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Rebecca Buffington
Marketing & Event Manager
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rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org
Saint Louis Chess Club to Host Legends and Prodigies of American Chess
2021 U.S. Junior, Girls’ Junior, and Senior Championships will return to an over-the board event in Saint Louis from July 15-July 26, 2021
SAINT LOUIS (Wednesday, June 30) – This July marks the return to over-the-board chess play in Saint Louis, America’s Chess Capital, as the Saint Louis Chess Club will host national championships showcasing the best of American junior and senior chess. From July 15 – July 26, 2021, the top 10 junior players, top 10 girls’ junior players, and the top 10 players over 50 years old will participate in the invitation-only, 2021 U.S. Juniors and U.S. Senior Chess Championship.
“We are excited to kick off this summer’s over the board events with these three unique tournaments,” said Executive Director, Tony Rich. “Over the past 12 years, we’ve been proud to host the future of chess annually with the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championships and for the third consecutive year we will feature the legends of chess with our U.S. Senior Championship.”
The three 10-player fields in the coming championships will tie together chess past and future for a celebration of the best of chess. Please see below for notable storylines on the U.S. Junior Championship and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, as well as the U.S. Senior Championship:
U.S. Junior Championship:
All eyes will be on 20 year-old Grandmaster John Burke, who will be returning to defend his 2020 U.S. Junior title. Additional headlining players in the field include GM Nicolas Checa, GM Hans Niemann, and GM Brandon Jacobson, whose electric strategies and tactics put them among the brightest young minds in the game. Along with winning the title, players will be competing to win a piece of the more than $20,000 prize fund Additionally, the winners of the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior each will be awarded a $6,000 scholarship, jointly supported by US Chess and Dewain Barber.
U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship:
The future of women’s chess in America is bright and will be on full display during the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship that will feature a field of new rising stars as 2020 US Girls’ Junior Champion IM Carissa Yip will not return to reclaim her title. Other headlining players returning to compete again this year include IM Annie Wang, WIM Rochelle Wu, and WIM Thalia Cervantes, each considered to be among the top U.S. girls and women chess players. Along with winning the title, players will be up for the chance to win a piece of the more than $10,000 prize fund. Additionally, the winners of the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior each will be awarded a $6,000 scholarship, jointly supported by US Chess and Dewain Barber.
U.S. Senior Championship:
For the third consecutive year, the U.S. Senior Championship will be held alongside the country’s other national chess championships. The 2021 field boasts legendary chess players, including five U.S. Chess Hall of Fame inductees: GM Joel Benjamin, the 2020 U.S. Senior Champion, GM Alex Shabalov, the 2019 U.S. Senior Champion, GM Larry Christiansen, GM Gregory Kaidanov, and GM Alex Yermolinsky.
For this year’s event the commentary team will also be joined by Sharon Carpenter, an award-winning broadcast journalist, TV presenter and producer. Carpenter has worked on-air for some of the best known networks in the U.S. including BBC America, CBS, BET, VH1, and REVOLT TV covering the gamut from hard news to pop culture.
Covering all the action with Sharon Carpenter will be the expert commentary team of GM’s Yasser Seirawan and Cristian Chirila. The team will be providing game analysis daily from July 16th – July 26th via an online broadcast stream starting at 3:00 p.m. central time.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, spectators will not be allowed for this tournament but fans can watch all the action live on www.uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.
|
2021 U.S. Junior Championship Field |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Name |
Invitational Rating* |
Qualification |
Hometown |
|
GM Nicolas Checa |
2648 |
2020 Denker High School Tournament of Champions |
Dobbs Ferry, NY |
|
GM John Michael Burke |
2618 |
2020 U.S Junior Champion |
Brick, NJ |
|
GM Praveen Balakrishnan |
2605 |
Rating |
Centreville VA |
|
GM Hans Niemann |
2599 |
Rating |
Weston, CT |
|
GM Brandon Jacobson |
2572 |
Rating |
Westfield, NJ |
|
IM David Brodsky |
2564 |
Rating |
Cortlandt Manor, NY |
|
IM Andrew Hong |
2543 |
Rating |
Saratoga, CA |
|
IM Christopher Yoo |
2540 |
Rating |
Dublin, CA |
|
IM Justin Wang |
2540 |
Rating |
Katy, TX |
|
IM Ben Li |
2477 |
Wildcard |
Troy, MI |
|
2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship Field |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Name |
Invitational Rating* |
Qualification |
Hometown |
|
IM Annie Wang |
2457 |
2020 Haring Champion |
La Canada, CA |
|
WIM Thalia Cervantes |
2346 |
Rating |
St. Louis, MO |
|
WFM Martha Samadashvili |
2340 |
Rating |
Albany, NY |
|
WIM Rochelle Wu |
2274 |
Rating |
Davis, CA |
|
WFM Sophie Morris-Suzuki |
2244 |
Rating |
Waccabuc, NY |
|
WCM Ruiyang Yan |
2242 |
Rating |
Mountain View CA |
|
WCM Sheen Zeng |
2201 |
Rating |
Hays, KS |
|
WCM Alice Lee |
2200 |
Rating |
North Oaks, MN |
|
Susanna Ulrich |
2193 |
Wildcard |
Appleton, WI |
|
WFM Sanjana Vittal |
2182 |
Rating |
East Windsor, NJ |
|
2021 U.S. Senior Championship Field |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Name |
Invitational Rating* |
Qualification |
Hometown |
|
GM Larry Christiansen** |
2634 |
Rating |
Cambridge, MA |
|
GM Alex Shabalov** |
2629 |
Rating |
Pittsburgh, PA |
|
GM Gregory Kaidanov** |
2626 |
Rating |
Lexington, KY |
|
GM Igor Novikov |
2623 |
Rating |
Lexington, KY |
|
GM Joel Benjamin** |
2586 |
2020 U.S. Senior Champion |
Waldwick, NJ |
|
GM Alex Yermolinsky** |
2560 |
Rating |
Sioux Falls, SD |
|
IM Leonid Sokolin |
2547 |
Rating |
Westfield, NJ |
|
GM Melikset Khachiyan |
2544 |
Rating |
Glendale,CA |
|
GM Alex Fishbein |
2495 |
2020 National Senior ToC |
Summit, NJ |
|
GM James Tarjan |
2425 |
Wildcard |
Portland, OR |
* Invitational ratings are calculated and certified by US Chess.
** Denotes U.S. Chess Hall of Fame members playing in the 2021 U.S. Senior Championship at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
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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