The 2015 U.S. Junior Chess Championship is currently underway in Saint Louis, Missouri. The host of the event is the Saint Louis Chess Club, co-sponsor with the Kasparov Chess Foundation of the Young Stars program. The tournament is an invitation-only round robin event to determine the best u20 player in the United States. Players are invited by rating, with one qualifier from the U.S. Junior Open.
The field’s #1 seed is Jeffery Xiong, GM-elect from Texas. With a massive 2601 rating he is the favorite to win the event, but he is not the only member of the Young Stars chess program participating in the event, and thus has some serious competition!
The favorite: IM Jeffery Xiong
The prize fund for the event is quite high for a junior tournament, but the winner will not only get the $6,000 first prize, he will also automatically qualify to one of the most prestigious events of 2016: The U.S. Chess Championship.
The prizes:
Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1st | $6,000 | 6th | $1,200 |
2nd | $4,000 | 7th | $1,000 |
3rd | $3,000 | 8th | $800 |
4th | $2,000 | 9th | $600 |
5th | $1,500 | 10th | $500 |
Total Prize Fund: $20,600 |
The field:
- IM Jeffery Xiong (2606)
- IM Akshat Chandra (2589)
- FM Michael Bodek (2527)
- IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti (2526)
- FM Ruifeng Li (2502)
- IM Yian Liou (2501)
- FM Arthur Shen (2477)
- NM Mika Brattain (2457)
- FM Awonder Liang (2428)
- NM Curran Han (2211)
After three rounds in Saint Louis the tournament is being led by two of the Young Stars who had a training session with Garry Kasparov only a couple of weeks ago: IM Akshat Chandra and FM Awonder Liang.
Awonder Liang…
…and Akshat Chandra are leading
The current standings are:
Rank | Name | Score | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | IM Chandra, Akshat | 2.5 | 2589 | 1 | 1 | ½ |
2 | FM Liang, Awonder | 2.5 | 2483 | 1 | ½ | 1 |
3 | IM Xiong, Jeffery | 2.0 | 2621 | ½ | ½ | 1 |
4 | IM Liou, Yian | 2.0 | 2501 | 1 | ½ | ½ |
5 | Brattain, Mika A | 1.5 | 2452 | ½ | ½ | ½ |
6 | IM Harmon-Vellotti, Luke | 1.0 | 2545 | 0 | ½ | ½ |
7 | FM Bodek, Michael H | 1.0 | 2528 | ½ | ½ | 0 |
8 | FM Shen, Arthur | 1.0 | 2505 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
9 | FM Li, Ruifeng | 1.0 | 2488 | ½ | 0 | ½ |
10 | Han, Curran R | 0.5 | 2211 | 0 | 0 | ½ |
The tournament is being broadcast at www.uschesschamps.com
Follow this exciting event with live commentary by GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman!
Aviv Friedman and Ben Finegold during commentary
Photos by the Saint Louis Chess Club, taking from the official website