What are the member points for and is there any rewards for getting a certain amount?

well, I'm nearly there......only 997 to go

How do you get more points?

You get a point everytime you post a new topic or a reply to a topic:)

I think the points are there to show how active members are, and how much a person have "contributed":)

Thank you for that information, it is very helpful.

So do I get a point just for writing this?

I've just doubled my activitynessness!!

The points thing is kind of neat but don't get too involved with them. I know of one "contributor" here with ten times as many as I have yet he never contributes anything of value.

Concentrate on quality and you will be valued in the forums.

I think I know the person you are talking about, goldendog.

about to say something kbzero ?

does it start with an award and end with a chess?

 nope, is start with a 'r' and is sound like a itch.

Still, AWARDCHESS is a good answer. He's been quiet in recent times though. No self-aggrandizing spamming and weird stalking of pretty faces.

Is just show us how well you have contributes to the chess.com.

Member points -

There used to be a reward for 1000 Member points from erik if you reached that amount however they stopped doing it in around 2007. It was a Chess.com T-Shirt!! You can read more here -http://www.chess.com/forum/view/help-support/how-do-i-get-points

Member Points: Chess.com keeps track of all of your contributions to the site such as comments, blog posts, forum participation, articles, etc. Each contribution counts for points. This helps members know how involved each other are in Chess.com!

some are worth more than others. the kinds of contributions that are more meaningful (articles, etc) are worth more.

at 1,000 points i get you a free t-shirt (as long as they are not achieved through spammy methods)

UPDATE => Nov 11 2008 - we do NOT give out free shirts anymore (we did this for a few weeks and stopped in 2007).

No benefits per se apart from sometimes the credibility of being around and active for a long time. Sometimes that may really mean a few years of being an ill-informed patzer, so buyer beware.

It just gives you street cred.

That because you shot him Reb.