PeakRating.US by Continental Chess
Using peak rating to play in higher sections
in Continental Chess tournaments
REVISED APRIL 24, 2025
Most of our tournaments have at least one section that requires a minimum rating to enter. "Major Sections" require 1900, "Premier Sections" at least 2000. Our "Class" tournaments also have expanded rating class boundaries which already allow players rated in the top 100 points of their section the option of playing in the class above. For example, some of our tournaments might have an “Expert” Section, for players rated 1900-2199, and a “Class A” Section, for players rated 1700-1999. In this example, a player rated 1950 can enter the Class A Section (1700-1999) or can instead elect to play in the Expert Section (1900-2199). But a player rated 1850, for example, is not in the top 100 points of his or her section (in this case, Class A: 1700-1999), and could not play in the Expert Section, but could only play in Class A.
We have been allowing the use of unofficial ratings, more
current than the current official rating, to qualify to play in a higher
section. We have also added another way that you may play in a higher section:
by using the highest post-tournament USCF rating you achieved during the year
prior to the tournament. You cannot use
an unofficial or an obsolete rating to play at a
lower rating than your current official USCF Rating.
Effective July 6,
2021, the peak rating may be either an over the board regular rating or online
regular rating.
We also have major tournaments such as the World Open in which the top section is open to all, but the entry fee is more if not rated 2200/over or some other USCF rating. Here too, you can use the one year peak to avoid the higher fee. Beginning May 12, 2024, we may not use players’ peak ratings to play up into sections which also offer FIDE norms, because FIDE uses only the player’s actual FIDE rating in effect at the time of the tournament to calculate FIDE title norms.
The shopping cart cannot handle using peak rating, so enter the highest section it allows you to and email director@chess.us asking us to raise the section, or refund the difference if peak rating allows you to qualify for a discount.
By using peak rating, we hope to encourage activity, as players wishing to play up, once achieving a necessary rating, will have at least one year of eligibility.