Abrupt decision by FIDE to reduce circuit points for open events played with two rounds in one day, essentially all open events in the United States. My view - blatant discrimination against the American tournament format. Elitists, who seemingly have all the resources in the world, have always frowned upon American tournaments because of two games per day. In FIDE’s announcement, they cite the reason for the reduction of circuit points as “compressed schedule might not reflect the same level of effort as longer events”. Anyone will tell you that playing two games a day requires far more effort than one. Energy levels and the need to bounce back after tough games is extremely challenging when playing multiple games in a day. Personally, I always found chess more of a sport when you have to play multiple games at a slightly faster control and do not have days to prepare for your opponent. In fact, encyclopedic opening/early middlegame knowledge (pre-game preparation) is killing the game at the top and is encouraging a push toward variants such as the new series of Fischer-Random chess events. In the US, it’s quite difficult to organize 9-round “opens” that span more than 5 days. US culture is not such that rewards or encourages taking time off of work or missing school. “Opens”, which are inherently designed to include both professionals and non-professionals, must take this into account when planning. One game per day means an event that spans 9 days plus setup and breakdown time. In addition to the practical nature of players having to miss day-to-day obligations, the organizer faces increased costs for venue, player accommodations, and staffing. This would greatly limit the amount of participants in opens, outside of the world’s elite players who have committed their lives to playing. Is the goal really to limit participation to only the elite players? Not in my view. Top professionals have access to round robin events which accommodate their needs perfectly, you know, play the same players 100 times a year, draw all your games, take a paycheck home. Open events are a breath of fresh air to chess. They are far more exciting, include more players, and take a break from the stale circle-jerk round robin events. Finally, chess doesn’t need more barriers. We already suffer from lack of sponsorship. Limitations do not encourage participation. Chess too often relies on a select few maecenases, who ultimately expire with time, leaving us only with nostalgia of what x-tournament used to be. Having the FIDE circuit (and open aid package) as incentive for top players assists tournaments like ours helps attract stronger players which trickles down. This year’s US Masters featured 47 Grandmasters, 51 International Masters and many other titled players, making it the most title heavy event in the United States. How much does this impact our tournaments, not sure to be frank, probably not much. I just despise the logic and decision making here. It sends the wrong message and has clear bias toward American open events. In a world where chess is becoming so banal that players are considering hula hoop chess and chess boxing, I would rather see the world's governing body encourage more opens, not less.