SAINT LOUIS, September 12, 2022 - The top international chess superstars are set to battle it out over the board from September 13-16 in Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX™, which will feature the world’s top grandmasters including legendary 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov, World Number 3, Ian Nepomniachtchi, World Number 4 and 2022 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup winner, and 2022 Grand Chess Tour champion, Alireza Firouzja and returning 2021 Chess9LX Champion, Leinier Dominguez. The ten grandmasters will be competing at the Saint Louis Chess Club from September 14 - September 16th in round robin format. The tournament will be played in Chess 960 style, also known as Fischer Random, with a $150,000 total prize fund.
Chess 960 is a variant of chess created by Bobby Fischer in the late 1990s in which the pieces on the home rank are randomized, with 960 representing the number of possible starting positions. Players will not know the order of the home rank pieces until they arrive before the start of each round and will have to rely on their creativity in a series of rapid games.
Kicking off the tournament will be the Ultimate Moves exhibition event on September 13th at 1:00pm CDT. Ultimate Moves is a casual team based event with Saint Louis Chess Club co-founder Rex Sinquefield playing on one team and John Beckstead, General Partner at Edward Jones playing on the competing team.
“We are thrilled to once again bring this fan-favorite tournament back to our global audience this September. Fans are sure to enjoy the fast-paced action and surprises that keep the world’s best players on their toes for this unique event,” said Tony Rich, Executive Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club.
| Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX Field | |
| Player | URS Rating |
| GM Hikaru Nakamura | 2809 |
| GM Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2784 |
| GM Wesley So | 2781 |
| GM Fabiano Caruana | 2774 |
| GM Alireza Firouzja | 2787 |
| GM Levon Aronian | 2765 |
| GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2747 |
| GM Leinier Dominguez | 2728 |
| GM Peter Svidler | 2714 |
| GM Garry Kasparov | 2619 |
Ratings as of September 2022
Games will start daily at 2:00pm CDT (GMT-5) from September 14-16 for Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX. The tournament will include expert commentary featuring GM’s Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila and WGM Anastasia Karlovich . Due to COVID-19 precautions there will be no live spectators allowed but fans can watch the action online at uschesschamps.com or on the Saint Louis Chess Club's YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.
About Chess 9LX
Chess 9LX is a trademark of the St. Louis Chess Club, and the name of one of its annual tournaments. All competitions in the Chess 9LX tournament are played in the Chess 960 or Fischer Random style. Players will not know the order of the home rank pieces until they arrive before the start of the round and will have to rely on their creativity in rapid and blitz games.
About the Saint Louis Chess Club
The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.
Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.
