The Saint Louis Chess Club (previously named the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis) is a chess venue located in the

Central West End The Central West End is a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, stretching from Midtown's western edge to Union Boulevard and bordering on Forest Park with its outstanding array of free cultural institutions. It includes the Cathedral Basilica of ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, United States. Opened on July 17, 2008, it contained a tournament hall and a basement broadcast studio before its expansion began. On September 19, 2022, all Club operations temporarily moved to the adjacent space that housed the original incarnation of the chess-themed Kingside Diner. All tournaments in the interim are held at 308 N Euclid Ave, the old Kingside Diner space, the basement of

The Chase Park Plaza Hotel The Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta St. Louis is a historic hotel and apartment complex located at 212 N. Kingshighway Boulevard in the Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri. It consists of two buildings - the Chase Hotel, built in 1922 by develope ...

, or at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, ...

History

In 2007, multi-millionaire

Rex Sinquefield Rex Andrew Sinquefield (; born September 7, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who has been called an "index-fund pioneer" for creating the first passively managed index fund open to the general public Sinquefield wa ...

opened the ''Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis''. In August 2010, Sinquefield provided seed funding to move the World Chess Hall of Fame to St. Louis, citing the Chess Club's presence and reputation. It has been host to the U.S. Championships and U.S. Women's Championships since 2009 and the Junior Closed Championship has been held there since 2010. The STLCC features a Grandmaster-in-Residence, who provides lectures, lessons and camps for the community. The titled players who have held the position are (in order of first residency):

Ben Finegold Benjamin Philip Finegold (born September 6, 1969) is an American chess grandmaster and YouTuber/Twitch streamer. He had previously been nicknamed the "strongest International Master in the United States" until receiving his Grandmaster (GM) ti ...

Yasser Seirawan Yasser Seirawan ( ar, ياسر سيروان; born March 24, 1960) is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess author a ...

, Alejandro Ramírez,

Varuzhan Akobian Varuzhan Akobian ( hy, Վարուժան Հակոբյան, born 19 November 1983 in Yerevan, Soviet Union) is an Armenian-born American chess Grandmaster. Originally from Armenia, he now resides in St. Louis. He played on the bronze-medal-winni ...

Jennifer Shahade Jennifer Shahade (born December 31, 1980) is an American chess player, poker player, commentator and writer. She is a two-time United States Women's Champion and has the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. Shahade is the author of the books ''Ches ...

, Ronen Har-Zvi,

Irina Krush Irina Borisivna Krush ( uk, Ірина Борисівна Круш; born December 24, 1983) is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the first woman, and as of August 2022 the only woman, to earn the GM title while playing for the United States ...

Joshua Friedel Joshua E. Friedel (born December 3, 1986) is an American chess player with the FIDE title of Grandmaster. He was the U.S. Open Champion in 2013. He has had notable wins against GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Boris Gulko, Ben Finegold, Timur Gareyev, an ...

, Anna Sharevich, Robert Hungaski, Bryan Smith,

Maurice Ashley Maurice Ashley (born March 6, 1966) is a Jamaican-American chess player, author, and commentator. In 1999, he earned the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM), making him the first black person to do so. Ashley is well known as a commentator for hi ...

, Aviv Friedman,

Tatev Abrahamyan Tatev Abrahamyan ( hy, Տաթև Աբրահամյան; born January 13, 1988) is an Armenian-American chess player. She currently holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Career Abrahamyan finished in a tie for first place with Nana Dzagnid ...

, Mac Molner, Eric Hansen, Vita Kryvoruchko, Kateřina Němcová, Robin van Kampen, Cristian Chirilă, Eric Rosen, Denes Boros,

Elshan Moradiabadi Elshan Moradi Abadi ( fa, الشن مرادی آبادی , born 22 May 1985) is an Iranian-American chess grandmaster. He took part in the Chess World Cup 2011, but was eliminated in the first round by Leinier Domínguez. When he was 16 he wo ...

, Sabina Foisor, Vitaly Neimer,

Atanas Kolev Atanas Kolev ( bg, Атанас Колев; born July 15, 1967) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster of chess. His highest rating is 2602, January 2012. Kolev was the coach of the Bulgarian women's national chess team 2004–2006. Kolev and fellow Bulg ...

, Yaroslav Zherebukh, Mauricio Flores Ríos, Jesse Kraai, Vladimir Georgiev, Pepe Cuenca,

Aman Hambleton Aman Hambleton (born 30 December 1992) is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He is a member of the Chessbrahs (a Canadian chess entertainment company), along with other grandmasters such as Eric Hansen (founder), Robin van Kampen, and Yasser Seirawan ...

, Aleksandr Lenderman, Tiberiu Georgescu, Steven Zierk,

Dorsa Derakhshani Dorsa Derakhshani ( fa, درسا درخشانی; born 1998) is an Iranian-American chess player. She was awarded the titles Woman Grandmaster and International Master in 2016. Chess career Dorsa Derakhshani won three gold medals at the Asian Yout ...

, Joel Benjamin, Dariusz Swiercz, Mircea Pârligras,

Lázaro Bruzón Lázaro Bruzón Batista (born 2 May 1982 in Holguín) is a Cuban-American chess grandmaster. He is a former World Junior Champion, two-times American Continental champion, two-time Iberoamerican champion and five-time Cuban champion. Bruz ...

, Yuniesky Quesada,

Alex Yermolinsky Alex Yermolinsky (russian: Алексей Ермолинский, translit=Alexey Yermolinskiy; born April 11, 1958) is an American chess player. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1992, he is a two-time U.S. champion. Career Yermol ...

Alexander Shabalov Alexander Anatolyevich Shabalov (russian: Алекса́ндр Анато́льевич Шаба́лов; lv, Aleksandrs Šabalovs; born September 12, 1967) is an American chess grandmaster and a four-time winner of the United States Chess Ch ...

Romain Édouard Romain Édouard (born 28 November 1990) is a French chess grandmaster. Born in Poitiers, Édouard has been playing chess since the age of five, and joined his first tournament in 2001. He was trained by fellow French Grandmaster Olivier Renet du ...

Evgenij Miroshnichenko Evgenij Miroshnichenko (born December 28, 1978) is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2002. Miroshnichenko won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in 2003 and 2008. Also in 2003 he tied for 1st–3rd wit ...

Cemil Can Ali Marandi Cemil Can Ali Marandi (born 17 January 1998) is a Turkish chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster in 2017. Biography Cemil Can Ali Marandi repeatedly participated in European Youth Chess Championships and World Youth Chess Cham ...

, and

Igor Novikov Igor Novikov may refer to: *Igor Novikov (painter) (born 1961), Russian painter living in Switzerland *Igor Novikov (pentathlete) (1929–2007), Soviet Olympic modern pentathlete *Igor Novikov (chess player) (born 1962), Ukrainian then U.S. chess ...

. Parligras is the only guest to teach completely virtually, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The success of the 2009–2010 U.S. Championships led the

United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating ...

to name the STLCC as the 2010 Chess Club of the Year. The USCF also recognized STLCC Executive Director Tony Rich as Organizer of the Year for both years. The STLCC holds yearly tournaments in Fischer random chess or chess960 that they trademark as Chess 9LX.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://saintlouischessclub.org/ Chess clubs in the United States Buildings and structures in St. Louis Sports venues in St. Louis Central West End, St. Louis 2008 establishments in Missouri

History

See also

References

External links