2009 US Championships

The 2009 US Chess Championships starts on 8 May and runs until 17 May at the beautiful new Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Centre (pictured below).

The championship features 24 players in a 9-round Swiss event and the winner will receive $35,000 out of a prize fund of $130,000. The time controls in operation will be the classical 40 moves in two hours, with one hour allowed for all remaining moves, plus a 5 second increment from the start of the game.  Yuri Shulman will be defending his 2008 championship title.

The 24 competitors and their USCF ratings are below. More details and biographies of all the players are available at the official website. It should be an exciting championship.  Don't forget to look out for 14 year-old Ray Robson, and of course Julio Becerra!