2014 U.S. Chess Championships (St. Louis, USA)

This year’s U.S. Championship brings yet another format from the previous editions. Instead of the 24-player former, the open field will have a 12-player format and be fixed as a round robin tournament. The women’s championship will maintain the 10-player round robin format. Defending champions are Gata Kamsky and Irina Krush, the latter having earned the GM title since last year.

Reigning Champions: GMs Gata Kamsky and Irina Krush
Photo by CCSCSL.

While Kamsky will not have Hikaru Nakamura trying to wrest away the crown, Timur Gareev may provide a challenge as well as Ray Robson, Aleksandr Lenderman and last year’s surprising runner-up, Alejandro Ramirez. Eighteen-year old Daniel Naroditsky is the player looking to make a break-out this year. With this in mind, the field is much younger than previous editions with no one over age 40 competing.

In the women’s competition, the most of the same faces are present except for 13-year old Ashritha Eswaran. Standing out with her trademark flower in her hair, the young player of Indian ancestry is a member of the U.S. World Youth Team and received the invitation by virtue of winning the All-Girls National Championship. Of course five-time champion Irina Krush will be face with the usual resistance from Anna Zatonskih. Both have won the last nine titles, but players like and Tatev Abrahamyan and Dr. Iryna Zenyuk look to provide some pressure.

This is the 6th consecutive time that the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis has hosted this prestigious event. The venue is stunningly beautiful and an appropriate conditions for the national championship. Rex Sinquefield has created what is arguably the centerpiece of American chess and is attracting international acclaim.

The tournament will feature live streaming with commentary being done by GM Yasser Seirawan and WGM Jennifer Shahade with GM Maurice Ashley also providing color commentary and onsite interviews. The Chess Drum will be onsite for live coverage beginning May 8th. Follow the action!!

Live Games: https://www.uschesschamps.com/

2013 U.S. Chess Championship Chess Club & Scholastic Center of St. Louis
U.S. Overall (by USCF Rating)
#	Name	Title	Rating	Residence
1	Kamsky, Gata	GM	2778	Brooklyn, New York
2	Gareev, Timur	GM	2751	Brownsville, Texas
3	Onischuk, Alex	GM	2751	Lubbock, Texas
4	Akobian, Varuzhan	GM	2732	Topeka, Kansas
5	Erenburg, Sergey	GM	2717	Richmond, Virginia
6	Robson, Ray	GM	2714	St. Louis, Missouri
7	Shankland, Sam	GM	2612	Orinda, California
8	Lenderman, Aleks	GM	2693	New York City, New York
9	Ramirez, Alejandro	GM	2551	Dallas, Texas
10	Molner, Mackenzie	GM	2634	Tucson, Arizona
11	Naroditsky, Daniel	GM	2632	Foster City, California
12	Friedel, Josh	GM	2599	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
U.S. Women (by USCF Rating)
1	Krush, Irina	GM	2548	New York City, New York
2	Zatonskih, Anna	IM	2526	Germany
3	Abrahamyan, Tatev	WGM	2475	Glendale, California
4	Baginskaite, Camilla	WGM	2358	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
5	Zenyuk, Irina	WIM	2352	Berkeley, California
6	Foisor, Sabina	WGM	2303	Baltimore, Maryland
7	Ni, Viktorija	WIM	2302	Barrington, Illinois
6	Nemcova, Katerina	WGM	2297	Brownsville, Texas
9	Melekhina, Alisa	FM	2251	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10	Eswaran, Ashritha	NM	2231	San Jose, California
Francisco Guadeloupe, Arbiter