Sports
National Chess Tournament Starts in St. Louis Soon
The U.S. and Women's Chess Championships and related events will take place from April 13 through April 28.
This weekend might be the best time to visit St. Louis' Central West End in April. Next week the area will likely be more crowded than usual when the nation’s brainiest event of the year takes place in St. Louis. For the third year in a row, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will host the U.S. and Women’s Chess Championships.
“We’ll be at the Missouri History Museum on April 14 kicking off the tournament with opening ceremonies,” said Tony Rich, executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center and one of the tournament’s arbiters. “There will be a cocktail hour, speeches and the drawing of the lots, which randomly selects which grandmasters play each other.”
Rich also mentioned that St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley is expected to speak at the opening ceremony. Elected officials such as Mayor Francis G. Slay and Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder have attended ceremonies in the past.
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“All of the players start on April 15, including 16-year-old Ray Robson, who holds the title for youngest grandmaster,” said Mike Wilmering, communications specialist for the Chess Club and Scholastic Center. “The U.S. Championship has a 16-player field, and the Women’s Championship, which exists mainly because women are now starting to play a more dominant role in the national chess world, has an eight-player field.”
Wilmering said that the prizes for these tournaments includes a prize fund of over $160,000 for the U.S. Championship and a separate prize fund of approximately $60,000 for the Women’s.
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The tournament’s matches will occur from April 15-27 with closing ceremonies at the Chase Park Plaza on April 28. All tournaments are open to the public. There is an admission fee for everyone except members of the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article provided the incorrect prize totals for the tournaments. This version provides the correct prize amounts. The earlier article also incorrectly stated free admission to the tournament games. The games are open to the public for a $10 fee per round. There are 11 rounds among the two tournaments. There was a miscommunication between the source and the writer. Our apologies.