Each player gets the highest prize amount they qualify for and no player can get more than one cash prize, barring special prizes (brilliancy, undefeated, etc) and splitting prizes when appropriate.
So in this instance, someone else won 1st. You tied for 2nd but also qualified for the U1900 prize. The FM only qualified for the 2nd place prize. Either winning 2nd, U1900, or splitting 2nd and U1900 combined, result in the same prize payout.
You can only win one cash prize, i.e. you can't win part of 2nd and all of U1900, but this particular tourney it doesn't matter. However, assume 2nd was 100 and the U1900 was 60. What happens is they look at what would give each player the highest payout, based on what they qualify for. For the FM, it would be the 2nd place prize for $100. You qualify for two but only can have one prize outright..
If you only share 2nd, you get $50. If you just get the U1900 prize, you get $60. However, by combining both prizes you qualify for, you get $80 and the FM also gets $80.
In another example, assume another player over 1900 also got the same score, in the actual prize amounts. All three players would qualify for 2nd but only you qualify for the U1900. Combining would give all of you $26.67. So, instead, you would get the U1900 prize outright and the other two would split 2nd.
That is how monetary prize rules work for the USCF. You just hit a situation where it really didn't matter which way the split ended up going but you still only get to receive one prize, not two.
The rules are clearly spelled out in the rulebook, though actually making sure it is done correctly is a little harder, depending on prize structure. There are a few pages in the rules about it, along with example scenarios explaining how it works in practice.
Hey Chess.com community.. I feel completely robbed coming home from tonight's event.
So I shared second place with a FM 3.0/4.0, who was rated like 2350, and I won the U1900 section outright.
The payment breakdown went like this.
First 60
Second 40
U1900 40
U1500 20
They split both the second prize money and the U1900 money with me and the other 3 point FM even though his rating makes him, in my mind, out of contention for the U1900 prize, therefore I think its fair we share the 20$ for second place and I assumed I should take all the U1900 for winning that category outright.
The tournament saying that its not fair that the guy that got second should get less money than me. Even though his rating outqualified him for the U1900 category. He could neither refute the logical fallacy or present the page in the rule book explaining this oversight.
Please someone on heaven or earth clarify this for me without conjecture lest I completely lose my mind and faith in the United States Chess Federation on the whole!!!!!