Caruana, Nakamura, So To Compete In U.S. Champs

Yet again, the U.S. Championship will see a super strong field. GMs Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So, America's top three grandmasters, will all be playing. The dates of the tournament are 28 March-10 April.

For the ninth consecutive year, the U.S. Championship will be held in St. Louis. And again, the self-declared (but rightly so!) "American capital of chess" will be hosting 12 players in the open section, and 12 in the women's. In both groups, the reigning champs will be defending their titles. 

For the second consecutive year the U.S. Championship will see three players from the world's top 10 playing. In order of FIDE rating, they are GMs Wesley So (2822), Fabiano Caruana (2817), and Hikaru Nakamura (2793).

Caruana is the reigning champion. Two years ago Nakamura won, with Caruana being absent and So playing his first championship. After winning both the 2016 Grand Chess Tour and the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, and enjoying a streak of 56 undefeated games, So is not just the rating favorite in his third time of playing.

Wesley So is clearly the man to beat in St. Louis.

Nakamura, a four-time champion, comes to St. Louis after a solid-but-nothing-special score at the Sharjah Grand Prix. Before that, he won the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Tournament—for the third time in a row. That was Caruana's last tournament, who finished on a slightly disappointing 7/10.

That begs the question: Who is the best of the rest? Well, on (FIDE) rating it's actually GM Jeffery Xiong. This young talent is getting close to a 2700 rating. Last year he became the first U.S. player to win the World Junior Championship in almost two decades.

Two members of the gold winning Olympic team definitely have chances as well: GMs Ray Robson and Sam Shankland. And among the seasoned players, one can never rule out former world championship contender GM Gata Kamsky.

2017 U.S. Championship | Participants

Also in the women's section, the reigning champion will be defending her title. That's IM Nazi Paikidze, who recently gained world attention with her boycott of the Tehran world championship.

Nazi Paikidze defends her title in St. Louis.

The two "classic" favorites, for the last decade or so, will both be playing as well: seven-time U.S. women’s champion GM Irina Krush, and IM Anna Zatonskih.

Again there's a whole bunch of young and aspiring players, such as 15-year-old WIM Jennifer Yu and 13-year-old WFM Carissa Yip, making the women's tournament a very dynamic one.

2017 U.S. Championship (Women) | Participants

"We are thrilled to once again be the epicenter of this country’s chess talent with the 2017 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships," said Tony Rich, the Executive Director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. "It’s a true honor to host our nation’s very best and brightest competitors, and we look forward to a fantastic tournament."

The championships will run March 28 – April 10, 2017 and will be streamed live daily on www.uschesschamps.com, featuring play-by-play and analysis from the world-renowned commentary team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade.

Live spectators may view the action in the tournament hall and enjoy additional grandmaster-led commentary on-site by GM Alejandro Ramirez and GM Ben Finegold. Additional event, ticketing and hotel information may be found at www.uschesschamps.com.