First City Chess Club Online Championship Circuit 26-27 Season

What: USCF Online Rated Club Championship Circuit Tournament consisting of rated games in the Online-Blitz, Online-Quick, and Online-Regular Ratings Categories.

When: Rotating weekday and time events, See the table below for the full schedule

Where: First City Chess Club Page on Chess.com (https://www.chess.com/clubs/events/first-city-chess-club-uscf-rated

How to Register: Follow the link below for the first set of instructions

1. https://support.chess.com/en/articles/8724735-how-do-i-connect-my-uscf-id-to-my-chess-com-account 
    
2. Once complete, request to join The First City Chess Club https://www.chess.com/club/first-city-chess-club-uscf-rated to speed things along please provide your full name and your USCF ID so we can verify you are eligible. 

How Much does it Cost? Free for club members; active US Chess membership required for rated events. 

[Note this has the potential to add up to quite a few dollars in database entry over the next few months so any Donations will be greatly appreciated to defray cost and contribute to future tournaments. You can donate here https://paypal.me/plbeaudry ]*

Welcome to the First City Chess Club Circuit! Compete in our US Chess (USCF) online-rated qualifying events from October through May to earn your spot in the exclusive June Championship Finals.

1. Complete Points-Counting Tournament Schedule

Qualifying Season: October 20, 2026 – May 31, 2027. The opening tournament is tonight, Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 7:15 PM Central: 10+10, with 5 expected rounds. The complete points-counting schedule below includes 32 FC3 tournaments, ending Tuesday, May 25, 2027. Every listed event counts toward Circuit standings for eligible players; all qualifying scores count, with no dropped scores.

The Championship Finals take place in June 2027. The top eight eligible players in the qualifying standings advance. June Championship results do not add qualifying-season Circuit points; exact June dates will be announced separately.

All start times below are Central Time (America/Chicago), observing daylight saving time. Time controls show minutes per player plus increment in seconds per move; for example, 10+10 means 10 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. Expected rounds are the scheduled maximum; actual rounds may depend on participation.

Exact start time and minimum field: Tournaments are scheduled to start at the exact time listed. Join the tournament before that time and be ready to play. At least 4 participants must already have joined when the scheduled start time arrives; otherwise, Chess.com automatically terminates the tournament.

Pairings, byes, and rounds: All qualifying and championship tournaments use the Swiss System managed by Chess.com. Chess.com manages all pairings, color assignments, and round scheduling. Players cannot request a bye in advance. The number of rounds is determined by Chess.com’s algorithm and the field present when the tournament begins, and may be lower than the number listed. For example, a tournament scheduled for 5 rounds with only 4 players present at the start automatically reduces to 3 rounds.

2. Qualifying Series Scoring System

Event Points = Participation (5 points) + Placement Points + Field-Size Bonus + Achievement Bonuses.

• Participation: Earn 5 points by playing at least half the scheduled rounds, rounded up (for example, 3 of 5 rounds).
• Placement (Top 8): 1st (20), 2nd (15), 3rd (12), 4th (10), 5th (8), 6th (6), 7th (4), 8th (2).
• Field-Size Bonuses: Extra points added for everyone based on total participants (+3 for 8–11 players, up to +10 for 24+ players).
• Achievement Bonuses:
  • Clear First: +3
  • Undefeated: +3
  • Perfect Score: +5 (replaces undefeated)
  • Upset Win: +2 (once per event for beating an opponent rated 200+ points higher)

3. The June Championship Finals

The top eight qualifiers compete across three distinct USCF online-rated tournaments held in June 2027:

1. G/30 inc/15 (Online Regular Rated)
2. G/15 inc/10 (Online Quick / Rapid Rated)
3. G/5 inc/5 (Online Blitz Rated)

Players earn Championship Points based on their finishes in each event, plus special multi-format performance bonuses.

4. Prizes & Awards

• Overall Champion: receives the First City Chess Club Online Champion title for the 2026/2027 season.
• Membership Prizes: the top three overall finishers in the June 2027 combined championship each receive one year (12 months) of US Chess (USCF) membership, subject to eligibility. These are season-end awards, not weekly tournament prizes.
• Membership Eligibility: the club covers the appropriate membership or renewal. Youth may receive a youth membership; the applicable category for foreign members is verified before fulfillment. Lifetime members are already covered for life.
• Memberships Only: no subscription-service prizes, cash prizes or cash substitutes are offered this season.

5. Fair Play & Championship Supervision

• Qualifying Events: All games utilize Chess.com's built-in, industry-standard fair-play detection and post-game analysis systems.
• Championship Finals & Tiebreaks: To ensure maximum integrity for the final stage and any title/prize playoffs, the top 8 qualifiers will be required to join a live Google Meet video link during their games. The video link will be provided directly to qualifiers upon confirmation of the final top-eight standings.

No byes will be accepted. Chess.com will manage the tournament pairings, including full point byes for when no opponent is available. Any tournament that does not have the minimum 4 required people will be cancelled at the start time...

Any questions, please contact Patrick at [email protected]

* I am keeping the club limited to 50 active members at this time. If we find this event is popular enough to maintain long-term we will require a small maintenance membership fee to cover the costs of ratings updates and potential prize funds.