There is a seniors world championship, so why not a seniors US championship?
I had a thought while I was watching the US chess championship, specifically while looking up when Yasser won himself. Why is there no seniors championship? So many of the former champions are in chess news these days while commentating and writing I would have assumed it would not be too difficult to entice these fine players into a round robin style tournament. As a older player myself I would be especially interested in watching these players compete.
I thought that former champions would have preferential treatment for invitations, and there would be some sort of age or prior championship play requirement to be met, but I feel that there is an opportunity here that could be used.
I would love to hear the views of some of the tournament directors or tournament sponsors on this idea.
There is a US Senior Championship - June 12-13-14 in Schaumburg, IL
Alongside the US Junior Championship and the Not Junior / Not Senior tournament
Yes, but OP specified a round robin event.
Granted, but the Seniors World Championship cited as an inspiration is not a round robin as far as I know.
Figure out how to fund it and let us know.
Bankrobbery, “because that’s where the money is.” – William Francis “Willie” Sutton, Jr.
While we are at it why not also copy the World Senior Teams and have an US Seniors [50+] team championship??
Larry S. Cohen
And why not have it in sections? Ages 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, etc. There would be infinitely many sections. Overall winner would be the only player to enter the oldest non-empty section.
Bill Smythe
If ridicule is the way we treat someone on their very first post, that is most disturbing. It speaks more about the ridiculers than about OP.
The US Senior Championships as a whole has challenges getting enough participants to cover the costs of the event which is why it’s generally coupled with the US Junior to help offset some costs (site, staff).
While a RR would be great, there would have to be a sponsor for it to defray the costs of it.
Agreed. I don’t think it’s really a viable idea either.
I think it would be interesting to have more team based events. But it may be that the regional USAT events are popular because there are so few of them.
At one time, I believe the winner got an invite to the U.S. Championship. This probably made the event more attractive to older strong players. Now, it appears one gets free entry to the next U.S. Senior. Maybe not quite the same draw 
And a stipend to the World Senior and being the official US representative.
The question occurred to me as to why the U.S. Blind Championship is generally held as a separate standalone tournament, rather than coupled with say, a seniors tournament. Or do the players (and their family members) prefer it as a separate event?
I could see there even being some cross-application with non-chess activities: E.g., if a guided tour of the city is offered, both seniors and the blind tend to prefer tours of a half-day or less and without a lot of walking. Or even something simpler such as an outing to a upscale restaurant, or one that offers live music.
Bear with me if it falls under the “Silly question” category…
The Blind championship has some consistent sponsors dedicated to this particular event to help with costs. Also the nature of the play is a bit different. Granted this would not be an issue if another event were occurring in another room.
And they are reliably held and inclusive. I like the idea of the senior team mentioned though.