Saint Louis Chess Club to Host Legends and Rising Stars of American Chess during 2024 U.S. Senior, Junior and Junior Girls’ Championships

Top American junior and senior chess players will return to America’s Chess Capital in Saint Louis to compete in the 2024 U.S. Senior, Junior and Junior Girls’ Championships. Hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club at the World Chess Hall of Fame from July 16-26, the top 10 players across three divisions - juniors, junior girls and seniors, will compete for more than $135,000 in prizes - the largest purse of all time for these events.

“We are excited to once again kick off this summer’s national championships by bringing together the top chess players from across the United States,” said Tony Rich, Technical Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “The U.S. Junior, U.S. Junior Girls’ and U.S. Senior Championships are one of our favorite trio of events we host because you can see a spectacular demonstration of chess from both proven legends of the sport and tomorrow’s superstars.”

The three 10-player fields will tie together chess past and future for a celebration of the best of chess.

U.S. Junior Championship

The U.S. Junior Championship will feature a field of new and returning prodigies. Headlining players include 2022 U.S. Junior Champion Grandmaster (GM) Christopher Yoo, as well as teenage GMs Andrew Hong and Arthur Guo, as well as International Master (IM) Andy Woodward who at just 14 years of age has completed the requirements to become a GM and should have that title confirmed soon.

With five of the players currently ranked within the top 50 juniors in the world, this year's U.S. Junior Championship will feature some of the most talented and brightest young minds in the game.

Along with winning the title, players will be competing to win a piece of the more than $40,000 prize fund and the coveted invitation to the U.S. Championship later this year.

2024 U.S. Junior Championship Field

Name

Qualification

Method

Invitational

Rating

Hometown

GM Christopher Yoo (17 yo)

Rating

2679

Dublin, CA

GM Andrew Hong (19 yo)

Rating

2642

Saratoga, CA

GM Arthur Guo (17 yo)

2023 Denker Champion

2611

Alpharetta, GA

IM Justin Wang (18 yo)

Rating

2602

Katy, TX

IM Andy Woodward (14 yo)

Rating

2600

McKinney, TX

GM Balaji Daggupati (18 yo)

Rating

2576

San Ramon, CA

IM Jason Wang (17 yo)

Rating

2570

Potsdam, NY

IM Jason Liang (16 yo)

Rating

2563

Potsdam, NY

IM Brewington Hardaway (14 yo)

Wildcard

2524

Bronx, NY

NM Nicholas Ladan (19 yo)

U.S. Junior Open Champion

2327

Chicago, IL

U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship

The future of women’s chess in America is bright and will be on full display during the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship.

This tournament features one of America’s most promising rising stars International Master (IM) Alice Lee, who is the youngest female player in American history to earn the title of IM and the returning U.S. Junior Girls’ Champion. Lee is expected to face tough competition in returning FIDE Masters (FMs) Zoey Tang and Rose Atwell, both ranked within the top 30 girls in the world, as well as young rising star, Woman's FIDE Master (WFM) Megan Paragua, who at 11 years old is the youngest player in this year's events.

Along with winning the title, players will be up for the chance to win a piece of the more than $20,000 prize fund and an invitation to the U.S. Women’s Championship to be held later this year.

2024 U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship Field

Name

Qualification

Method

Invitational

Rating

Hometown

IM Alice Lee (14 yo)

2023 U.S. Junior Girls’ Champion

2435

North Oaks, MN

FM Zoey Tang (15 yo)

Rating

2358

Portland, OR

WIM Iris Mou (14 yo)

Rating

2314

New York, NY

FM Rose Atwell (14 yo)

Rating

2282

Valencia, CA

WFM Rachael Li (13 yo)

Rating

2288

Plano, TX

NM Jasmine Su (13 yo)

Rating

2241

Darian, CT

WFM Yassamin Ehsani (19 yo)

Rating

2227

New York, NY

WFM Megan Paragua (11 yo)

Rating

2203

Elmhurst, NY

WIM Omya Vidyarthi (13 yo)

Rating

2183

Campbell, CA

WFM Chloe Gaw (14 yo)

Wildcard

2159

New York, NY

U.S. Senior Championship

Created by the Saint Louis Chess Club six years ago, the U.S. Senior Championship will again be held alongside the country’s junior national chess championships, where they will compete for a $75,000 prize fund. The 2024 field boasts legendary chess players, including every winner of the tournament since its inception including GM Melik Khachiyan (2023) GM Alex Shabalov (2019, 2022), GM Gregory Kaidanov (2021) and GM Joel Benjamin (2020).

2024 U.S. Senior Championship Field

Name

Qualification

Method

Invitational

Rating

Hometown

GM Vladimir Akopian

Rating

2628

Glendale, CA

GM Gregory Kaidanov

Rating

2592

Lexington, KY

GM Larry Christiansen

Rating

2585

Cambridge, MA

GM Melik Khachiyan

2023 U.S. Senior Champion

2479

Glendale, CA

GM Jesse Kraai

U.S. Senior Open Champion

2419

Berkeley, CA

GM Joel Benjamin

Rating

2536

Waldwick, NJ

GM Igor Novikov

Rating

2531

Lexington, KY

GM Alex Shabalov

Rating

2502

Pittsburgh, PA

IM Douglas Root

Rating

2487

Denton, TX

GM Julio Becerra

Wildcard

2462

Miami, FL

The expert commentary team of GMs Yasser Seirawan and Cristian Chirila and IM Nazi Paikidze will call the action live and provide game analysis daily online starting at 1:20 p.m. CT on www.uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.

In addition, the tournament games on July 20 will be counted as part of a global Guiness World Record Attempt by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the most chess games played in a 24 hour period. The world record attempt is being held in celebration of International Chess Day and FIDE’s 100th anniversary. For more information, visit https://100.fide.com/gwr.

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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