Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz Kicks off Friday

There’s always something going on at the Saint Louis Chess Club, but even by their standards, the next two months are gonna be lit.

The Sinquefield Cup — one of the most important events on the global chess calendar — runs from September 1-13. This flagship event featuring some of the strongest players in the world, including World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen, 2022 Candidates winner GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, and top Americans GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez, and in his first super-GM event, Hans Niemann.

This is followed by the 2022 U.S. Championship and Women’s Championship, which this year are expanded to 14 players in each event. Both Championships run from October 4-20, with full coverage here on Chess Life Online.

But up first is the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz, which begins Friday afternoon with the first of three days of rapid chess action. Two days of blitz follow, with playoffs (if needed) and a closing ceremony on Tuesday, August 30. At stake are $175,000 in prizes, along with valuable points for the Grand Chess Tour overall standings.

In the Rapid and Blitz events on the Grand Chess Tour, each player contests one rapid game and two blitz games against all other players. The rapid games are played with a G/25+10 time control, and are scored at two points for a win, a point for a draw, and no points for a loss. The blitz games are contested at G/5+2, and are players receive one point for a win, a half-point for a draw, and (surprise) no points for a loss.

all photos courtesy SLCC

Seen above in URS rating order, the field for the Rapid and Blitz is as follows:

1	GM Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2837	Wildcard
2	GM Ian Nepomniachtchi	FID	2795	GCT
3	GM Fabiano Caruana	USA	2776	GCT
4	GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	FRA	2763	GCT
5	GM Levon Aronian	USA	2728	GCT
6	GM Jeffery Xiong	USA	2725	Replacement
7	GM Leinier Dominguez Perez	USA	2705	GCT
8	GM Alireza Firouzja	FRA	2704	GCT
9	GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	AZE	2695	GCT
10	GM Sam Shankland	USA	2616	Wildcard

Xiong was a late replacement for GM Richard Rapport, who withdrew due to COVID-19 related travel issues.

Play begins at 1pm Central each day, with full coverage on the Grand Chess Tour website, and live streaming analysis on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube and Twitch channels.

Quick Links:

Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz event page
Grand Chess Tour website
SLCC YouTube channel
SLCC Twitch channel