Saint Louis Chess Club

Last updated

Saint Louis Chess Club
Formation2007;18 years ago (2007)
Type Chess club
Legal status 501(c)(3) organization
Headquarters4657 Maryland Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Coordinates 38°38′40″N90°15′40″W / 38.6444°N 90.2611°W / 38.6444; -90.2611
Website saintlouischessclub.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Formerly called
Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

The Saint Louis Chess Club (previously, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis) is a chess club in the Central West End in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 2008 by billionaire Rex Sinquefield as part of his effort to improve U.S. chess and turn St. Louis into an international chess center, [1] an effort that also moved the World Chess Hall of Fame into a building across the street.

Contents

The club hosts the annual Sinquefield Cup tournament, the only U.S. stop on the Grand Chess Tour. Founded at the club in 2013, it is one of the world's strongest tournaments as measured by its competitors' world rankings.

The club drew national attention in 2023 when officials were accused of concealing the alleged sexual assaults of a grandmaster employee.

History

In 2007, Rex Sinquefield, a billionaire and libertarian activist, founded the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. [2] It was the first major expenditure in his efforts to boost chess in Saint Louis and the United States; by 2018, he would spend an estimated $50 million on chess-related philanthropy. [3]

It was reopened on July 17, 2008, [4] as the St. Louis Chess Club, in facilities that had contained a tournament hall and a basement broadcast studio. [5]

Backed by Sinquefield's largess, the club quickly grew to prominence in the United States' chess community. In 2009, the club began hosting the annual U.S. Championships and U.S. Women's Championships. The following year, it added the annual Junior Closed Championship.

The success of the 2009–2010 U.S. Championships led the United States Chess Federation to name the STLCC the 2010 Chess Club of the Year. The USCF also recognized STLCC Executive Director Tony Rich as Organizer of the Year for both years. [6]

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. [7]

In 2013, Sinquefield and the club launched the Sinquefield Cup, a super-GM tournament consisting of many of the world's strongest grandmasters. In 2014, the tournament was the strongest in history (by rating), with an average rating of 2802.

The STLCC holds yearly tournaments in chess960 that they trademark as Chess 9LX. [8] [9]

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, Il Monastero at Saint Louis University, or the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Allegations of sexual assaults

In 2020, club officials received allegations of sexual assaults by Alejandro Ramirez, a resident grandmaster who was the club's highest-paid employee for at least two years. [10] Officials said they launched no formal investigation but "stopped engaging Ramirez in any capacity where he would come into contact with minors". [11]

In 2022, two-time women's national champion Jennifer Shahade filed a formal complaint to the United States Chess Federation alleging that Ramirez had twice sexually assaulted her. [11] In February 2023, Shahade, frustrated by the responses of club and federation officials, posted her allegations to social media. [11] Within a month, seven more women came forward to accuse Ramirez of sexually assaulting them. In March 2023, the Wall StreetJournal reported that club officials had known of allegations against Ramirez at least since 2015. [10] [12] Ramirez resigned from the club.

In August 2023, Shahade sued the club and the U.S. federation, alleging that they had mishandled the allegations and tried to silence her. Officials denied the allegations. [11] Leading chess platforms Chess.com [13] [14] and Lichess [15] announced that they would no longer support the St. Louis club nor cover its tournaments because of how the club had handled the allegations. [16] [17]

Two months later, the club's board of directors released a statement in which they said the club "should have done more to address the allegations made by those who bravely came forward with information about his inexcusable behavior". They also said the club had hired a legal team led by Catherine Hanaway "to review all its guidelines, practices and procedures when it comes to ensuring the safety and security of everyone participating in chess". [18] After this statement, Chess.com resumed its support and coverage of the club's tournaments, while Lichess did not. [13]

Grandmaster-in-Residence

The STLCC has a Grandmaster-in-Residence who provides lectures, lessons and camps for the community. [19] The titled players who have held the position are (in order of first residency): Ben Finegold, Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramírez, Varuzhan Akobian, Jennifer Shahade, Ronen Har-Zvi, Irina Krush, Joshua Friedel, Anna Sharevich, Robert Hungaski, Bryan Smith, Maurice Ashley, Aviv Friedman, Tatev Abrahamyan, Mac Molner, Eric Hansen, Vita Kryvoruchko, Kateřina Němcová, Robin van Kampen, Cristian Chirilă, Eric Rosen, Denes Boros, Elshan Moradiabadi, Sabina Foisor, Vitaly Neimer, Atanas Kolev, Yaroslav Zherebukh, Mauricio Flores Ríos, Jesse Kraai, Vladimir Georgiev, Pepe Cuenca, Aman Hambleton, Aleksandr Lenderman, Tiberiu Georgescu, Steven Zierk, Dorsa Derakhshani, Joel Benjamin, Dariusz Swiercz, Mircea Pârligras, Lázaro Bruzón, Yuniesky Quesada, Alex Yermolinsky, Alexander Shabalov, Romain Édouard, Thalia Cervantes, Illia Nyzhnyk, Evgenij Miroshnichenko, Cemil Can Ali Marandi, Igor Novikov, Joshua Sheng, Benjamin Bok, Victor Mikhalevski, Melikset Khachiyan, and Akshat Chandra. Parligras is the only guest to teach completely virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irina Krush</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1983)

Irina Borisivna Krush is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the only woman to earn the GM title while playing for the United States. Krush is an eight-time U.S. Women's Champion and a two-time Women's American Cup Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chess prodigy</span> Young child with an aptitude for the game of chess

A chess prodigy is a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even titled chess masters. Some chess prodigies have progressed to become grandmasters or even World Chess Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hikaru Nakamura</span> American chess grandmaster and streamer (born 1987)

Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, YouTuber, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest-rated player in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Shahade</span> American chess and poker player (born 1980)

Jennifer Shahade 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 Chess Bitch, Play Like a Girl, and most recently, Chess Queens, and co-author of Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess. From 2018 to 2023, she was the Women's Program Director at the United States Chess Federation. She is also a MindSports Ambassador for PokerStars and a board member of the World Chess Hall of Fame in Saint Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timur Gareyev</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1988)

Timur Gareyev is an Uzbekistani and American chess grandmaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Finegold</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1969)

Benjamin Philip Finegold 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) title in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro Ramírez (chess player)</span> Costa Rican-American grandmaster (born 1988)

Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez is a Costa Rican-American chess Grandmaster and commentator. At the age of 15, he became the first Central American to achieve the title of Grandmaster and was the second youngest chess grandmaster in the world at the time. Born in Costa Rica, he represented Costa Rica before switching to the United States in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Robson</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1994)

Ray Robson is an American chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2010. Robson fulfilled the requirements for the title in 2009 at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 16 days, making him the youngest ever United States Grandmaster at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabiano Caruana</span> Italian-American chess grandmaster (born 1992)

Fabiano Luigi Caruana is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Sevian</span> Armenian-American chess grandmaster (born 2000)

Samuel Sevian is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 10 months and 27 days, making him the youngest ever American grandmaster at the time. He also broke all US age records in reaching the titles of National and International Master.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awonder Liang</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2003)

Awonder Liang is an American chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy in his youth, he was the third-youngest American to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, at the age of 14. Liang was twice world champion in his age category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinquefield Cup</span> American chess tournament (2013-pres.)

The Sinquefield Cup is an annual, closed chess tournament hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lichess</span> Open-source online chess platform

Lichess is a free and open-source Internet chess server run by a non-profit organization of the same name. Users of the site can play online chess anonymously and optionally register an account to play rated games. Lichess is ad-free and all the features are available for free, as the site is funded by donations from patrons. Features include chess puzzles, computer analysis, tournaments and chess variants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Tang</span> American chess grandmaster (born 1999)

Andrew Tang is an American chess grandmaster. He is also a popular streamer, known online for his speed chess skills especially in bullet, hyperbullet, and ultrabullet time controls as well as for playing speed chess blindfolded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alireza Firouzja</span> Iranian-French chess grandmaster (born 2003)

Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian-French chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2800, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carlsen by more than five months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abhimanyu Mishra</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2009)

Abhimanyu Mishra is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he holds the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Niemann</span> American chess grandmaster (born 2003)

Hans Moke Niemann is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He first entered the top 100 junior players list on March 1, 2019, and became a FIDE grandmaster on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He had a peak global ranking of No. 16 in September 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairns Cup</span> American chess tournament

The Cairns Cup is an annual round robin chess tournament, founded in 2019, for the leading women's chess players held in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. The tournament was named after St Louis Chess Club co-founder and World Chess Hall of Fame member Dr Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 United States Chess Championship</span>

The 2023 edition of the United States Chess Championship took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri from 4 October to 19 October 2023. As with every United States Chess Championship tournament since 2014, it was a round-robin tournament. Twelve players were invited to compete. Besides the reigning US champion, these included the winners of the US Open Chess Championship, the US Junior Championship, and the US Senior Open Championship. The remaining players were chosen by highest invitational rating, or were selected by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) as wildcards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 United States Chess Championship</span> Chess tournament

The 2024 edition of the United States Chess Championship took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri from 10 October to 24 October 2024. As with every United States Chess Championship tournament since 2014, it will be a round-robin tournament. Twelve players were invited to compete. Besides the reigning US champion, these included the winners of the US Open Chess Championship, the US Junior Championship, and the US Senior Open Championship. The remaining players were chosen by highest invitational rating, or were selected by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) as wildcards.

References

  1. ↑ Barden, Leonard (April 10, 2015). "Rex Sinquefield continuing his quest to make US into a superpower". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  2. ↑ Our Beginnings. Archived April 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  3. ↑ Woytus, Amanda (October 23, 2018). "Watch Rex Sinquefield talk about chess Tuesday night on HBO's "Real Sports"". www.stlmag.com. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  4. ↑ Fagone, Jason. "The Queen's New Gambit: Chess as a Great American Spectator Sport". Wired Magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ Williams, Erin. "St. Louis Scores A Checkmate For International Students". St. Louis Public Radio. NPR.org. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  6. ↑ Hough, Randy. "USCF Recognizes Leaders at Awards Luncheon". uschess.org. USCF. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  7. ↑ About the Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Champions Showdown Chess 9LX: Carlsen and Nakamura share first place". Chess News. September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  9. ↑ "2020 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX | www.uschesschamps.com". uschesschamps.com. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Beaton, Andrew; Robinson, Joshua (March 7, 2023). "How Sexual Assault Allegations Against a U.S. Chess Grandmaster Went Unaddressed for Years". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Benchaabene, Nassim (July 19, 2024). "Chess champion claims retaliation". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. pp. A1, A5. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  12. ↑ Doggers, Peter. "The Wall Street Journal: 8 Women Accuse Ramirez Of Wrongdoing". chess.com. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  13. 1 2 Svensen (TarjeiJS), Tarjei J. (October 4, 2023). "St. Louis Chess Club Issues Statement on Ramirez Case". Chess.com. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  14. ↑ Benchaabane, Nassim (August 17, 2023). "Major chess broadcaster cuts ties with St. Louis club". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. pp. A1. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Breaking the Silence". lichess.org. August 10, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  16. ↑ Svensen, Tarjei. "WSJ: Chess Platforms Halt Relationships With Saint Louis Chess Club". chess.com. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  17. ↑ Beaton, Andrew; Robinson, Joshua (August 16, 2023). "Chess World Splits Over Handling of Sexual Misconduct Allegations". Wall Street Journal.
  18. ↑ "STLCC Board Letter" (PDF). October 2, 2023.
  19. ↑ Munz, Michele (January 31, 2011). "St. Louis chessman shows he's the grandmaster". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.