Yup.
Is the USCF Still Relevant?
Sort:
social reasons, to play rated games at a chess club, to win class prizes at major tournaments
Nope. They still suck.
Don't listen to poison (he's just looking for any excuse he can find to visit Wyoming).
I'll elaborate.
If one is so inclined to get his teeth kicked in by old guys with poor hygeine, one must be a member of USCF.
A chess game needs the serious environment of over-the-board rated competition to reach it's full potential.
Otherwise you might as well skip chess all together and play computer solitaire.
Spoken like a true mushroom... 
Paddestoel wrote:
A chess game needs the serious environment of over-the-board rated competition reach it's full potential.
Otherwise you might as well skip chess all together and play computer solitaire.
This seems to suggest that chess.com doesn't provide rated competition or a serious environment. I was sufficiently impressed with chess.com that I sunk some money into a diamond membership because I found features I couldn't find at USCF unless I spent real money. And in the short time I've played here I've gotten better.
I guess my main argument is that for the money I spend, the USCF doesn't seem like a very good deal. There are very few rated tournaments in my area - and we're talking Virginia Beach, VA. Even if there were, I'd have to pay the USCF membership fee plus the tournament entry fee, so we are talking probably around $100 just for the tournament. If I drive out of the area, now I'm paying for a hotel room. It just doesn't seem like a good bargain when measured dollar for dollar with sites like chess.com.
Even way back when I always felt vaguely ripped off (especially by their smug "we're the only caterer in town" attitude, not to mention their more than occasional lapses of competence)...but now (with all the competition for our dollars floating about) they are truly dinosaurs.
There is a very real intangible aspect to over-the-board chess that cannot be replicated online.
The level of intensity is raised a bar just because it is more uncommon and more expensive than online chess. The harder it is to get there, the more motivated I am to play well. In my opinion, it's worth it. It's more enjoyable, I play better, and I reach a clearer state of chess consciousness.
As for the seriousness of chess.com, if I can do it sitting in my sweat pants watching old episodes of Brisco County Jr., it's probably not very serious.
as a newcomer to online play what stops an oppenant from using their computer when playing you?
Paddestoel wrote:
There is a very real intangible aspect to over-the-board chess that cannot be replicated online.
Maybe for you...but I have no problem with the replication.
Beachdude67 wrote:
I guess my main argument is that for the money I spend, the USCF doesn't seem like a very good deal. There are very few rated tournaments in my area - and we're talking Virginia Beach, VA. Even if there were, I'd have to pay the USCF membership fee plus the tournament entry fee, so we are talking probably around $100 just for the tournament. If I drive out of the area, now I'm paying for a hotel room. It just doesn't seem like a good bargain when measured dollar for dollar with sites like chess.com.
There's a club in Norfolk. When I was working in VA Beach last year, I almost went to it. Ended up gettin' drunk, instead.
It's not helpful or nice either. 
Well I have a nice deal going with the USCF, they sent a monthly magazine to my address as long as I'm a member. I'm still old-fashioned enough to enjoy a paper copy of a magazine, also in the Summer I can use the old copies to swat flies and mosquitoes lol.
Well many of us feel that OTB chess is the only chess that is serious, too many ways to cheat on-line.Yes it costs some money to play but i see people spend way more every day on stupid crap besides when the world gets to the point that we can do everything from your recliner without leaving your house then that is a pretty sad place to be.
online, a "long" game is considered 15 minutes. the USCF considers this "action chess" and it's rated as quick. there is a huge difference between an online 45/12 and a six-hour match otb with someone you can actually see. worlds apart.
Maybe the USCF is still the "non-entity" that Reuben Fine once described it as.
The USCF caters to a niche market...OTB tournament players. Naturally they are not going to be relevant to people outside of this niche, but to those of us who play over the board, they are, as someone nicely put it, 'the only caterer in town'.
It is unfortunate that I have not seen much evidence of the USCF trying to expand their "catering business" by promoting OTB chess awareness in mainstream markets. This is not to say that such efforts are non existent, just that I have not noticed it. For the most part, the burden of promoting the game rests on the shoulders of local club organizers and tournament directors, who have to play politics with the USCF in order to be granted permission to host marquee events.
In the States, the USCF is only as relevant as over the board tournament play, and unfortunately that is a rather small demographic indeed; hardly sufficient to fund our foreign born Grandmasters as they represent us in tournaments overseas. Don't misunderstand me; I admire and respect every GM of any nationality for adopting our flag and raising the standard of play within our borders; but I just think it would be cool to see a rockin' USCF television commercial during halftime at the Super Bowl one day! ;)
I haven't been a member of the USCF for years. The reason why is because I don't see the point of getting a membership and playing OTB tournaments when I can play against good opponents online. I can see how it would be mandatory for titled players to belong to the USCF, but is there really any reason to do so if you are under 1900?