Bill Goichberg, Executive Director of the United States Chess Federation, has announced that he has reached an agreement with ChessCafe.com for the popular online website to sponsor the 2004 Grand Prix.

The Grand Prix is an annual year long contest, held each year since 1979, that causes more frequent play by top players, encourages organizers to reward excellence by guaranteeing more prize money that Masters are eligible to win, and helps to raise money for USCF’s Professional Players Health & Benefits Fund.

ChessCafe.com will be the third corporate sponsor in the history of the Grand Prix. The others were Church’s Chicken (1979-1986) and Novag Computers (1988-1998). The event was sponsored by individual donors in 2001 and USCF in other years. This year’s prize fund will be the largest since 2000 and will include 18 special merchandise prizes for juniors and seniors. The Grand Prix winner for each of the past five years has been Grandmaster Alex Wojtkiewicz.

"We are pleased to the sponsor of the Grand Prix Competition for 2004," stated founder and owner of http://www.ChessCafe.com Hanon W. Russell. "It is a tradition that we are proud to be a part of." Russell confirmed that a total of $10,000 in cash prizes and another $5,000 of merchandise has been guaranteed by ChessCafe.

The United States Chess Federation, founded in 1939, serves as the governing body for chess in the United States and is devoted to extending the role of chess in American society. It promotes the study and knowledge of the game of chess, for its own sake as an art and enjoyment, and as a means for the improvement of society. The USCF is a not-for-profit membership organization with more than 90,000 members. For more information, please see http://www.uschess.org.