USCF MSA Tips, Tricks and Secrets

All Things Chess
1

One of the semi-hidden benefits of being a USCF member is the Member Service Area (MSA). Mike Nolan has done an excellent job in creating and maintaining this resource. I understand from Mike that in 2016 at some point in time at the very least some URLs will change and maybe the format itself. But I figure when that happens we can start a new topic for that.

 Some of the tips may seem obvious to some but at the very least it will indicate the availability of that feature.

I hope other people will jump in with tricks of their own usage.

 Most probably know that back pre 2008 I had written a program to display various things from the MSA area.

The problem with that was that you had to download and install a program etc. Most of the abilities of that program are now available directly on line. It even has additional features that were not included in my now broken MSA program. For example if you would like to know your won/loss/draw record by round. You can get that if you know how.

2

Find the highest rated and lowest rated player you have won or loss to.

I’m going to start with something easy.

First here is the URL to the MSA Home page. uschess.org/msa/Index.php

Here you can look up Member ID#s etc.

Once you have arrived at an individual’s page scroll down and click on Show Game Statistics.

The default page here shows Record vs Opponent’s Rating Pre-Event.

Look at the RATING column on the left and you can easily see the highest rated player the selected ID# has played.

Simply look for the highest rating where there is a win. Click on the RATING and it will take you to another view showing details about that. From there you will be easily able to determine the highest rated win. Do the same from the lower end of the scale to determine the lowest rated loss.

3

Find all the records and individual has played since the USCF began keeping online records.

From the default individual page choose Top 30 Opponents and click Search.

Click on any Opponent’s USCF ID#. It will take you to a view showing all your games vs that player.

Now look up at the URL in your browser and change the last 8 digit number in it to 1 and hit Enter.

You should get a page view showing all of the original ID#s games played.

4

Number of Lifetime Games at a Glance + other easy data from the default MSA Game Statistic Page

On your initial data page down near the bottom you will find the number of Lifetime games since 1991 along with the number of wins, losses, and draws. You will also find this same info listed for the last 12 months.

5

Shortcut to the Greater Peoria Chess Federation web page which makes access to some of the MSA features easier.

gpcf.net/USCFCompare.htm

6

What is particularly useful for those of us running camps – and dealing with the plethora of parents who are pushing their little ones into higher camp sections – are statistics likeRecord vs Opponent’s Rating (Pre-event) that is found in MSA. Currently that provides Lifetime, and past 12 months, but it would be “nice” if it would cover past X period, where X could be input.

When I receive an email insisting that their 1300-rated, 1500-strength child be placed in a 1500+ section, information like the below can be helpful.

Last 12 Months Rating Games Wins Draws Losses %score ====== ===== ===== ===== ====== ====== UNR 5 4 1 90.0 300 1 1 100.0 500 1 1 100.0 600 1 1 100.0 700 3 2 1 66.7 800 1 1 100.0 900 3 2 1 66.7 1000 1 1 100.0 1100 2 1 1 75.0 1200 3 2 1 83.3 1300 6 2 3 1 58.3 1400 8 2 2 4 37.5 1500 6 1 1 4 25.0 1600 2 2 0.0 1700 2 2 0.0 1800 4 4 0.0 1900 3 3 0.0 2000 1 1 0.0 2200 2 2 0.0