Champions Showdown 2019

The 2019 installment of the Champions Showdown will feature five unique matchups between top world players, as well as up-and-coming chess stars. Five U.S. players have chosen opponents from around the world and will face-off in a head-to-head format with three days of rapid play and two days of blitz play from February 20-24, 2019 at the Saint Louis Chess Club. In the end, $300,000 in prize money will be divided with each winner receiving $36,000 and the opposing player receiving $24,000. 

Four players from the silver medal winning chess olympiad team, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, and Sam Shankland, along with new US Chess member Leinier Dominguez have chosen international chess stars to compete against this February. Opponents include former World Champion Veselin Topalov, as well as young rising stars like Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Richard Rapport. The tournament is sure to thrill fans, as well as give a look at the play of the U.S. players just ahead of the U.S. Chess Championships. 

Each round will start at 1 p.m. CST. Fans can follow the expert commentary of GM Yasser Seirawan, WGM Jennifer Shahade, and GM Maurice Ashley each day or visit the Saint Louis Chess Club to catch the action in person.