Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana Claims Fourth U.S. Championship Title; Carissa Yip Wins Third Consecutive U.S. Women’s Championship

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Grandmaster (GM) Fabiano Caruana and International Master (IM) Carissa Yip took top honors out of a field of elite American chess players in the 2024 U.S. Chess Championship and 2024 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship, respectively.

Organized by the Saint Louis Chess Club and hosted at the World Chess Hall of Fame October 11-23, the 2024 U.S. Chess Championship events featured 24 of the top chess players who competed for a purse of more than $400,000 in America’s chess capital.

“This year’s U.S. Championships showcased some of the finest displays of strategy we’ve seen, with incredible matches between the best chess players from across the country,” Tony Rich, Technical Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club. “Watching champions like Fabiano and Carissa perform well is always inspiring.”

In impressive fashion, GM Fabiano Caruana claimed the 2024 U.S. Chess Championship title and a $62,000 prize, marking his fourth national title. There was a six-way tie for second between GMs Ray Robson, Awonder Liang, Leinier Dominguez, Sam Sevian, Levon Aronian and Hans Niemann. Each player won $24,667.

“This is one of my favorite tournaments to play,” said Caruana. “No way I’ll ever reach Fischer’s record, but five is realistic. I’ll try for that goal next year but there is a lot that comes before that.”

U.S. Chess Championship Final Results

POSITION	PLAYER	PRIZE	LOCATION
1st	GM Fabiano Caruana	$62,000	Saint Louis, MO
2nd-7th	GM Ray Robson	$24,667	Saint Louis, MO
2nd-7th	GM Awonder Liang	$24,667	Madison, WI
2nd-7th	GM Leinier Dominguez	$24,667	Saint Louis, MO
2nd-7th	GM Sam Sevian	$24,667	Holder, MA
2nd-7th	GM Levon Aronian	$24,667	Saint Louis, MO
2nd-7th	GM Hans Niemann	$24,667	Weston, CT
8th	GM Wesley So	$10,000	Excelsior, MN
9th	GM Sam Shankland	$9,000	Orinda, CA
10th	GM Grigoriy Oparin	$8,000	Columbia, MO
11th	GM Abhimanyu Mishra	$7,000	Englishtown, NJ

In the Women’s division, 21-year old IM Carissa Yip dominated the field, scoring eight straight victories and securing her third U.S. Women’s Championship title with a round to spare. IM Begim Tokhirjonova finished in second place, earning $30,000.

“I am happy with the tournament,” said Yip. “It was a solid end to the tournament, and a friend (Alice Lee) and I are getting ice cream, so what can be wrong with the world?”

2024 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship Final Results

POSITION	PLAYER	PRIZE MONEY	LOCATION
1st	IM Carissa Yip	$40,000	Andover, MN
2nd	IM Begim Tokhirjonova	$30,000	Saint Louis
3rd	IM Alice Lee	$20,000	North Oaks, MN
4th	FM Megan Lee	$13,000	Bellevue, WA
5th-7th	GM Irina Krush	$8,000	Brooklyn, NY
5th-7th	WGM Jennifer Yu	$8,000	Ashburn, VA
5th-7th	WGM Thalia Cervantes	$8,000	Saint Louis, MO
8th-9th	IM Anna Zatonskih	$5,750	Bochum, Germany
8th-9th	WGM Tatev Abrahamyan	$5,750	Saint Louis, MO
10th	WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan	$5,000	Sunrise, FL
11th-12th	IM Nazi Paikidze	$4,250	Las Vegas, NV
11th-12th	FM Rose Atwell	$4,250	Valencia, CA

In addition, the top five finishers in the open division and the top two finishers in the women’s field have all qualified for the FIDE World Cup 2025

Recaps and full tournament coverage of the 2024 U.S. Championships are available at www.uschesschamps.com or on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube channel.

Next up, the 2024 Champions Showdown: Chess9LX returns October 27-30 with another exciting edition featuring top players from the United States, alongside legendary former World Champion Garry Kasparov. Fighting for a total prize fund of $150,000, the participants will square off over nine rounds of rapid Chess960. The Chess9LX field will feature GMs:

• Levon Aronian
• Fabiano Caruana
• Leinier Dominguez
• Garry Kasparov
• Hikaru Nakamura
• Grigoriy Oparin
• Ray Robson
• Sam Sevian
• Sam Shankland
• Wesley So

The event kicks off on October 27 with Ultimate Moves, a light-hearted exhibition featuring Saint Louis Chess Club co-founder Rex Sinquefield, Garry Kasparov, and the rest of the Champions Showdown: Chess9LX field. Joining the competition will be Mr. Monopoly, who will be in town to celebrate the launch of Saint Louis Monopoly, which features a World Chess Hall of Fame property square, which can now be purchased online at qboutiquestl.com.

Tune in to live commentary from GMs Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley and IM Nazi Paikidze on the Saint Louis Chess Club's Twitch and YouTube channels.

For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org, uschesschamps.com or worldchesshof.org.

About the 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.

About the World Chess Hall of Fame

The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building awareness of the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on September 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Housed in a historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned-business in Saint Louis' Central West End neighborhood, the WCHOF features World Chess Hall of Fame inductees, United States Chess Hall of Fame inductees selected by the U.S. Chess Trust, artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The WCHOF partners with the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences. For more information, visit worldchesshof.org and on social: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels.