The novelist T.M. Cicinski wrote, “No place which has ever once been perfect is worth the gamble of revisiting.” US Chess disagrees with this sentiment when applied to Orlando’s perfection as over the last 20 years, we have placed 25 national championships in the City Beautiful, including three of our U.S. Opens where we also hold our annual governance meetings.
Just in this past fiscal year, 29 rated events have been contested in Orlando, including our 2023 National K-12 Grade Championships that had an incredible 2,449 players plus their families, friends, and coaches.
Local business support for chess has been heartening. Rosen Hotels & Resorts has fully supported our efforts, including when the 2019 U.S. Open was canceled in St. Louis due to a hotel closure and on short notice, they made a space available for us. Rosen Shingle Creek hosted the Pan American Youth Championships that just completed two weeks ago and had almost 300 young players from across North and South America. Visit Orlando worked with us to allow those participants to experience the wonders of the city simply by showing their event badge, including discounted tickets to the major theme parks.
We have one official US Chess Affiliate in Orlando: The Central Florida Chess Club (CFCC). Established in 1987 as a non-profit chess club, the CFCC has organized and hosted over 400 US Chess rated tournaments and continues to organize and host rated weekend tournaments in support of competitive chess players of all ages and skill levels in the Central Florida area. There are at least six other clubs in the central Florida area that aren’t official affiliates but that support chess.
This relationship between Orlando and US Chess will continue well into the future. SuperNationals VIII will be May 9-11, 2025 at the Orange County Convention Center. We are expecting over 7,000 players plus family, friends, and coaches for the largest chess tournament under one roof in history. The National K-12 Grade Championships will be in Orlando seven times between 2026 and 2033—three times at Rosen Shingle Creek and four times at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
For all of these reasons, US Chess is pleased to name Orlando, Florida as the 2024 US Chess City of the Year.
Dan Lucas
USCF Communications Director
