I’m curious to know what other states for their state championship events with respect to defining residency and letting non-residents play. We’ve used a few different approaches, but have tended to either bar non-residents from a few events or have made it clear that they can’t win the title (i.e. our Utah State _____ Champion) has to be a resident of Utah, not someone from out of state and also can’t win the accompanying trophy (but can win $$). How do others do it?
How do others define “resident”. The hardest issue for us is dealing with college kids, both those whose parental home is in our state but attend school out of state and those whose parental home is out of state but attend school in our state. I could craft a 12 page legal document that goes through multiple options, but I’d prefer a simple rule that others have found works well.
We have the Kentucky Open and it is an Open event in every sense. But several of the top players from Ky qualify (and there are some other qualifying events) for the Ky State Championship. A Kentucky player is one who is listed as Ky with US Chess or lives in Ky. A college student who is attending out of state but is a Ky player for US Chess and who is a Ky resident otherwise is eligible. A college student from out of state who is listed as some other state is not eligible. A person who may be listed in some other state but who has resided in Ky for a year or so is eligible. if there is any controversy the board of the Ky Chess Association decides who is eligible. Generally it has been pretty clear.
Georgia has allowed out of state residents to compete for cash in state championship events, but has ruled them ineligible for title or trophy. “Resident” is defined as someone living full time in Georgia, a full time student attending college in Georgia, or a member of the US military stationed in Georgia.
Scott Parker
past President, Georgia Chess Association
As far as I am aware the only “state championships” in Illinois are the scholastic state championships and they only award trophies. These are for Illinois residents only. The various monetary prize events are open to everyone. I suppose the closest there is to an adult state championship is the Illinois Open held Labor Day weekend as it is run and sanctioned by the Illinois Chess Association, but it does not refer to itself as a “state championship”. This event is open to everyone regardless of residence.
Unless the rule has changed recently, it was always Illinois resident or someone attending an Illinois school. There have been a few kids who lived in Wisconsin but attended a parochial school in northern Illinois who competed.
For PA state championship events the top PA resident is considered the state champion. However, players from out of state are permitted to compete. (For the state scholastics, there are various grade and division level championship plates that are affixed to the appropriate trophy after the awards distribution is known.)