2015 U.S. Chess Championships (St. Louis, USA)

Weeks ago, we announced the coming of the 2015 U.S. Championship and the historic nature of this year’s edition. Headlined by two of the world’s top ten players, a mixture of veterans and several rising stars, it will prove to be perhaps the most anticipated championship in many years. While attention is aimed at Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So, Gata Kamsky is attempting to defend his title and notch his sixth victory. Such would tie Walter Browne and put him within striking distance of Bobby Fischer’s eight championships.

In the women’s field there are some new faces. Irina Krush will remain the top seed while defending her title and going for her seventh. She will meet resistance from mainstays Tatev Abrahamyan and 2005 champion, returnee Rusudan Goletiani and six-time participant Sabina Foisor. However, there are some not-so-familiar faces including Katerina Nemcova and debutantes Anna Sharevich and Nazi Paikidze, all of whom are attending universities in the U.S. New York attorney Alisa Melekhina will be looking for her breakthrough and Viktojia Ni will try to improve last year’s showing. The field gets even younger with three junior players in Apurva Virkud (16), Jennifer Yu (13) and Annie Wang (12).

GM Gata Kamsky and GM Irina Krush
Photo by Lennart Ootes.

Hikaru Nakamura will add a sense of intrigue in this year’s championship with Wesley So also trying to unseat Gata Kamsky. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

This is the 7th consecutive time that the championships will be hosted at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. The venue has become a national landmark and has become the “Mecca” of chess in the U.S. hosting high profile events such as the Sinquefield Cup after founder, Rex Sinquefield. His vision and the housing of the U.S. and World Chess Hall of Fame cements the city’s status a catalyst for chess promotion and development.

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. There will also be guest appearances by other chess personalities. There are also going to be all types of prizes given away in a number of contests! The Chess Drum will be providing live coverage and hopes to be onsite for the finale. Follow the action!!

Official Site: https://www.uschesschamps.com/
Livestream: https://new.livestream.com/ccscsl/USChessChampionships
Chess24.com: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/us-championship-2015#live

2015 U.S. Chess Championship Chess Club & Scholastic Center of St. Louis
U.S. Overall (by USCF Rating)
#	Name	Title	Rating	Residence
1	Nakamura, Hikaru	GM	2865	St. Louis, Missouri
2	So, Wesley	GM	2834	Minnetonka, Minnesota
3	Robson, Ray	GM	2770	St. Louis, Missouri
4	Kamsky, Gata	GM	2748	Brooklyn, New York
5	Onischuk, Alex	GM	2740	Lubbock, Texas
6	Naroditsky, Daniel	GM	2737	Foster City, California
7	Shankland, Sam	GM	2735	Orinda, California
8	Akobian, Varuzhan	GM	2713	North Hollywood, California
9	Gareev, Timur	GM	2698	Las Vegas, Nevada
10	Troff, Kayden	GM	2662	West Jordan, Utah
11	Sevian, Samuel	GM	2645	Boston, Massachussetts
12	Holt, Conrad	GM	2632	Wichita, Kansas
U.S. Women (by USCF Rating)
1	Krush, Irina	GM	2516	Brooklyn, New York
2	Abrahamyan, Tatev	WGM	2459	Glendale, California
3	Sharevich, Anna	WGM	2388	St. Louis, Missouri
4	Foisor, Sabina	WGM	2371	Lubbock, Texas
5	Nemcova, Katerina	WGM	2356	St. Louis, Missouri
6	Paikidze, Naik	IM	2342	Baltimore, Maryland
7	Melekhina, Alisa	FM	2320	New York, New York
8	Goletiani, Rusudan	WGM	2312	Hartsdale, New York
9	Ni, Viktorija	WIM	2300	Barrington, Illinois
10	Wang, Annie	WIM	2266	La Canada, California
11	Virkud, Apurva	NM	2260	Troy, Michigan
12	Yu, Jennifer	WFM	2227	Ashburn, Virginia
Francisco Guadeloupe, Arbiter