What are the requirements for making a tournament a US Chess Championship Qualifier? I am helping Clint Ballard organize the GM/IM Slugfest, and would love to try to make that happen. Can someone advise me please?
I don’t know that AF4C has decided how the next US Championship will be seeded yet.
Is the AF4C still in the US Championship business at all? The lack of any announcement at all regarding 2007 seems quite strange. The CCA website stated since May that there would be qualifiers at three tournaments and promised full details in the future, first by the end of May and now “soon.” Those three tournaments have since passed and there are no more qualifiers listed.
Thus, I have to come to the conclusion that there are serious problems with the AF4C and that the entire contract to host the US Championship is in great jeopardy. This fits into the message I interpreted from the closing ceremony in San Diego, where AF4C leaders were mysteriously absent. I had hoped that there were behind the scenes negotiations in progress between AF4C and the USCF, but I heard to the contrary at the US Open.
I wish I knew why the AF4C was dragging its feet, but I do not. Perhaps the entire concept that the AF4C was operating under was simply too good to be true. Money doesn’t grow on trees in San Diego. 
I assume neither the AF4C nor USCF is able to make an announcement at this time, perhaps on advice from attorneys. At what point does the USCF have to declare the AF4C agreement dead and seek alternative solutions for the US Championship?
Michael Aigner
I am hoping for an announcement this week from AF4C regarding details of the 2007 US Championship. They have been seeking sponsorship and apparently have been successful in finding a major new corporate sponsor.
Bill Goichberg
Maybe if they find enough sponsors they will actually play out the prizes they advertised. Perhaps they will even start the run the event annually, instead of whenever they feel like it. I guess one US Champs every 2 years is better than 0.
Maybe they can raise money by charging for airplanes to land there, it wouldn’t be any noisier.
BPF
Someone is having a bad day! If you don’t like the conditions, just don’t play. The mixup with the prize fund was thoroughly unprofessional, but was clearly unintentional. The same could be said about the previous event 
/Jens
I would say I am having a normal day, although this may be considered a bad day for most people…that’s life.
The argument that if I do not like certain things about an event then I should not play would be valid if this was a random open event. However, this is the US Chess Championship, so there should be some minimum expectation of quiet, prizes paid as advertised, and some kind of annual schedule.
I like a lot of things the AF4C has done with the tournament, and out of the hundreds of great things about the event, I only quibble with the above points, although they seem pretty important.
Other people have complained the tournament does not enough press outside chess media, although I am sure that is not my area of expertise. I blogged at least once a day on my personal blog and on the US Chess Championship blog, so at least the chess press was well informed (as many many other players did as well).
BPF
Or maybe 3 Championships in the last 4 years with very large prizes is better than every year with small prizes.
Bill Goichberg
Touche!
BPF
I hope this announcement is still in the works…
Michael Aigner
Well Bill’s prediction of “next week” is now stretching on towards 3 weeks without an anouncement from AF4C telling the USCF how the 2007 US Championship is going to be organized and run.
I know big corporations move slowly when putting up the bucks, but it’s less than 6 months until March 2007 - a year after the last tournament. I can forsee scheduling problems like the ladies had at the last get together.(poor Irina!)
Or, should we expect the 2007 championship to really be held in 2008?
Rich in Phoenix 