Sinquefield Cup

The Sinquefield Cup is an elite tournament established in 2013 and organized in Saint Louis by the Saint Louis Chess Club. It is an invitational, meaning that the field is assembled through invitations and organizer-defined criteria rather than open entry for any player.

Its main discipline is classical chess. This means long time controls, normally allowing games to last several hours and giving players more calculation time than rapid or blitz chess. Many editions have used a round robin, although the field size and other details can vary.

The Cup became part of the Grand Chess Tour, an international circuit containing several events, and in many seasons it has served as a leading or final stop. The individual tournament and the whole circuit are not identical: winning the Cup decides that event, while the Tour standings combine results from multiple competitions.

Saint Louis also hosts the U.S. Chess Championship, but it is a separate competition. The national championship awards a United States title; the Sinquefield Cup invites an international elite and has its own identity.