The 2009 U.S. Championship Contenders
April 7, 2009
The list of 24 players for the 2009 U.S. Championship (May 7-17, Saint Louis) is complete! The final spot went to Sam Shankland, the Champion of State Champions. For the most up to date information on the U.S. Championship check uschess.org or the website of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

The ratings for invitation were based on the April 2009 Overall list

Confirmed Players and Reason for Qualification

1

Varuzhan Akobian

rating

2

Julio Becerra

rating

3

Joel Benjamin

rating

4

Michael Brooks

wildcard

5

Larry Christiansen

rating

6

Jaan Ehlvest

rating

7

Josh Friedel

wildcard

8

Boris Gulko

rating

9

Robert Hess

wildcard

10

Tyler Hughes

2008 U.S. Junior Closed Champion

11

Ildar Ibragimov

rating

12

Gregory Kaidanov

rating

13

Gata Kamsky

rating

14

Melikset Khachiyan

rating

15

Irina Krush

female, rating

16

Charles Lawton

wildcard

17

Hikaru Nakamura

rating

18

Alexander Onischuk

rating

19

Ray Robson

wildcard

20

Enrico Sevillano

qualified - 2008 U.S. Open Champion

21

Alexander Shabalov

wildcard

22

Sam Shankland  

 State Champion of Champions

23

  Yury Shulman

 qualified - defending U.S. Champion

24

Anna Zatonskih

female, rating