when do you play for elo/fide rating?

any game in a club is for those rating systems+any tournament game?

also what are the usual times for chess in clubs/tournaments?

thx in advance!

You have to play rated tournaments (most "serious" tournaments are rated).

Casual games are not rated just because they take place in a club. They're just for fun (and gaining OTB experience).

can you show up at a tournament by yourself? or you have to be in a club first?

Not sure about your federation. But in the US, you typically can show up, get your federation membership and then play in the tournament. There is no requirement to belong to any club, just the national federation who handles your rating etc.

You don't have to be in a club to join tournaments. You can just sign up for a tournament (generally via phone or website) and then play. The tournament sites will generally say if the tournament only counts for ELO or also for FIDE rating.

Other than tournaments clubs also play in teams for rating. In belgium they play about once a month on sunday. So if you join some club you can probably join one of their teams to play in that kind of competition. (joining a club is in general a good way to improve if you are new to chess).

that sounds great! but why would they want a beginning player in there chess competition team? woudnt i lower the club's winning%?

It certainly depends on the club's attitude towards weaker players and how much of a beginner you are (I'd say if you still have to learn how the pieces move you shouldn't play in a rated competition :) But team tournaments in chess are first of all organised in leagues / classes, and in every class the boards are matched with the players of the opposing team in rating order. So you will be playing in the lowest class, and the strongest player of your team will play the strongest player of the opposing team, ... and you as a beginner will play on one of the last boards probably against a beginner of the other club.

I used to be reluctant to join a club and play OTB tournament because of my low playing strength, I only played at unrated rapid chess tournaments a few times before (losing most of the time), but someday the club president called and literally persuaded me to join his club as he wanted to build an additional 3rd class team even as I pointed out to him that I'm not a very strong player as he should well know. So here we go :) I'd guess most clubs should have a friendly attitude towards beginners, since how should anyone get better if no one wants to play with them?