A Guide To CFA Scoring

(Note: These scoring methods are current as of writing, but may have changed)

1. Definitions
2. Grand Championships and Grand Premierships
3. Show Points
4. Scoring for National and Regional Awards

Definitions

Calculating points intimidates many exhibitors, both novices and veterans. It's not a simple system, but it is logical and can be learned eventually. Once you learn the method, all you'll need is a basic calculator and the show count. At each show, the master clerk will announce and/or post the unofficial show count for the exhibitors. The show count breaks down the number of entries into longhair kittens, shorthair kittens, total kittens, longhair championship, shorthair championship, total championship, longhair Champions, shorthair Champions, total Champions, longhair premiership, shorthair premiership, total premiership, longhair Premiers, shorthair Premiers, and total Premiers. In many show catalogs, there is a page with those categories listed so you can fill in the blanks when the numbers are available. If such a page isn't included, improvise.

There are two types of points which concern CFA exhibitors. Show points are those awarded for Best of Breed/Division wins (in Championship competition only) and finals awards. These points count towards regional and national placements. Grand points are those awarded to cats titled as Champion or Premier, and count only towards the attainment of the title of Grand Champion and Grand Premier. These two types of points are not interchangeable; a cat can accumulate enough grand points to become a Grand Champion yet never receive a single show point, and a Champion-titled cat can accumulate show points without getting any grand points.

For both show points and grand points, points are calculated based on how many cats are benched. CFA Show Rule 1.04 defines a benched cat as "one that is present and qualified for competition and judged in at least one ring." Even if a cat is disqualified in that first ring and does not compete in any other ring in that show, it is still counted as a benched cat for all rings in that show.

In this text, a "cat" refers to a whole purebred cat over the age of eight months who competes in the Championship competitive category. An "alter" is a spayed or neutered purebred cat over the age of eight months who competes in the Premiership competitive category. A "kitten" is a purebred kitten between the ages of 4 months and 8 months who competes in the Kitten class of the Non-Championship competitive category. In CFA, mixed-breed cats may compete in the Household Pet (HHP) competition, but they do not receive any kind of points or titles. A club may elect to award trophies or other prizes to the highest-scoring HHPs in its show, but scoring for such awards is entirely at the discretion of the club and CFA does not track such results.

Grand Championships and Grand Premierships

Grand points are awarded to a Champion-titled cat based on how many other Champions it defeats in competition. Grand points are awarded in breed/division judging and in finals presentations.

During the breed/division judging, the Best Champion of Breed/Division (purple ribbon) receives one point for every benched Champion of that breed/division that it defeats in that ring. For example, if there are five Champion Siamese, the one awarded Best Champion in a ring's Siamese breed judging receives four points towards the Grand Champion title.

During an allbreed finals presentation, the following Champion awards are made: Best Allbreed Champion, Second Best Allbreed Champion, Third Best Allbreed Champion, Best Longhair Champion, Second Best Longhair Champion, Third Best Longhair Champion, Best Shorthair Champion, Second Best Shorthair Champion, and Third Best Shorthair Champion. The Best, Second and Third Best Allbreed Champions will each also receive a Shorthair or Longhair rosette. The Best Champion rosette is worth one grand point for each benched Champion defeated in the judge's ring. Second Best Champion receives 90% of the points awarded to Best Champion. Third Best Champion receives 80% of the points awarded to Best Champion. Best Longhair Champion is worth one grand point for every benched longhair Champion defeated, and Second Best Longhair Champion receives 90% of the points awarded to Best Longhair Champion. Third Best Longhair Champion receives 80% of the points awarded to Best Longhair Champion. Best Shorthair Champion receives one grand point for every benched shorthair Champion defeated, and Second Best Shorthair Champion receives 90% of the points awarded to Best Shorthair Champion. Third Best Shorthair Champion receives 80% of the points awarded to Best Shorthair Champion. During a Longhair Specialty, Shorthair Specialty, or Breed Specialty ring, only Best Champion, Second Best Champion, and Third Best Champion rosettes are awarded. Best Champion in a specialty ring receives one grand point for every benched Champion defeated in that specialty, Second Best Champion receives 90% of the points awarded to Best Champion, and Third Best Champion receives 80% of the points awarded to Best Champion.

Champions who place in the judge's top ten but do not receive one of the Champion awards will still receive grand points in that ring. If the Best Champion, Second Best Champion, adn Third Best Champion cats place in a specialty ring's top ten, for example, a forth Champion who also places in the top ten will receive 70% of the points awarded to Best Champion. A fifth Champion in the top ten receives 60% of the points awarded to Best Champion, and so forth down to 10% for a tenth Champion. In an allbreed ring, if the Best Longhair Champion/Best Allbreed Champion, Second Best Longhair Champion/Second Best Allbreed Champion, and Third Best Longhair Champion/Third Best Allbreed Champion all receive top ten awards and none of the shorthair Champions place in the top ten, a forth longhair Champion which places in the top ten will receive 70% of the grand points awarded to the Best Allbreed Champion. Basically, if a Champion gets a rosette of any kind during a finals presentation, the cat is awarded grand points.

A cat will only receive the points from whichever award has the highest point value. A cat who wins Best Champion of Breed/Division and Best Allbreed Champion for the ring will receive only the points from the Best Allbreed Champion rosette, as it is worth the most points. All grand points are rounded to the nearest whole number.

In premiership competition, the scoring for awards presented during finals is identical to that for championship competition. However, no grand points are awarded during breed judging, so an alter must acquire all necessary points during finals. (This may change with the 2005 show season).

A Champion becomes a Grand Champion by accumulating 200 grand points, and a Premier becomes a Grand Premier by accumulating 75 grand points. Those points must be won under at least three different judges, and a Grand Champion must have received at least one finals award (a Champion rosette or a Best Cat - Tenth Best Cat rosette) in either an allbreed or specialty ring. A Champion who wins 200 grand points solely in breed competition is not a Grand Champion.

Grand points will carry over into subsequent seasons, so a cat may achieve the Grand Champion title in one show or after several years of showing. However, grand points won by a whole cat do not carry over when a cat is altered and then shown in premiership. Even a Grand Champion must start as an untitled open when moved into premiership competition.

EXAMPLE

In our example show, there are 120 cats benched in championship; 75 of those cats are Champions, with 40 longhair Champions and 35 shorthair Champions. Consequently, a Best Allbreed Champion award is worth 74 grand points (the Best Champion has defeated 74 other Champions), a Best Longhair Champion award is worth 39 grand points, and a Best Shorthair Champion award is worth 34 grand points. There are 11 Abyssinian cats benched and 10 of them are Champions. There are 4 Cornish Rex benched and 3 of them are Champions. There are 15 Solid Division Persians benched and 8 of them are Champions. There are 3 Maine Coons benched and all of them are Champions.

During the breed judging in one ring, the judge awards the Best Champion of Breed/Division (purple) ribbons to a red Abyssinian, a black smoke Cornish Rex, a blue Solid Division Persian, and a brown tabby Maine Coon. When the finals rosettes are presented, this judge awards the Best Shorthair Champion and Second Best Allbreed Champion rosettes to the Abyssinian. The Abyssinian's grand points could come from one of three awards - the breed Best Champion (worth 9 grand points), the Best Shorthair Champion (34 grand points) or the Second Best Allbreed Champion (67 grand points, which is 90% of the 74 points awarded to the Best Allbreed Champion). In this case, Second Best Allbreed Champion is worth the most, so the Abyssinian is credited with 67 grand points. The Cornish Rex does not receive a Champion rosette and does not place in the judge's top ten. It receives 2 grand points from its Best Champion ribbon in the breed judging. The Persian is awarded Second Best Longhair Champion, and is credited with 35 grand points, which is 90% of the points that would go to the Best Longhair Champion. The Maine Coon is awarded Best Longhair Champion and Best Allbreed Champion, and is credited the 74 grand points from the latter award. Remember, since the Maine Coon and Persian both received awards during the finals, neither is credited with the grand points that were awarded during breed judging. Only the award worth the most is counted.

In another shorthair specialty ring, every cat in the judge's top ten is either a Grand Champion or an open. The Best Champion and Second Best Champion are therefore the only cats to receive grand points from this final, and are credited with 34 grand points and 31 grand points respectively.

In third shorthair specialty ring, the Best Champion (a Tonkinese) and Second Best Champion (a Balinese) and the Third Best Champion (A Selkirk Rex) are placed as Best Cat, 3rd Best Cat, and 5th Best Cat respectively. Three more Champions also place in the top ten, as 7th, 9th, and 10th Best Cats. The 7th Best Cat (who is the forth best Champion) wins 24 grand points (70% of 34), the 9th Best Cat/fifth best Champion wins 20 grand points (60% of 34), and the 10th Best Cat/sixth best Champion wins 17 grand points (50% of 34).

Show Points

Show points in each ring come from one of two sources. Kittens, championship, and premiership entries receive show points from finals (top ten or top five) awards. Cats competing in championship may receive show points during breed judging by winning Best (brown) and Second Best (orange) of Breed/Division ribbons. Although kittens and premiership cats are also awarded Best and Second Best of Breed/Division, no show points are granted for those ribbons. (This may change with the 2005 show season) Show points apply only to the show season (May 1 through April 30) in which they are won; they do not carry over to subsequent seasons, nor do they carry over when a kitten becomes a cat or a cat becomes an alter. In case you were wondering, the first day of a show determines in which show season it is counted; a show on the weekend of April 30-May 1, 2004 is counted in the 2003-2004 show season. The age of an entry on the first day of the show determines its age for competition; a kitten born on April 5, 2004 and entered in a show held on the weekend of December 4-5, 2004 will be entered as a kitten and will compete as such through the entire weekend, even though it will be eight months old on the second day of the show and thus no longer a kitten.

A cat who wins the Best of Breed/Division during championship breed judging receives one point for every benched cat defeated in the breed. Second Best of Breed/Division gets 95% of those points.

In an allbreed or specialty ring, Best Cat is worth one point for every benched cat defeated in that ring. Copy the following list and tape it to your calculator for quick reference:

   Best Cat = (total benched championship entry) - 1
   2nd Best Cat = Best Cat points x .95 (95%)
   3rd Best Cat = Best Cat points x .90 (90%)
   4th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .85 (85%)
   5th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .80 (80%)
   6th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .75 (75%)
   7th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .70 (70%)
   8th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .65 (65%)
   9th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .60 (60%)
  10th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .55 (55%)

For shows with over 100 kittens entered,(and beginning in 2005, also with 150 championship cats entered or 75 Premiership cats entered) awards are given to 11th-15th Best and are scored in the follwing manner:

   11th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .50 (50%)
   12th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .45 (45%)
   13th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .40 (40%)
   14th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .35 (35%)
   15th Best Cat = Best Cat points x .30 (30%)

The kitten and premiership awards are calculated in the same fashion, with Best Kitten worth one show point for every benched kitten defeated and Best Cat In Premiership worth one show point for every benched alter defeated.

As in the grand point calculations, only the award carrying the highest show point total is counted. Points are calculated to two decimal places, not rounded off.

EXAMPLE

In our example show, there are 120 cats (55 LH, 65 SH), 70 kittens (35 LH, 35 SH), and 35 alters (10 LH, 25 SH) benched. There are 11 Abyssinian cats benched in championship, and 15 Solid Division Persians benched in championship.

The Abyssinian Best of Breed/Division ribbon is worth 10 show points. The Second Best of Breed/Division ribbon is worth 95% of that, which is 9.50 show points. For the Solid Division Persians, Best of Breed/Division is worth 14 show points and Second Best of Breed/Division is worth 13.30 show points.

In an allbreed ring, a Best Cat award is worth 119 show points. 2nd Best Cat is therefore worth 113.05 show points, 3rd Best is worth 107.10 show points, and so forth to 10th Best Cat and its 65.45 show points. A Best Kitten award is worth 69 show points, and 10th Best Kitten is worth 37.95 show points. A Best Cat in Premiership receives 34 show points, and 10th Best Cat in Premiership gets 18.70 show points. In a longhair specialty ring, the Best Cat award is worth 54 show points, the Best Kitten worth 34 show points, and the Best Cat in Premiership worth 9 show points.

Scoring for National and Regional Awards

At the end of each show season, CFA honors its top scoring cats. The national Best of Breed/Division and Second Best of Breed/Division cats earn a plaque and the Best of Breed Cat gets to add BW (Breed Winner) to its name. The national Best of Color and Second Best of Color ribbons are awarded in each color class, providing the highest-scoring cat in a given color class has accumulated at least 200 show points. In breeds with a single color class (like the Havana Brown, in which all cats are brown, and the Scottish Fold, in which all colors are judged together), the color awards will be the same as the breed awards. In breeds with multiple color classes, Best/Second Best of Color ribbons may be awarded for each color class.

The most coveted honor is that of National Winner. That permanent title is bestowed upon the 25 highest-scoring cats, the 25 highest-scoring kittens, and the 25 highest-scoring alters who reside in CFA Regions 1 through 8 (continental United States, Canada, and Japan).

Each of the eight CFA Regions also honors its regional winners for breed/division, color, and top 25 cats/top 25 kittens/top 25 alters. CFA also honors its Best Cat, Best Kitten, and Best Cat in Premiership in the Hawaii and International divisions.

Scoring for the national and regional awards is based on the best 100 rings for Championship cats and Premiership cats, and the top 40 rings for kittens.

Keep in mind that all the points counted towards national and regional awards come solely from show points, and that grand points are accredited solely towards the Grand Champion or Grand Premier titles. A cat who receives a Best Allbreed Champion in a ring does not receive any show points towards those national or regional awards unless it also wins a breed ribbon or a Best Cat - Tenth (or Fifteenth, if applicable) Best Cat finals award.

That wasn't so bad, was it? You'll find that calculating points may be a bit tedious, especially for a cat or alter who competes as such through the entire show season, but it isn't all that difficult once you learn how.

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