Press Release

Top Four American Grandmasters Will Compete For A $100,000 Prize Fund

Highest-Rated Women’s Tournament on American Soil Concludes with Hard-Fought Victory & $45,000 First Place Prize

SAINT LOUIS (September 6, 2019) – The second annual Champions Showdown Chess 9LX exhibition was held at the Saint Louis Chess Club from September 2-5. The exhibition featured four tremendous contests in Fischer Random chess spotlighting eight of the top chess players in the world, including legendary world champion Garry Kasparov and 2018 World Chess Championship contender Fabiano Caruana.

SAINT LOUIS, August XX, 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.

SAINT LOUIS (July 22, 2019) – The national junior and senior chess championships have concluded in Saint Louis, the nation’s Chess Capital, with 16-year-old Awonder Liang taking home the U.S. Junior Championship, another 16-year-old, Carissa Yip, winning the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and U.S. Chess Hall-of-Famer Alex Shabalov beating out a field that included four other hall-of-famers to be crowned the first-ever U.S. Senior Champion.

SAINT LOUIS (June 10, 2019) – This summer marks a hallmark first for 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. For the first time-ever, the U.S. Senior Championship - an invitation-only tournament for the top 10 players in the United States over 50 years old - will run simultaneously with the U.S. Junior and U.S. Girls’ Junior Championships from July 10-20, 2019.

SAINT LOUIS (April 2, 2019) – 24 of America’s best chess players gathered in Saint Louis, America’s Chess Capital, at the Saint Louis Chess Club for the 2019 U.S. & U.S. Women’s Chess Championships held from March 18–April 1, 2019. 17-year-old Jennifer Yu was crowned 2019 U.S. Women’s Champion with a round to spare, finishing with an incredible 10/11 score. Hikaru Nakamura claimed the 2019 U.S. Chess Championship, his fifth national title, with a victory in the final round to finish a half point ahead of super Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez.

SAINT LOUIS (March 5, 2019) – The Saint Louis Chess Club will once again host America’s best at the U.S. Chess Championship and U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. The fields are confirmed and fans are sure to see great battles on the chessboard March 18 through April 1, 2019.

SAINT LOUIS, MO, February 26, 2018 – Over five days of electric rapid and blitz chess play, ten kings showed their tenacity and fighting spirit, even in games after the matches were decided. During the event, each player faced the same opponent in head-to-head matches. In the end, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Veselin Topalov, and Richard Rapport won their matches against Pentala Harikrishna, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, David Navara, Leinier Dominguez, and Sam Shankland, respectively.