The 2009 U.S. Chess Championship was held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in its inaugural year. Returning to this year's competition was the 2008 Champion, Yury Shulman, along with fellow Grandmasters Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura, and Alexander Onischuk. Newcomers Robert Hess, age 17, and Ray Robson, age 14, both make their first U.S. Championship appearances.