The Golden Knights is the United States open correspondence chess championship. It is held annually by the United States Chess Federation (USCF), and is open to all members of the USCF residing in the United States or who have an APO or FPO address. It was first held in 1943 under the name Victory Tournament, the next year it was called the Postal Chess Championship and in 1945 it was finally renamed as the Golden Knights tournament. The 69th annual Golden Knights tournament began in 2016. About 200 players typically participate in each tournament.

The tournament is played in three stages: the preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals. At each stage, the participants are divided into a number of seven-player sections, with each participant playing one game (three with White, three with Black) against every other player in the section. Each participant plays in the preliminaries, playing in a section with players having a wide range of ratings. The top finishers in the preliminaries advance to the semi-finals. The top players in the semi-finals advance to the finals. A score of 5-1 or better was previously required to advance from the preliminaries to the semi-finals, or from the semi-finals to the finals, but since at least the 2001 tournament, 4.5 points has been sufficient.[1] A player's score is determined by her weighted-point total, which is determined by multiplying her score at each stage by a coefficient that weighs later results more heavily than earlier results. The coefficient used for each point in the finals (4.5) is slightly more than twice that used for each point in the semi-finals (2.2), which is slightly more than twice that used for each point in the preliminaries (1).[2] Thus, a player who wins all of his games except for one draw in the preliminaries will have a higher weighted-point total (45.70) than a player who won all of his games except for a draw in the semi-finals (45.10), and both of those players will have a lower weighted-point total than a player who won all of his games except for a draw in the finals (43.55). The weighted-point system ensures that no player will be able to coast home with a series of draws, and enables a player who is behind to make up a lot of ground with a strong result in the finals.[3]

Golden Knights Champions

#YearWinner
-1943John H. Staffer
-1944Marvin C. Palmer
11945Charles F. Rehberg
21946Richard L. Aikin
31947-1948Leon Stolzenberg
41949James T. Sherwin
51950Leon Stolzenberg
61951John H. Staffer
71952-1953Ignaz Zalys
81954Reuben Klugman
91955Hans Berliner
101956Hans Berliner
111957Raymond Doe
121958J. Whiteczak
131959Hans Berliner
141960Leon Stolzenberg
151961-1962Lionel B. Joyner
161963Gary R. Abram
171964Anton Sildmets
181965Brian E. Owens
191966Harry Mayer
201967William F. Gray
211968Kenneth Collins
221969Robert H. Burns
231970Juris Jurevics
241971Robert G. Cross
251972Richard A. Cayford
261973Bill Maillard
Richard Cayford
George Krauss
271974Ben Bednarz
281975Rob Salgado
291976K. Redinger
301977Tom Sweeney
311978Richard Aiken
Walter Milbratz
321979Tom Friedel
331980Gary Kubach
341981Tom Friedel
351982S. Kowalski
S. Sinding
Meeks Vaughan
361983Rob Salgado
371984Edmund Hermelyn
381985Andre Reichman
391986Mike Colucci
George Kirby
J. Timms
401987Stanley J. Elowitch
411988Michael P. Decker
421989Jon Applebee
431990Murray Kurtz
John Penquite
441991Joseph A. Schwing
451992Edward P. Duliba
Charles Van Buskirk
461993Anthony D. Eaker
471994Robert B. Ilderton
481995Robert F. Keating
491996Robert F. Keating
501997Chris O'Connell
511998Leonard "Corky" Schakel
521999John Burton
532000Abe Wilson
542001John Burton
552002Chuck Cullum[4]
562003John Menke
572004Chuck Cullum
582005Abe Wilson
592006Michael Buss
James Tracz
602007Daniel Woodard
612008James Rhodes
622009Wilbur Tseng
632010Michael Buss
642011James Tracz[5]
652012Michael Buss
662013Gary Adams

References

Notes

  1. Alex Dunne, 2001 Golden Knights, Chess Life, October 2009, p. 28.
  2. Dunne 2009, pp. 28-29.
  3. Dunne 2009, p. 29.
  4. Alex Dunne, "All Chess Players Should Have a Hobby," Chess Life, March 2010, p. 38
  5. "The United States Chess Federation - Golden Knight, E-Knights, Golden Squire & Absolute Champions".
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