2013 U.S. Championship Overview

The 2013 U.S. Championship is the most prestigious event in the United States, and will feature 24 of the country’s strongest competitors. It will be held concurrently with the 2013 U.S. Women’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. Champion and a top prize of $30,000. If one lucky competitor is able to reproduce Bobby Fischer’s 1963-64 U.S. Championship performance of winning every game, they earn a bonus prize of $64,000. The top five players will also qualify to play in the World Championship cycle.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will host the U.S. Championship. In honor of this five-year anniversary, the 2013 U.S. Championship will be a 24-player Swiss, 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

Meet the Arbiters

Chief Arbiter: Franc Guadalupe, IA, NTD

Francisco (Franc) Guadalupe is a FIDE International Arbiter and USCF National Tournament Director. His experience is quite extensive in both scholastic and adult events. In the last few years, Franc has been the Chief TD for more National events than any other tournament director in the country.

He was the Chief TD for the 2006 US Junior Open, US Cadet and US Junior Championships; the 2008, 2009 and 2010 All Girls Nationals; the 2006 and 2007 National Grades (K-12) Championships; the 2006 Collegiate Final Four Championship; the 2008 National Youth Action; the 2008 National Junior High Championship; the 2010 National Elementary Championship; and in 2009 and 2013, he was the Chief TD of the premier scholastic event in the country, SuperNationals IV.

His experience at the National level in adult tournaments is also quite extensive: He was the Chief TD of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 US Class Championships; the 2008 Pan American Class Championships; and has also worked at several US Opens. He was also selected to be the Chief TD for the 2010 US Open. Franc was the Chief Arbiter of the 2008 WC Olympiad Selection for Nigeria, Zone 2. He served as the Assistant Arbiter for the 2006 US Championship in San Diego.

Franc is a member of the USCF Scholastic Committee and the Tournament Director Certification Committee. In 2009, he received the USCF Tournament Director of the Year award.

Franc is originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico and has a business degree from St. Leo University. He spent over 23 years in the U.S. Army and his wife Bonnie also served for 12 years. They have six children, the youngest two in college. One of his sons, Francisco II, is a chess master at University of Texas at Dallas where he studies Electrical Engineering. Franc’s son Jonathan is a combat medic serving a tour in Afghanistan. The Guadalupes reside in one of the suburbs of Houston, Texas.

Assistant Arbiter: Tony Rich, FA, IO, STD

Tony Rich is a FIDE Arbiter and International Organizer as well as a USCF Senior Tournament Director. Rich serves as the Executive Director of the Chess Club and Schoalstic Center of Saint Louis and was the assistant arbiter for the 2010 U.S. Championship. He has also been an assistant tournament director for the 2009 Supernationals, 2010 U.S. Open, 2010 Denker Tournament of High School Champions, 2010 Girls Junior Open 2010 College Tournament of Champions, and 2013 SuperNationals.

In addition, he is one of only 22 FIDE International Organizers in America. In this role he has successfully organized major events including four U.S. Championships, four U.S. Women’s Championships, three U.S. Junior Closed Championships, international matches and a variety of other high-level tournaments. In both 2009 and 2010 Rich was named the U.S. Chess Federation’s “Organizer of the Year” and was on the Barber Tournament of State K-8 Champions and the Denker Tournament of High School Champions organizing committees in 2011.

Tony has traveled extensively since 2008, serving as the head of delegation for the American teams at various events, including FIDE Olympiads, World Team Championships and the Pan American Team Championship. He is a member of the FIDE Swiss Pairing Program Commission, the FIDE Social Chess Commission and the USCF International Relations Committee. In addition, Tony also serves as an adjunct professor in the department of elementary education at the University of Missouri – Saint Louis.

Tony is originally from Saint Louis, Missouri and has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Missouri University of Science & Technology. He spent a number of years working in the IT industry before spearheading the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.