The 2025 U.S. Open offered a variety of schedules and Mixed Doubles prizes. Last century, the U.S. Open was usually 12 rounds. This century, the event has generally been nine rounds. The 2025 U.S. Open was held in Wisconsin, a state famous for its cheese.
Mixed Doubles prizes encourage girls and women to play in chess tournaments. For the 2025 U.S. Open, the Mixed Doubles categories were Husband & Wife, Brother & Sister, Mother & Son, Coach & Student, Father & Daughter, and None/Other. My partner and I were in the last category.
Schedules and Mixed Doubles
College Chess Committee Chair Andrew Schley (pronounced Sh-lie) agreed to be my Mixed Doubles partner upon his re-entry to the U.S. Open. He had quit the 7-Day Option, after a loss to Brendan Foote and a draw with Alan Price. Schley out-rated Foote by more than 350 points and Price by 500 points. The 7-Day Option began with one round on Monday, July 28, then accelerated to two rounds per day on the 29th and 30th.
Schley began with a clean slate in the 5-Day Schedule, which had two rounds on July 30, three rounds on July 31, two rounds on August 1, and then one round each on August 2 and 3.
The 4-Day Schedule was even more compact. It had four rounds on July 31, three rounds on August 1, and then one round each on August 2 and 3. All schedules can be found at this link.
For any schedule in 2025, those rated 2000 or higher could take up to three half-point byes. But lower-rated players had fewer half-point byes available. Quoting the tournament announcement:
Half-Point Byes: must commit before Round 4; up to 3 byes allowed for 2000/up, 2 byes for 1400-1999, one bye for Under 1400/Unr. Limit 1 bye in last two rounds. Zero-point byes are always available in any round if requested at least two hours before the round(s) in question.
Rated just above 1900, Schley took two half point byes, won five games, and lost two games, for a total of 6 points out of 9 rounds. Playing in the 7-Day Option while rated on my floor of 2000, I took three half point byes, drew two games, lost one game, and won three games, for a total of 5.5 out of 9 rounds. Our Mixed Doubles team finished with 11.5, tied for first with the Brother & Sister duo of Santhosh and Anushka Ayyappan. Mixed Doubles results are at this link.
It might seem cheesy to offer so many schedules, which take the U.S. Open further away from its roots as a one-round-per-day tournament. From 1947 onwards, the U.S. Open was one round per day, for either 12 or 13 rounds.
At the 1995 U.S. Open, the one-round-a-day schedule was available but players had options. Half-points byes were available and there was also a “busy man’s schedule.” As quoted in TWIC (The Week in Chess), Sam Sloan reported:
One feature of this tournament which is likely to create controversy for years to come concerns Bill Goichberg’s program to increase attendance by allowing players to compete under special conditions. In this U.S. Open Championship, players could play their first six games in the morning, or in the evening, or they could take the “busy man’s schedule” and not play the first six rounds at all, but instead be assigned points based upon their probable result according to their rating.
In addition, a player dissatisfied with his result, after losing a few early round games for example, could “re-enter” by paying an additional fee of $60 and be given a few free half points for the rounds he or she missed.
The 2004 U.S. Open had 9 rounds rather than 12 rounds. For information about the U.S. Open year by year, see this link.
Like 2004, the 2024 U.S. Open offered an option to play 9 rounds over 9 days. But the one-round-a-day option disappeared in 2025, as 9 rounds were played in 7 days.
More flexibility is in the future because the Delegates overturned a DACI (Delegates Actions of Continued Interest) which had prohibited rounds during the weekend Delegates Meeting. Several Delegates, including me (Texas Delegate) and Schley (Wisconsin Delegate), may be affected in future years. Delegates may have to request byes because rounds may be scheduled in conflict with the Delegates Meeting.
Even in 2025, when round times did not conflict with meetings, I took three half-point byes on the days with meetings. After sitting in meetings all day, I couldn’t imagine sitting for several hours more to play chess. When the rounds began at 7 p.m., my games often ended after midnight.
Cheesy Final Positions
While my games were long, which might be considered unlucky, I was lucky in my results. Out of two final positions where I was losing, I scored one draw and one win.
In Round 5 I had Black against Michael Purcell. He offered me a draw in what Stockfish 17.1 states is a winning position for White.
During my Round 9 game, I had offered a couple of draws to my opponent, Lucas Yu. He correctly refused my offers, as he was winning (except for one move, mid-game, where I missed a tactical shot). In our final position, Yu was winning but had about two minutes left on his clock, plus increment, for the rest of the game. The secondary time control was Game in 30 minutes with a 30-second increment. I told myself to relax and not look at the clock. And I didn’t look, until after he moved. Then I saw that his clock indicated a flag fall (loss on time). I don’t even recall where he moved.
Cheesy Redefined
While “cheesy” can mean lacking in quality or goofy, cheesy references to chess can be fun. Check out this Aldi commercial, which plays on the similarity of the words “cheese” and “chess.” Likewise, confusing the two words is at the heart of a poem which begins:
This is the tale of Gussy Lees,
who got confused with Chess and cheese:
though normally a man of sense,
he could not tell the difference.
At the end of the poem, when looking at a “cooked” (faulty) chess problem, Lees tragically mistakes the chess pieces for cheese.
Wisconsin’s Joshua Friedel, a grandmaster, began the U.S. Open with seven wins. After giving up a draw in round 8, he was still a half point ahead of his rivals. But he lost in round 9 to GM Dariusz Swiercz, who became the champion with 8 points (seven wins and two draws) out of 9 games.
Friedel can take pride in his performance and in the state of Wisconsin. The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin note the following “cheesy” facts:
- Wisconsin is the only place outside of Switzerland with a Master Cheesemaker Program—think of it as a Ph.D. in cheese.
- Wisconsin produces 50% of the nation’s specialty cheeses, including over 600 types, styles, and varieties.
- It’s also the only state that requires a license to make cheese, ensuring consistent, high-quality craftsmanship.
- With over 1,200 licensed cheesemakers, there’s a remarkable amount of talent and tradition.
Wisconsin wins more awards for cheesemaking than any other state or country, over 5,500. That’s more than 10 times the number of participants (just over 500) in the 2025 U.S. Open. To learn more about Wisconsin cheese, visit this link.
