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28-670: The Saint Louis Chess Club (previously, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis ) is a chess club in the Central West End in St. Louis , Missouri , United States. It was founded in 2008 by billionaire Rex Sinquefeld as part of an effort to improve U.S. chess and turn St. Louis into an international chess center. The club's building sits across the street from the World Chess Hall of Fame . The club hosts

56-1242: A Grandmaster -in-Residence who provides lectures, lessons and camps for the community. The titled players who have held the position are (in order of first residency): Ben Finegold , Yasser Seirawan , Alejandro Ramírez , Varuzhan Akobian , Jennifer Shahade , Ronen Har-Zvi , Irina Krush , Joshua Friedel , Anna Sharevich , Robert Hungaski , Bryan Smith , Maurice Ashley , Aviv Friedman , Tatev Abrahamyan , Mac Molner , Eric Hansen , Vita Kryvoruchko , Kateřina Němcová , Robin van Kampen , Cristian Chirilă , Eric Rosen , Denes Boros , Elshan Moradiabadi , Sabina Foisor , Vitaly Neimer , Atanas Kolev , Yaroslav Zherebukh , Mauricio Flores Ríos , Jesse Kraai , Vladimir Georgiev , Pepe Cuenca , Aman Hambleton , Aleksandr Lenderman , Tiberiu Georgescu , Steven Zierk , Dorsa Derakhshani , Joel Benjamin , Dariusz Swiercz , Mircea Pârligras , Lázaro Bruzón , Yuniesky Quesada , Alex Yermolinsky , Alexander Shabalov , Romain Édouard , Thalia Cervantes , Illia Nyzhnyk , Evgenij Miroshnichenko , Cemil Can Ali Marandi , Igor Novikov , Joshua Sheng , Benjamin Bok , Victor Mikhalevski , Melikset Khachiyan , and Akshat Chandra . Parligras

84-535: A decade. Hanaway lost the Missouri Republican primary to Eric Greitens, she finished fourth with 19.95% of the popular vote. After leaving office as the U.S. Attorney, she worked for The Ashcroft Group . In 2013 Missouri Lawyers Weekly reported that she had charged the highest hourly rate of any lawyer in Missouri ($ 793/hour in a Securities and Exchange lawsuit). She is currently a partner with

112-585: A foster care reform bill that was named after James. Hanaway ran for Missouri Secretary of State in 2004. She was endorsed by the National Rifle Association of America and Missouri Right to Life. In a year that Republicans carried most contested state offices, she lost to Robin Carnahan , the daughter of former Missouri governor Mel Carnahan . She was defeated in her home county of St. Louis by fourteen percentage points. After

140-531: A national federation, either directly or through membership of a regional chess association. The national federation in turn is a member of FIDE , the international governing body of chess. The global aegis helps to establish uniformity of rules and playing conditions internationally, though some countries such as the United States use their own official set of rules with minor differences from FIDE rules. The United States has many chess clubs affiliated with

168-415: A number of public officials, including a state representative who pleaded guilty to bribing a bank official. On February 11, 2014, Hanaway announced that she was running for Governor of Missouri in the 2016 election . She announced her candidacy after Democratic Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced his, and vowed to "build the largest and best grass-roots campaign in Missouri history." She

196-437: A second bus tour on February 25, 2016, which she called the "Safe and Strong Tour," focusing on her prosecutorial experience and rising crime rates. In a televised debate on March 17, 2016, Hanaway criticized rival Eric Greitens for accepting a $ 1 million campaign contribution from venture capitalist Michael Goguen, who has been accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a woman who had been the victim of sex trafficking for over

224-479: A student journalist from recording certain events at the campus protests in November 2015 . Click was eventually charged with assault and fired. On November 3, 2015, Hanaway launched a two-week statewide "Restore Conservative Values to Missouri Tour" in an RV nicknamed "Tiger One." The focus of the tour was supporting law enforcement, fighting abortion, and expanding Second Amendment rights. Hanaway launched

252-512: Is the only guest to teach completely virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic . Chess club A chess club is a club formed for the purpose of playing the board game of chess . Chess clubs often provide for both informal and tournament games and sometimes offer league play. Traditionally clubs play over the board and face to face chess as opposed to playing on internet chess servers or computer chess. Clubs are mainly attached to

280-486: The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis . It was the first major expenditure in his efforts to boost chess in Saint Louis and the United States; by 2018, he would spend an estimated $ 50 million on chess-related philanthropy. It was reopened on July 17, 2008, as the St. Louis Chess Club , in facilities that had contained a tournament hall and a basement broadcast studio. Backed by Sinquefield's largess,

308-576: The United States Chess Federation (USCF). A club's affiliation with its national chess federation helps to standardize chess tournament rules. Chess clubs typically provide at least some of the following: Catherine Hanaway Catherine was born in Schuyler, Nebraska on November 8, 1963. She spent the rest of her childhood growing up in rural Nebraska and Iowa ; she received a marksman first class certificate from

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336-701: The NRA in 7th Grade, and was president of her 4-H club in high school. Hanaway attended the University of Missouri for three years before earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Creighton University , and graduated in the top 10% of her law class from the Catholic University of America . After law school, she worked in the law firm of Peper, Martin Jensen, Maichel & Hetlage,

364-751: The Year for both years. In August 2010, Sinquefield provided seed funding to move the World Chess Hall of Fame to St. Louis, citing the Chess Club's presence and reputation. In 2013, Sinquefield and the club launched the Sinquefield Cup , a super-GM tournament consisting of many of the world's strongest grandmasters. In 2014, the tournament was the strongest in history (by rating), with an average rating of 2802. The STLCC holds yearly tournaments in chess960 that they trademark as Chess 9LX . On September 19, 2022, all Club operations temporarily moved to

392-422: The adjacent space that housed the original incarnation of the chess-themed Kingside Diner. All tournaments in the interim are held at 308 N Euclid Ave, the old Kingside Diner space, the basement of The Chase Park Plaza Hotel , Il Monastero at Saint Louis University , or the World Chess Hall of Fame . In 2020, club officials received allegations of sexual assaults by Alejandro Ramirez , a resident grandmaster who

420-449: The allegations and tried to silence her. Officials denied the allegations. Leading chess platforms Chess.com and Lichess announced that they would no longer support the St. Louis club nor cover its tournaments because of how the club had handled the allegations. Two months later, the club's board of directors released a statement in which they said the club "should have done more to address

448-452: The allegations made by those who bravely came forward with information about his inexcusable behavior". They also said the club had hired a legal team led by Catherine Hanaway "to review all its guidelines, practices and procedures when it comes to ensuring the safety and security of everyone participating in chess". After this statement, Chess.com resumed its support and coverage of the club's tournaments, while Lichess did not. The STLCC has

476-498: The annual Sinquefield Cup tournament, the only U.S. stop on the Grand Chess Tour . Founded at the club in 2013, it is one of the world's strongest tournaments as measured by its competitors' world rankings . The club drew national attention in 2023 when officials were accused of concealing the alleged sexual assaults of a grandmaster employee. In 2007, Rex Sinquefield , a billionaire and libertarian activist, founded

504-541: The appointment of Raymond W. Gruender to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit , Hanaway was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, taking office on July 19, 2005. As the chief federal law enforcement for half of Missouri, Hanaway prosecuted over 4,000 cases. On taking office, she made a point of visiting every local prosecuting attorney in her district,

532-510: The club quickly grew to prominence in the United States' chess community. In 2009, the club began hosting the annual U.S. Championships and U.S. Women's Championships . The following year, it added the annual Junior Closed Championship. The success of the 2009–2010 U.S. Championships led the United States Chess Federation to name the STLCC the 2010 Chess Club of the Year. The USCF also recognized STLCC Executive Director Tony Rich as Organizer of

560-566: The first time in over two decades that a U.S. Attorney had done so. One of Hanaway's focuses as U.S. Attorney was the prosecution of methamphetamine manufacturers and dealers, including illegal immigrants bringing in the drug from outside of Missouri. She also focused on prosecuting child exploitation cases and government corruption. In a highly publicized case, she successfully sued nursing home chain Cathedral Rock Corp. for Medicaid and Medicare fraud . She also prosecuted

588-444: The front lines in the war for Missouri's political soul," "transforming Missouri from a national bellwether into a state that has progressively become more crimson." During her tenure as Speaker, Catherine successfully passed Missouri's first concealed carry law by overriding a veto from Democratic Governor Bob Holden . She also supported legislation to protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits. In addition to her pro-gun stances, she

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616-533: The predecessor firm to Husch Blackwell for four years. Catherine began volunteering for Republican campaigns in the early 1990s, and joined Senator Kit Bond 's staff in 1993 where she managed his office's operations for Northeast Missouri. She first ran for elected office in 1998 winning a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. In 2000, she managed President George W. Bush 's campaign operations for Missouri. After her first term in office, she

644-516: The responses of club and federation officials, posted her allegations to social media. Within a month, seven more women came forward to accuse Ramirez of sexually assaulting them. In March 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that club officials had known of allegations against Ramirez at least since 2015. Ramirez resigned from the club. In August 2023, Shahade sued the club and the U.S. federation, alleging that they had mishandled

672-539: Was also opposed to abortion and passed bills supported by Missouri Right-to-Life. Hanaway also rejected multiple tax increase proposals from Governor Holden as Speaker. During a 2003 budget dispute in which Holden had requested a tax increase, Hanaway publicly asked him "What part of 'No' don't you understand?" With the 2002 death of 2-year-old Dominic James in Springfield, the need to reform Missouri's foster care system became broadly evident. Hanaway worked to pass

700-408: Was elected Republican Minority Leader in 2000. Throughout 2001 and 2002, Hanaway recruited candidates and raised large sums of money in a successful attempt to gain the first Republican Majority in the Missouri House in 48 years. Hanaway was elected as the first female Speaker of the Missouri House shortly afterwards. The Missouri Times described her as "Missouri's Red State Architect" who "fought on

728-462: Was endorsed by former U.S. Senator Kit Bond, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley , Kansas Governor Sam Brownback , and Congresswoman Ann Wagner . Her campaign employed Jeff Roe as a political consultant, Hanaway suspended her campaign for a month after Schweich's suicide. Hanaway has been very critical of Governor Jay Nixon's response to the unrest in Ferguson . She feels that he

756-443: Was insufficiently supportive of law enforcement. She also criticized a gubernatorial rival, state Attorney General Chris Koster , for failing to prosecute those who assaulted police officers, looted, and set fires during the unrest. She has similarly attacked the "lawlessness" at the University of Missouri , and called for the firing of Professor Melissa Click , who was caught on tape calling for "muscle" to be called in to prevent

784-433: Was the club's highest-paid employee for at least two years. Officials said they launched no formal investigation but "stopped engaging Ramirez in any capacity where he would come into contact with minors". In 2022, two-time women's national champion Jennifer Shahade filed a formal complaint to the United States Chess Federation alleging that Ramirez had twice sexually assaulted her. In February 2023, Shahade, frustrated by

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