Nation’s Chess Capital Welcomes 2015 U.S. Chess Championships
SAINT LOUIS, March 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — For the seventh consecutive year, the nation’s top 24 chess players will gather in Saint Louis to compete for the titles of U.S. Champion and U.S. Women’s Champion.
The 2015 U.S. Chess Championships, boasting the strongest fields of American men and women ever assembled, will be held simultaneously at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) from March 31 through April 14.
The U.S. Championship features a headline clash between the nation’s top-two players: Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, the longtime top American player and current world No. 3; and GM Wesley So (former student at Webster University), America’s most-recent high-profile transfer who is currently ranked No. 8 in the world. Beyond the two global elite, half of this year’s national championship field are players currently ranked in the top 100 of the world, including reigning U.S. Champion GM Gata Kamsky and 2014 Olympiad gold-medalist GM Sam Shankland.
The 2015 U.S. Women’s Championship will feature six-time U.S. Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush who seeks to maintain her iron grip over an up-and-coming field of American females, including 12-year-old WIM Annie Wang, who recently broke Krush’s record as the nation’s youngest female master, and the reigning U12 World Junior Champion gold-medalist, WFM Jennifer Yu.
“We’re excited to assemble America’s best chess players for this highest-rated tournament in the history of our national championship,” said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the CCSCSL. “These players represent an outstanding cross-section of the current state of U.S. chess, creating what is certain to be a fierce competition for our nation’s highest title.”