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Here is some information on how the whole process works to tie Chess.com accounts to USCF ones.1.  Fill out the USCF Authentication form: https://www.chess.com/news/view/uscf-member-authentication-9266 Please fill out all fields. It is very important to set up your link on your US Chess profile: new.uschess.org/news/it-factor-part-3-managing-your-preferences (copy/paste the whole link for instructions) 2. Join the US Chess Members Only group: https://www.chess.com/club/uschess-members-only You must have the form filled out to join the group. If the form is not filled out within 24 hours your group request will be denied and you will have to reapply. 3. Get verified If there is a problem (incorrect USCF ID, names don't match between form and US Chess profile, expired account), your request will be denied. You can resubmit the form with updated details and request access to the group again. 4. Keep your USCF membership current; if your membership expires you will be removed from the group. You can re-apply for group membership once you have renewed, but will not need to fill out the form a second time.   updated 11/2020

Here is the news article about the rated tourneys: https://www.chess.com/news/chesscom-to-host-uscf-quick-rated-play-9414 and here is the schedule from that (events show up 1 hour before the scheduled start): List will be updated if there are changes to times or days US Chess Monday Blitz: USCF Blitz held every Monday at 3 p.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. Eastern 5 rounds 10 | 0 time control AND USCF Blitz held every Monday at 8 p.m. Pacific, 11 p.m. Eastern 7 Rounds 5|0 time control US Chess Wednesday Blitz: USCF Blitz held every Wednesday at 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern 7 rounds (fewer if not enough participants) 3|2 blitz time control US Chess Friday Rapid: USCF Rapid held every Friday at 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern 5 rounds 15|10 time control US Chess Saturday: 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern All events 5 rounds Week 1, 1st Saturday: Blitz -- 10|0 Week 2, 2nd Saturday: Quick/ Rapid -- 15|2  Week 3, 3rd Saturday: Blitz -- 10|0 Week 4, 4th Saturday: Regular -- 30|0 (changed January 2021) Week 5, 5th Saturday: Quick/Rapid -- 15|10

Please be aware that at the end of each month we will be checking USCF membership status of accounts coming up for renewal. We will remove any expired accounts on the 1st of the month. If you are removed from the group and renew your membership after that time, please request to rejoin. If your account has already been verified, there will be no need to fill out another authentication form. Thank you.

For those that want to check out all the tourneys after they get rated, you can check out the following USCF Affiliate page and check out all the rated events and crosstables there. http://www.uschess.org/msa/AffDtlMain.php?A6044892

Does this group offer resources for hosting local USCF affiliate events online? Could it?Can the administrators of this group offer advice and or training to certified TDs who are trying to keep local events going during the pandemic?

Membership   1. How can I play in club events, join the club, etc? First, you must be a current member of the US Chess Federation: https://uschess.org Second, fill out the member authentication form found here: https://www.chess.com/news/view/uscf-member-authentication-9266 Add your Chess.com username to your US Chess account: https://new.uschess.org/news/it-factor-part-3-managing-your-preferences Third, click on the Join button on the club homepage. 2. Do I have to pay to play? US Chess Club events are free to chess.com members that have current US Chess memberships. You do not have to be a premium member or pay for the event, just for your US Chess membership. 3. I "Joined" but I'm not in the club and can't play events. If you clicked Join but didn't fill out the authentication form and add your chess.com username to your US Chess profile, you have to do that process as well. Check your notes and messages. If we don't see a form we will attempt to leave you a note, with a link to the form. If there is a problem with your form, or we can't verify the username link to  your US Chess account, we will message you about it. 4. I filled out the form but I'm not in the club/can't play in events. Check your messages; if there is a problem with your form, we will deny your club request and let you know what you need to do to fix the problem. Make sure you clicked Join on the club homepage. 5. I "Joined" but keep getting denied. Did you fill out the form? If you request access and do not fill out the form within 24 hours of receiving the notification to do it, your request will be denied. If you subsequently request access and the form still hasn't been filled out, you will automatically be denied. 6. I filled out the form, was accepted into the club but was removed. At the end of every month, we check members to see if their US Chess membership is due to expire. We attempt to notify expiring members up to 7 days in advance. If you have not renewed your membership by the 1st of the following month, you will be removed from the club. If you renew your US Chess membership, click Join on the club page and we will verify your status. 7. If I have been removed and renew my US Chess membership, do I need to fill out the form again? No. Just Join the club again and we will check your membership status and accept if you are current. 8. Why have I been banned from the club? If you have requested multiple times to be in the club and have failed to fill out the form, your account will be banned until you fill out the form. Serial account creators will also be unable to join the club. If you feel the need to close your account and open a new one, please don't do so multiple times. 9. I'm not from the United States, can I still join? Yes. The only requirement is that you have a current United State Chess Federation membership which can be purchased by anyone at the US Chess site: https://secure2.uschess.org/webstore/member.php

I played in the “10|0 Swiss Open” tournament on Monday (March 30th, 2026), how often do the results from tournaments get uploaded to US Chess Player database?

So I’m in a dilemma right now; I’m currently in the mid-1700s USCF, but I find that I struggle a lot OTB because it’s hard to convert small positional advantages or just force players around the 1500-1600 rating range out of solid turtling positions in general, and get something where I can actually fight for a win. I was around 1400 USCF at the start of last year and I got up to just over 1800 USCF over the past summer, mostly by overperforming significantly in a few events (mainly dual-rated tournaments with tcs of like 25+5, but definitely a lot of it was still from classical), but I’ve been finding that most of my poor results recently are from drawing 1500 rated players and it’s gotten to the point where I’m feeling like I have no idea how I got my rating in the first place. I suspect part of it might be because of rating deflation in my state (Washington) but I wouldn’t want to blame my own mistakes on something completely different. The thing I struggle the most with is when I’m trying to play for a win and the other (lower rated) player is doing anything to make a draw, so they trade off all of their pieces, lock up the position, maybe play a fianchetto system, etc.; basically, they’re playing old man’s chess albeit maybe slightly more dubiously than an expert or master playing for a draw might be. Whenever I try to fight back against these strategies and play differently, I feel like I’m just confusing myself in the process and making my own position worse. The advice I see from high rated (2000+ OTB) players most commonly is that low rated players will eventually “self-destruct” if you play enough moves, or that the higher rated player can play into a theoretically drawn endgame and then swindle their opponent, but I don’t know how true any of this is in practice and there’s probably a lot more to it. Here’s probably the game that shows my frustration the best (I’m playing Black here and had around a -0.5 advantage the entire time, but it just took FOREVER for my opponent, who was rated just 1291 to make a fatal mistake, as you’ll see from the move count!!). It didn’t help that this Round 1 game was almost 3 hours long and I had already fried my brain by the end… In fact, I’ve even been able to somewhat exploit some of these weaknesses myself against higher rated players in other tournaments, like here, where a simple Slav opening eventually led completely nowhere and ended in a 20-move agreed draw despite a 200-point rating gap: One issue I’ve considered is with my openings, given that I also play d4 as White, which is naturally a positional opening and requires more patience and carefulness, but I almost never play the more aggressive variations such as the Catalan or the Queen’s Gambit. Online, pretty much anything solid works for me because I generally handle time pressure better than my opponents and eventually force the position open, or I can just flag them if they play boring chess, but I’ve also been experimenting with e4 and c5 openings again just to see if my tactical abilities might be better; I’m currently hovering on a training account just around 100-150 points lower than my main account ratings, and I’ve been winning significantly more games through pure aggressive play, so I might try to diversify my opening repertoire OTB soon as well, but I dunno how that’ll go. I might also just need to find some way to play more ambitiously in my games rather than having the same playstyle for every opponent. I’m interested to hear what y’all have to say about this; are there any specific changes that I should experiment with in my training, mindset, etc., or any misconceptions I have? I’d be open to taking a look at new resources or books, and any advice would be welcome no matter the rating level. I can definitely provide more games from OTB that I have if it will help narrow things down and give more context.

@Martin_Stahl - does USCF restrict rated play to this club, or can I run an event that's USCF online rated for members of my OTB/IRL club? I know everyone's Ids and I'm a Local TD so is it just a matter of collecting the results and submitting them? Don't want to step on toes if this is something only this group is permitted to do. Thanks!!

Are pre moves for USchess tournaments disabled? Mine don't work. And when down on time it's really hard to move. 

I was just curious if someone's chess.com account gets banned for fair play violations who has played USCF online games, how is it handled on the USCF side?

It took me 4 years to get to this level 2000 FIDE, (quite a while) and I’m here to give some advice. Many people in this club are stuck in the 1000-1500 range, maybe even lower. I was stuck at the 1500 range for quite a while. Yeah, yeah I was 8 and didn’t study at all but I soon started to realize I was falling behind a bit. As an ambitious girl, I noticed the fellow players at my chess club were passing me and that I fell from #2 on top 100 girls list to like #6 (It might not sound like a lot but there were few girls my age playing.) I was really upset. So, to break through, I worked on a lot of chess tactical puzzles as at 1500, I was messing up a lot of calculation skills. You can’t be perfect at this. Work on puzzles that challenge your brain and make you think for several minutes! If you screw up, go back and review the puzzle you messed up, and why. Sometimes you could need a better board vision at lower levels. Try puzzle rushes and board training exercises. There are many higher rated folks (1700+ uscf) who’s opponents won’t just blunder like that! You need an opening where you know a good positional plan to create weak spots for them. A lot of 1700s will just baby their weakness for the rest of the game. Then, you guys, you need to put your pieces on active squares to challenge the opponent. Especially if you're a dynamic player, you need an opening that allows your pieces freedom. As basic as 1. e4 could get you this. By now, you might be wondering how you can find out what kind of player you are, and that is by looking at your games. Try to recall how you think, and decide if you prefer solid or dynamic positions. A solid one could be like the Queen’s Gambit Declined and a dynamic one could be some piano variations after 1.e4, and even the Evan’s Gambit. Try figuring that out and then you can find good chess openings for yourself. You might not win in the middlegame and end up in an endgame. You should look at endgame lessons and courses and watch some videos to gain basic knowledge on the endgame. Try out some courses for sure!Summary: All players should look at their games to figure out their weaknesses, what kind of player they are, and even if their opening is what’s holding them back. All players should learn endgames, ideally the higher you are, the more you need to know about endgames because they will be more common at higher levels. Lower rated players should do tactics, board vision training and endings, while highers should focus on tactical studies, positional play (can be learned with courses and videos on positional play) endgames, a bit of openings and a bit of board vision training. All players should look at other player’s games (like masters to GMs) to learn about positional and attacking play depending on the kind of game.The checks, captures and forcing moves is a good thinking process for tactical situations, what’s my plan and opponent’s plan, does my opponent have threats, who has a better pawn structure, who’s king is safer, who’s pieces are more active, where are the weak and strong points and who has more of them.Before making a move: Does my move blunder anything obvious, am I satisfied with my move or could I do something better? Now, should I leave you to your own, so you can try these studying methods before your next tournament, and so I can work on them too!

I've played a few USCF rated tournaments, however I'm not seeing anything on my USCF account. Im sure I connected everything, but no changes. Why is this?

Hi, Is there a chance U1001 tournaments could become part of the schedule?  I no longer play the U1450 tournaments because I'm typically the lowest rated one by at least 400 points.

If you're in the DC Metro Area, I'm organizing a free weekly Swiss tournament in Alexandria, Va. Time control is G/60 d10 with weekly rounds on Wednesday at 7pm. Accessible via King St. - Old Town Metro (Blue/Yellow Lines). You can register/learn more by clicking the link below. Thanks! https://chessnut.club/e/mvp-chess-weekly-swiss-march-2026

Where do i find the FIDE rated games on chess.com

hi everyone       can you please tell me if all the tournaments in the members only club  including the 10 min blitz swiss on feb 2 is uscf online rated or not      thank you

Hello, I wish to join this team with another account to avoid people prepping against me. Am I allowed to do this? This account has some cool prep on it that if anyone were to dig around they'd find it and I don't want that happening. I want to know if the application form will be accepted or not. Also I'm thinking of changing the username of the alt after I join the club... will it affect how the games are rated?

Hello, when playing in these USCF tournaments, how fast are they updated onto your USCF profile?  Thank You.