☀️ MSCA Summer Grand Prix Series 🏁
🏎️ 🛣️ 🚗 🏍️ 🛻 🛵 🚙
The MSCA Grand Prix is back in 2026, with fewer events, but the same prize money and qualifiers!
🌐 4 events: each one counts!
🛣️
🏎️
💵 $2,500 in guaranteed prizes!
🏆️ 4 qualifying spots for the 2026 Closed State Championship!
🥇🥈🥉
July 10-12
🌺 Rochester*
August
🏙️ Edina*
* Not an official MSCA event
September
🐿️ Minneapolis*
Oct 3-4
🌹 Roseville
👑 Grand Finale of Grand Prix Series @ Northern Open 🌲
What’s this all about? 🤔
🏁 Grand Prix events are regular standalone MSCA (and affiliate!) tournaments that are connected to become the Grand Prix series, where each event contributes to the overall ranking of participants at the end of the season when prize money and playoff spots are awarded. 🏆️
One goal of the tour is to promote rated chess tournaments in Greater Minnesota, with past events in St. Cloud, Duluth/Superior, Franklin, and Mankato. 🚗 🚙 🛻 🏍️ With our reduced schedule in 2026, we're only getting out of town to Rochester, but we're still representing the MSCA, Chess Castle, U of M Chess Club, and of course our great partner Rochester Chess.
Another goal is to have fun and add excitement and significance to each competition. Play in one event or all of them, and follow the progress of the race on our scoreboard!
Rules 📝
🏎️ The best 4 Grand Prix scores out of all events will count for determining standings and prizes.
🏎️ Grand Prix points per event = Player’s Score / # Rounds x Median Section Rating / 10
🏎️ To qualify for prizes, you must play at least 10 games in the series and be an MSCA member.
🏎️ Non-Playing TDs score 50% of possible points against median rating in the section of their rating.
Prizes 💰️
1st 🥇
2nd 🥈
3rd 🥉
Total
U1100
$ 220
$ 100
$ 70
$ 390
U1400
$ 220
$ 100
$ 70
$ 390
U1700
$ 220
$ 100
$ 70
$ 390
1st 🥇
2nd 🥈
3rd 🥉
Total
U2000
$ 220
$ 100
$ 70
$ 390
Top
Open
$ 400
$ 200
$ 120
$ 720
U2200
💸💸💸
Total
$ 1,280
$ 600
$ 400
$ 2,280
$220
$2,500
💵 Grand Prix prizes for cumulative points guaranteed by MSCA, in addition to regular event prizes.
🧮 Section prizes based on US Chess ratings from Oct 2026 supplement which comes out late September.
🏆 Four 2027 State Closed Championship Playoff Qualification Spots! 🏆️
🥇 Open Winner
🏅 Top U2200
🥇 U2000 Winner
🥇 U1700 Winner
Learn more about State Champs qualification in this gripping MSCA Qualification Policy Document!
🏁 Rochester • Edina • Minneapolis • Roseville 🏁
👏 Congratulations to Northern Open and Grand Prix winner Sammy Narayanan! 👑 He won all 4 of the events he played in, going undefeated with only a single draw, for an astounding 795 points!
🙏 Thank you to everyone who played and supported the tournaments this year! We had a record 396 players in the Grand Prix.
🏎️ 🛣️ 🚗 🏍️ 🛻 🛵 🚙
Check out stats from three years of the Grand Prix!
6 cities, 348 players, 37 first time tournament players, and over 1,500 games played 🏁
5 cities, 314 players, 59 first time tournament players, and over 1,100 games played 🏁