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No Mention of Martin As you see in the snip of the latest online tourney i played at, it says that Danny Rensch is the cheif td of the tourney even though he doesnt do anything. @Martin_stahl runs, oversees, and publishes the tournies but he gets NO credit, not even a assistant td position #GIVEMARTINCREDIT

Hi, I played a U1400 tournament for the first time on Dec 23, 2023 and I ranked 2nd. But I don't see the rating published on uscf website. I thought it was a rated tournament but it was my first time so maybe I am misunderstanding something. Any guidance on when the ratings get published on uscf and also which tournaments here are rated here, will be helpful. Thank you.

How is this possible? Not only that, this one player has played several of these mysterious tournaments and has gained rating all the way from 1600 - 2000!

I played the black side of the Scotch Gambit in a game earlier today, and my opponent fell for this trap; not sure if there's an official name for this trap. If any of you know, pray tell :-)

This question arises from a casual blitz game I played with someone I know a few months ago. I don't remember the position, so this is just a random example: (Again, not the actual position) Let's say I was black here, and it's my move. Seeing as I was in a hopeless position, I went for a cheap trick here– Kg4, to hope he hangs his king. My opponent, who was completely focused on the other side of the board, does not move his king, and plays a move on the queenside. I take his king and claim a win. He says this is not allowed, since it's illegal to take a king with a king (at least I think that's what he said). My opponent is a more experienced and higher-level TD than I am, so I believed them, but I just want to clarify. Again, it was just casual, but assuming we were playing by USCF blitz rules, what would be the ruling here? If taking the king is not allowed there, am I supposed to claim that they made an illegal move without taking the king? Or am I even able to claim a win there? Thanks in advance!

I participated in a few rounds of my first uschess members only tournament on Dec 1 but still do not see a change in the changes in my online rating on USchess nor do I see it listed as a tournament in my tournament history. Any ideas?

Hi, I recently played in a OTB blitz event, with the time control G/5 w. D/0. A disputable scenario occurred: White has 5 seconds and is down a queen. They are trying to push their pawn to promote. Black is up a queen. Black has no more time to focus on moving. Mutual illegal moves occur. Position passes and black flags first. White calls the flag. Black claims that both sides made an illegal move. White claims that the position had already passed, thus nullifying the illegal moves. The TD’s ruling is that the game is indeed a draw due to the illegal moves, despite the fact that 1. Both players were able to show the TD the exact position, it was not a mess. 2. Both players agreed that the illegal move sequence had passed. The TD seemed unsure of themselves when making the ruling. I decided not to pursue my claim because the situation was so silly to begin with, and I was the dirty flagger guy . So, no big deal. But for the future, I was hoping I could receive a clearer explanation. Was the TD’s ruling justified? Your verdict? Thanks!

note: there may be some other variations, these are just what I saw :>sorry

Just came across it in a game and I was curious if it had an official name (like Damiano's mate, or Anastasia's mate).

Thank you!

Why is this a good thing??I see people like this and they are constantly stuck on their floors. A huge list of tourneys where its 1500 >> 1500, 1500 >> 1500, 1500 >> 1500, 1500 >> 1500, , etc, for eternity. Seems very strange... What was the original point of this? Is it really still valid? Seems like negatives outweigh the positives but I am maybe missing something?

see if you can solve this puzzle

I've plateaued at 1800 for about half a year now, longest I've been stuck at a rating level. I'm working on tactics and endgames mostly, outside of playing actual games. Any thoughts on how to break past it, or will it just take a lot more time as the rating ladder goes up? Thanks

im bored hope you like it :> there are two different variations btw

I'm trying something sorta new. Instead of puzzles that go for stalemate or just generic puzzles, I've come up with something I hope is enjoyable :> Your goal is to find who is winning in the position; black, white, or is it going to be a draw in the end? Answers are at the bottom of the positions if you want to see if you are correct or not : ) WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE BLACK TO MOVE NOTE: THE ENEMY SIDE WILL DO THE HIGHEST MOVE THAT THE ENGINE SUGGESTS Answers: White, Black, Even, White, White

Hope you like them :>

These puzzles have a bit of a twist though because your goal is to stalemate (it is the best case scenario if the opponent does best moves. I wasn't planning on continuing to make these but I have underestimated the boringness of physics and french class... anyways enjoy! I hope you like them as much as I had fun making them (also tell me if you didn't like some of them!)

I made a big oversight last puzzle, so I'm trying to redeem myself :> There are two puzzles for two different variations Hopefully you enjoy them :] I feel like they are like ~1100 ELO to spot

i did some of these before and decided i would do another one for fun :> puzzle took me like 20 mins to 'build' i guess ?