Is the tourney an "Open" tourney rated by USCF ?
Obtaining a USCF Rating
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You seem to have been unlucky in that you've chosen a tournament that doesn't allow unrated players. Some tournaments allow/have a section for unrated players, keep looking.
Ratings are over-rated.
Reb wrote:
Is the tourney an "Open" tourney rated by USCF ?
Yes.
Prawneatsprawn: Yeah, hopefully I can find one that will let me play. I wish there was a club near me :(
Apr 11, 2011
0
#6
This sounds 100% bogus. I am a TD and your suggestion was perfectly OK for any tournament opened to the general US Chess Federation membership. Non-rated people may have maximum prize limits (to avoid problems with immigrants who just happen to be GMs or some such) but basically, that advice was bogus and if you are a USCF member, you may want to file an e-mail complaint/question with them. They respond fairly quickly in my experience.
The tournament is a competition between two states (state players vs state players) and I was told that since I don't even have a provisional rating that the person I contacted (I guess he is my state's main contact person) wouldn't know where to put me. He said it wouldn't be fair if I was really good and I played against the other state's bad players and whatnot.
I'll just have to wait until their is a tournament I can play in.
http://main.uschess.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=199Link
It's the 9th Annual Red River Shootout.
Apr 11, 2011
0
#10
BlueMagikarp wrote:
The tournament is a competition between two states (state players vs state players) and I was told that since I don't even have a provisional rating that the person I contacted (I guess he is my state's main contact person) wouldn't know where to put me. He said it wouldn't be fair if I was really good and I played against the other state's bad players and whatnot.
I'll just have to wait until their is a tournament I can play in.
Oh, is it the Red River Shootout? The tournament details specifically state that you have to have a rating, though provisional is fine.
How far is Oklahoma City from you? There is a 3 round swiss tournament there on the 7th of May.
Oh, ok. That makes sense. I'm new to thiss stuff and it wasn't very clear. Thank you for clearing that up. 
It is only two and a half hours north of me. I can make that. What is a swiss tournament? I can play even if I am a new USCF member who has never played?
Apr 11, 2011
0
#12
Swiss is the pairing system used and it should be fine that you are unrated.
There are a couple of groups running tournaments in OK that I know of. The ones in that part of the state are usually sponsored/ran by the Oklahoma Chess Federation. There is a link there to their calendar and contact information for the TDs for each event.
I haven't played in any of their events yet, as that is a bit far for me to drive. I play in some of the Oklahoma Chess Association (they are the State Affiliate for the USCF) events, but most of those are in the Tulsa area.
Oh, ok. I found the calender and I emailed the TD for the May 7th tournament.
Thanks for the help! I never would have thought about looking up the OCF.
When the TD emails me back, I'll post on here what he says.
Oh, yeah. One more question. Are the OCF tournaments USCF rated?
Yes, the OCF tourneys are USCF rated. I'm looking at the big one in May, billed as the North American Open. It's 11 rounds in 4 days! (ouch) The NAO is both USCF and FIDE rated by the way.
About the RRSO, that's a OK vs TX match so maybe there are extra rules not found in normal tournaments about unrated players? What I mean is maybe they have to match you based on rating like a club vs club tournament where 1400s play 1400s, etc etc.
Normally though, yes, unrated players are allowed to participate. It may be that they're not really outright saying you can't, but they can't guarentee a slot for you. For example you're in OK, so they might need a TX unrated player to register too.
Wow! Eleven rounds is a lot of chess. Lol.
Apr 11, 2011
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#16
Eleven rounds is brutal. I have played in US Opens (1988, 2001) and that is way too much chess excitement for me. I felt exhausted and completely fried.
DrSpudnik wrote:
Eleven rounds is brutal. I have played in US Opens (1988, 2001) and that is way too much chess excitement for me. I felt exhausted and completely fried.
That's how I feel about half way through. By the end I'm usually proud I survived at all Sitting down for the 1st round of day 3 I'm thinking "I love chess... I hate chess" lol
BTW I don't take any byes.
I found out about a tournament near me and I contacted the director about participating. I am not a USCF member and I have never participated in a tournament before. I asked him if I could register as a member of the USCF on the USCF website and then be able to play, and he said since I don't have a rating (not even a provisional rating) I can't play. If you already have to have a rating to play in tournaments, how does someone who doesn't have a rating get into tournaments? Thanks.