The 24 invited players include (click here to see a list of player bios):
- The defending U.S. Champion – GM Hikaru Nakamura
- The winner of the 2009 U.S. Senior Open Championship – GM Larry Christiansen
- The winner of the 2009 U.S. Junior Championship – GM Ray Robson
- The top five qualifiers from the 2009 U.S. Open Championship – GM Alex Lenderman, GMs Sergey Kudrin, Alex Yermolinsky, Dmitry Gurevich, and Jesse Kraai
- The winner of the 2010 ICC State Champion of Champions – IM Levon Altounian
- The top 11 U.S. players by rating of the United States Chess Federation:
- GM Gata Kamsky
- GM Alexander Onischuk
- GM Varuzhan Akobian
- GM Yury Shulman
- GM Jaan Ehlvest
- GM Alexander Shabalov
- GM Gregory Kaidanov
- GM Robert Hess
- GM Melikset Khachiyan
- GM Joel Benjamin
- GM Ben Finegold
- Four wildcard spots:
- GM Alexander Stripunsky
- GM Vinay Bhat
- IM Sam Shankland
- IM Irina Krush
Prize Fund
| 1st Place | $35,000 | 13th Place | $4,400 |
| 2nd Place | $20,000 | 14th Place | $4,200 |
| 3rd Place | $15,000 | 15th Place | $4,000 |
| 4th Place | $10,000 | 16th Place | $3,800 |
| 5th Place | $10,000 | 17th Place | $3,700 |
| 6th Place | $7,500 | 18th Place | $3,600 |
| 7th Place | $6,600 | 19th Place | $3,500 |
| 8th Place | $6,000 | 20th Place | $3,400 |
| 9th Place | $5,400 | 21st Place | $3,300 |
| 10th Place | $5,000 | 22nd Place | $3,200 |
| 11th Place | $4,800 | 23rd Place | $3,100 |
| 12th Place | $4,600 | 24th Place | $3,000 |
http://saintlouischessclub.org/
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Not enough excitement.
A strong and worthy field. Much better than when they had non-titled, non-masters in the championship.