USCF vs. Chess.com

Hello.  I've been playing on chess.com for a few months, and I finally feel confident that I am able to maintain +- 50 from 1200 in blitz matches.  So, my question is, if I were to go to a USCF chess tournament, what would my rating be?  Are the time setups different there?  If so, are there blitz style games?  Should I play a lot more on chess.com before I waste my time playing in a below-1200 tourney? Thanks for the help!

How does finding a tournament and entering work?

I think it is impossible to compare your online rating to actual tournament ratings. there are too many factors involved. As an example, on websites I'm usually averaging around 1500. But when I go to tournaments I get killed even by 1100's.

For me, the main reason is the clock....I always run out of time in tournaments even with a winning position. Hitting that darn clock is harder than I imagined!!!!!

g/29 or less is your quick rating.

One thing to consider is that most of the people who show up at USCF Tournaments are highly motivated. They have likely prepared a repertoire and probably are taking lessons from a stronger player. Most likely, you will find yourself struggling vs a 1200. It depends though on a lot of variables and really ratings don't translate at all.

So, if chess.com blitz is substantially inflated, then how good would one want to be on chess.com before its even worth going to a real tournament?

atillazehun,

uscf senior TD here.

last I checked, you must have completed 25 provisional games to be considered an 'established' player.

your provisional period of rating games will, as schachgeek said, vary significantly - in that if you for instance, win the first four games, that will raise your initial 'provisional' rating well above your opponent's ratings.  

if you are playing at 1200 to 1500 on chess.com in turn based games, then likely your USCF rating will be approximately 700 to 1200 after 20 to 30 games.   However, you will gain experience, get over the 'first rated game' nervousness and 'jitters'. and in general become more comfortable with the slow time controls, and know more about what to expect.

     do not get discouraged about having your initial event go badly, many players do.   get over it, learn from each game, make new friends, find your 'niche', and study endings daily to steadily improve.

    I have had some experience guiding young players to tournaments, and if you approach your tournaments with the attitude that you are going to learn, no matter what the board results, then you will grow rapidly in skill, knowledge, and experience.

chess coach

Only playing blitz on here is foolish.  You cant learn that much from playing blitz.  Blitz is for fun, turn-based is to help with learning.   

But, that said, its the turn-based ratings that are a little inflated, not blitz.  Blitz ratings on here tend to be lower then USCF ratings.  

Thanks everyone.  I'll probably spend some time playing some slower games now. I was playing mostly blitz (largely because I have no patience), but it seems that general play is much slower than that.  Also, I'll wait to be a bit better (1400+ on chess.com) before I give a tournament my money.

Atillazehun, you dont necessarily need to spend all day or all weekend at some huge tournament that costs a lot of money to enter.  Go on the USCF website and check out if there is a chess club near you that plays games on a convenient schedule.  Many chess clubs offer BOTH a weekend tournament (that often draws non-members too) AND one rated game one night a week that is more for club members.  Usually the one game a week thing is called a tournament too (4 or more games over the course of a month+) and there is an entry fee, but there is a different feel to it.  The time control is slower (might be a shock) and people hang out before and after games, go over games to learn after, play blitz for fun, its a social + learning thing.  You will learn much faster doing that.