The much-anticipated Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament 2022 kicked-off with first round matches on 26th August, we take a look at the list of players, participants, standings, format, schedule, prize money and other details of the tournament
With the opening of the 2022 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, the penultimate tournament of the Grand Chess Tour, top-level chess returned to one of America’s greatest chess venues on Friday. French prodigy Alireza Firouzja leads the standing after finishing Day 1 with five points in three games as he scored two wins and one draw in total three rounds.
Saint Louis Rapid And Blitz Grand Chess Tour 2022 Results Today, Standings, Day 2 Schedule, Date, Time, Point Table, Participants Players, List, Draw, Prize Money, Live Stream
Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz R1-3: Firouzja takes an early sole lead
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➡️https://t.co/uEsjYzkKWK📷Lennart Ootes/@GrandChessTour#Chess #ChessBaseIndia #STLRapidBlitz #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/TixwHZN65y
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) August 27, 2022
🚨 GM @AlirezaFirouzja asserts early lead!
Top-flight chess returned to one of America's premier chess venues on Friday with the commencement of the 2022 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz! @STLChessClub @GrandChessTour #GrandChessTour
Report by @JackRChess:https://t.co/xBH8zP4GKm
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) August 27, 2022
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Schedule, Date, Format, and Players
Since 2017, the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz has played a crucial role on the Grand Chess Tour, and this year’s competition is expected to uphold the high levels of competition and the spectacular setting that chess players have come to know and love. In this penultimate rapid and blitz tournament of the tour, the fast-paced rapid and blitz style will definitely produce a dramatic display of ability and skill as competitors contend for a piece of the $150,000 prize pool.
Day 2 of Saint Louis Rapid And Blitz will feature Round 4-6 of rapid chess matches on Saturday, which will begin at 1:00 PM local time and run until 5:30 PM local time. The final two days of the competition will be dedicated to the blitz event. Every day, three rounds of matches will be played in rapid chess.
| Date | Time | Event |
| August 24 | 6:00 PM | Player Arrival |
| August 25 | 6:00 PM | Private Opening Ceremony |
| August 26 | 1:00 PM | Rapid Round 1 |
| 2:30 PM | Rapid Round 2 | |
| 4:00 PM | Rapid Round 3 | |
| August 27 | 1:00 PM | Rapid Round 4 |
| 2:30 PM | Rapid Round 5 | |
| 4:00 PM | Rapid Round 6 | |
| August 28 | 1:00 PM | Rapid Round 7 |
| 2:30 PM | Rapid Round 8 | |
| 4:00 PM | Rapid Round 9 | |
| August 29 | 1:00 PM | Blitz Day 1 |
| August 30 | 1:00 PM | Blitz Day 2 |
| 5:30 PM | Playoffs | |
| 6:30 PM | Private Closing Ceremony |
The full schedule, pairing, and results of the tournament can be found here.
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Grand Chess Tour 2022 Day 1 Results & Updated Standings
An impressive group of GMs, led by Jeffery Xiong, Leinier Dominguez, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave—each of whom recorded a win and two draws—lags behind Firouzja by just four points. On the opening day of this competition, some of the top finishers from recently finished Chess.com Rapid Chess Championship struggled, with GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana suffering the two most significant defeats at the hands of their younger countrymen.
Following a convincing victory in the 2022 Chess.com Rapid Chess Championship, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi appeared to be looking for an imbalance versus tournament underdog Xiong, but the American teenager proved he was capable of competing against the best. The game was drawn in 87 moves despite losing the middlegame initiative due to fierce defense.
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1 | Firouzja, Alireza | 5 |
| 2 | Xiong, Jeffery | 4 |
| 3 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 4 |
| 4 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 4 |
| 5 | Shankland, Sam | 3 |
| 6 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 3 |
| 7 | Fabiano Caruana | 2 |
| 8 | Levon Aronian | 2 |
| 9 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2 |
| 10 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 1 |
The tournament’s estimated $150,000 prize pool includes a total prize of $40,000 that will go to the tournament’s victor. Meanwhile, the runner-up in the competition will get a total of $30,000.
| Place | Prize |
| 1st | $40,000 |
| 2nd | $30,000 |
| 3rd | $25,000 |
| 4th | $20,000 |
| 5th | $15,000 |
| 6th | $11,000 |
| 7th | $10,000 |
| 8th | $9,000 |
| 9th | $8,000 |
| 10th | $7,000 |
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