Grand Prix chess tournaments
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
tournaments for prize money rated by the United States Chess Federation
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
. In general, a tournament must have at least $300 in guaranteed prizes to award "Grand Prix" points.
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
Church's Chicken
Church's Chicken is a US-based chain of fast food restaurants specializing in fried chicken, also trading outside North America as Texas Chicken. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To Go by George W. Church, Sr., on April 17, 1952, in San Antonio, across the street from The Alamo...
. 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
ChessCafe.com
ChessCafe.com is a website that publishes endgame studies, book reviews and other articles related to chess on a weekly basis. It was founded in 1996 by Hanon Russell, and is well known as a repository of articles about chess and its history....
.
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
Aleksander Wojtkiewicz
Aleksander Wojtkiewicz was a Polish International Grandmaster of chess. He was born in Latvia. In his early teens he was already a strong player; a student of ex-world champion Mikhail Tal whom he assisted in the 1979 Interzonal tournament in Riga. He won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1981...
.
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.