Formed a new chess club 6 months ago with a fair amount of players attending our meetings.
None of the club players have a current USCF membership
I would like to eventually have the club become an affiliate of the USCF and I have just received my certification
for club TD.
I am concerned that I am looking at problems getting the casual player to step up to tournament chess.
Does anyone have any suggestions for accomplishing this?
Thanks
Nick Omregcik
Wheeling Chess Club
Get some practice directing by doing a non-rated tournament with your group. Or hold an event that has both USCF rated and unrated sections. Is your club a USCF affiliate? That will give the right to hold events. Do you have a site in mind to hold a tournament? Are your members mostly adults or is your club welcome to all ages? Have you gotten in touch with your state chess association?
There are a number of players down the Ohio River in the Vienna/Parkersburg area. Parkersburg is holding its 25th Annual Mid Ohio Valley (Parkersburg Homecoming) tournament on Sunday, Aug. 19. I think if you hold something this summer or fall, some players from WV, OH, and PA will come. From my experience, many WV players will travel to other sites in WV to support chess in the state.
At first, you will probably not get many of your club members to become USCF members. That’s OK. Once one or two enter rated tournament play, others will follow. You can set up sections for low rated players. A small Swiss System event or Quads can ease the transition from club play to tournament play. If they still don’t like tournament play, at least you tried. Not everyone likes rated tournament chess. But they might show up for a non-rated event, a simultaneous exhibition, or a chess presentation/lecture in order to support the club.
If you haven’t already registered for access to the TD/Affiliate Support Area, you should do that.
There’s a demographic query tool there that you can use to see how many players there are in your area.
Due to an ongoing email routing issue we’re still trying to resolve, to register for TD/A send an email to skantor@uschess.org with your name, member ID and 3 suggested choices for a login ID. (The good ones are often taken.)