2023 Saint Louis Super Swiss Recap
By IM Kostya Kavutskiy
Last month I participated in the first ever Saint Louis Super Swiss, an incredibly strong open tournament hosted at Saint Louis University from March 12-16th featuring both local and national talent. The turnout was stacked with titled players, with 16 grandmasters in a densely packed field of just 40 competitors. This was largely thanks to local students participating from Saint Louis University, Webster University, and The University of Missouri.
IM Kostya Kavutskiy | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
Scoring 6.5/9 and winning clear first place was GM Brandon Jacobson, who won his final two games against GMs Bruzon and Quesada to finish a half-point ahead of several players. Tying for second place were GM’s Christopher Yoo, Nikolas Theodorou, Harshit Raja, and Mikhail Antipov, each with 6.0/9.
GM Brandon Jacobson | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
My own result was quite decent, as I finished with 5.0/9 and a FIDE performance rating of 2470. Obviously short of the 2600 performance needed for a GM norm, but these days any rating gain is very much appreciated! I started off with a win against NM Ralph Tan and then a draw with White against GM Nikolas Theodorou. Then in Round 3, I unfortunately lost to the eventual tournament winner, GM Brandon Jacobson. Moving on through the event, I won games against WGM’s Annamaria Marjanovic and Thalia Cervantes while losing to GM Harshit Raja.
Finally I broke the Swiss rollercoaster with a win over GM Balaji Daggupati in Round 7 but then continued the tournament with a loss to GM Yasser Quesada Perez in Round 8 before finishing the event with a difficult and lengthy draw against my former coach, local GM Varuzhan Akobian. My experience overall was quite enjoyable. The Saint Louis Super Swiss was a great event highlighting the serious depth of Missouri’s chess scene. Hopefully it is the start of many more super swisses to come. Everyone loves a strong tournament, but there’s nothing better than a strong tournament in your own backyard!
More photos from the event:
GM Dariusz Swiercz | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Austin & Crystal Fuller
GM Christopher Yoo | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
GM Vasif Durarbayli | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Austin & Crystal Fuller
GM Yasser Quesada Perez | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
GM Nikolas Theodorou | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
GM Harshit Raja | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Austin & Crystal Fuller
GM Elshan Moradiabadi | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Austin & Crystal Fuller
GM Denes Boros | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
IM Irene Sukandar | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
WGM Alice Lee, who two weeks later finished 2nd in the 2023 American Women’s Cup. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
WGM Thalia Cervantes | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
WGM Gabriela Antova | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
NM Caleb Denby | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
