Fabiano Caruana and Carissa Yip are in place to defend their titles at the US Championship and the US Women’s Championship respectively, both of which began on Friday last at the World Chess Hall of Fame in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA and will end on October 24.
According to a press release from the host, Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC), the 2024 US Chess Championship and the 2024 US Women’s Chess Championship are America’s most prestigious events. Apart from Caruana, the 12-man lineup in the open category includes such players as Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian and Hans Niemann. Meanwhile, the women’s category also of 12 players includes Irina Krush and the up and coming Alice Lee. The total purse is over US$400,000, the release said.
It quoted Technical Director of the STLCC Tony Rich as saying, “The US Championship and US Women’s Championship are a testament to the incredible depth and talent of American chess – featuring nearly all of our country’s top players, including six graduates of the Kasparov Chess Foundation’s Young Stars programme.”
The release noted that the US Championship shifted from match play to a tournament format in 1936, paving the way for a new era in American chess. Past champions include luminaries of the game, including Bobby Fischer, Yasser Seirawan, and Hikaru Nakamura. The STLCC hosted its first US Championship and US Women’s Championship in 2009 and has since awarded more than $4 million in prizes.
The release said both championships consist of 11 rounds of classical chess in a round-robin format.