OTB Rating

Hello, hi, hey.. how are ya?

I just got an USCF chess membership and started playing OTB games. The problem is i live in a small city. As of now I can play 1 rated game a week. I believe, you have to play 25 rated games to get an actual rating. How can I pick up the pace?

Thanks,

Travel to other tourneys. But as soon as your games get submitted you will get a rating. It will be provisional until your 26th game is rated. All that really means is that the formula used to rate your games is slightly different before then.

25 games of provisional rating?in SA you are provisionally rated for 10 games...game 11 is established as far as I know

yeah it is 25 games here I believe 

I actually think that makes more sense...10 games is not a lot☺

You could totally become a tournament director and run even more events in your city (assuming you have enough enthusiastic players. If you don't, begin advertising and spreading the word!). That is pretty much what I do. I direct tournaments in Waco, TX even though I am one of the best players down there!

How do you do that?

Is tournaments the only way to increase your rating... you cant just play rated games against rated players?

Not knowing what part of Iowa you are in, your best bet is to travel to weekend tournaments within 4 hours, whether that be Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison (us open is there in 2018), Minneapolis, St, Louis, etc.  I live in Charlotte, and while I play in Charlotte, I also frequent Raleigh/Durham, Columbia, Atlanta, Charlottesville, etc.

Can a tournament director play in his own events?

Yes! There could be some exceptions (for major events with huge prizes on steak), but if you are directing a smaller local tournament, the TD is welcome and encouraged to play! 

It may be a slight handicap to the playing TD, though if the tournament is small enough and the players are well behaved, it shouldn't be a problem. 

http://the80-20td.com/tdcertification.html you would probably start out as a club TD, in which all you would do is read the rulebook and apply. No exam or anything necessary.

There can be rated matches, however, a TD needs to monitor/rate the games. And there are restrictions on it (all covered in the rulebook).

Good luck on your journey!

A tournament director is allowed to play in his own events.  For local club events of 50 players or less, the sole director can also play, though he must be aware that if another player needs a director ruling, he will have to move away from his board and stop the clock.

For events of 51 players or more, you can have one or more directors playing, but there must be at minimum one director that is not playing and actively directing the tournament.  When you get over 100 players, while there is no written rule, you probably want to have additional non-playing directors.  At that point, the actively playing ones would probably only be involved in rulings in the event of an emergency.

Also, at clubs with under 50 players, if the director is playing, it is probably best to have another player that has at least a club director's license to direct, not that he is a normal director for that event, but in the event of an issue at the director's board, to avoid a conflict of interest, it would be best for another certified club director to step in and rule the complaint or claim.  For example, I am technically a club TD through February of 2019, but I haven't actually directed an event in quite a while.  If I was at an event being ran by an active director, and there was a problem at his or her board, they should reach out for someone like me to rule on that board (unless I'm the director's opponent that round), and the normal director would rule on all other boards.

Thanks for the answers EO and ThrillerFan.  I am considering becoming a TD but not if I couldn't play.  

ummm i can change the otb rating so high. MINE IS FIDE 3000!!!!!!!!!!!

IS IT THAT ALLOWED!??!?!?