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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Martin_Stahl
Martin_Stahl
Moderator
Aug 20, 2018
0
#1

Membership

 

1. How can I play in club events, join the club, etc?

2. Do I have to pay to play?

  • US Chess Club events are free to chess.com members that have current US Chess memberships. You do not have to be a premium member or pay for the event, just for your US Chess membership.

3. I "Joined" but I'm not in the club and can't play events.

  • If you clicked Join but didn't fill out the authentication form and add your chess.com username to your US Chess profile, you have to do that process as well.
  • Check your notes and messages. If we don't see a form we will attempt to leave you a note, with a link to the form. If there is a problem with your form, or we can't verify the username link to  your US Chess account, we will message you about it.

4. I filled out the form but I'm not in the club/can't play in events.

  • Check your messages; if there is a problem with your form, we will deny your club request and let you know what you need to do to fix the problem.
  • Make sure you clicked Join on the club homepage.

5. I "Joined" but keep getting denied.

  • Did you fill out the form? If you request access and do not fill out the form within 24 hours of receiving the notification to do it, your request will be denied. If you subsequently request access and the form still hasn't been filled out, you will automatically be denied.

6. I filled out the form, was accepted into the club but was removed.

  • At the end of every month, we check members to see if their US Chess membership is due to expire. We attempt to notify expiring members up to 7 days in advance. If you have not renewed your membership by the 1st of the following month, you will be removed from the club.
  • If you renew your US Chess membership, click Join on the club page and we will verify your status.

7. If I have been removed and renew my US Chess membership, do I need to fill out the form again?

  • No. Just Join the club again and we will check your membership status and accept if you are current.

8. Why have I been banned from the club?

  • If you have requested multiple times to be in the club and have failed to fill out the form, your account will be banned until you fill out the form.
  • Serial account creators will also be unable to join the club. If you feel the need to close your account and open a new one, please don't do so multiple times.

9. I'm not from the United States, can I still join?

Martin_Stahl
Martin_Stahl
Moderator
Aug 20, 2018
0
#2

Events

1. When are the events held?

2. I just played in a club event. Why isn't it rated yet?

  • Event submission is not automated. We have to manually modify the crosstables and send them to US Chess to be rated.
  • After we send in the crosstable, US Chess staff have to manually release the events to be rated.
  • There are a number of factors that can impact how quickly events get submitted (admin schedules, checking games, US Chess staff schedules).
  • We try to get events submitted within a week of event completion and normally do 3-5 events in a batch.
  • Events are normally rated one to two hours after the US Chess staff have released them for rating.

3. Can we have an event of X time control?

  • At the current time (updated July 2020), the number of events and the time controls are set. It is possible, with popular request, there could be changes, though we have had the Mon-Friday schedule since shortly after their creation.
  • US Chess has the fastest time control of G/3+2. We have no plans to offer slower then G/30

4. Can we have more events?

  • At the current time (updated July 2020), there are no plans on additional events. Overall participation in existing events will be the biggest driver to the possibility of additional events.

5. Can we move X event to a different time? Can we have an event on X day?

  • No event time or day will be perfect for everyone. We have tried to give a good mix of days and times to be available to a lot of members but feel free to make suggestions; more input will let us know what might be plausible.

6. Do the events use my US Chess rating for pairings?

  • No. Chess.com ratings are used for all pairings.

7. Can I get titles from playing club events?

  • No. Titles can only be earned from Over-The-Board (OTB), Regular Rated play (G/30+ rated play).

8. I just saw the event in the tournament list, filled out the form and joined the club. Can you approve me? / I tried joining an event but it won't let me in. 

  • You must be a member of the club to play in events.
  • Please see the membership information in the FAQ but due to the manual processes involved, unless you had previously been authenticated, we will be unable to approve you. Also, if you have been authenticated previously, we may not see the request and be able to verify the form and current membership status prior to the event start.

9. I'm in Live but the event has started. Can I still join?

  • Yes. As of December 2018, Late Join is available.
  • There are only a number of slots equal to one-third of the initial players, so if there are enough late joins the option will no longer be available for that event.

10. Where can I see past events?

Ratings

1. Does X event impact my real rating?

  • The club scheduled events will only impact your US Chess Online Blitz (G/3+2 through G/10), US Chess Online Quick (G/11 through G/29), US Chess Online Regular (G/30+) ratings. Your Over-The-Board (OTB) ratings are not changed.
  • Of course, your chess.com ratings also are changed.

2. What time controls are blitz/quick?

  • To find out which rating an event impacts, you take the base time control and add it to the increment (if any) and that number will tell you which category if falls into. For 5-10, it is Online Blitz rated. For 11-29, it is Online Quick.
  • The event name will also let you know which rating is impacted. Blitz for Online Blitz and Rapid for Online Quick.
  • Note: Chess.com changed 10|0 to rapid in September of 2020. 10|0 will show as rapid in Live for the automatically scheduled events but will be rated as blitz when submitted to US Chess.

3. I got disconnected and lost my game but didn't make any moves. Will I lose rating points?

  • There must be at least one move by each player for a game to be rated under the US Chess rating system. If either side has made zero moves, the game is coded as a forfeit win/loss and will not change your rating.
  • Chess.com ratings will be changed on forfeits.

4. If I withdraw from an event, will my games still get rated?

  • Yes. All games played will get rated.

5. How do I see my US Chess Online Blitz/Quick rating?

  • Use the following link to look up your member record: http://www.uschess.org/datapage/player-search.php
  • The General tab will list your current published ratings.
  • The Rtg. Supp. tab will list all your published ratings. 
  • The Tmnt. Hist tab will list all rated events, including unpublished ratings.
Martin_Stahl
Martin_Stahl
Moderator
Aug 20, 2018
0
#3

Miscellaneous

 

1. How do I join a tournament?

  • All club events are held in the Live section of the site: https://www.chess.com/live
  • On the website, you can access the events through the following method:
  • Go to Live playhand.png:
  • null
  • Go to the tournaments.png Tournaments tab, find the tournament in the list, and click it: listed as *** US Chess (M-F events) or just US Chess (Saturday events) and US Chess Blitz/Rapid U1450 for under sections
  • null
  • Click Join
  • null

2. My opponent cheated. What do I do?

3. Can we have US Chess correspondence rated games?

  • No. The club can only host Online Blitz, Online Quick, and Online Regular rated games/tourneys.
  • Some US Chess sanctioned correspondence events can play their games on the site, but that is up to the tournament organizer and players involved.
  • For a partial discussion about this see:  https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/correspondence-chess

4. I'm a US Chess Certified Tournament Director. Can I run rated events on Chess.com?

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