For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Buffington
Marketing & Event Manager
(314)277-3930
rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
Saint Louis Chess Club To Host Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX
Tournament to Feature Ten of the World’s Best including Legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov and the top American Players
SAINT LOUIS, September 2, 2021 – The top international chess superstars are set to battle it out over the board from September 7-10 in Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX will feature the world’s top grandmasters including legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov, World Number 2 Fabiano Caruana, and the recent 2021 Grand Chess Tour winner, Wesley So. The ten grandmasters will be competing at the Saint Louis Chess Club from September 8 – September 10th in round robin format. The tournament will be played in Chess 9LX style, also known as Fischer Random, with a $150,000 total prize fund.
Chess 9LX is another term for Chess 960 or Fischer Random. Chess 9LX 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 they arrive before the start of each round and will have to rely on their creativity in a series of rapid and blitz games.
Kicking off the tournament will be the Ultimate Moves exhibition event on September 7th at 1:00pm CT. Ultimate Moves is a casual team based event with Saint Louis Chess Club co-founder Rex Sinquefield playing on one team and Saint Louis Chess Club board member, Mike Leuken playing on the competing team.
“We are thrilled to bring this fan favorite tournament to our global audience this September. Fans are sure to enjoy the fast-paced action and surprises that keeps the world’s best players on their toes for this unique event,” said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club.
| Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX Field | |
|---|---|
| Player | URS Rating |
| GM Hikaru Nakamura | 2803 |
| GM Wesley So | 2793 |
| GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2787 |
| GM Fabiano Caruana | 2784 |
| GM Levon Aronian | 2774 |
| GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2767 |
| GM Leinier Dominguez | 2750 |
| GM Peter Svidler | 2738 |
| GM Sam Shankland | 2698 |
| GM Garry Kasparov | 2542 |
Ratings as of September 2021
Games will start daily at 2:00pm CDT (GMT-5) from September 8-10 for Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX and from September 15-19 for Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz. The tournament will include expert commentary featuring GM’s Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramirez. Due to COVID-19 precautions there will be no live spectators allowed but fans can watch the action online at uschesschamps.com or on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s Youtube and Twitch.tv channels.
About Chess 9LX
Chess 9LX is a trademark of the St. Louis Chess Club, and the name of one of its annual tournaments. All competitions in the Chess 9LX tournament are played in the Chess 960 or Fischer Random style. Players will not know the order of the home rank pieces until they arrive before the start of the round and will have to rely on their creativity in rapid and blitz games.
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 saintlouischessclub.org
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