6/12/2023 – Anna Zatonskih beat Zhansaya Abdumalik in round 8 of the Cairns Cup to claim tournament victory with one round to spare. Alexandra Kosteniuk’s win over Bella Khotenashvili helped Zatonskih to grab clear first place. Remarkably, the tournament champion was the lowest-rated player in Saint Louis. Zatonskih is set to face Irina Krush in Monday’s final round. | Photo: Bryan Adams

6/10/2023 – In the sixth round of the Cairns Cup played on Friday, Anna Zatonskih won her game with black against Gunay Mammadzada and now stands alone at the top of the standings with a 4½/6 score. Elisabeth Paehtz is in second place after beating Nana Dzagnidze with white to reach a 3½/6 score. Zatonskih’s lead is not quite so clear, however, if you consider that the table is somewhat ‘skewed’ after Humpy Koneru withdrew due to health issues. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

3/30/2019 – Only three out of twelve games finished drawn in Friday's ninth round at the US Championships in Saint Louis. In the Open, those on top maintained their winning ways, with Hikaru Nakamura and Leinier Dominguez still sharing the lead. Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So also won and are the only ones with realistic chances of leaping to the front in the final sprint. In the Women's, Anna Zatonskih is a half point behind her round ten rival, Jennifer Yu. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/29/2019 – Leinier Dominguez, playing in his first U.S. Championship, is now co-leader with Hikaru Nakamura. He took a small endgame plus and converted it to a full point against Sam Sevian in round eight. Nakamura and Dominguez are scheduled to play in Saturday's tenth round. Fabiano Caruana remains a half point back. In the Women's tournament Jennifer Yu extends to her lead to a full point after winning her third game in a row. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/28/2019 – All four decisive results of round seven had a direct impact on the top of the standings at the US Championship. Wins by Fabiano Caruana, Leinier Dominguez and Sam Sevian allowed them to remain half a point behind sole leader Hikaru Nakamura, who also won on Wednesday. Meanwhile, among the women, for a second day in a row Jennifer Yu survived a losing position and went on to win to stay on top with 6½ out of 7. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/24/2019 – Round four of the US Championships was filled with peculiar episodes that made for an incredible day of chess in Saint Louis. Ray Robson took down sole leader Jeffery Xiong with the black pieces, while Fabiano Caruana and Sam Sevian were not able to make the most of completely winning positions against Leinier Dominguez and Timur Gareyev. In the women's section, Jennifer Yu remains perfect after her opponent blundered on move ten. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/23/2019 – The main attraction of the third round was Jeffery Xiong's win over defending champion Sam Shankland at the US Championships in Saint Louis. The 18-year-old not only claimed a big scalp but also got his name on top of the standings after a dream start. Hikaru Nakamura and Leinier Dominguez also won and are now a half point behind him, together with Wesley So. In the Women's, Jennifer Yu took down Irina Krush to keep a perfect score. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

3/19/2019 – The U.S. Chess Championship and U.S. Women's Chess Championship will take place for an eleventh time at the Saint Louis Chess Club starting on Wednesday. The opening ceremony was held on Monday March 18th. Two concurrent twelve-player round robin events will determine the new chess champions of the United States. The open section has a stellar line-up, with five 2700+ players for the first time in the national tournament, as Leinier Dominguez will make his debut as an American representative. Fabiano Caruana (pictured) is the top seed. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

2/16/2019 – The critical game of the Cairns Cup finished drawn, but only after both players missed chances to get ahead. Nonetheless, a half point was all that Valentina Gunina needed to win the tournament and take home $40,000, while Alexandra Kosteniuk's performance was not too shabby either, as she got over thirteen rating points with her 6½/9 score. Irina Krush bounced back after two losses and defeated Harika Dronavalli to finish in sole third place. | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

2/9/2019 – The only clash of co-leaders in round three of the Cairns Cup favoured Alexandra Kosteniuk, who defeated Zhansaya Abdumalik with the black pieces to grab the sole lead in the standings. Anna Zatonskih and Nana Dzagnidze won with White and bounced back to 50% after, coincidentally, both having lost their inaugural games in Saint Louis. The other two games finished peacefully rather quickly. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

2/7/2019 – Over the past decade, the Saint Louis Chess Club has expanded its roster of events from US-centric tournaments for top players, to the international elite, junior tournaments, norm tournament, and now, with the Cairns Cup, a new initiative to support women and girls. The instigators, Rex Sinquefield and Dr Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield welcomed ten of the world's best women chess players to the "chess capital of the USA". | Photo: Austin Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

4/18/2018 – Today the U.S. Championships start in Saint Louis, Missouri. The open and the women's championships will once again be held in parallel. The first prize in the Open Tournament is $50,000, with $25,000 for the winner of the U.S. Women's Championship. Wesley So is the defending champ, but both U.S. number one Fabiano Caruana and former U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura are also playing. All the key details... | Photos: CCSCSL