USCF membership
Year Members 1940 -- 1,000 (approx) 1955 -- 2,408 1960 -- 4,579 1965 -- 8,625 1970 -- 22,623 1975 -- 51,842 1980 -- 47,800 1985 -- 54,599 1990 -- 52,898 1995 -- 81,808 2000 -- 85,396 2005 -- 82,846 2010 -- 76,812 2012 -- 77,254
Above taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Chess_Federation
Does anyone have an idea of USCF membership by year (going back as many years as possible)?
I have heard in the past that the USCF had its heyday during the Fisher boom years. However, I cannot imagine that there were even a fraction of scholastic players back then compared to today. The number of young players has boomed. There are also far more US citizens today than in the 1960s and 1970s.