Joining USCF

Drink the kool-aid!

Yup, tournaments are expensive. The few I've gone to have cost me around $500-$800/event because I have to travel a few hours, pay hotel costs and of course the related travel expenses like gas, meals, plus entry fee (which is usually $100-$250 depending on how big the event is).

That is one of the bonuses to living closer to a big cities, cheaper to play in tournaments, more local options, more likely have local chess clubs to play rated players and the likes.

How many rounds would the tournament be that your speaking of? If its 5+ rounds I'd consider that a pretty good deal, even without a good prize fund.

I still wouldn't. Besides, the hard copy of the mag might not be available much longer, anyway. I'm not that much into chess, though.

While I like my hard copy of Chess Life magazines it wouldn't be the end of the world for me if they went away. Really, the magazines are a bonus to me as it isn't much extra to get the magazines hard cover over getting them online. The real value of the membership is being part of the main chess organization in the United States, supporting it with my (one time) fee, and being able to participate in tournaments in the United States as I wish for the rest of my life (with the exception that I might have to buy a membership from the state chess assosciation depending on specific tournament requirements). Seems reasonable to me value wise, just coming up with the $1,500 at once is not so easy (for me). I'll at least look into buying a multi year membership if I'm not able to come up with the Life membership funds. 

And yes, how much you enjoy chess and plan to participate in tournaments would greatly factor into that decision; I enjoy it and play it a lot.

EDIT: I see Budboomer. Yeah that is the problem I have right now, the tournaments around here are usually considered major events which cost a lot. Hopefully in the next five years or so I'll be located in a more chess friendly area that'll allow me to participate in tournaments more easily and cheaply.

In our area all rated tournaments that I've been to require both USCF and state membership.  No doubt this is due to the fact that all the tournament organizers around here are officers of the state organization.  But state membership is cheap so nobody complains too loudly.  Tournaments sponsored by the USCF happen around here maybe once a decade, if that. 

Some clubs hold unrated tournaments that do not require any memberships, and they are usually either free or just a few dollars to play in.

IMHO the biggest benefits of USCF membership is that it allows you to play in tournaments and it supports chess in the U.S.   I scan the magazine but I find the columns and articles on chess.com to be a lot more timely and interesting.  The magazine was probably more important before the internet, because back then it was the primary means to communicate with chess players in the U.S.

Life membership is a good deal if you are young and wish to play in tournaments/support U.S. chess, and you are certain that you will feel that way for the rest of your life.  But many people only play in tournaments for a few years and then lose interest.  So my recomendation is to wait a few years until you are sure your interest in chess is likely to be lifelong.

I wouldn't, because I don't have a whole lot of confidence the uscf will be around forevor. They have had financial issues, scandals, lawsuits, who knows if something will replace them someday. I just do the 3 year, don't trust them beyond that window.

USCF bites.

Fee:  As a returning senior citizen, a lifetime membership is not cost-effective compared to $40/year.  I'd have to live to be well over 100 to recoup that $1500.  If you're younger, the lifetime fee is usually out of pocketbook range so few can avail themselves of the "offer."

Magazine:  I much prefer a physical copy of any chess literature.  I own a computer, a laptop, a Kindle, and I usually work on games on-screen or on-board.  Unless you have a setup with two monitors, it is very unhandy to try to follow a digital game analysis flipping back and forth between text and screen or board, and I don't have space to put my chess board in front or to the side of my monitor where the magazine/book rests nicely.  I'm sure postal costs will hurt magazine costs and raise membership rates or force a digital solution.  I purchased one chess book for the Kindle and found it very awkward to use in that format.

As a recent returnee, I am outside of the USCF gossip threads.  They do provide a valuable function in maintaining rating lists for tournament pairings, and the magazine is a valuable perk.  Outside of those two things, I wouldn't bother, but it does provide for rated tournament play and a national baseline for strength comparisons.

Tournaments: I live in a rural area in which there are only a few small tournaments a year with mostly the same players.  Travel to big city tournaments is cost-prohibitive for a retiree when factoring in lodging and travel expenses, plus large entry fees to pay the top prizes which are no possibility for me.  So I avoid big city tournaments because I don't wish to (and can't) fund "name" players to appear whom I will never meet or play. 

Online play such as chess.com, ICC and others provides ample challenge for those of us who cannot afford tournament play.

I think senior citizens (age 65+) are half the cost, so $750 for a Life membership. While probably still not cost effective (unless they raise their rates significantly) it isn't as absurd as $1,500.

@Ubik42

Well that is just heresay and possible outcomes that anyone could guess at. But I'd wager they'll be around for the course of my life time or close to it. We'll always have a chess federation in the United States being as large a country as we are and I would be very surprised if the USCF completely went under (I wouldn't be surprised if they charged higher fees though!).

I wouldn't think you would have to fund prize money outside your rating range.

Ideal solution: Pay half price, don't tell them when you die.

The lower end of the rating range usually helps fund the higher end as titled players don't have to pay entry fees (unless they win a prize, which then comes out of it), and the majority of the chess players are the lower end of the rating range. They help compensate the lower end of the rating range by giving them pretty good prizes too. Honestly I'd rather they lower the lower end prizes and then also lower the entry fees, but I'm sure after many years they have done their research and found the best way to attract players to their tournaments. We all know why the World Open is one of the most populated tournaments in the US (major prizes for all sections)! :)

I see your point.

One form of savings that isn't mentioned is the life and yearly member costs will go up over time. There isn't really a way to know just how much it might save you, other than a calculable minimun using currect rates...

$1500 for a lifetime USCF membership? I don't think so, unless money is no problem and you plan on playing in USCF tnmts the rest of your life (which is very hard to predict in advance, trust me on this one)

Chess Life is basically a beginners mag, and not likely to improve in the near future, so for $1500 I'd invest the $ in Chess Informants and/or NIC, various chess books, chess software etc.

BTW I'm a lifetime member, I spent $600 on it (I could've gotten it for $200 yrs earlier) and I don't even bother getting CL anymore, it's pretty meaningless to me but that's just my crabby and wretched opinion. I suppose I "wasted" the $600 but at least it went to USCF and not some scumbag corportation...(what a great attitude huh?)

i had a bad first turnament and quit for a while can i rejoin and make a second membership my old one is rated 300 but ive gotten a lot stronger playing online and i dont want to come back with such an embrassing low elo

You'll keep your original ID and rating. The motto is once rated, always rated .

If you manage to get a new ID, the office staff will merge them once find out and re-rate new events using the old rating.