Sinquefield Chess Cup: Jennifer Shahade on Reaching St Louis for power-packed Commentary

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013  

Hi everyone,

Guess where's former American Women's Chess Champion, writer, commentator and poker player Jennifer Shahade? She's in Saint Louis where America's most high-powered chess event yet is set to take place from today! She is at the Sinquefield Chess Cup waiting for the games to start and her commentary. Here is her update from Chess Life Online of which she is the editor:

"I just arrived in Saint Louis for one of the most exciting events in US chess history, the Sinquefield Cup. The fun here kicked off Saturday with a drawing of the lots, where each player picked a custom designed DGT enabled House of Staunton set to determine pairings. In round one, Hikaru Nakamura (white) plays Levon Aronian while Magnus Carlsen (white) faces Gata Kamsky.On Sunday, the players hosted a Meet and Greet for photos and autographs at the Chess Club, which was naturally packed. Afterwards, all four players went to the Rams game.

It was Magnus Carlsen's first American football game, so GM Maurice Ashley kindly explained the rules to him and concluded, "He catches on quick." No doubt! At the end of the exciting game, the Saint Louis Rams edged out the Arizona Cardinals 27-24. Aronian and Carlsen were both high-fiving and cheering, clearly getting into the Saint Louis spirit. As an organizer and commentator, I predict that game is a premonition of how thrilling the tournament will be! 
Be sure to tune into my commentary at http://uschesschamps.com/live with GMs Maurice Ashley and Yasser Seirawan--between Maurice's energy and "Yaz's" eloquence, you're in for a treat! The coverage begins Monday at 1 local time/2 EST.

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