How do you find a GM/WGM to do a simul? I’m trying to organize a simul for national chess day.
You could have an A player do it, but you’d end up with that Jaffe cartoon of many years ago, where the grandmaster was going around with steam coming out of his head, and all the players were high-fiving each other.
Bill Smythe
Given your location, it might be worth contacting the St. Louis Chess Club to see if any titled players in that area would like to conduct such an exhibition.
This page has bios on some top American players. Some of the bios have contact information.
The USCF office might be able to assist in this endeavor as well. Good luck!
If you cannot get a GM, how about contacting your state chess champion and ask him if he would like to do a simul? He can give a short talk, answer questions, and then do the exhibition. He would likely be honored to be asked. Another possibility is to ask your top junior or Denker representative to give the exhibition. He can demonstrate his skills and motivated his peers to achieve excellence.
You might also contact Jim and Frank Berry in Oklahoma, they have brought a number of GMs to Oklahoma and may have some ideas as to who is available, affordable, and would do a good job. (Years ago we had GM Larry Evans do a simul in Lincoln, even though he was no longer an active top player, he put on an excellent simul, one that was entertaining to players at all skill levels from young inexperienced players to several local masters, two of whom earned draws.)
Or…
If you have access to the TD/affiliate support area… go there and search on FIDE titled players in MO,OK,TN,TX. It says 23 email addresses are found. You could craft an email (minimum fee $20, 5 cents per email, so you could search on more states easily) and have USCF send this email to the titled players. The email could say that you are looking for a (certain level of) FIDE titled player for a simul/lecture, and those interested should contact you a specific email address.
You can also try LinkedIn. Many professional chessplayers list themselves there.
The demograpics query tool says there are 92 emailable current/recent members with a FIDE rating of 2400 or higher, in around 30 different states.
How many of those would do a good job on a Simul is a somewhat different question.
Yermo came down to Colorado last year for a simul before the CO Open (Labor Day). If interested PM me and I can help you find the organizer and who booked him.