BOTW: 2018.04.18
Eight of the world's top 10 players compete this week in two tournaments in St.Louis and Shamkir, Azerbaijan, on this week's Best of the Web...
US Chess Championship
Two 12-player round robins to decide the US and US Women's Championship April 18-30, 2018, at the newly renamed St, Louis Chess Club.
Top players include the complete 2016 Olympiad winning team: Caruana, Nakamura, So, Robson, and Shankland. Juniors GM Jeffery Xiong and GM Awonder Laing will also compete.
In the Women's competition, 7-time US Champion GM Irina Krush and 4-time Champion Anna Zatonskih, and the two previous Champons -- Sabina Foisor and Nazi Paikidze -- all play. WGM Jennifer Yu, the top rated U16 female, also plays.
Live Games and Commentary
April 18-30, 2018. 1pm local, 2pm EST
https://uschesschamps.com/2018-us-championships/live
Note: GM Eric Hansen is in St.Louis to do live on-site commentary for fans at the event, and is not part of the regular on-line team of Seirawan, Shahade, and Ashley.
Gashimov Memorial
The 5th Gashimov Memorial, honouring the memory of Azerbaijani GM Vugar Gashimov (who died at 27), takes place April 19-28, 2018 in Shamkir, Azerbaijan.
The field includes World Champion Magnus Carlsen, and three of the recent Candidates finalists:
| Name | FED | Rating | Rank |
| Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2843 | 1 |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2814 | 2 |
| Ding, Liren | CHN | 2778 | 8 |
| Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2778 | 9 |
| Giri, Anish | NED | 2777 | 10 |
| Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2749 | 17 |
| Radjabov, Teimour | AZE | 2748 | 18 |
| Navara, David | CZR | 2745 | 19 |
| Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | POL | 2744 | 20 |
| Mamedov, Rauf | AZE | 2704 | 38 |
Live Games
Start 3pm local, 7am EST.