Update on US Senior, Junior, and Girl Chess Championships

By Isabel, Summer Youth Intern

The chess community is bustling as of right now with so many different tournaments going. Besides the World Cup, the Senior,  Junior and Junior Girls’ championships are all going on currently. All these competitions and championships are held in the Saint Louis Chess Club, located in the hub for chess in America, founded by Rex Sinquefield. 

 

With so much going on in the chess world, it can be a bit hard to navigate – but there’s no need to go anywhere else to know what is going on in the chess world currently. 

 

The Senior Championship begins July 15th and ends the 26th of the same month, 10 participants with a total prize fund of $50,000. One of the most notable matches in the senior competition consisted of Alexander Shabalov (most recent FIDE rating of 2521 and a rank of 604 worldwide) v. Leonid Sokolin (most recent FIDE rating of 2497 and a rank of 812 worldwide). Sokolin won the game as black in 58 moves. 

 

The Junior Championship lasts from the same date as the Senior Championship with a total prize fund of $20,600. With the same set up as the previously mentioned championship, one of the most noted matches took place between David Brodsky (most recent FIDE rating of 2455 and worldwide rank of 1229) v. Andrew Hong (most recent FIDE rating of 2474 and worldwide rank of 1019). 

 

The Junior Girls’ Championship is identical to the Junior and Senior Championships in dates and amount of participants, the total prize fund being $10,300. One significant match in this particular tournament had Annie Wang (most recent FIDE rating of 2384 and a worldwide rank of 2482) v. Susanna Ulrich (most recent FIDE rating of 1974 and a worldwide rank of 31055). 

 

The stiff competition each tournament offers makes for some interesting matches that actually keep you on the edge of your seat, even if they can be 2 hours long. The wide variety of different age groups and demographics that chess is available to makes this a worldwide sensation. Young children, the youngest being 12 years old, all the way to 80+ years old, participating helps this sport to stand out amongst the rest. 

 

Now you know everything you need to know about the chess championships!