Question about minimum prizes in Grand Prix events

Running Chess Tournaments
1

The Tournament Life section of Chess Life lists the following rules for Grand Prix tournaments:

Would the following tournament qualify as a Grand Prix event? The door entry fee is $55. Prizes in the top section are $350-150-100. Prizes are 50% guaranteed.

The guaranteed first prize is $175, so that’s not a problem. Total guaranteed prize fund is $300, which is enough for 6 Grand Prix points. My question is about the second and third prizes. If rules 2 and 3 are talking about projected prizes then the tournament qualifies as a Grand Prix event. But if they’re talking about guaranteed prizes then the tournament violates both 2 and 3, because the guaranteed second prize is $75 and the guaranteed third prize is $50, which is less than the maximum entry fee.

I suspect that rules 2 and 3 are talking about guaranteed prizes as in rule 1 so the tournament does not qualify as being a Grand Prix event, but I’d like confirmation of that. I suppose I should ask someone in the USCF office, but maybe another organizer reading the forum has experience with this.

2

I don’t organize tournaments with based-on prizes, but it seems that the $75 second prize is not a problem as only one of the prizes is below $100.

Alex Relyea

3

There’s also a $50 (guaranteed) third prize. Without that prize the guaranteed prize fund is less than $300.

4

If the maximum entry fee is $55, then a 3rd place prize of $50 (half of $100, since it is a based on prize) doesn’t count towards the Trophies Plus Grand Prix.

I checked with Joan and she agrees with this interpretation of the rules.

FWIW, the full rules for the Trophies Plus Grand Prix are only published in Chess Life about twice a year (for space reasons), but are available online as part of the standings. Here’s a link to a recent version of them: uschess.org/images/stories/g … pr2014.pdf

5

Thanks, Mike.