I have served under different NTDs at several large tournaments, but still lack the required N1 or (N3-N4) experience requirement to take the NTD exam. I have always been willing to perform any task from monitoring restrooms, performing security checks, assisting with postings, runner, floor TD, or whatever else was asked.
Is there a comprehensive list of Category N tournaments? The rulebook names the National Scholastics, US Masters, National Open, US Women’s, and US Championship. The definition of Category N starts, “An over-the-board tournament that awards a national title…”.
Not mentioned are tournaments like the North American Open, US Open, etc.
Is there a comprehensive list of qualifying Category N tournaments? How can you tell if a tournament will count as a Category N without a list?
A category N tournament is one that awards a national championship. To be able to award such a championship it needs to be either run by US Chess as a national championship event or awarded by US Chess as a national championship event.
Examples run by US Chess are US Open the four US Scholastics. Some examples of those awarded out would be the US Amateur teams, National Open, US Junior, US Senior, All Girls National, Tournaments of State Champions and others.
Some examples of tournaments that are NOT national championships would be the Pan American Youth (even when run by US Chess as it was in July), pretty much any CCA event (one exception was when CCA ran the US School Grade in 1993 after USCF awarded it to them that year), almost everything run by the St Louis Chess Club (though when they run the US Championship and US Womens Championship those ARE category N), almost every other event regardless of size.
US Chess used to publish or place online a yearbook document which listed each year’s “National Champions”. I do not know if they still do.
Would the US Blind Championship count? It has been awarded by US Chess to an organizer willing to run it. Are the US Senior and the US Senior open both National events, along with the US Junior and the US Junior Open?
In the Certification documents rule 15 has the main category and 4 subcategories. Those subcategories (rule 38) count for various levels of credit and as substitutions towards the NTD experience requirements.
Thank you for posting the yearbook link. I have just reviewed the 2023 edition.
It lists some tournaments which Jeff Wiewel stated are not classified a Category N such as the North American Open run by CCA. So I still cannot reliably determine if a tournament is Category N or not.
I worked the US Masters last month, where I served as a floor TD. I learned a lot from the experience and I am glad to have been given the opportunity. I had expressed my needed credit beforehand, but it did not work out that way.
I want to find a Category N tournament where I can earn either the N1 credit or the N4 credit. (I have an N3 credit.) I have served at two National Open, two National Middle-school and one US Masters as well as multiple Category A and Category I tournaments. I have applied for National Scholastic tournaments multiple times without being offered a position.
As Jeff noted, many large events are not national championship events. That includes things like the World Open and the North American Open.
The National Open appears to be an exception to the rules, I think it may award a national title but I don’t think it has ever been run or controlled by the national office. The playoffs for the winners in the regional Amateur Team Championships also shows up in the yearbook, but I don’t know if it meets the N1 requirement. (Is it held online?)
Perhaps part of the requirements for earning an NTD are working through the logistics of which events earn the appropriate credits.
You missed the title change from National Champions to American Classics. After that change is where tournaments like the North American Open and World Open come in.
The National Open (part of the Las Vegas International Chess Festival) was originally bid out and has continued under the same organizing group because US Chess has not had a viable reason to move it to somebody else. I think US Chess still receives some monetary consideration for it continuing that way. Same for the US Amateur Team East (has also been called the World Amateur Team).
The US Amateur team play-off winners are listed but the four individual tournaments (East, North, South and West) are also considered Nationals as preliminary rounds of that event. That is why the 2023 regional winners are listed at the end of the play-off winners (just like the US Amateur).
Peter, one thing that might work is to go to the Upcoming Events area of the USCF website, select the National Championship Event box, and click Search. That should pull up all of the N1-type events that are coming up, and will list the organizer contact info.
