Saint Louis Chess Club to Host Legends and Rising Stars of American Chess during 2024 U.S. Senior, Junior and Junior Girls’ Championships

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Top American junior and senior chess players will return to America’s Chess Capital in Saint Louis to compete in the 2024 U.S. Senior, Junior and Junior Girls’ Championships. Hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club at the World Chess Hall of Fame from July 16-26, the top 10 players across three divisions - juniors, junior girls and seniors, will compete for more than $135,000 in prizes - the largest purse of all time for these events.

“We are excited to once again kick off this summer’s national championships by bringing together the top chess players from across the United States,” said Tony Rich, Technical Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “The U.S. Junior, U.S. Junior Girls’ and U.S. Senior Championships are one of our favorite trio of events we host because you can see a spectacular demonstration of chess from both proven legends of the sport and tomorrow’s superstars.”

The three 10-player fields will tie together chess past and future for a celebration of the best of chess.

U.S. Junior Championship

The U.S. Junior Championship will feature a field of new and returning prodigies. Headlining players include 2022 U.S. Junior Champion Grandmaster (GM) Christopher Yoo, as well as teenage GMs Andrew Hong and Arthur Guo, as well as International Master (IM) Andy Woodward who at just 14 years of age has completed the requirements to become a GM and should have that title confirmed soon.

With five of the players currently ranked within the top 50 juniors in the world, this year's U.S. Junior Championship will feature some of the most talented and brightest young minds in the game.

Along with winning the title, players will be competing to win a piece of the more than $40,000 prize fund and the coveted invitation to the U.S. Championship later this year.

2024 U.S. Junior Championship Field
Name	Qualification Method	Invitational Rating	Hometown
GM Christopher Yoo (17 yo)	Rating	2679	Dublin, CA
GM Andrew Hong (19 yo)	Rating	2642	Saratoga, CA
GM Arthur Guo (17 yo)	2023 Denker Champion	2611	Alpharetta, GA
IM Justin Wang (18 yo)	Rating	2602	Katy, TX
IM Andy Woodward (14 yo)	Rating	2600	McKinney, TX
GM Balaji Daggupati (18 yo)	Rating	2576	San Ramon, CA
IM Jason Wang (17 yo)	Rating	2570	Potsdam, NY
IM Jason Liang (16 yo)	Rating	2563	Potsdam, NY
IM Brewington Hardaway (14 yo)	Wildcard	2524	Bronx, NY
NM Nicholas Ladan (19 yo)	U.S. Junior Open Champion	2327	Chicago, IL

U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship

The future of women’s chess in America is bright and will be on full display during the U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship.

This tournament features one of America’s most promising rising stars International Master (IM) Alice Lee, who is the youngest female player in American history to earn the title of IM and the returning U.S. Junior Girls’ Champion. Lee is expected to face tough competition in returning FIDE Masters (FMs) Zoey Tang and Rose Atwell, both ranked within the top 30 girls in the world, as well as young rising star, Woman's FIDE Master (WFM) Megan Paragua, who at 11 years old is the youngest player in this year's events.

Along with winning the title, players will be up for the chance to win a piece of the more than $20,000 prize fund and an invitation to the U.S. Women’s Championship to be held later this year.

2024 U.S. Junior Girls’ Championship Field
Name	Qualification Method	Invitational Rating	Hometown
IM Alice Lee (14 yo)	2023 U.S. Junior Girls’ Champion	2435	North Oaks, MN
FM Zoey Tang (15 yo)	Rating	2358	Portland, OR
WIM Iris Mou (14 yo)	Rating	2314	New York, NY
FM Rose Atwell (14 yo)	Rating	2282	Valencia, CA
WFM Rachael Li (13 yo)	Rating	2288	Plano, TX
NM Jasmine Su (13 yo)	Rating	2241	Darian, CT
WFM Yassamin Ehsani (19 yo)	Rating	2227	New York, NY
WFM Megan Paragua (11 yo)	Rating	2203	Elmhurst, NY
WIM Omya Vidyarthi (13 yo)	Rating	2183	Campbell, CA
WFM Chloe Gaw (14 yo)	Wildcard	2159	New York, NY

U.S. Senior Championship

Created by the Saint Louis Chess Club six years ago, the U.S. Senior Championship will again be held alongside the country’s junior national chess championships, where they will compete for a $75,000 prize fund. The 2024 field boasts legendary chess players, including every winner of the tournament since its inception including GM Melik Khachiyan (2023) GM Alex Shabalov (2019, 2022), GM Gregory Kaidanov (2021) and GM Joel Benjamin (2020).

2024 U.S. Senior Championship Field
Name	Qualification Method	Invitational Rating	Hometown
GM Vladimir Akopian	Rating	2628	Glendale, CA
GM Gregory Kaidanov	Rating	2592	Lexington, KY
GM Larry Christiansen	Rating	2585	Cambridge, MA
GM Melik Khachiyan	2023 U.S. Senior Champion	2479	Glendale, CA
GM Jesse Kraai	U.S. Senior Open Champion	2419	Berkeley, CA
GM Joel Benjamin	Rating	2536	Waldwick, NJ
GM Igor Novikov	Rating	2531	Lexington, KY
GM Alex Shabalov	Rating	2502	Pittsburgh, PA
IM Douglas Root	Rating	2487	Denton, TX
GM Julio Becerra	Wildcard	2462	Miami, FL

The expert commentary team of GMs Yasser Seirawan and Cristian Chirila and IM Nazi Paikidze will call the action live and provide game analysis daily online starting at 1:20 p.m. CT on www.uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.

In addition, the tournament games on July 20 will be counted as part of a global Guiness World Record Attempt by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the most chess games played in a 24 hour period. The world record attempt is being held in celebration of International Chess Day and FIDE’s 100th anniversary. For more information, visit https://100.fide.com/gwr.

Saint Louis Chess Club

The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.