A guide to chess in St. Louis (2024)

The Saint Louis Chess Club

Long before The Queen’s Gambit caused a chess boom, St. Louis was already a hub for fans of the game. While chess historians debate an official starting point, Tony Rich, executive director of the St. Louis Chess Club (4657 Maryland), says 1886 is a decidedly significant year for St. Louis chess.

“Chess in St. Louis goes back more than 100 years,” Rich says. “The first World Chess Championship was held in part in St. Louis.”

In a building that once stood on Olive and 17th Street, some of the world’s foremost chess talents gathered to play four of the 20 games in that first official World Chess Championship. Today, the event—hosted in a variety of global locations—continues to draw chess’ biggest names, with Norway’s Magnus Carlsen defending the championship since 2013. While the game has maintained a notable following since that inaugural competition, chess’ presence in St. Louis has expanded dramatically in just the past 15 years. The change can be attributed in large part to the 2008 founding of the St. Louis Chess Club (SLCC), a non-profit educational organization dedicated to teaching community members and hosting events.

The SLCC is a sister organization to the World Chess Hall of Fame, and the two institutions make up St. Louis’ “chess campus.” As its membership numbers quickly expanded, the SLCC added a number of significant tournaments to its roster, most notably serving as the home of the U.S. Chess Championship since 2009.

“Hosting that first U.S. championship wasn’t on our radar; it wasn’t part of the plan to host major events,” Rich says. “But when the opportunity came, we realized that it wasn’t just about spotlighting these top players—really what we’re doing by hosting these events and publicizing them is creating role models. Kids can look up to athletes, musicians, and actors, and say, ‘I want to be like that one day.’ I want them to do the same with chess players.”

Membership: The SLCC offers a variety of membership options for individuals and families, as well as joint memberships with the WCHOF.

For kids: According to Rich, outreach to St. Louis-area students is the SLCC’s “bread and butter.” The organization runs about 250 hours of programming in local schools each week. Kids can also learn more about chess through the SLCC’s free virtual merit badge program and various summer camps.

For beginners: For those looking to learn the game or improve their skills, the SLCC offers private lessons with tutors at a variety of skill levels.

For spectators: Tournaments at the SLCC are typically open to spectators. Major events hosted by the non-profit include the U.S.& U.S. Women’s Chess Championships, the U.S. Junior, Girls, & Senior Championships, and the Sinquefield Cup. This year, from March 17-26, the second annual American Cup will be returning to the SLCC. The tournament boasts an impressive $300,000 in prize money, seeds players based on ranking, and follows a double-elimination format. Viewers can find live streams of the event on uschesschamps.com, while matches and commentary for other SLCC tournaments are available on their YouTube channel.

To play: The SLCC has installed pocket parks for outdoor playing in seven area parks, five of which host weekly classes.

The World Chess Hall of Fame

With a 20-foot-tall chess piece standing just outside its front door, the World Chess Hall of Fame is hard to miss. Located in the Central West End, the museum houses a wide collection of chess artifacts, a permanent installation honoring inductees to the U.S. and World Chess Halls of Fame, and several rotating exhibitions. In 1988, the museum found its first physical home—complete with cardboard plaques—in the basem*nt of the U.S. Chess Federation. The following years saw the WCHOF relocate to Washington, D.C., and then to Miami, refining its collection along the way. Although the 2008 recession forced the museum to temporarily close its doors, it reopened in 2011 at its current location. According to curator Emily Allred, the WCHOF’s mission has taken on a new life in St. Louis. “We became an institution that looks into art and history and how that intersects with chess, rather than focusing mostly on the legacies of great players,” she says. Past exhibitions have included a look at chess-inspired dining sets, chess and the American presidency, and a journey through space and chess.

Must-see exhibits

The three-floor WCHOF has plenty of space for its featured exhibitions, plus some room for its year-round mainstays. Outside, guests can grab a picture with the world’s largest chess piece (certified by Guinness World Records), which is constructed from African sapele mahogany and weighs in at 10,890 pounds. Directly next to the giant attraction, oversized chess pieces make up a playable board.

“Kids love going out there and playing in the spring and summer,” Allred says. “People can always expect a place to be able to play chess here.”

Once visitors have moved indoors, chess enthusiasts might be drawn to the WCHOF’s interactive exhibition focusing on U.S. and world hall-of-famers. Clicking on displays for each honoree allows guests to browse through relevant biographical information, and the space also contains chess artifacts pulled from the museum’s collection. Each year, the WCHOF cycles through unique exhibitions in its galleries, and more information is always available on the organization’s website.

“We’ve exhibited artwork by Marcel Duchamp, Yoko Ono, Marcel Dzama, Rachel Whiteread—a lot of internationally renowned artists have been fascinated by the game,” Allred says. “We bring in all of these famous chess players, and to see them explore chess in a new way is always really interesting.”

Good for: Chess aficionados (old and young) and those who have never moved a pawn—the WCHOF has programming for everyone.

Price: Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $3 for one person and $5 per family to support the museum.

Hours: Seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Location: Central West End, 4652 Maryland Ave.,#1

More to do: After an afternoon learning more about the game, guests can browse chess merchandise and collectibles in the Q Boutique gift store. Next door, the chess-themed Kingside Diner serves classic brunch fare. The WCHOF also curates an excellent music serieson site at the museum.

Faces of Chess in St. Louis

Paul Morphy (1837-1884): Morphy—a chess legend and somewhat of a mysterious figure—visited and played in St. Louis on several occasions. Largely considered to be the greatest player in the world during his time, Morphy retired from the game at the age of 23. Allegedly, he simply got bored, though the true reason for his departure from the chess world remains unknown.

Susan Polgar (1969-present): Although Polgar no longer lives in the St. Louis area, she left a mark on the chess community during her time in the city. A Hungarian and American grandmaster, she was the Women’s World Chess Champion from 1996 to 1999 and founded the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Webster University.

Levon Aronian (1982-present): An Armenian and American grandmaster and chess prodigy, Aronian won the FIDE World Cup in 2005 and 2017, as well as the FIDE Grand Prix from 2008 to 2010. In 2021, the SLCC announced that Aronian would be switching federations from Armenia to the U.S.

Leinier Domínguez (1983-present): Domínguez, a Cuban and American grandmaster and five-time Cuban champion, has made waves in the chess world for decades. Among an extensive list of other accomplishments, he won the FIDE Grand Prix in 2013 and placed third in the 2022 U.S. Chess Championship.

Fabiano Caruana (1992-present): When Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 in 2007, he was the youngest to achieve the feat in the history of both Italy and the U.S. After winning the 2018 Candidates Tournament, he advanced as the first American challenger for the World Chess Championship since Bobby Fischer’s infamous match against Boris Spassky. Caruana won the U.S. Chess Championship in 2022.