Chess.com Should Recognize USCF Norms-Based Candidate Master title

According to https://support.chess.com/article/661-does-chesscom-offer-benefits-for-elite-or-titled-players, Chess.com recognizes the following titles:

Qualifying Titles
GM - Grandmaster
WGM - Woman Grandmaster
IM - International Master
WIM - Woman International Master
FM - FIDE Master
NM - National Master
CM - FIDE Candidate Master
WFM - Woman FIDE Master
WCM - Woman FIDE Candidate Master

I don't see anything on that list about Chess.com recognizing a norms-based USCF Candidate Master title.  I think it's a bit weird that they denote FIDE Candidate Master (a title requiring a FIDE rating of at least 2200 and arguably stronger than someone with just a NM title) as CM.  I think they should just denote it as FCM.

Anyway, I think Chess.com should recognize people  with norms-based USCF Candidate Master titles as CMs on here.  In fact, I personally think that in order to get recognized as a CM on here, the following criteria have to be met:

[1] Have a norms-based USCF Candidate Master title

[2] Currently have a USCF rating of at least 2000.

[3] Have a USCF rating floor of 2000 (meaning that the person can never go below 2000 USCF no matter what happens)

[4] Don't already have a NM/FM  title (which is recognized on here).

I can argue that not too many people (outside of people with master-level titles who dropped below 2200 USCF) have achieved the first three requirements.  Personally, I meet all of the four requirements.

If anyone on the Chess.com staff sees this post, feel free to let me know what you think of this.

Thanks.

I seriously doubt they'll add that. 

Nobody recognizes that. They won't do that. 

Out of curiosity, how does one get a USCF rating floor of 2000, especially without meeting either criteria [1] or [4]? ([2] seems redundant)

To get a USCF rating floor of 2000 without cracking 2200 USCF, one has to win a substantial cash prize in a U2000 section in a USCF-rated tourney (I think it was at least $1000 at the time that I got it (2005)).  If you want more information, you can always check out this thread: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/tournaments/can-uscf-rating-floors-be-obtained-by-winning-certain-tournaments.

I agree with you. Most USCF CMs are as strong as the average NM or FIDE CM. 

That's nice to hear.  Also, I think it's interesting how a decent portion of people with recognizable FIDE "Candidate Master" titles (typically achieved through obtaining 2200+ FIDE at some point) have current FIDE ratings below 2000 based on this upcoming month.

I don't agree. If you're 1950 strength, i.e. strong enough to occasionally pop up to 2000, and you play very often, say one tournament every other weekend over a period of five or ten years, you should be able to get USCF CM pretty easily just through the occasional outlier norm results and through hitting 2k on your upswings. That doesn't mean you're any stronger than 1950.

I am a USCF CM myself and I do not think my "title" should be given more esteem than it currently has (the only place that I can think of which recognizes it is Chessable). I don't consider myself a titled player at all; I'm not even sure that will be the case if/when I make NM, but it's certainly not the case now. 

By this point it seems the biggest chess sites on the internet have more or less set a precedent that USCF NM is considered a title and USCF CM isn't. I think we should count our blessings that places like this even recognize USCF NM to begin with (because a lot of people in Europe would argue that only FIDE matters) and not push it. 

In response to the first paragraph, the example of a player only occasionally popping up to 2000 USCF is the main point of why criteria #3 ([3] Have a USCF rating floor of 2000 (meaning that the person can never go below 2000 USCF no matter what happens)) has to be met for proposed CM title on here.  It shows that the person has dominated players in an U2000 section at some point and have proven themselves.

In response to your third paragraph, I agree with the fact that the biggest chess sites (in general) see USCF NM as a recognized title and USCF CM isn't and the fact that a lot of people outside of the United States would probably say that only recognized FIDE titles matter.  Although, I would have to say that there are a decent handful of people with recognized FIDE titles (such as CM and WCM) and their actual FIDE ratings fall well below the cut-off to get those titles in the first place.

If chess.com did this they would have to do it for every CM-like title in every national federation, which would be a pain.  Then, you'd have people claiming that Class A players should be free because they're almost as good as CMs and so on.

Frankly, I think USCF NMs (and other non-FIDE titled players) are lucky to get the free benefits of FIDE titled players.

I also think OP failed to accurately respond to the post by @dpnorman.  He was saying that a 1950 player can get the 2000 rating floor by winning one large money tournament (criteria 3) and the norms by a few outlier results after playing for a long time (criteria 1).  I see no reason why he is incorrect.

In response to the first paragraph, I see what you are saying and, after thinking about it, I can see how it can be a big pain for them to do my proposition for every CM-like title considering that the chess rating system for each national federation greatly varies.

Thanks, that's interesting to know!

I think I come down on the side of not recognising USCF CM as well. Another poster mentioned that Europe considers only FIDE to really be valid, and that's accurate - in my experience, there are plenty of people here that don't even consider FIDE CM to be a "proper" title (the CM-sceptics skew older IMO since the title was only introduced in 2002). Personally, I think FIDE CM is legitimate, but maybe that's because I never experienced chess before that title was introduced (and I'm biased, 2200 FIDE seems achievable for me and I want free diamond haha).

Yeah I feel that combining USCF CM and 2000 rating floor is almost like creating some new title that doesn't exist. Most players with that combination are also NM, and the few who aren't have the "money floor" in almost all cases I think.

I can think of a few players with money floor (and you're certainly not one of them, but still) who actually end up hitting that floor and getting stuck between the low 2ks and that floor, because the performance that got them that floor was just the result of a great single tournament and wasn't actually indicative of a strength appreciably above 2000. 

    You'd be surprised at how many active players who currently hold FIDE Candidate Master titles have current FIDE ratings below 2000 [200+ points below 2200 FIDE cut-off to qualify for FIDE CM title].  When I checked the most recent FIDE standard ratings list, of the 1125 active players who currently hold a FIDE Candidate Master title, roughly 39% of them had FIDE ratings below 2000.  I think a couple of reasons some people don't view FIDE CM as a legitimate title is because of what I have stated in the previous two sentences and that some of these active players got their FIDE CM  titles by winning a major international junior tournament that could just be an outlier performance on the good end and not reflective of their general strength.

Well, in order to have such an outlier score without undergoing a sufficient rating drop through your inconsistency, you'd require a floor of 2200, which would make you an NM in the first place.

If Chess.com recognizes WCM (Woman Candidate Master) achieved by 2000+ elo and WFM (Woman FIDE Master) achieved by 2100+ elo I cannot see why the USCF CM title is left out, or dubbed a bs title.  Recognizing the USCF CM title would have the same effect of the WCM and the WFM. It will get more people playing. I don't see a downside.  

All Chess.com would have to do is instead on someones profile where it says "Titled Player" it would say USCF Candidate Master instead of FIDE Candidate Master next to it. It really could not be simpler. 

I'd like chess.com to recognize USCF CM, but I'm biased.

Agreed.  In addition, I noticed that not all players on this site with WCM or WFM titles meet the 2000+/2100+ rating requirements for such titles on this site.

It'd be awesome to see. I think the 2000 floor shouldn't be a thing though and makes no sense to have because almost everyone who has it is already a uscf national master and no longer a uscf candidate one

Thank you for reviving this thread.