The USCF Grand Prix is a set of chess tournaments for prize money rated by the United States Chess Federation. In general, a tournament must have at least $300 in guaranteed prizes to award "Grand Prix" points.[1]
At the end of the year, prizes are awarded to players with the most points. The first prize is usually $10,000.
These prizes provide incentives to grandmasters to play in small regional tournaments which they would otherwise avoid.
The Grand Prix of chess was started in the 1980s by Church's Chicken. As a result, the points awarded at these tournaments were called "chicken points" and the tournaments at which these points were awarded was called the "Chicken circuit".
As years passed, the sponsorship has changed. For several years the sponsor was Novag, a maker of chess computers. Currently, the sponsor is ChessCafe.
The late Grandmaster Igor V. Ivanov won the Grand Prix of chess nine times. In more recent years, the usual winner had been the late Grandmaster Aleksander Wojtkiewicz.
Also, recently, a Grand Prix for younger chess players has been started, through the online chess site World Chess Live, with online tournaments where players earn points based on how they do.[1]
Grand Prix Points are awarded based on place in tournament and prize amount.
For example, if you place 7th first round in a tournament with $5500 grand prize you will gain 6 points for that round.[2]
| 1st | JAVAKHADZE, ZURABI | 15574183 | TX | 80 | $5000 | |
| 2nd | BRYANT, JOHN DANIEL | 12796667 | CA | 66.5 | $2500 | |
| 3rd | SHLYAKHTENKO, ROBERT | 14951916 | CA | 58.5 | $1000 | |
| 4th | SHABALOV, ALEXANDER | 12544264 | PA | 57.5 | $900 | |
| 5th | GRABINSKY, AARON | 14456386 | OR | 48.6 | $800 | |
| 6th | RAMBALDI, FRANCESCO | 13962544 | MO | 44 | $700 | |
| 7th | CORRALES JIMENEZ | 14958890 | MA | 42 | $600 | |
| 8th | NIEMANN, HANS | 15041466 | CT | 39.43 | $500 | |
| 9th-10th | BALAKRISHNAN, PRAVEEN | 14056673 | VA | 38 | $250 | |
| 9th-10th | JACOBSON, BRANDON | 14160065 | NJ | 38 | $250 |
The JGP was created in 2008 to aid young skillful players in honing their skills with longer time controls and change kids from causal players to life-long ones.[6]
Tournaments will always have less than 65 minutes per person and there are always 4 or more rounds.[7]
Eligible US Chess members earn points by winning or drawing against higher rated players, based on the pre-event ratings for both players.
For a win against a higher rated player, the number of JGP points earned is 2X the ratings difference, up to a maximum of 700 points per game.
Example: A 1200 player who defeats a 1350 player earns 2X the difference in ratings (150) or 300 points.
For a draw, the number of JGP points earned is the ratings difference, up to a maximum of 350 points per game.
Example: A 1200 player who draws a 1350 player earns the difference in ratings, or 150 points.