[imagefield_assist|fid=1249|preset=frontpage_200x200|title=|desc=|link=none|origsize=|align=left|width=200|height=200]ST. LOUIS - The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will host the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship, which will feature 24 of the best players in the country. Nine of the 24 spots have already been filled, which leaves 15 invitations still to be determined.
Tournament play will take place April 23 to May 6, with the competitors vying for more than $130,000 in prize money.
The 24 invited players will include:
• 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 Chess Championship - GM-elect Ray Robson
• The winner of the 2010 ICC State Champion of Champions - TBD
• The 2009 U.S. Women's Champion - IM Anna Zatonskih
• The top five finishers of the 2009 U.S. Open Championship - GM-elect Alex Lenderman, GMs Sergey Kudrin, Alex Yermolinsky, Dmitry Gurevich, and Jesse Kraai
• The top 10 U.S. players by rating of the United States Chess Federation - TBD
• Four wildcard spots - TBD
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center also hosted the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship in May and the 2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship in October.
"It was our privilege to host the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship, and we're honored to be chosen again," said Tony Rich, executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
The top 10 U.S. players will be determined by the rankings in the February supplement of the USCF rating system. The ICC State Champion of Champions will be determined through an online tournament that will pit state champions against one another. The ICC State Champion of Champions tournament will take place in March 2010.
