Kings vs. Queens: A Battle of the Sexes will feature some of the top chess players in the world in a 5-on-5 team event.
The Queens field is headlined by the strongest female player in chess history, GM Judit Polgar. US #1 and Rapid specialist GM Hikaru Nakamura will lead the Kings into battle.
The players, including FIDE ratings and the federation each represents, are as follows:
Queens
- GM Judit Polgar (2699) - Hungary
- GM Kateryna Lahno (2536) - Ukraine
- IM Anna Zatonskih (2522) - U.S.
- GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2497) - Russia
- IM Irina Krush (2486) - U.S.
Kings
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2770) - U.S.
- GM Anatoly Karpov (2617) - Russia
- GM Ben Finegold (2488) - U.S.
- IM Jacek Stopa (2474) - Poland
- IM Marc Arnold (2445) - U.S.
The average team rating of the Queens is 2548 FIDE and the King’s average rating is 2559 FIDE. This will be a Scheveningen-paired tournament, in which each of the five team members will play each of the opposing team members twice: once in a Fischer Random (Chess 960) game with a time control of G/25 + 10-second increment and once in a rapid game with a time control of G/25 with a 5-second increment.
The Opening Ceremony for the tournament will take place on September 9, and the first round will begin at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, September 10.
The winning team of the event will win $20,000, divided equally between each member of that team. In addition, individual prizes will be awarded based on final standings and are are as follows:
- 1st: $5,500
- 2nd: $5,000
- 3rd: $4,500
- 4th: $4,000
- 5th: $3,500
- 6th: $3,000
- 7th: $2,500
- 8th: $2,000
- 9th: $1,500
- 10th: $1,000
Individual prizes total $32,500 and, when coupled with the team prize, the total prize fund for this event is $52,500.
GM Yasser Seirawan and WGM Jennifer Shahade will provide live commentary of the event, which will be open to the public. The event also will be broadcast live via the CCSCSL’s Livestream web channel: www.livesteam.com/uschess.
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Monday, Sep 12 - 12:00 am