USCF Etiquette

Hello, I hope you're having a nice day. This article will be going over some of the etiquette and common rules in nationally rated US Chess. If you have any questions about specific stuff I recommend you either check the USCF (United States Chess Federation) rule book or if you are playing in a tournament, talk to the Tournament Director/Arbiter. Please do note that rules may vary between countries and in FIDE events. 

1. Notation

If you play in a USCF rated tournament you are required to notate your games. Most tournaments will have notation sheets for you to write down the moves from your game. You have to write down both your own, and your opponent's moves. In my experience, a vast majority of tournaments don't require your notation to be perfect, so it's okay to make mistakes. You do have to at least try to notate though, and if you make a mistake in the notation if something happens in the game, like a disputed game result, then the Tournament Director (TD) may not rule in your favor. You can find information about notation on the Wikipedia page here.

2. Clocks

All over the board USCF rated tournaments will use a clock. Each player will have a certain amount of time on their clock at the beginning of the game. This starting time varies from tournament to tournament. When it is a players move, the time on the clock will decrease. The player, when ready, should make their move then hit the clock with the same hand that they moved their piece with. The opponents clock will begin to tick down at this point. Most tournaments will use an increment. When a game is using an increment, every move, when a player hits the clock, a certain amount of time will be added to their clock. A time control is the amount of time a game will have on the clock including increment. If a games time control is 25+5 then there is a starting time of 25 minutes on the clock, plus a five second increment. If a players clock hits zero then they lose.

3. Touch Move and Touch Take

Touch move and touch take are rather simple, but very important rules. Many players, including top grandmasters have lost games because they didn't think about the touch move rule. The touch move rule states that if you touch a piece, and you can make a legal move with that piece, you must move it. The touch take rule is similar. If you touch your opponents piece, and you have a legal move to capture that piece, you must capture it. In the provided example game Nakamura lost the game because on move 74 he touched his king. The only moves that held the draw were rook moves. Because Nakamura touched his king he had to move it and ended up losing the game. However you can adjust your piece without moving it. To do this when you touch the piece you must say adjust. 

4. Hand Shakes

This one is pretty simple. Before your game begins shake hands with your opponent and bid them good luck. After the game ends shake your opponents hand and tell them "Good game."

5. Talking

In an official tournament game you should not talk. When you talk you may interrupt your opponents calculations, or distract them from the game. If you have a question about rules, or there is a disagreement between you and your opponent talk to the TD, either by raising your hand if you are in the same room, or by going to the TD table if there are multiple rooms. 

6. Reporting Scores

After the game has ended you need to report the result. Most tournaments will have a paper at or near the TD table to report the result of your game. You would put a 1 near the name of the player who won the game and a 0 by the name of the player who lost. In the event of a draw, you would put 1/2 by both players names. If you fail to report your scores some tournaments will count it as a loss for both players. If your opponent doesn't show up to the game in time, then you would put an f, for forfeit, next to the score (1f - 0f).

These are some of the general rules and etiquette for USCF rated chess. I hope you find this helpful and are successful in any over the board endeavors.