Home Page arrow Chess Life Online arrow Sinquefield Cup Begins on August 23
Sinquefield Cup Begins on August 23 Print E-mail
By Nicole Halpin   
August 11, 2015
SAINT LOUIS (August 4, 2015) - Ten of the top-rated grandmasters were invited to compete at the Sinquefield Cup, a tournament hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL). These elite players are competing on the newly formed Grand Chess Tour, which held its first event during Norway Chess 2015 earlier this year. The Sinquefield Cup will mark the second leg, followed by the London Chess Classic.

The total prize fund for 2015 Grand Chess Tour is $1,050,000. Each leg of the tour will award individual prize funds of $300,000. Competitors also are tallying points from each leg of the circuit towards a prize fund of $150,000; the overall tour champion will receive an additional $75,000.

The 2015 Sinquefield Cup will feature a first in the history of chess - the United States will have three players ranked in the top 10 in the world. American grandmasters participating include Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and the tournament wild card pick, Wesley So. The tournament will mark Caruana's first tournament playing in the United States as part of the U.S. Federation.


Date:     Sunday, August 23 to Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Time:    1:00 p.m. CT daily
Place:   Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (4657 Maryland Ave.)

Meet the field (FIDE Rating as of August 2015):

●     GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) - Norway
●     GM Viswanathan Anand (2816) - India
●     GM Veselin Topalov (2816) - Bulgaria
●     GM Hikaru Nakamura (2814) - United States
●     GM Fabiano Caruana (2808) - United States
●     GM Anish Giri (2793) - Netherlands
●     GM Wesley So (2779) - United States
●     GM Alexander Grischuk (2771) - Russia
●     GM Levon Aronian  (2765) - Armenia
●     GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2731) - France

Each round of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup will feature live commentary from grandmasters Maurice Ashley, Yasser Seirawan, Ben Finegold, Robert Hess, Alejandro Ramirez, and Ian Rodgers along with US Chess editor Jennifer Shahade on www.GrandChessTour.com. A free meet-and-greet autograph session with the players will also be held before the tournament on Saturday, August 22 at 12:00 p.m - 2:00 p.m. CT.

On Thursday, September 3 at 1:00 p.m. C.T. the grandmasters will again convene at the CCSCSL for a series of exhibition games called Ultimate Moves. Players from the Sinquefield Cup will join sponsors in a series of fast-paced games.

For more information, visit www.grandchesstour.com or follow along at @CCSCSL.

About The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis:

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) educational 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, special lectures and plays host to the top chess tournaments in the nation.

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center 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 Grand Chess Tour:

The world's most prestigious, international chess events are combining efforts to establish a gold standard for the Grand Chess Tour, an annual competitive circuit for ten of the world's top grandmasters. The Grand Chess Tour has set the model for player conditions, prize funds and spectator experience.

The inaugural 2015 Tour kicked off in June as a three-event cycle, beginning with Norway Chess 2015, followed by the Sinquefield Cup in August, and finishing with the London Chess Classic in December. For more information, visit www.grandchesstour.com.
 
Advertisement