www.uschess.org is the US Chess Federation's website.
You pay to become a member, then you can find tournaments to play in, which usually has a fee.
There are tournaments for different levels as well as Open tournaments where anyone can play.
Depending on the tournament or event, the tournament director uses a system based on the ratings of the players to determine who plays who.
There are also chess clubs that have different ways to create pairings depending on the event.
Hope that helps.
Best regards,
Bryan Castro
Some newbie questions:
1.) For people who have official chess ratings, how do you go about finding where to play these games? Is there some official professional chess site that lists these games locations?
2.) How do you go about playing in these official rated matches? Do you have to pay a fee? Do you have to qualify?
3.) Who decides who plays whom in these matches?
Thanks very much!