Chess tournament information
PO Box 249, Salisbury Mills, NY 12577-0249
845-496-9658 or 914-665-8152,
but it's MUCH better to use email! It reduces the
possibility of error, is more likely to be noticed in time than a
phone message, and many phone messages are inaudible.
For withdrawals or section switches, please email us
at least 2 hours
before your first round.
Email us at:
chesstour@aol.comnospam
(remove "nospam" to use), with a copy to
chesscentr@aol.comnospam (remove "nospam"
to use)
See bottom of page for reader surveys on USCF columnists, schedules/time controls, and locations.
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Welcome to Continental Chess!
We have organized
tournaments from coast to coast since the 1960s, open to players of all
ages, from Grandmasters to beginners. Most include sections in which less
experienced players play only each other.
We are not a membership organization, but are affiliated with the US Chess Federation . Our events award USCF ratings and require USCF membership, available through us. We presently plan events in California, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. For tournaments in other states, see uschess.org. If you're not ready to enter, please visit any of our tournaments; there is no fee for spectators.
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF OUR UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS.
For results, see CROSSTABLES. For your latest USCF rating, click here. Note that only "official ratings" are used at our events, unless you would otherwise be unrated. "Unofficial ratings" are NOT used if you have an official rating.
Click here to enter a tournament online.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE: WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT ALL PRIZEWINNERS WAIT TO RECEIVE THEIR PRIZES AT THE TOURNAMENT! Prizewinners may receive their prize checks right at the tournament (except for World Open Under 1800, Under 1600, Under 1400 and Under 1200), as soon as the amount of their prize has been determined! The IRS also requires that anyone who wins $600 or more show proof of their Social Security Number to the Tournament Director, in order to receive their check. Those prizewinners who choose not to receive their prizes at the tournament may instead provide us with their addresses (and social security numbers if necessary) so we can mail these prize checks after the tournament. However, especially during our busy periods, it may take up to four (4) or more weeks for us to process all the outstanding prizes, for you to then receive your prize by mail, instead of just receiving it on site, at the end of the tournament.
REFUND POLICY: If you cannot attend any of our tournaments, send us an email at least 2 hours before the first round. If this is not possible, call the tournament site and ask for the chess tournament. You can apply the entire fee to future tournaments, or obtain a refund of the fee minus a $10 service charge. You may also give notice of withdrawal by writing us at least 8 days before the first round. NO REFUND, full or partial, is EVER given once you have started playing your game in the first round.
PLEASE ALLOW at least four weeks to receive your refund!
Especially during busy periods such as June-August or November-January, we tend to have a large backlog of work: entries, refunds, prizes, rating reports, memberships, invitations, questions, hotel contracts & setup, travel to tournaments, etc. If four weeks elapses and your refund does not arrive, it has probably been overlooked- send us an e-mail pointing this out and we will give it priority.
ONLINE
ENTRY using a
secure server is available for all CCA tournaments that offer advance entry!
Online entry is also available at
www.entry.cc,
which you can use if you ever have problems accessing chesstour.com.
Immediately after you enter online, you should see "Thank you for your order" on
the screen. This means your entry is confirmed. NO FURTHER CONFIRMATION
IS NECESSARY and you will not receive an email.
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SPECIAL FOR ALL TOURNAMENTS!
1 year USCF dues with monthly Chess Life if paid with entry: if paid online,
unrated $20, rated $30. By mail, phone or at site, unrated $30, rated $40. Cost
of reduced dues borne by CCA. USCF membership is required for all our
tournaments.
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ONLINE ENTRY ALERT: Please disregard any message which states "Network Unreachable" or "Could Not Send Email." Once you receive the message "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ORDER," that means your order has been processed (DO NOT re-purchase the same order again, or you will be charged twice!).
We ask that you print out your confirmation, showing your order number, and bring it with you to the tournament, as it will make things easier for us in the unlikely event there is a problem with your entry. If you failed to print it out, bring your order number if possible. NOTE: If you have no printout and didn't record your order number, don't worry and PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US ASKING FOR THEM; we will NOT look them up as on the average this is far more difficult for us than having players arrive at the tournament without order numbers.
If your online entry is "timed out" and you try again but get "Please do not reload this page, your order has already been processed," this means that YOUR ORDER HAS ALREADY BEEN PROCESSED! Do not enter again or you will be charged twice! "Your order has already been processed" is a confirmation that your entry went through. In general, most entries that are "timed out" after entering credit card info go through OK.
Occasionally your internet connection or our website may be down temporarily. If you can't access online entries, try again an hour or two later. If you still can't get through after a few tries, send us an email and let us know. Do not go to the tournament expecting to say "online entry didn't work, so I will pay the advance entry fee at the door." NO ADVANCE ENTRY FEES ARE ACCEPTED AT THE DOOR!
2008
NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, 8/29-9/1, Albany, NY
2008 NEW YORK
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: USCF-Rated Results!
2008 NEW
YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Schenectady Gazette News Report!
2008 NEW YORK STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP: Chess Life Online Tournament Report!
2008 ATLANTIC OPEN,
8/22-24, Washington, DC
2008 ATLANTIC OPEN: USCF-Rated Results!
2008
ATLANTIC OPEN: Chess Life Online Tournament Report!
2008 WORLD OPEN REPORTS
PhiladelphiaChess.com: Philadelphia International Final Standings
2008 CHICAGO OPEN, MAY 23-26:
Final standings with prize amounts
Website with games & photos
USCF-Rated Results
Our next
tournament is the
17th Annual Midwest Class
Championships, October 10-12 or 11-12,
at the luxurious
Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, 601 North Milwaukee Avenue, Wheeling
(near Chicago), Illinois--
click here to enter the Midwest Class Championships
online-- through October 7th!
The Midwest Class Championships
(our biggest one yet!)
features a
$20,000 GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND!! Continental Chess is once
again
offering
FREE ENTRY TO UNRATED PLAYERS!! Note: only
players with three tournament games or less are unrated, and
all players must join the U.S. Federation in order to participate in
any USCF-rated tournament, anywhere in the U.S. (players who are not
current USCF members may
join the USCF at a substantial discount on our website through October
7th; otherwise, they must pay the USCF dues at the tournament, in order
to participate). The complete list of all advance entries received through
October 7th should be posted here by October 9th.
CCA minimum ratings as of August 7th are now posted. They will be used, if above USCF ratings, at all CCA tournaments effective immediately.
We will be posting the advance
entries for our upcoming tournaments here.
We expect to update the entry lists each week (usually on Wednesday).
PLEASE
NOTE! These advance entries are posted
so that players will know they are correctly entered, NOT for the purpose of
showing how many entries there are likely to be! The great majority of
entries for most tournaments come in the last few days before the event or at
the door. Often a few weeks before the event, entries are only 5% to 10%
of their ultimate total, and even a few days before, there are sometimes just
one or two entries in a section/schedule only to have it wind up with ten or
more.
Latest Update: September 2, 2008
Midwest Class Championships, October 10-12
or 11-12, 2008:
All advance entries received
through August 24th.
AKOBIAN WINS 2007 WORLD OPEN
GM Varuzhan Akobian of California has won the 35th annual World Open,
played June 30-July 4, 2007 at Valley Forge, PA, with
alternate schedules beginning July 1, July 2, and June 28. Akobian
defeated GM Alex Stripunsky in an armaegeddon playoff game after the two were
part of a 9-way tie at 6.5 out of 9 rounds. The Open Section had 35
Grandmasters, and the overall event 1063 players plus 136 re-entries.
Two of the Open Section alternate schedules were incredibly strong. First the 7-day began with 7 GMs among the 12 entrants, so two GMs had to play each other in round one. But this was outdone three days later by the 4-day schedule, with 8 GMs out of 10 players!
For live games on Monroi and results,
click here.
For final standings and prizes, click here.
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We hold four of the five largest prize fund tournaments in the USA:
In 2006, the WORLD OPEN, in most years the world's largest open chess tournament since its beginning in 1973, was held over the July 4th weekend at Sheraton City Center Hotel, Philadelphia. Total prizes were over $358,000. See our World Open website with results and games from 1998-2006. Over 1500 games may be viewed or downloaded there! The 2007 World Open was held at the Valley Forge Convention Plaza, 20 miles west of Philadelphia. See www.monroi.com for games. The 2008 World Open will return to the Sheraton City Center Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, with 5-day schedule July 2-6 and others July 3-6, July 4-6, and June 30-July 6.
The $100,000 guaranteed Chicago Open was held as a 7 round Swiss May 23-26, 24-26 or 25-26, 2008 at a magnificent new location, the Westin North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, IL. The 2009 Chicago Open will be at the same location May 22-25, 23-25 or 24-25.
The 2007 North American Open, a 7-round Swiss, was held at Bally's Las Vegas December 26-29. The 2008 event will again be 7 rounds, Dec 26-29 at Bally's, with alternate schedule options Dec 27-29 or 28-29. This event is always Dec 26-29 each year, regardless of the days of the week those dates are.
The 2008 Foxwoods Open was held March 19-23. This tournament is always held over Easter weekend (no other weekend is available at Foxwoods), with 9 rounds in the Open Section (5 days, GM & IM norms available), and 7 rounds in the lower sections (choice of 4-day or 3-day schedule). The 2009 event will be April 8-12, 9-12 or 10-12.
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