Shreveport?

Thanks all,for the responses.  Keep them coming.  To amplify on what I'm doing here, it's my intention, working within USCF, to identify what parts of the country have no tournaments near them, and then try to fix that problem.  There's almost no place in the country that I think shouldn't be able to support tournaments.  I say "almost", because western North Dakota or eastern Montana could be rough. And of course most of Alaska is a special case.  Other than that, we should be able to do it.

I can't promise anyone, anywhere, "major" tournaments.  For those you need players, and large quantities of cash wouldn't hurt, either.

Part of this, as time goes on, will be to solve what I suspect is an even bigger problem.  I suspect that there are a lot of people who think there are no tournaments near them, when in reality people just don't know about them.

And "near" is also problematic.  I understand there is not much in the City of Detroit, but there is a lot, including a pretty wide variety,within an hour.  (May I recommend Auburn Hills?  Three times per year, Chess for Charity?  I know the TD. Great guy.*)  You won't get much better than several tournaments within an hour.  Any closer than that, and they start cannibalizing each other's players.  By the way, I have played, as an adult, in the Thinker's Challenge tournaments in Detroit.  It's not USCF rated though.

I see that Rhode Island had 125 rated events last year.  Not bad for such a small space.

So, most of the US is pretty well served, although I also suspect a little bit more variety could help most places. Like mfw noted, if it's always the same people, it's not as much fun as having variety.

*You probably guessed this, but I am the TD.

One of the best tournaments in MN is held this one: 

http://home.mchsi.com/~franklin/catfish_days.htm

It is held as part of a catfish fishing festival in a town in the middle of nowhere with a population of fewer than 500 people. Dozens of people come make the 2 hour drive out there from the Twin Cities area every year.

The location isn't great. But the atmosphere is fantastic. The TD has a blast and truly appreciates the players he gets, and every year it just gets better.

That tournament is proof that just about anywhere can support a good tournament. You just have to find someone who loves chess and is willing to put in the leg work.

I'd probably have to drive about 5 hours to get to one. I'd only consider anything 1 hour or less near.

You shouldn't have to drive five hours, and most places should be within 1, or at most 2.  Marquette, Traverse City, Lansing, Cadillac, and Grand Rapids all have had rated tournaments last year, and Southeast Michigan is chock full of them.

It really shows how much we have to work on making our tournaments easier to find.

Northern Michigan is indeed one of the sparser areas for Chess, but there are at least a few rated OTB tournaments in that region.

I've tried using the USCF website to find local tournaments, but they don't seem to come up there very often. I haven't checked in a while though.

Oh ya, there are tournaments around here in Salt Lake City. But the issue I have and many other, mostly former USCF members have is the time control. There are game in 30 or even game in 60 that make up the bulk of tourneys. This is great of you suffer from ADD, but many of us would like to play with longer time controls...which makes for a better thought out game. So many are fed up with this "drive by chess" as it is now they have quit the USCF. But then it seems the USCF has turned their efforts to "kid" chess and to heck with the adults.

The USCF site is terrible for local tournaments.  In fact, it's worse than terrible, because it looks like it lists local tournaments, but in fact it hardly ever does.

The Michigan Chess Association is much better, but still not all that good.

http://www.michess.org/tools/calendar.php

There are lots of USCF rated events that don't make it onto that calendar.  Still, it's the best available.   Depending on where you live, you may also find tournaments near you listed at westmichiganchess.org that are not listed on the MCA site.

The USCF charge rate to list local tournaments is ludicrously high, and it simply doesn't bring in the traffic because anyone who is likely to show up a tournament knows that looking for tournaments on the USCF site is useless.

Find the local clubs, local messaging boards, and so forth. Sadly, it's all about word of mouth and occassionally state federations.

New Orleans (Home of Paul Morphy) also hosts quite a few tournaments.

Actually, online TLAs (Tournament Life Announcements) are free, and my print TLA costs 12 bucks.  The second part of the statement is true, though.  Organizers don't bother with them, because they don't figure anyone looks at them.

It's a chicken and egg thing.  Organizers don't list because players don't look, and players don't look because organizers don't list.  Part of it is made much worse because the presentation on the web site is terrible.

It's something we really need to change.  It would be so easy to make things better.  Well, from a technical standpoint, it would be so easy.  Getting past the "this is the way we've always done it" mode of thinking, though,  is hard.

I'd have to fly many hours to Mexico then try to cross the border.

they chess club in my area the dayton chess club has a 4 round swiss every friday which i think i am going to partake in next time i am off work

took the words right I mean right outta my mouth!

There are tournaments near me but they are mostly for kids of age 6-12 somewhere 15 years old like I am aren't allowed. Most of them aren't fide rated fide rated tournaments here are a rare

http://archive.uschess.org/ratings/info/running.php