As a primarily masters-only event, the U.S. Masters is one of the strongest Swiss tournaments in the U.S., offering FIDE title norms and large cash prizes to participants.
Throughout its history, the event has always placed a premium on inviting foreign titled players to compete against American masters.
The tournament was originally called the Midwest Masters Invitational, organized by Helen and James Warren in the Chicago area.
Since 2009, the event has been called the U.S. Masters Championship, and has been held in various cities in North Carolina: Hendersonville, Greensboro, and Charlotte.
[1] The current format is an annual 9-round Swiss tournament in one single section, held across 5 days, with FIDE title norms available.
Six former U.S. Women's Chess Championship winners have competed in the U.S. Masters - Irina Krush, Camilla Baginskaite, Nazi Paikidze, Sabina-Francesca Foisor, Jennifer Yu, and Carissa Yip.
Twelve players have won the event multiple times (including ties for first place): Michael Brooks (3), Leonid Kaushansky (2), Joel Benjamin (2), Sergey Kudrin (2), Dmitry Gurevich (2), Alexander Shabalov (2), Jaan Ehlvest (2), Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (2), Giorgi Margvelashvili (2), Bartlomiej Macieja (2), Hovhannes Gabuzyan (2), and Mikhail Antipov (2).
77 players entered, including top seed IM Victor Frias Pablaza (2485 FIDE).
4 players - Eugene Martinovsky, Erik Karklins, Albert Chow, and Kenneth Wallach, played in all 10 Midwest Masters tournaments from 1982-1997.
5 players tied for first place with 5.5/7: GMs Alexander Onischuk, Gregory Kaidanov, Leonid Yudasin, Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, and Daniel Fridman, earning $3000 each.
3 players tied for second place: Faik Aleskerov, Bryan Smith, and Kazim Gulamali, earning $517 each.
Under the efforts and patronage of the Carolinas Chess Initiative, High Point University, and organizers Dr. Walter High and Gary Newsom, the event moved to the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel in Greensboro, NC over Labor Day Weekend, alongside the North Carolina Open.
It had the same location and eligibility requirements as the 2012 event, and was held alongside the North Carolina Open.
IM Justin Sarkar earned a GM norm, while FM Alex Ostrovskiy, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, FM Bradley Denton, Damir Studen, and Denys Shmelov earned IM norms.
It had the same location and eligibility requirements as the 2013 event, and was held alongside the North Carolina Open.
It had the same location and eligibility requirements as the 2014 event, and was held alongside the North Carolina Open.
It had the same location and eligibility requirements as the 2015 event, and was held alongside the North Carolina Open.
The top seed was GM Sam Shankland (2671 FIDE), the highest-rated player to ever have played in the event until that point.
88 players played in the 9-round, 5-day super Swiss norm event, which was held in Greensboro for the final time.
Isan Ortiz Suarez won the trophy and official title after winning an armageddon playoff against Sergei Azarov, while Elshan Moradiabadi earned the top American player designation after winning an armageddon playoff against Daniel Naroditsky.
The 2021 edition was a 9-round, 5-day super Swiss norm event with a FIDE-rated time control of game in 100 minutes with a 30 second increment.
GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara and IM Rahul Srivatshav Peddi tied for first place with 7.0/9, earning $3750 each.
GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara won the trophy, official title, and a $500 bonus after winning a blitz playoff against IM Rahul Srivatshav Peddi by a score of 2–0.
The top seed was GM Grigoriy Oparin (2683 FIDE), the highest rated player to ever have played in the event.
Christopher Yoo won the trophy, official title, and a $300 bonus after winning a blitz playoff against Alejandro Ramirez by a score of 2–0.
WIM Sila Caglar won the top female prize of $600, while GM Alexander Fishbein, GM Alonso Zapata, and IM Roberto Martin Del Campo won the top senior prize, earning $333 each.
Brian Escalante Ramírez crossed the 2500 FIDE threshold, which was his final requirement for the Grandmaster title.
Brewington Hardaway crossed the 2400 FIDE threshold, which was his final requirement for the International Master title.
The event format is a 9-round, 5-day super Swiss, with a FIDE-rated time control of game in 90 minutes with a 30 second increment.
The top seed was World #2 GM Fabiano Caruana (2805 FIDE) - this is the first time that a 2700+ player played in the U.S.