Hello everyone,
I would like to know what all the steps are to become a USCF TD? Thanks
Oddly enough I just sent the following to one of our club members.
uschess.org/docs/forms/Club% … cation.pdf is the direct link.
Below is the page that link is on along with some other handy TD stuff.
TD information page
uschess.org/content/blogcategory/342/668/
TD certification rules
uschess.org/docs/forms/TDCer … nRules.pdf
Form to become a club level TD
uschess.org/docs/forms/Club% … cation.pdf
Changes to the rulebook once you purchase the rulebook
uschess.org/docs/gov/reports … hanges.pdf
Read the rules. Send in the form to become a Club level TD. Assist at tournaments. Eventually run small tournaments.
Club TD is valid for three years. After that it needs to be renewed and the first renewal requires passing a test. Upgrading to Local, Senior, Associate National and National also require passing a test.
Club TDs can run tournaments expected to draw no more than fifty players. Local TDs increase that to 100. Senior TDs increase that to 300.
With a 2200 plus rating you are very likely to have a decent idea on how tournaments should run. You are also likely to know most of the rules. Keep a rulebook available if you have to make a ruling. I’ve been directing for over thirty years and an NTD for more than a decade, but I still double-check the rulebook for some rulings to make sure I haven’t overlooked or mis-remembered something (and on some rare occasions I find that is was good that I double-checked).
In WA there may be a number of scholastic tournaments that have JTP available for the K-3 sections and possibly USCF rated in the other sections. If you need larger tournaments to increase your certification level then scholastics are a common way of getting the numbers. If you are not interested in doing scholastics then you may have less of a need to increase your certification level.
There are two active Senior TDs in OR and two more in WA that you might be interested in gaining experience from (might have to volunteer some day or weekends).
Elliott Neff has not recently been active as a TD but is involved with the WA scholastic scene.
You can sign up for TD/A (TD/Affiliate portion of the website). This is necessary to submit rating reports. You can also get rating supplements, see TD information (some with contact info), submit memberships, etc.
Jeff Wiewel
Current TD Certification Chair
I don’t believe the TD certification rules as written limit Senior TDs to 300 players. I don’t say that to argue, but if that is the intent, some editing is needed in paragraphs 17 and 32.
Paragraph 17 says Seniors can direct category B tournaments which are events over 100 players, with no upper limit noted. (In contrast, category C tournaments have a numerical range with an upper limit.) It does specifically exclude category A tournaments, but paragraph 16 defines those as 300 or more AND a prize fund of at least $5,000, which wouldn’t apply to most large scholastics for example.
Paragraph 32 discusses limitations on Sr TDs, saying they should not be chief TD of category A tournaments “which include” events over 300 players, without mentioning the prize fund. That reads as an editorial shortcut or oversight, otherwise it would say “or” and contradict Parag. 17. (Or at the very least, limit it, in which case that should be dealt with in 17 itself.)
So it appears there is no upper limit on how large a tournament a Senior TD can run, as long as it doesn’t have $5,000 or more in prizes. Now whether it would be wise to do so or not is another matter. TDs at ALL levels should be certain they can do a good job for the players at any given event, and not undertake responsibilities beyond their ken, whether they’re technically allowed to by the rules or not.
Because the second sentence (regarding the limits on a computer-assisted TD) does not mention any category, you are the first person I’ve run across that pointed out the category clause in the first sentence usable in those tournaments where a chief Sr TD is not using a computer for the tournament.
I’ll be submitting a change. Otherwise we have a “silly discontinuity” where a computer assisted chief SrTD is limited to 360 for the expected number of players and a chief SrTD using pairing cards has no player limit.
Actually, that particular oversight is not a silly discontinuity. It is a silly lack of monotonicity.
(Similar to score goes up, prize goes down.)
Bill Smythe
And besides, Bill prefers pairing cards! 
Jeff Wiewel’s post #299839, which lists part of the website to access for prospective TDs, should be at the top of this forum at all times. It is a good general reference for everyone.
Thanks for putting the “Helpful links” at the top of the forum. I will point this out to our prospective TDs. Kudos to Jeff, Mike, and Terry.
I’ve moved discussion of the JTP program to a new topic, JTP program should be better advertised, in the US Chess Issues forum.
Jeff et al, it does seem like there is a contradiction in the certification rules. My reading is that a Class A tournament must be one with a $5,000 plus prize fund and that regularly draws more than 300 players. By implication, an event with well over 300 players but a prize fund of less than $5,000 is NOT a Class A event. That language seems clear from the definition of Class A tournament, but it does run head long into the Sr. TD limitations section, which does say that Sr. TDs cannot do more than 300 players (360 with a computer and an assistant).
There could also be a meaningful distinction between the phrase “regularly draws” 300+ and “expected to draw” 300+.
My own personal view is that A Sr. TD should be able to do an event with more than 300 players and a small prize fund, presumably a scholastic event. Said TD would be nuts to attempt that without several assistants on hand.
Watch this space (or the EB meeting).
Alex Relyea