SAINT LOUIS, August 30, 2023 – Presented by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the highly anticipated 2023 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX returns this September 8-10, 2023 at the World Chess Hall of Fame with another exciting line-up featuring a prize purse of $150,000. This year’s tournament features the top players from the United States, including World No. 3 and reigning World 960 Champion GM Hikaru Nakamura and World No. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana competing alongside legendary former World Champion Garry Kasparov.
“As the epicenter of U.S. chess, we are proud to host another elite event featuring legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov and reigning Chess960 World Champion Hikaru Nakamura. Fans are sure to enjoy the fast-paced action and surprises that keep the world’s best players on their toes in this unique event,” said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Chess 9LX is a tournament played in Chess 960 style, also known as Fischer Random Chess. Chess 960 is a variant of chess created by Bobby Fischer in the late 1990s in which the pieces on the home rank are randomized, with 960 representing the number of possible starting positions. Players will not know the order of the home rank pieces until just before the start of each round and will have to rely on their creativity in rapid and blitz games.
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Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX Field |
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Player |
URS Rating |
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GM Garry Kasparov |
2552 |
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GM Hikaru Nakamura |
2808 |
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GM Fabiano Caruana |
2789 |
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GM Wesley So |
2781 |
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GM Levon Aronian |
2771 |
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GM Leinier Dominguez |
2727 |
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GM Jeffery Xiong |
2700 |
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GM Ray Robson |
2691 |
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GM Sam Sevian |
2689 |
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GM Sam Shankland |
2685 |
*** Ratings as of August 2023 ***
Games will start daily at 2:00 p.m. CDT (GMT-5) from September 8-10, 2023 for Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX. The tournament will include expert commentary featuring GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirila and IM Nazi Paikidze. Viewers can watch the action online at uschesschamps.com or on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s Youtube and Twitch.tv channels.
Event festivities will kick-off on Thursday, September 7, 2023 with Ultimate Moves, a fun and casual exhibition event featuring Saint Louis Chess Club co-founder Rex Sinquefield teaming up with legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov and the Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX field.
In tandem with the chess events, the World Chess Hall of Fame has two incredible exhibitions on view: “Sound Moves: Where Music Meets Chess” and “T. S. Eliot: A Game of Chess.” Both exhibitions showcase how the timeless game has had a powerful influence across music, literature and culture and will be on view through January 2024.
For more information, visit www.uschesschamps.com or www.worldchesshof.org.
About the Saint Louis Chess Club
The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.
Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.
About the World Chess Hall of Fame
The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building awareness of the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on September 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Housed in a historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned-business in Saint Louis’ Central West End neighborhood, the WCHOF features World Chess Hall of Fame inductees, United States Chess Hall of Fame inductees selected by the U.S. Chess Trust, artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The WCHOF partners with the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences. For more information, visit worldchesshof.org and on social: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels.