Statement on Calculation of 2020 US Chess Grand Prix Prizes

US Chess presents the final standings for the 2020 US Chess Grand Prix.  These standings will appear in an upcoming issue of Chess Life.

We apologize for any confusion regarding the Grand Prix standings.  The final standings here have inconsistencies when compared to the standings published in the January 2021 Chess Life, which covered events through December 1, 2020.  What follows is an explanation for those inconsistencies.

The system which has calculated Grand Prix standings for many years failed to credit players from certain membership categories with the points they earned in Grand Prix events ending after July 7, 2020.  This was an unintended consequence of a coding change in our new membership database that launched on July 10, 2020.  As a result of this coding change, points had been incorrectly given to players who finished lower in the event standings, as the correct players had been skipped.  Due to the lack of Grand Prix events after July 7, this error was not immediately identified. 

Once this coding error was identified in December 2020, manual re-calculations for all 2020 Grand Prix events were undertaken to ensure the accuracy of the standings. As a result of this, some players had points added compared to previously published standings, whereas a few players had points removed.  We are confident that these final standings reflect the correct allotment of Grand Prix points as stated in program regulations. 

US Chess congratulates all prize winners for their successful performances in what was a unique 2020 season.  Also, US Chess thanks all the players who participated in last year’s Grand Prix events.