USCF

If you 'play' at chess, then no. If you are more serious, then the USCF is a logical step towards stronger players and other opportunities that a national rating can provide. To me, the USCF is kinda like being enrolled in a University. You can test your skills and get tested by other serious players. It may be fun beating your neighbor, but it's also nice to take a tally from someone who doesn't refer to the rook as 'that castle thingy'. Chess.com makes the networking aspect of the USCF obsolete. I would only join the USCF if you are interested in getting a national title or if you are really just keen on tournaments.

I love how the horsey moves!

A couple of conflicting perspectives:

1) On the SD=blitz point: I've worked with a local chessplayer who's interested in building up the local tournament scene in our area, and so far we've held three successful G/30 USCF rated tournaments. The sudden-death control (and it does not feel so sudden with the built-in five-second delay) allows us to run a meaningful five-round tournament in a single afternoon. Since the organizers are certainly not making any money at this, such logistical streamlining is essential. We would not be able to coordinate a successful local tourney were it not for the sudden-death time control. Should we stop?

2) Also, there is the issue of adjournments, which would be essential in an "open-ended" time control. Sending a player to his room to spend the evening in the company of Fritz can't be good for chess either.

3) However, my friend has also organized a couple of successful and unrated blitz tournaments. These have had larger attendance than the G/30s, probably because USCF membership is not required, meaning there is a larger pool of players to draw from.

rwhcj225> Do you think the USCF does a good job of recruiting, training and keeping top ranked  players?

It's rare to hear USCF and good job in the same sentence.

Schachgeek> I don't know anything about the chess demographics or geography of your area but in Northern California, specifically the San Francisco Bay area there isn't much of an active chess scene...

Your bio says you're FIDE 2232, so that may be true for you, but for players <= USCF 2000 this area is full of opportunities. The Mechanics Institute, Kolty, Stanford, Burlingame, and Sun, for example. Public transportation goes by many of these spots, although a four-round tournament often costs $30-$60 all said and done.

Schachgeek> There are two G/30's, two G/60's, a 40/2 SD/1, and a 30/90 SD/60.

These are only the USCF tournaments advertising in the TLAs. Many of the established clubs don't feel a need to do so. Granted, the time controls of the other tournaments are similar so if you're only satisfied with open time controls you'll still be disappointed.

I am a member of USCF.  Had been back in the 1960's & 1970's then took a sabbatical while I raised my family scrimping every penny.  Rejoined in 2001.  I wish HQ had stayed in New York near where there's ongoing activity.  However, that wasn't my call.  I doubt the move to the "great heartland" will be much of an improvement. 

There's a ton of expertise in the organization.  There's, also, a ton of whiners who complain when the membership doesn't like what they have to say.  Many have posted here.  They'd rather complain and make excuses than work to change things.

Is it worth joining even if you're only a casual player?  ABSOLUTELY. And pay the extra couple of bucks to get Chess Life hard copy sent to you every month. That alone is worth the dues.

And, for those who whine about the costs, I dont find three bucks and loose change per month extremely expensive since it includes the magazine.  It's even cheaper if you take a 3 year membership.  So, don't listen to these nay sayers.  Support American Chess and join.

 I am a member of USCF and have been for over 30 years,a life member for about 20 years now and will always play OTB tourn. chess. I know the USCF has it's problems, what organization does'nt? What i do not understand is all the griping about the cost of membership. I work with our local Humane Society and we get people all the time that simply refuse to get their animals Spayed or Neutered saying it cost too much so we now have Millions of dogs and cats put to death in this country every year.What i am getting at here is this people seem to balk at spending what really is a small amount of money for something such as this or for a membership in an organization like USCF but have no problem spending it on cigarettes or alcohol. what is a pack of cigarettes these days $3.75?

I was a member of USCF from 1973-1997, let my membership lapse and havent renewed it since moving to Europe. However, I plan to move back to the US next year and will rejoin the USCF. I was playing back when they still had adjournments and I am glad they are gone ! Howe7ver, I also dont like all the SD time controls which are more for the benefit of the organizers than the players imo but it looks like they are here to stay. The trend in FIDE tournaments here are towards 2 time controls for classic chess: 1. game/90 but with 30 sec increment per move or 2. game/120 . In Portugal there are few classic events as they seem to be in love with rapid events instead which are usually 1 day events with 7 or 8 or 9 round swisses of G/20. I go to buy a chess life magazine here about once a year and it costs about $8. for one issue ! 

Is a five-round, G/30 Swiss likely to produce sublime chess? Not bloody likely. But I want to reiterate that we do it because 1) there's demand for it, in our area at least, and 2) as a group of patzers with day jobs it's the best we can do. Longer controls would be nice, though.

Here's the thing to remember about the USCF--in general, they're not the ones organizing tournaments. I look to the USCF as 1) the keeper of my rating and the certifier of my TD status, 2) the publisher of Chess Life, and 3) the organizer of the US championship cycle. For pretty much everything else, you have to look for the player on the street. Chess is funny in this way.

So we can wail about how poorly the USCF does its job; but in the final analysis OTB chess in America is run almost entirely by volunteer enthusiasts. It is a blessing and a curse.

Schachgeek> all those locations are for me 90 minutes+ each way by car during daylight hours (somewhat less at 3am)

Sun is a small club in Sunnyvale. If you live anywhere between San Francisco and Los Gatos, two or three of these clubs will be <= 30 minutes away. You must live somewhat outside the main San Francisco and Sillicon Valley area.

Schachgeek> Any idea why the other clubs out there don't advertise in TLA? Does it have anything to do with cost vs readership? ... Even so you'd think they would want to increase participation, bring in new faces and... and collect more of those $30-60 entry fees (though I havent seen any that cheap in a while).

You would have to ask a few TDs. Most of the clubs advertise themselves in the USCF Clubs section rather than the USCF TLAs section--check it out, there are many more than I mentioned (probably smaller ones). I imagine for established clubs the $50 cost of a TLA is not so effective, but for newer clubs it should be.

The Cupertino Open (site capacity 32) drew twenty seven $30 entry fees ($900, assuming some late fees) from a $50 TLA. That seems like a reasonable return on investment. Of course, the organizer only takes away a small share of that.

I considered joining the USCF but I couldn't find enough information on activity remotely near my area on their website, and I don't really want to go to a giant event as my first ever OTB tourney. =(

Enimar, start with this page. There are 39 clubs listed in Ohio. Are any nearby?

http://main.uschess.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=198

Just suppose that some time around 1999, some of the USCF leadership had decided to create a web site devoted to playing chess, and filled it with fun features like tactics trainers, turn based play, forums, live blitz...free membership for GMs/IMs...they could have been on the forefront.  

I am a USCF member and I enjoy live tournaments when I have the time - like ozzie cobblepot posted there is no substitute for real tournament play.  But a site like this offers a much better value, especially for a casual player.

I disagree that SD time controls don't benefit the players. If there is more than one round per day, I want to know when the next round is. That's only really possible with a sudden death time control.

Most chess players also have their real lives to live as well. It's nice to be able to fit a whole tournament in to one day. How can I play 3 rounds of chess in one day without a sudden death time control? Even in weekend events, how can I play 2 rounds a day without a sudden death time control. You'll find some non-resigner dragging their game out to 90 moves.

i've checked the list before, I'm nearest to Cincinnati, but the clubs are a pretty good drive away from me, maybe I'll make the trip downtown one day and see if it's worth the investment in time.

I think I'm mainly excited because I just got my house of staunton set delivered and I'd love to break it in against someone who is less of a patzer than I am.

Eniamar> I think I'm mainly excited because I just got my house of staunton set delivered and I'd love to break it in against someone who is less of a patzer than I am.

Hehe. If you visit Cincinatti, be sure to ask if there are any clubs closer to you. Sometimes they just aren't listed. Usually folks bring their cheap plastic sets to chess clubs and tournaments, not good wooden ones. As long as you won't be too upset if your opponent bangs the pieces or has somewhat dirty hands. ;)

Well I used to be a professional casino dealer so I'm pretty well immune to the whole "oh nasty!" bit when people touch stuff before me. I might ask around or try to have my college buddies look as well.

My biggest issue is that I have a lot of free time now, but I'm joining the services and that's going to severely curtail any play I get for the forseeable future.

Thanks for the help though!

I've been a USCF member twice in the past. I really have no interest in being one anymore. Just because there's nothing like an OTB tournament doesn't mean it's the best Chess to play. I like correspondence style. When I got into playing that way here, I thought about joining USCF and playing correspondence there. Their website barely mentions correspondence, and says it is done with postcards (but if you ask they'll set you up with Internet play). Hello? It's the new millenium, why are post cards the primary option? So then I find out about their website, WCL. I can't find on that website confirmation that the correspondence play there is rated, and there are statements implying that only the rapid or faster games are rated. The link I could find to their correspondence FAQ gives a 404 error. If they want my money, they can demonstrate some competence.

United States Cycling Federation? What are we talking about here?

I once looked into maybe joining USCF,so I first decided to find a chess club in Memphis so I could talk to current members to get an idea of what it was all about. Well first off I found out to my dismay that there is only one chess club in Memphis with active USCF members and only one member in it with a 2000+ rating(speaks volumes about the popularity of chess in Memphis). I talked to these people and found out there are almost no tournaments held anywhere very close to Memphis(I'm not interested in a 4-6 hour drive). So I decided against it because I hate to travel long distances. I just cant believe that a city the size of Memphis has almost no chess community whatsoever. I went shopping once for some nice wood chess pieces and found out there is also no store in Memphis that sells chess supplies except for a tobacco store with outrageous prices. I had to order online.(also the chess club i visited was the largest chess club in the city and only had 25 members!). I just come here to play instead.