# Golden Knights (chess)

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. 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). 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.

## 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 562003John Menke 572004Chuck Cullum 582005Abe Wilson 592006Michael Buss James Tracz 602007Daniel Woodard 612008James Rhodes 622009Wilbur Tseng 632010Michael Buss 642011James Tracz 652012Michael Buss 662013Gary Adams