The American Chess Cup traditionally gathers some of America’s best chess players. The field of the Open event is headlined by World No2 GM Fabiano Caruana, and eight-time US Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush tops the Women’s field.
>Live games - American Chess Cup 2024 >Live games - American Women's Chess Cup 2024
The event is set to take place from 12-21 March at the World Chess Hall of Fame, with $400,000 in prizes and significant changes in the playing system. Instead of the usual round-robin, the event will be played as an elimination knock-out tournament. The winner of the first match continues the competition in the Championship bracket, while the player who lost the match goes to the elimination bracket. If a player loses the second match, he/she will be eliminated from the event. The matches in the Championship bracket will consist of two classical and two rapid games. Detailed information about the system of play can be found here.
The pairings of the Round 1 are determined by Rating (FIDE Rating List from March 1st was used) and the Round 1 matches will be:
The American Chess Cup 2024 – Round 1 pairings Open section:
- Fabiano Caruana vs Grigory Oparin
- Levon Aronian vs Sam Sevian
- Leinier Dominguez vs Ray Robson
- Wesley So vs Sam Shankland
The American Chess Cup 2024 – Round 1 pairings Women’s section:
- Irina Krush vs Zoey Tang
- Anna Zatonskih vs Paikidze
- Alice Lee vs Tatev Abrahamyan
- Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova vs Jennifer Yu
Photos by Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
