Saint Louis Chess Club to Host Champions Showdown Chess 9LX Exhibition matches feature eight chess champions including legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov and the top four U.S. players

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Rebecca Buffington
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Saint Louis Chess Club to Host Champions Showdown Chess 9LX

Exhibition matches feature eight chess champions including legendary World Champion Garry Kasparov and the top four U.S. players

SAINT LOUIS, August 19, 2019 – The Saint Louis Chess Club will bring eight of the top chess players in the world, including legendary world champion Garry Kasparov and 2018 World Chess Championship contender Fabiano Caruana, to play in the Champions Showdown this September 2-5. The matches will be played in Chess 960 style, also known as Fischer Random, with a $200,000 prize purse. The competition will include six rapid games and fourteen blitz games over the four days of play.

“Bringing Chess 9LX back to Saint Louis is another opportunity to build upon the incredible foundation of the sport’s resurgence in the world,” said Garry Kasparov.

Fischer Random 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 the round and will have to rely on their creativity in rapid and blitz games.

This year’s marquee matchup features the legendary Garry Kasparov facing off against last year’s challenger for the World Chess Championship and U.S. No. 1 Fabiano Caruana. Additional matches include Hikaru Nakamura, 2019 U.S. Chess Champion facing off against the 2019 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz winner, Levon Aronian; Wesley So, the 2016 Grand Chess Tour winner vs. former World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov and Leinier Dominguez, a recent Saint Louis transplant vs. eight-time Russian Champion, Peter Svidler.

Ratings as of August 2019

“The unknown setup of each day’s matches creates the most ‘think-on-your-feet’ environment within the realm of professional chess,” said Tony Rich, executive director of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “We’re likely to see these players implement unfamiliar strategies and test their abilities like never before. The nontraditional format of high-intensity rapid and blitz intervals is enough to draw in casual sports fans, because even on their best day, a legend can falter.”

Players will draw for position each day at 12 p.m. CT and have the opportunity to strategize and prepare amongst their peers with games beginning at 1 p.m. from September 2-5 at the Saint Louis Chess Club. All of the matches along with the player’s daily 1 hour preparation will be broadcast live on uschesschamps.com and the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube channel.

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.

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