Dariusz Swiercz

Dariusz Swiercz, who was a regular participant in the U.S. Championship from 2020 to 2023, but failed to qualify last year, is back again. He earned his spot by winning the 2025 U.S. Open Championship this summer in Madison, Wisconsin, ahead of a field of 475 players including a dozen other Grandmasters.

Swiercz learned the game from his grandfather at just three years of age and went on to become an International Master at 13 and a Grandmaster at 14. He has a number of important tournament victories to his credit including winning the 2011 World Junior Championship (while representing his native Poland), the 2016 Millionaire Open and the 2017 Spice Cup Open. Dariusz played first board for the United States in the 2019 World Team Championship and was a member of the silver medal winning 2021 US entry in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad.
Swiercz moved to the United States to attend St. Louis University where he was a long-time member of its chess team which he led to victory in the 2022 Collegiate Chess Final Four. He currently serves as the Assistant Coach at SLU. Swiercz has written several critically acclaimed works on chess openings.