US Championships to take place online in October

Five events, online

October 2020 will mark an extraordinary chapter in American chess history, as due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Saint Louis Chess Club will host the 2020 U.S. Chess Championships online for the first time. This unique combination of the five top national tournaments will showcase competitors that best represent the past, present, and future of American Chess.

Below you will find overviews of the five tournaments that will take place on October 9-29, including dates, formats, prize funds and participants. All rounds start at 1:00 PM local time (UTC-5).

US Girls’ Junior Championship

The 2020 US Girls’ Junior Championship is an elite national championship event, featuring 10 of the strongest female chess players in America under the age of 20. Over the course of 9 rounds, these competitors will battle for $10,300 in prize money and the title of 2020 US Girls' Junior Chess Champion.

• Dates: October 9-11
• Format: 10-player round robin
• Time control: G/25 + 5
• Prize fund: $10,300 with $3,000 reserved for first place

Participants

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1 and 2

These DVDs are about Understanding Middlegame Strategies. In the first DVD dynamic decisions involving pawns are discussed. The second DVD deals with decision making process concerning practical play.

1. IM Carissa Yip (2420)
2. IM Annie Wang (2384)
3. WGM Jennifer Yu (2315)
4. WIM Thalia Cervantes (2311)
5. WIM Emily Nguyen (2280)
6. WFM Martha Samadashvili (2215)
7. WCM Ruiyang Yan (2093)
8. WFM Sophie Morris-Suzuki (2043)
9. WIM Rochelle Wu (2029)
10. WCM Alice Lee (1967)

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US Junior Championship

The 2020 US Junior Championship is an elite national championship event, featuring 10 of the strongest chess players in America under the age of 20. Over the course of 9 rounds, these competitors will battle for $20,600 in prize money and the title of 2020 US Junior Chess Champion.

• Dates: October 13-15
• Format: 10-player round robin
• Time control: G/25 + 5
• Prize fund: $20,600 with $6,000 reserved for first place

Participants

1. GM Jeffery Xiong (2709)
2. GM Sam Sevian (2660)
3. GM John Burke (2538)
4. GM Nicolas Checa (2527)
5. GM Brandon Jacobson (2487)
6. IM Praveen Balakrishnan (2485)
7. IM Joshua Sheng (2474)
8. IM Christopher Yoo (2455)
9. IM Bryce Tiglon (2393)
10. FM Christopher Shen (2354)

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US Senior Championship

The 2020 US Senior Championship is an elite national championship event, featuring 10 of the strongest chess players in America over the age of 50. Over the course of 9 rounds, these competitors will battle for $50,000 in prize money and the title of 2020 US Senior Chess Champion.

• Dates: October 17-19
• Format: 10-player round robin
• Time control: G/25 + 5
• Prize fund: $50,000 with $12,000 reserved for first place

Participants

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

1. GM Larry Christiansen (2567)
2. GM Igor Novikov (2554)
3. GM Patrick Wolff (2552)
4. GM Gregory Kaidanov (2549)
5. GM Alexander Goldin (2542)
6. GM Alexander Shabalov (2528)
7. GM Joel Benjamin (2506)
8. GM Alex Yermolinsky (2486)
9. GM Dmitry Gurevich (2399)
10. FM Shelby Getz (2298)

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US Women’s Championship

The 2020 US Women’s Championship is an elite national championship event, featuring 12 of the strongest female chess players in America. Over the course of eleven rounds, these competitors will battle for $100,000 in prize money and the title of 2020 US Women’s Chess Champion.

• Dates: October 21-24
• Format: 12-player round robin
• Time control: G/25 + 5
• Prize fund: $100,000 with $25,000 reserved for first place

Participants

1. GM Irina Krush (2429)
2. IM Anna Zatonskih (2420)
3. IM Carissa Yip (2420)
4. IM Annie Wang (2384)
5. WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (2358)
6. WGM Jennifer Yu (2315)
7. WIM Thalia Cervantes (2311)
8. WIM Emily Nguyen (2280)
9. IM Dorsa Derakhshani (2270)
10. WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2244)
11. WGM Sabina Foisor (2228)
12. WFM Martha Samadashvili (2215) 

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US Championship

The 2020 US Championship is an elite national championship event, featuring 12 of the strongest chess players in America. Over the course of eleven rounds, these competitors will battle for $150,000 in prize money and the title of 2020 US Chess Champion.

• Dates: October 26-29
• Format: 12-player round robin
• Time control: G/25 + 5
• Prize fund: $150,000 with $40,000 reserved for first place

Participants

Opening package: 1.b3 and Black Secrets in the Modern Italian

Wesley So published two new opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Get them in a package and save money!

1. GM Wesley So (2770)
2. GM Leinier Dominguez (2758)
3. GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736)
4. GM Jeffery Xiong (2709)
5. GM Sam Shankland (2691)
6. GM Ray Robson (2673)
7. GM Sam Sevian (2660)
8. GM Dariusz Świercz (2649)
9. GM Alex Lenderman (2634)
10. GM Awonder Liang (2592)
11. GM Alejandro Ramirez (2567)
12. GM Elshan Moradiabadi (2555)

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Links

• Official site
• All reports on the 2019 US Championships