[imagefield_assist|fid=17388|preset=fullsize|lightbox=true|title=Gata Kamsky, center, is honored by Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield for his first-place finish at the 2013 U.S. Championship.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=940|height=320]
By GM Alejandro Ramirez
Being a resident grandmaster here at the Saint Louis Chess Club is always a true pleasure. The experienced staff, the beautiful facilities and the many opportunities provided to players of all experience levels is truly staggering. The club has had some recent, noticeable changes. First of all the new schedule is awesome, and it is far easier for everyone to remember when the club is open (10 a.m. - 10 p.m., seven days a week!)
Saint Louis is preparing itself for the crown jewel of American chess; the U.S. Chess Championship (May 7-20). The field has been recently finalized in the Championship while the Women's final wildcard invitation has been recently sent out. It is impossible to say that the absence of America's No. 1, Hikaru Nakamura, is good for the tournament, but it will make it more interesting for the rest of us.
Defending Champion Gata Kamsky will be the top-seeded player at the event, and certainly the man to beat, but his dominance is in serious danger. Both Alex Onischuk and Timur Gareev have solidly kept their FIDE Elo over 2650, making them top grandmasters in the world, while everyone else has seen a significant upswing over the last year.
Sergey Erenburg is the new face of the event, having only recently switched to the American federation. Being the only player that is not a chess professional or a student, it will be interesting to see if he is able to keep up with the rest of the players despite his lack of practice. His result in last year's North American Open suggest that he is up to the task, but will he find the time to prepare adequately this year?
Ray Robson has had an excellent year, destroying Volokitin in the first round of the World Cup and having a solid World Team Championship. He can definitely win the event this year; his training with fellow grandmasters from Webster might be that decisive edge he needs. Varuzhan Akobian has just reached his new high of 2643 FIDE after a fantastic tournament in Dallas and has some clear ambitions to earn his first U.S. Championship title.
Both Sam Shankland and Alex Lenderman have turned around dubious starts to the year in 2013 to regain their positions as top grandmasters in the country. Shankland is at his all-time high rating and Lenderman's own results have him skyrocketing; just see his performance in the recent Gibraltar Open.
The wildcard, Mackenzie Molner, is an interesting player. He has nowhere near the experience of the other players, but he has the motivation of having recently received his grandmaster title and he will come for blood in his first U.S. Championship.
Youngster Daniel Naroditsky is a particularly difficult player to pinpoint. With his young age it is unclear if he will have a difficult time with his lack of experience and insufficient number of round-robin events, or if he will crash through and tear the field with his creativity and energy.
Josh Friedel earned his qualification at the U.S. Open and has had a fabulous year, winning not only that but the strong Chicago Open, along with Robson and Mitkov. Friedel has an enormous amount of knowledge and don't be surprised if he manages to outprepare an opponent or two... or ten.
Finally I personally have had a good year, breaking the 2600 mark for the first time in my career and having overall good results. However, I will have to do better than I have in the past few months if I want to repeat my result from last year.
The truth is that the tournament can be won by anyone. Don't believe me? Ask Anand and his performance in the recent Candidates Tournament where he crushed the field and won the event a full round in advance. Had you bet on him before the tournament you would be a millionaire now, as no one thought he had the slightest chance of winning after being relatively whitewashed by Carlsen in their World Championship match and having subpar performances in the tournaments since. But, he turned it all around, and the underdog is now the Challenger to the World Championship. Predicting the results of this year's U.S. Championship is going to be harder than ever, and surely Anand's result will serve as inspiration to many players to step up and take the first prize for themselves.
