Kentucky Chess Association

What is the Kentucky Scholastic Circuit?

A season-long ranking of Kentucky's scholastic chess players which rewards both how well they play and their engagement with the KY scholastic chess community. Each March, the top 5 in each group will be named to the All-Kentucky teams, and anyone who reaches a set score earns All-KY Honorable Mention or KY Chess Honor Roll honors.

Do we need to sign up or pay to be in it?

No. Every eligible player is included automatically from their US Chess-rated tournament results. There is nothing to register for.

Who receives a Circuit score?

Any Kentucky scholastic player whose US Chess membership record lists KY as their state and who plays in at least one qualifying tournament.

Which tournaments count?

Every US Chess regular-rated over-the-board tournament in KY or organized by the KCA counts, with the following restrictions:

• Invitation-only events (e.g. KY Closed, KY Masters), online events, and quick- or blitz-only sections don't count.
• Advertised, public tournaments open to all scholastic players count. A girls- or women-only tournament isn't excluded just for that. Very small tournaments, ones whose players come mostly from one school, etc. are generally excluded, at the Scholastic Director's discretion.
• You need to actually play at least 3 games in a tournament for it to count (some spots need 4; see how the score is calculated); byes and forfeits don't count as games.

See the list of tournaments and find a scholastic tournament near you.

How is the score calculated?

Your best 5 tournaments of the season count, one in each of these spots:

• 2 spots for KCA scholastic championships (K-12 Grades, your own Quad regional tournament, State Individuals, and State Team) where you played at least 3 games; these count double.
• 2 spots for any tournament where you played at least 4 games.
• 1 spot for any tournament where you played at least 3 games.

Each tournament gets a performance rating, which combines your result with the strength of your opponents, and your score is the weighted average of the 5 spots. Your tournaments are placed in the spots that give you the highest score. A KCA scholastic championship beyond those spots can fill any other spot it qualifies for. Each empty spot counts as 0. See how the score is calculated on the ranking page.

Can playing a tournament lower my score?

No. Only your best tournaments count, so a bad day never hurts. That's different from your US Chess rating, which can go down.

Can I meaningfully compare scores between different levels of school?

No. Because elementary and middle schoolers typically do not face the level of competition that high schoolers do, it is much harder for them to get high scores.

Why can't I find my child?

Common reasons a player is missing:

• Their US Chess record has no state (see players with no USCF state).
• They haven't played an eligible tournament yet this season.
• We were unable to determine they are a scholastic player based on our automated heuristics. For this case, email k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line and we'll take a look.

My child's grade or school is missing or wrong. Does it matter?

Their score doesn't change, but a known grade puts them in the right division, grade list, and honor section, and a known school counts them toward their team. Email corrections to k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line.

My daughter is missing from the girls' list. Why?

The girls' list uses the gender on each player's US Chess profile, so a girl whose profile has no gender (or the wrong one) won't appear on it. Email k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line and we'll fix it.

What dates does the season cover?

Tournaments from March 15, 2026 through March 13, 2027, the day of the State Team Championship. Scores start over each season.

I just played a tournament. Why isn't it showing?

Results appear after the tournament director submits them, US Chess rates the event, and we update the standings, which can take a week or more. The line under the ranking page's title says how current the standings are. If a rated tournament is still missing after that, email k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line.

Honors

How are the All-Kentucky teams determined?

When the season ends, the top 5 Circuit scores make up each team: High School (9-12), Junior Varsity (9-10), Middle School (6-8), Elementary School (K-5) and Girls (all grades).

Do the All-Kentucky teams actually play against anyone?

No, it is purely an honor.

What are Honorable Mention and Honor Roll?

Honors for reaching a set Circuit score in your grade section. Any number of players can earn them, so they're a goal every player can work toward. The All-KY Honorable Mention threshold is set around the top 10% of scores, while the KY Chess Honor Roll threshold is set around the top 30%. See the honor thresholds.

What does “on pace for” an honor mean?

Early in the season, before the first KCA scholastic championship has been rated, the championship spots can't be filled yet. Until then, “on pace” means a player's tournaments so far are good enough for that honor if they perform at the same level in two KCA scholastic championships.

Teams

How do team rankings work?

Teams are schools, ranked in the State Team Championship's sections. Each player counts only in their own grade's section. A team's score combines its top 4 players' Circuit scores, with double weight for the two middle boards. See the team rankings.

Why do team rankings weigh the middle two boards double?

We want depth to matter, not just having one star player, but we also don't want to over-penalize smaller schools who can't field four players.

Someone is missing from my team!

We attempt to derive the schools for players from past tournament participation, but sometimes we don't know. Email k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line to fix it.

Can the same student count for a school in more than one team section?

No, each student can only count towards one section. We follow the same team composition rules as the State Team Championship, so there are cases where a student “playing up” is allowed: elementary schools (3rd grader playing on a K-5 team), homeschool groups, and single schools which span K-12 (e.g. 4th grader playing on a K-8 team).

Our heuristics will make an automated assignment of students to teams, but these can be manually overridden by the student's parents or coach by emailing k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line.

Privacy and contact

Can my child's name be kept private?

Yes. Email k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line. Your child will still be scored and ranked, but the page will show them only as “Hidden Player #N”, with no school or tournaments. We'll tell you the number so you can follow along.

Who runs the Circuit?

The Kentucky Chess Association's scholastic program. Questions, corrections and suggestions go to k12@kychess.org with "KY Scholastic Circuit" in the subject line.