Championships for five times. Additionally, he has represented Turkey in the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiad.

Melik received his IM title in 1994. In 2001, he moved to the U.S. In 2006, he received his Grandmaster title. Melik has won many international tournaments. His best achievements include playing in the 1996 Olympiad in Yerevan Armenia and the 1997 World Team Championship (for Armenian Team). Melik has been a professional coach since 1990. He even trained super GM Levon Aronian from 1991-1997; he also coached strong youth in Armenia before he left, including GM T.Petrosian, GM T.Gharamian, GM A.Pashikian,and many others. After moving to the US, Melik has played in many prestigious events, including several US Championships. He had his best result in the 2007 U.S. Championship. In 2010, he was invited to coach the U.S. Women’s National Team. These days he is more known as a coach on  www.chess.com. 

Priyadharshan Kannappan is a Grand Master born in Madurai, India in 1993. He has been living in St. Louis for the past six years. He received his Bachelor’s in Marketing from Lindenwood University and will be graduating soon with an Master’s in Management and Leadership, with a certificate in Business Analytics from Webster University. He has donned various hats within the chess community as a player, commentator, writer, manager.

Jack Shtembuliak was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1999. His mother introduced him to chess when he was 6 years old. He won his first Ukrainian Championship in 2007. Afterwards, he placed second in the European Chess Championships 3 times in the following categories: under 8, 10, and 12. Throughout his chess career, he has won a number of different tournaments. In 2016, he earned his last norm and became an International Master. Currently, he has 1 Grand Master norm. Now, he is pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in finance at Texas Tech University.