Thanks to Susan Polgar I have some pictures from the 2009 US Championship Opening Ceremony and some random pictures from around St. Louis.

After a brief phone conversation with Jared Fallon (from the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis) I now have an e-mail from him regarding the current state of development of the US Chess Championship. Jared was incredibly nice and would have liked to go as a member of the press but scheduling just wasn't possible.

He sent me a number of important links ... three of which I'm going to pass on to my readers:
The Games Live in PGN
Player Biographies
Slay & Associates - The Publicity Firm

I love the St. Louis Center's website and especially this pic:

I just received the following from Michelle Kubot (an intern with "Pelopidas", a promotion company apparently handling the US Chess Championship):

(abridged)
"I’ve been reading your blog (chessvine.com) and I just wanted to let you know the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship is coming up! It is May 7-17 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center in St. Louis.

The nation’s top 24 players will seek to take the title from last years winner Yury Shulman–including the top 12 American players by rating, the 2008 U.S. Junior Closed Champion, the 2008 U.S. Open Champion and the 2009 U.S. State Champion of Champions. Not to mention, over $200,000 in prizes are on the table!

Anyway, here is a link to the media kit: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009. And Also, here is a link to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis website: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org, where you can RSVP for the free tickets. This website will also provide daily coverage! And both have player bios, chess facts, tournament history, etc.

Just figured you and your blog readers or social followers would love to know about all this as fellow chess buffs! There's a facebook group too."

The slated participants for the US Chess Championships are:

1. Kamsky, Gata 2720 (rating)
2. Nakamura, Hikaru 2701 (rating)
3. Onischuk, Alexander 2684 (rating)
4. Shulman, Yuri 2632 (defending U.S. Champion)
5. Akobian, Varuzhan 2612 (rating)
6. Becerra Rivero, Julio 2609 (rating)
7. Ehlvest, Jaan 2606 (rating)
8. Kaidanov, Gregory S 2595 (rating)
9. Christiansen, Larry M 2588 (rating)
10. Ibragimov, Ildar 2586 (rating)
11. Benjamin, Joel 2583 (rating)
12. Shabalov, Alexander 2569 (wildcard)
13. Gulko, Boris F 2561 (rating)
14. Khachiyan, Melikset 2546 (rating)
15. Sevillano, Enrico 2520 (U.S. Open Champion)
16. Friedel, Joshua E 2516 (wildcard)
17. Hess, Robert L 2485 (wildcard)
18. Robson, Ray 2465 (wildcard)
19. Brooks, Michael A 2463 (wildcard)
20. Zatonskih, Anna 2461 (female, rating)
21. Krush, Irina 2452 (female, rating)
22. Shankland, Samuel 2446 (US State Champion)
23. Lawton, Charles (wildcard)
24. Tyler Hughes 2230 (2008 U.S. Junior Champion)

My pick to win: I think Onischuk will do well this year. I think everyone is rooting for Kamsky but I just don't think this field is good for him (as he does better without going into an event as the top seed). Go Onischuk!

The 24 invited players will include:

the top 12 American players by rating, using the April rating supplement;

the top two female players by rating, using the April rating supplement;

the 2008 U.S. Champion;
the 2008 U.S. Junior Closed Champion;

the 2008 U.S. Open Champion;

the 2009 U.S. State Champion of Champions;

* a total of six wild card spots, to be determined later.

Source: Chess Life Online