How is the USCF Grand Prix scored? Specifically, how does each player accumulate his or her points?
Is there a modified version of this that an individual club could use for its competitions over a year?
See main.uschess.org/images/stories/ … un2012.pdf
for the table of how Grand Prix points are distributed.
As with other prizes, if two players are tied for first, they split the points for first place and second place equally, etc. (This can result in fractional points.)
For a club, you could give points based on participation and scoring in club sponsored events. I set up a Grand Prix once based on giving 3 points for a win, 2 for a draw, and 1 for a loss. Across the year, one totaled up points based on how many events the players competed in. Even for a poor result, you could still gain some points and catch up to players that did not play in everything. There were around 25 club events to play; weekend one day and two day events, Tuesday night events that were six weeks long, and quads. You could gain points in trophy tournaments as well as cash events. When the Grand Prix was finished the top 10, and top 3 juniors received prizes of either cash and/or merchandise. The Grand Prix encouraged participation and provided equal scoring for all classes of players. Multiple section tournaments and the quads were popular. Some players gained a lot of points because not everyone wanted to play in the Tuesday night events. We set aside a certain amount of money from each tournament to pay for the Grand Prix; we also accepted sponsor donations of chess merchandise.
There is a certain amount of work in setting up and running a Grand Prix. Players were always poring over the standings and plotting what events to play in. You have to keep the numbers correct and updated. You might also add in some special events, or add league results, or performance in a GM simul. What type of event you make part of the Grand Prix is up to you as long as you keep the scoring consistent. I did not give bonuses for winning events or sections as that would likely have favored a few players and created unbridgeable gaps for players to catch up. The players seemed to enjoy the race for points more than the quest for ratings.
Nebraska has had its own state Grand Prix-like event, which determined one spot in the Nebraska Closed. I’m no longer on the state board, I don’t know if it is still going.
I believe players got their point score from each Player-of-the-Year event. (I don’t recall what happened with unplayed games, there were also provisions for non-playing tournament directors to earn POY points from the events they direct.)
The USCF Grand Prix uses a more complicated point system, so major events are worth more Grand Prix points than events with much smaller prize funds, but only the top few players in a Grand Prix event earn points.