Chess tournament information
PO Box 249, Salisbury Mills, NY 12577-0249
845-496-9658,
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: ChesstourAtAOL.com (use "@" instead of "At"), with a copy to ChesscentrAtAOL.com (use "@" instead of "At")
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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, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. 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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CCA TOURNAMENTS SNOW POLICY: WE NEVER CANCEL!
On occasion due to the threat of a snowstorm, we receive inquiries regarding
whether one of our tournaments will be canceled or rescheduled. IF IT IS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE TO HOLD A
TOURNAMENT, WE WILL NEVER CANCEL IT DUE TO BAD WEATHER.
We have been holding tournaments for 45 years, have encountered some horrible
weather during that time, yet have never canceled a tournament due to bad
weather. If we are able to hold the tournament, we will. If it is impossible to
hold it as scheduled, for example because roads are closed, then we will try to
hold it anyway by delaying the start of the tournament to allow time for roads
to be cleared. Even if the first day of a tournament was completely wiped out by
snow, which has never happened, we would probably modify the schedule and time
limit to fit into the remaining time available over that weekend and announce a
revised schedule.
Rescheduling a tournament is very unlikely for a number of reasons. Most
tournaments are booked a year or more in advance, and it’s unlikely that a
replacement weekend would be available at the hotel, especially since many
possible dates would conflict with other tournaments. It also takes many months
to properly publicize a tournament, and all the money spent to promote one that
was canceled or rescheduled would go to waste.
NOTE: Weather reports often tend to exaggerate the problems
caused by snow. Recently many areas of New York State received 1
to 2 feet of snow in the two days prior to our February tournament in Saratoga
Springs, and about 20 people canceled "due to weather conditions" even though
major roads were cleared well before the tournament, and those who attended
apparently had little problem travelling.
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To avoid huge ballroom rent,
most of our tournaments count on having many players use guest rooms at the host
hotel, and asking for the chess rate gives the tournament credit. For all
tournaments, please stay at the tournament site whenever possible and ask for
the chess rate.
Thank you
for your support!
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NEW ADDRESS FOR DROPOUTS
We
receive so much email that it is difficult to keep track of important messages,
such as those regarding players who have entered a tournament but will be unable
to attend. To simplify this task, we have set up a special email address
for mail regarding such withdrawals. It is DropoutsAtChess.us (use the @
symbol instead of "At."). Please use this address for the following purposes:
1. To notify us that you will not be able to attend a tournament that you
entered. This should be done at least two hours before your scheduled
first game.
2. To inquire about a credit or a refund from a past tournament you entered but
did not attend.
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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 1600, Under 1400 & 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 $15 service charge. You may also give notice of withdrawal by mail 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 MOST TOURNAMENTS!
1 year USCF dues with monthly Chess Life if paid with entry: if paid online,
Adult $30, Young Adult $20. By mail, phone or at site, Adult $40, Young Adult
$30. 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!
2009 WORLD OPEN FINAL STANDINGS
2009 PHILADELPHIA
INTERNATIONAL
and WORLD OPEN SENIOR AMATEUR, WORLD OPEN GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP,
WORLD OPEN UNDER 13 CHAMPIONSHIP, WORLD OPEN QUADS
NORTHAMERICANOPEN.COM:
STANDINGS AND GAMES
from 2009 North American Open
2009 NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS NEWS AND GAMES:
www.nationalchesscongress.com
www.monroi.com
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2009 CHICAGO OPEN NEWS AND GAMES:
www.chicagoopen.net
www.monroi.com
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2009 FOXWOODS OPEN NEWS AND GAMES:
www.foxwoodsopen.com
www.monroi.com
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2010 NEW YORK STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS,
2/27-28, Saratoga Springs, NY
-- High School
Championship
-- Junior High
Championship
-- Elementary
Championship
-- Elementary
Novice
-- Primary Championship
-- Primary K1
-- Bughouse Championship!
2010 NEW
YORK STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: USCF-Rated Results!
2010 NEW
YORK STATE SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Albany Times-Union News Story!
Tournament
Directors Working Doggedly To Sniff Out Possible Pairing Irregularities
Our next tournament is the 17th Annual Western Class Championships, March 12-14 or 13-14 ($20,000 PRIZE FUND-- $16,000 MINIMUM GUARANTEED!, at the Renaissance Hotel, Agoura Hills, California (26 miles west of Burbank). Advance entries will be posted here by Thursday, March 11.
CCA minimum ratings as of January 5 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 next few tournaments here.
We expect to update the entry lists prior to each event.
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: March
4th
Often the first update for a tournament is posted a week or two before that event. Before that there may be few if any entries.
If you are not listed and
the entry deadline has not been reached, please wait for further updates.
If the final post is up and you are omitted, please send us an email.
Please do not report misspellings or
rating changes to us. Misspelled names and changed ratings are
automatically corrected when we import the player's info from the USCF database
using the ID number.
We will use the
MARCH
OFFICIAL USCF RATINGS
and the
latest CCA
Minimum Ratings for the Eastern Class Championships, the Western
Class Championships and the Mid-America Open, and if they are too high for
the section requested, the player(s) will be automatically moved up.
The advance entry list is not used
for any purpose once the tournament starts, so misspellings and incorrect
ratings on the advance entry list are generally never corrected on that list, they are updated only on the pairing sheets and wall charts.
2010 Eastern Class Championships, March 5-7 or 6-7: All advance entries received through March 2nd.
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We hold four of the five largest prize fund tournaments in the USA:
The 2009 World Open was held at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel July 1-5, 2-5, 3-5 or June 29-July 5. Guaranteed prizes totaled $250,000, highest of any open tournament in the world. The 2010 World Open will be played July 1-5, 2-5, 3-5 or June 29-July 5 at the Valley Forge Convention Center & Radisson Hotel, King of Prussia, PA, 20 miles west of Philadelphia. See the World Open website with results and games from World Opens since 1998.
The $100,000 guaranteed Chicago Open was held at the luxurious Westin North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois May 22-25, 23-25 or 24-25. The 2010 Chicago Open will be at the same location May 27-31, 28-31, 29-31 or 30-31. For the first time, the Open Section will have 9 rounds, so GM and IM norms will be possible! This section will begin Thursday night. The other sections will still be 7 rounds.
The 2009 North American Open, a 7-round Swiss, was held at Bally's Las Vegas December 26-29. The 2010 event will again be 7 rounds, Dec 26-29 at Bally's, with alternate schedule option Dec 27-29. This event is always Dec 26-29 each year, regardless of the days of the week those dates are.
The 2009 Foxwoods Open was held April 8-12. This tournament was always held over Easter weekend (no other weekend was 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 Foxwoods Open is not planned for 2010 due to a requested huge increase in guest room rates. A new event, the 2010 Philadelphia Open, will be held at the Philadelphia Sheraton Hotel over Easter weekend, March 31-April 4, April 1-4, 2-4 or 3-4, with details similar to the Foxwoods Open. GM and IM norms will be available in the Open Section which begins Wednesday night.
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