Chess Tournament Information
SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
EMAIL ADDRESS: Director@Chess.US
PO Box 8482, Pelham NY 10803
Email us at Director@Chess.US to copy all our chief TDs
For withdrawals before round 1, write to Dropouts@Chess.US
IN EITHER CASE,
PLEASE PUT THE NAME OF THE TOURNAMENT AND THE NAME OF THE PLAYER IN THE EMAIL
SUBJECT HEADING!
For withdrawals or section switches, please email us at
least an hour before your first round.
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Welcome to Continental Chess! We have organized chess tournaments from coast to coast
since the 1960s, open to players of all ages, from beginners to
Grandmasters. Most include sections in which less experienced players
face 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 at special rates. We presently plan events in California,
Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri,
Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, plus
online. 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.
For results, see CROSSTABLES. Some historic Continental Chess tables from long ago are now posted that cannot be found anywhere else on the web, including the 1986 World Open (Open Section) which included 14 of the world's top 100 players.
For your latest USCF rating, click here.
Note that only "official ratings" are
used at our events, unless you would otherwise be unrated. The official
rating corresponding to the month of the ending date of the tournament is used.
"Unofficial ratings" are NOT used if you have an official rating.
Click here for our shopping cart at chessaction.com.
For Website Problems With
Online Registration ONLY, write to Admin@OnlineRegistration.cc.
Please specify exactly what the problem is (what you see
on the screen).
Please do NOT write to the Admin address for switches, byes, dropouts, or other issues!
To view up to date online entries for any tournament, go to chessaction.com, find the tournament on the chronological list, and click "entry list." This will show all online entries received (even online late entries) and some, but not all, mailed entries. Often there will be a delay of a week or more in posting the mailed entries. When viewing advance entries, please remember that for most tournaments, the majority of entries are received during the last five days before the tournament and at the door.
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USING PEAK RATING TO PLAY UP (revised 7/6/21)
Information about
refunds
Information about mailed
prizes
Information about mailed entries
Unclaimed Trophies Or Plaques?
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CCA minimum ratings as of January 8, 2026 are now posted. They will be
used, if above USCF ratings, at all CCA tournaments, effective
immediately.
CONVERTING FOREIGN & FIDE RATINGS TO USCF
(Revised
March 22, 2024)
Liang edges Akopian on tiebreak to take
2021 North American Open
2021
World Open: Niemann wins playoff over Burke
Swiercz
tops 2021 Chicago Open
2020
World Open moved to online, many other events canceled
Gabuzyan
takes North American Open on tiebreak over Izoria
Le
wins 2019 World Open in playoff over Xiong
Bai first in North American Open
Shimanov
tops Chicago Open on tiebreak over Stukopin and Liang
Ruifeng Li
wins 2018 Philadelphia Open
Kovalev wins 2018 Southwest Class on
tiebreak over Baryshpolets
Hess takes 2017 North American Open on
tiebreak; GM norms for Bryant and Aldama
Petrosian wins 2017 World Open, GM norms by Abdumalik and Mandizha
Stukopin and
Burke win 2017 Philadelphia International, GM norms for Burke and Checa
Three in a row for Sevian-
clear first in 2017 Chicago Open! GM norms: Liang, Harmon-Vellotti, Brown
Sevian wins
2017 Philadelphia Open on tiebreak
Sevian wins 2017
Southwest Class on tiebreak
Friedel wins 2016 North American Open
on tiebreak over Li and Gelashvili
5 tie at 2016 Washington
Congress, Sadorra tops on tiebreak, GM norms for Li and Brodsky
Papp wins 2016 World Open, GM norms for Gorovets & Preotu, 8 earn IM
norms
Bachmann and Shimanov
top 2016 Philadelphia International, GM norm for Kannappan
Belous tops 2016 Chicago Open, GM norm for
Harmon-Vellotti
Ruifeng Li
wins 2016 Philadelphia Open, makes GM norm
For results of CCA events, see CROSSTABLES.COM.
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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 hotel
if possible and ask for the chess rate. Thank you for your support!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
OUR EMAIL ADDRESSES: PLEASE PUT THE
NAME OF THE TOURNAMENT AND THE NAME OF THE PLAYER IN THE EMAIL SUBJECT HEADING!
To ask
questions or change your section or schedule for a tournament: Director@Chess.US
To withdraw from a tournament before play begins: Dropouts@Chess.US
To withdraw from a tournament after you have begun play: Best to tell a
Director; second best is to use Director@Chess.us
To request an invitation for a foreign player: Go@Chess.US
To ask about a prize you didn't claim at a tournament: Prizes@Chess.US
To claim a
half point bye or byes in over the board tournaments: Byes that will occur
after you begin play should be requested ONLY AT THE TOURNAMENT. Round 1 byes (or 1-2, 1-2-3, etc.) are available
at chessaction.com. We don't want to know about other byes in advance because
they are frequently changed (sometimes more than once), causing extra work and
occasional pairing errors.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE: WE STRONGLY
RECOMMEND THAT ALL OTB PRIZEWINNERS WAIT TO RECEIVE THEIR PRIZES AT THE TOURNAMENT! Prizewinners
may receive their prize checks right at the tournament (except for World Open
lower sections), 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 or Tax ID 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 tax ID 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) weeks for us to process all the outstanding prizes. Prizes can often be sent, on request, by Zelle or PayPal.
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 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.
USCF MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL FOR MOST TOURNAMENTS: 1 year USCF dues with paper magazine if paid with online entry at chesstour.com, Adult $54, Senior (age 65+) $48, Young Adult $33, Youth $24. At site, same price, but does not include cost of the magazine. USCF membership is required for all our tournaments.
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ONLINE ENTRY PROBLEMS? WAS MY ONLINE ENTRY
RECEIVED? CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE FOR TOURNAMENT WEBSITES
(standings, many have games)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER A CCA TOURNAMENT
For Website Problems With Online Registration, write to
Admin@OnlineRegistration.cc
Please specify exactly
what the problem is (what you see on the screen).
Please do NOT write to the Admin address
for switches, byes, dropouts, or other issues!
CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY LISTS - then go to the event you want and click "entry list."
PLEASE
NOTE! The purpose of posting entries is NOT to show
how many entries there are likely to be! The majority of entries
for most tournaments come in the last few days before the event or at the
door. Often a week or two before an 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.
If you enter online at chessaction.com,
your entry should appear virtually immediately if you click on using the
tournament's "entry list" link. If you enter by mail, there may be a
delay of a week or two before your entry is posted there. We don't confirm
entries by mail or email, only by posting them at chessaction.com. If you mail
an entry and two weeks elapse without it being posted, please send us an email.
We will use the JULY OFFICIAL USCF RATING LIST for all our tournaments that END in JULY
(tournaments which offer FIDE Title Norms will use FIDE ratings, however),
except unofficial ratings at www.uschess.org
will usually be used for players who would otherwise
be unrated, along with the latest CCA MINIMUM RATINGS for all events, and if they are too high for the section
requested, the player(s) will be automatically moved up. For
information on foreign players' ratings, click here. The latest rating will not always be shown on the shopping cart-
for example, if you enter an October tournament in September, the cart may
display your September rating. If the cart says you are not eligible for a
section you want and you believe you are eligible based on a rating change,
either wait for the cart to display your new rating or send us an email.
NOTE:
Some players have been assigned CCA
minimum ratings, effective immediately, usually as a
result of outstanding results.
We hold 4
of the 5 largest prize fund open tournaments in the USA, with GM and IM norms
possible:
The 2012 World Open, the 40th anniversary of
this July 4th weekend event, was played with 9 rounds at the Sheraton
Philadelphia City Center Hotel. GM norms were achieved by Marc Arnold,
John Daniel Bryant and Eesha Karavade and IM norms by
Thomas Bartell, Yaacov Norowitz and Luke
Harmon-Vellotti. See the World Open website
with results and games from many past World Opens. The 2013 World Open
was held at Hyatt Regency Crystal City, a few miles from Washington, DC in
Arlington, VA. Entries were slightly greater than in 2012, and six
players made IM norms: Christopher Gu, Luke Harmon-Vellotti, Arthur Shen,
Shiyam Thavandiran, Sean Vibbert, and Kevin Wang. The
2014 event was held at Hyatt Regency Crystal City and was won by Ilya
Smirin, with 9 players achieving norms. The 2015 World Open, the last of 3 in the DC area
before returning to Philadelphia, ended in an 8-way tie. GM Alex Lenderman took
the title in a tebreak game over GM Rauf Mamedov. IM
norms were achieved by Craig Hilby and Michael Burke, and a WIM norm by
Jennifer Yu. The 2016 World Open saw a 7-way tie with Gabor Papp taking
the title in a playoff game over Victor Bologan. Andrey Gorovets
and Razvan Preotu achieved GM norms and 8 players
earned IM norms. The 2017 World
Open at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown and won by Tigran Petrosian.
Zhansaya Abdumalik and Farai Mandizha made GM norms and Carissa Yip a WIM norm.
The
$100,000 guaranteed 2012 Chicago Open
was held at the luxurious Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling,
Illinois over Memorial Day weekend. The Open Section had 9 rounds with
FIDE norms possible, and three were earned: GM Daniel Ludwig, IM Kayden Troff,
and WIM Sarah Chiang. The other sections had 7 rounds. The 2013 event was
held at the same location and won by Ray Robson on tiebreak over Josh Friedel
and Nikola Mitkov, with a GM norm earned by Edward Porper.
The 2014 event was won by GM Gabriel Sargissian
on tiebreak over IM Priyadharshan Kanappan.
GM norms were achieved by Kanappan and 13-year old IM
Jeffery Xiong, while Michael Lee earned an IM norm. The 2015 Chicago Open
saw 14-year old Jeffery Xiong take clear first place and achieve his final GM
norm. Vladimir Belous took clear first at the 2016 event, with four norms achieved including a GM
norm for Luke Harmon-Vellotti. The 2017 Chicago Open drew a record 925
players and saw 16-year old GM Samuel Sevian take
clear first to win over $10,000- his third consecutive win in a Continental
Chess international after winning the Southwest Class and Philadelphia Open on
tiebreak! Sevian holds the US record for the youngest
GM, having obtained that title at age 13. An amazing number of three GM norms
were achieved by young American players- 14-year old Awonder
Liang made his third norm to qualify for the Grandmaster title, and Michael
Brown and Luke Harmon-Vellotti also earned GM norms.
Also, IM norms were achieved by Robert Perez, Matthew Larson, Sam Schmakel and
Aaron Grabinsky, and a WIM norm by Maggie Feng. The 2018 Chicago Open was
won by Alex Shimanov on tuebreak over Andrey Stukopin and Awonder Liang. GM
norms were obtained by Safal Bora and Dionisio Aldama and IM norms by Matthew
Larson, Tianqi Wang, Sam Schmakel and Ben Li.
The 2012
North American Open
was held at Bally's Las Vegas December 26-30, 26-29 or 27-29. The
Open Section had 9 rounds for the first time, and four norms were achieved, GM
by John Daniel Bryant and Zhanibek Amanov and IM by
Yian Liou and Michael Bodek. The lower sections were 7 rounds. The prize
fund of $120,000 projected and $90,000 minimum turned out to total $112,901,
larger than any other open tournament in the US in 2012 except for the World
Open. The 2013 event had an even larger prize fund. GM Giorgi Kacheishvili took the top spot on tiebreak after 8 players
each scored 6.5. Ryan Goldenberg, Roman Preotu, Roman
Sapozhnikov, Arthuir Shen and Gregory Young achieved
IM norms. The 2014 North American Open was dominated by GM Wesley So,
who scored 8-1 to take first place by an extraordinary 1.5 points. Atulya
Shetty, Alexander Kretchetov, and Safal Bora earned IM norms and Ramya Krishna Inapuri a WIM norm. In 2015 the event drew a record
turnout of over 700 players, awarding more than $15,000 over the $120,000
projected prize fund. Alexy Dreev won on tiebreak. FM Josh Colas earned a GM
norm, while 5 IM norms and one WIM norm were also made. The 2016 event
with $120,000 guaranteed was won by Josh Friedel on tiebreak over Ruifeng Li and Tamaz Gelashvili. Cameron Wheeler, Nick
Raptis, and Nikhil Kumar made IM norms. The 2017 event saw a 5-way tie
with GM Robert Hess tops on tiebreak, followed by GM Samuel Sevian,
GM Ruifeng Li, IM Dionisio Aldama, and GM Arun Prasad
Subramanian. Aldama and John Daniel Bryant earned GM norms. The 2018 event
will be held at Ballys Dec 26-30, 26-29 or 27-29.
This tournament always uses the same dates each year right after Christmas,
regardless of the day of the week.
The 2012 Philadelphia Open, held
Easter weekend at Loews Hotel, was won by GM Magesh Panchanathan. The 2013
event at Loews ended in a tie between GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez and 17-year
old IM Daniel Naroditsky. Corrales Jimenez took the top prize on tiebreak,
while Naroditsky earned a GM norm. IM norms were achieved by 12-year old
Jeffery Xiong, Adarsh Jayakumar (FIDE invented a new rule after the fact to
deprive him of this norm), Arthur Shen, and Adithya Balasubramanian. In 2014
the event moved to a beautiful new site, the downtown Philadelphia
Marriott, that was very well received by the players. US Champion Gata
Kamsky took clear first place, while David Hua achieved an IM norm. The 2015
event at the Marriott was won by GM Yuniesky
Quesada Perez on tiebreak over GM Ioan Chirilla, IM
Akshat Chandra earned a GM norm while IM norms were achieved by Eric Rosen, Qibiao Wang, Awonder Liang, and
Igor Sorkin. The 2016 event at the Marriott was won by 14-year old
Ruifeng Li, who earned a GM norm, on tiebreak over GM
Aleksandar Indjic. The 2017 Philadelphia Open
was won by GM Samuel Sevian on tiebreak over GM Angel
Arribas Lopez; David Brodsky and Andrew Hong achieved IM norms. The 2018 Philadelphia Open saw
the 2016 champion Ruifeng Li, now a GM, take clear
first, defeating IM Chritsian Pedersen, the leader at
that point, in the last round. No norms were made as Pedersen failed to get the
last round draw he needed for a GM norm. In 2019 the Philadelphia Open was
replaced by the Open at Foxwoods,
which had been held over Easter weekend in 1999-2009. GM John Burke took clear
first, half a point ahead of GMs Alex Shimanov and Kamil Dragun.
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