2013 U.S. Junior Championship Overview

The 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship is the top tournament event in the United States for players aged 20 and younger.  It will feature 10 of the country's strongest up-and-coming chess players, and it is scheduled to be held at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, from June 13th through June 23rd.

The U.S. Junior Closed Championship is exciting on a number of levels. Not only do spectators get the opportunity to see the nation's rising stars go head-to-head for the title, these young players also typically put on a fantastic show, playing swashbuckling chess that is full of aggressive attacks, wild swings, briliancies, blunders and innovative play on both sides of the board.

With an invitation to the 2014 U.S. Championship on the line, these players come to Saint Louis ready to fight for a shot at the title.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will host the U.S. Junior Closed Championship. The format will be a standard 10-player round robin, and live play-by-play commentary will be presented each day by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold.

Meet the Field

No. Title Name Rating* Invitation Method
1. IM Danel Naroditsky 2538 Rating
2. IM Victor Shen 2511 Rating
3. NM Robert Perez 2510 Rating
4. IM Kayden Troff 2505 Rating
5. FM Jeffrey Xiong 2483 Rating
6. FM Yian Liou 2469 Rating
7. FM Sam Sevian 2467 Rating
8. FM Atulya Shetty 2446 Wildcard
9. FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti 2434 Wildcard
10. WFM Sarah Chiang 2238 U.S. Open Invitation




* Based on the April USCF ratings list.

Schedule

Day Date Time Event
Thursday June 13th 6:00 PM Player Arrival, Opening Ceremony
Friday June 14th 1:00 PM Round 1
Saturday June 15th 1:00 PM Round 2
Sunday June 16th 1:00 PM Round 3
Monday June 17th  1:00 PM Round 4
Tuesday June 18th 1:00 PM Round 5
Wednesday June 19th REST DAY REST DAY
Thursday June 20th 1:00 PM Round 6
Friday June 21st 1:00 PM Round 7
Saturday June 22nd 1:00 PM Round 8
Sunday June 23rd 11:00 AM Round 9, Playoff (if necessary), Closing Ceremony




 

Prize Fund

Place

Prize

Place

Prize

1st

$3, 000

6th

$600

2nd

$2, 000

7th

$500

3rd

$1, 500

8th

$400

4th

$1, 000

9th

$300

5th

$750

10th

$250

Total Prize Fund: $10, 000

Meet the Arbiter

Assistant Arbiter: Tony Rich, FA, IO, STD

Tony Rich is a FIDE Arbiter and International Organizer as well as a USCF Senior Tournament Director. Rich serves as the Executive Director of the Chess Club and Schoalstic Center of Saint Louis and was the assistant arbiter for the 2010 and 2013 U.S. Championship. He has also been an assistant tournament director for the 2009 Supernationals, 2010 U.S. Open, 2010 Denker Tournament of High School Champions, 2010 Girls Junior Open 2010 College Tournament of Champions, and 2013 SuperNationals. 

In addition, he is one of only 22 FIDE International Organizers in America. In this role he has successfully organized major events including four U.S. Championships, four U.S. Women’s Championships, three U.S. Junior Closed Championships, international matches and a variety of other high-level tournaments. In both 2009 and 2010 Rich was named the U.S. Chess Federation's "Organizer of the Year" and was on the Barber Tournament of State K-8 Champions and the Denker Tournament of High School Champions organizing committees in 2011.

Tony has traveled extensively since 2008, serving as the head of delegation for the American teams at various events, including FIDE Olympiads, World Team Championships and the Pan American Team Championship. He is a member of the FIDE Swiss Pairing Program Commission, the FIDE Social Chess Commission and the USCF International Relations Committee. In addition, Tony also serves as an adjunct professor in the department of elementary education at the University of Missouri - Saint Louis.

Tony is originally from Saint Louis, Missouri and has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Missouri University of Science & Technology. He spent a number of years working in the IT industry before spearheading the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.