Congratulations for playing in a US Chess-rated tournament or for encouraging your child to play in one! Now let’s see how your official rating changed using the rating report for your event.
US Chess significantly enhanced their membership system in the fall of 2025, so this post will use this new system.
You can find a rating report by searching for your name on the US Chess Ratings page and then clicking on the event in your tournament history. If you ask to get notified when your rating is updated in your US Chess membership profile, then you will receive an email with a link to your tournament’s rating report.
If you played in one of our rated tournaments, then you can also access your event’s rating report from our affiliate page.
I will use this example from the 2021 US Championship to explain how to read your rating report:
Before your name, you will see your pairing number for the event. In this example, Samuel Sevian has pairing number 1, and Fabiano Caruana has pairing number 2.
Under your name you will find your US Chess member ID, the type of rating (R=regular, Q=quick, B=blitz, OR=online regular, OQ=online quick, OB=online blitz), and your rating before the event followed by your rating after the event. In our example, Caruana’s regular rating changed from 2871 to 2861.
The next column will show the points that you earned in the event. You will get 1.0 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In our example, Sevian, Caruana, and So tied for first with 6.5 points.
The columns after the “Pts” column will list your result for each round in the tournament (W=win, D=draw, L=loss, X=forfeit win, F=forfeit loss, U=unpaired), the pairing number of your opponent, and whether you played the white or black pieces (indicated by the colored circle). In our example, in round 4 Caruana got a draw with So while playing Black.
For more information about US Chess ratings and rating reports, please see:
On June 1, US Chess began requiring tournament directors to complete the core training from the U.S. Center for SafeSport, so one of the topics we discussed was the US Chess Safe Play Policy.
Unfortunately, children and vulnerable adults can be victims of bullying, harassment, and abuse in many different settings – including chess. I commend US Chess for aligning with other fields like sports, scouting, and education to provide positive, welcoming environments where misconduct is less likely to happen.
In 2017, after reports of abuse in gymnastics and other sports, Congress established the U.S. Center for SafeSport to develop and enforce policies, procedures, and training to prevent abuse and misconduct and gave it the authority to resolve abuse and misconduct reports for everyone involved in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. More than 5 million people have completed SafeSport training.
Some of the insights that I learned from the training are:
those who try to harm children and vulnerable adults exploit trust and power
they seek organizations that do not have protective policies and training
they groom staff, volunteers, and parents in addition to potential victims
they message and email their victims privately to avoid detection
I am glad that US Chess selected a well-established training program like SafeSport for its Safe Play policy. As a coach for my kids’ soccer teams, I was required to take the SafeSport core course and annual refresher courses, so I already had a SafeSport account. It was easy to link it with US Chess.
what makes for a healthy coach-athlete relationship
what policies and good practices you should look for in your child’s organization
what you should know about sexual abuse and sexual misconduct
what you should know about other forms of misconduct, including bullying, harassment, hazing and emotional and physical misconduct
tips for making sports situations safer for your child
how to talk to your child about misconduct
ways to encourage your child to speak up about misconduct if it occurs
The SafeSport training is very similar to the Youth Protection training which Scouting requires for all registered volunteers as part of its Safe Scouting program. The Parent and Guardian’s Handbook for Safer Sport is also similar to Scouting’s How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide. One difference is that Scouting requires mandatory reporting of witnessed or suspected child abuse and of violations of its Youth Protection policies while US Chess requests reporting of alleged misconduct, mistreatment, or behavior that conflicts with the Safe Play policy. When some of my students asked for help earning the chess merit badge, I registered as a chess merit badge counselor and had to complete the required training. Registering as an adult volunteer with my local Scouting council currently costs $77 a year while the US Chess Safe Play training cost is only $19 for the first year and $9 in subsequent years.
The Safe Play policy is also consistent with policies in schools. For example, our local school system requires all volunteers to register and pass criminal history and sexual offender registry checks every year and to comply with specified school board policies. The Safe Play training is also consistent with the annual training we have for all employees and managers where I work.
Chess tournament directors and coaches are the “front line” for US Chess. With the SafeSport training, we are now better equipped to provide our players and their families with positive, welcoming environments where misconduct is less likely to happen.
Would you like to start a chess club at your child’s elementary or middle school?
Many NC elementary and middle schools have started chess clubs with the help of our Game Changer program. Here are are some ideas from these clubs to help you start your own school chess club:
Have simple, fun goals: One club’s goals are to have fun, learn, and play lots of chess! Winning is intentionally not one of their goals, but as they pursue these three goals their children do win plenty of games and trophies.
Meet regularly: Most clubs meet weekly or every other week after school. Some meet before school, during lunch, or during a special “club period” (when all clubs meet).
Be inclusive: Most clubs are open to all ages and all ability levels. They invite beginners to join at the start of the year, so a parent or teacher and a few older students can teach them the basics. Students who already know how to play can join at any time during the year.
Play lots of chess! Every meeting children spend most of the time playing chess. Even children learning how to play can play mini-games with only a few pieces. Group the children by ability rather than age/grade so that their games are more fun and challenging and so that they learn more from them. Some clubs record the results of their games, so they can see if anyone is winning most of their games and needs to move up to a more challenging group. Try to avoid moving students down. Have a parent supervise each group of about 16 children. These parents do not need to know how to play chess.
Keep lessons brief and fun: Most clubs teach 10-15 minute lessons to their experienced players, so their students still have plenty of time to practice what they learn by playing chess. Many clubs have high school students teach; some use teachers, parents, or grandparents. Some clubs have middle school students teach with an adult helping to supervise the children. Most clubs use lessons from ChessKid or from the Chess Steps guide and workbook we provide.
Get PTA support: If your club is sponsored by the PTA, you can get some funding but more importantly a lot of support with volunteers, meeting space, publicity, etc.
Keep expenses low: Many clubs collect a small activity fee or ask for donations to buy more chess sets and eventually a few chess clocks. Most make their activity fee optional, for example collecting a $30 activity fee from those who are able to pay. While some families are not able to pay others contribute more. Most clubs deposit their funds with their PTA.
Use ChessKid: Most clubs use the Basic ChessKid accounts that we provide with our Game Changer program. Some clubs buy discounted ChessKid Gold subscriptions through our program for all of their students, and some make them available to families who would like to buy them. Kids really enjoy ChessKid, and the ones who use it improve a lot.
Wear school or chess club t-shirts to tournaments: Most clubs wear school t-shirts or chess club t-shirts when they go to a tournament especially team tournaments. It is really helpful to have kids (and some parents) wearing the same shirt at large tournaments. Consider using the same t-shirt design for several years so families don’t have to buy new ones each year.
Share photos and congratulations: Some clubs share photos and congratulations using Twitter or Instagram. Others use a private Facebook group.
Use keychain chess pieces as prizes: A few clubs use colorful keychain chess pieces to reward effort, courage, and teamwork. For example, students can earn keychain pieces by teaching someone else how to play, playing in their first tournament, or doing 250 puzzles on ChessKid. Kids get really excited about these!
Give every child a chance to play in tournaments: Most clubs hold their own tournaments. Some use their club budget to pay the tournament fee at a local event for students whose families can’t afford it.
Publicize your success! All clubs share their tournament awards in school announcements and PTA emails and display their team trophies in the school trophy case. One club has a local trophy shop engrave every team member’s name on their team trophies.
Share your success with the local news: Cape Hatteras and Watauga school clubs had stories in their local newspapers. Wiley Elementary was on TV.
Consider using name tags for students to help parent volunteers learn their names. This is especially helpful for large chess clubs.
Watch an inspiring chess movie together: One club went as a group to see Queen of Katwe in a theater.
Invite a strong player for a simultaneous exhibition with some of your students. You could invite a strong player from the middle or high school where your students will go.
Organize a tournament at the end of the year: You could run a club tournament with all of your students in one section. If your club is larger, you could have separate sections for each grade.
Celebrate your success with an end of year party! Hand out trophies or certificates to the winners of your club tournament, recognize your graduating students, and enjoy some snacks. Hunter Elementary made a fun chess cake.
Congratulations on joining US Chess! Once you or your child plays in a US Chess rated tournament, you will earn an official US chess rating.
I will explain how to look up your US Chess member ID number and your rating using 2022 US Women’s Chess Champion, Jennifer Yu as an example.
On uschess.org, hover over “Ratings” and then click on “Player/Ratings Look-up”. Then enter your name in the search field. For our example, I entered “Jennifer Yu” and received this result which includes the member ID numbers for each member whose name matched my search criteria:
If you have a common name, you could narrow the search by selecting your state first or by including your middle name (if you provided that in your US Chess profile).
Then click on your line in the results list to display your USCF summary page. Clicking on the Jennifer Yu from Virginia will display this page:
The summary page shows a player’s current monthly supplement ratings for each of the six types of US Chess ratings (Regular, Quick, Blitz, Online Regular, Online Quick, and Online Blitz). These are the same ratings as are shown on the search result above.
These official supplement ratings are only updated once a month on the 3rd Wednesday of each month and become official on the 1st day of the next month.
To see your most recent rating, click on the “Tnmt. Hst” or Tournament History tab. This will display all the tournaments you have played in with the most recent tournament at the top. For each event, it will show your rating before and after the event, so your current rating is the one after your most recent event.
If one of your recent event has a double asterisk (**) beside it, that means that it has not yet been rerated into chronological order, so your rating from this event is subject to change.
If you click on one of the events in your tournament history, you can see the rating report for that event. Please see my earlier article, “Reading a US Chess Rating Report,” to learn how to interpret these reports.
Inspirational chess movies are a great way to motivate your students for big upcoming chess events like the Triangle, NC, and National Championships!
Your young chess enthusiast may enjoy watching one of these inspiring chess movies about children that are all based on true stories: Searching for Bobby Fischer, Knights of the South Bronx, Brooklyn Castle, and Queen of Katwe. The first three movies also show state and national championship tournaments which would help prepare your child for the NC Championship. I have included links to the Wikipedia descriptions of each of the movies. Reviews and trailers are available online, so you can decide which might be best for your child.
A fun fact about Searching for Bobby Fischer is that Josh Waitzkin, the child prodigy in the movie, played Mike Klein (who many children know as FunMasterMike on ChessKid) in the tournament featured at the end of the movie.
The inspiring film, Her Move Next, shows how New York’s PS 33 Chelsea Prep elementary school empowers girls through competitive chess. It is a free, short film (about 18 minutes long). I highly recommend it!
Queen to Play, a French movie (with English subtitles), would also be good for older children (especially girls) or adults who would like a foreign language film.
Magnus, a Norwegian documentary (in Norwegian and English), chronicles Magnus Carlsen’s childhood as he becomes a grandmaster at 13 and world champion at 22.
Recommended by a chess club family, The Chess Players, an Indian movie in Hindi and Urdu (with English subtitles), would be good for older children or adults interested in Indian history.
We are excited to help sponsor the 2023 NC K-12 Championship! As of February 4, 570 students are registered including 71 first-time tournament players.
We will provide ChessKid Gold subscriptions to the top 5 winners and the top 3 females in all five elementary school sections (K-1, K-2, K-3, K-4, and K-5) – a total of 40 Gold subscriptions. We are also providing scholarships so more students can participate and have reserved a team room where schools we support can relax between rounds.
Our Aditya Nicholas Dias Memorial Fund is helping to fund the stipends for the K-12, K-8, and K-5 Champions to travel to the 2023 Denker, Barber, and Rockefeller National Tournaments in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Aditya Nicholas Dias (September 8, 2004 to December 16, 2022) was an avid and very talented chess player who started playing chess at the young age of 5 years. He participated in many local, state, and national tournaments, winning several of them. Aditya also enjoyed teaching friends and classmates how to play chess. To honor his passion for chess, his family has established this memorial fund to support scholastic chess in North Carolina.
If your child or your chess club is playing in their first tournament, especially if it is a large one like the Triangle Championship or the NC K-12 Championship, then you may have some questions. Here are answers to the ones I have heard asked most frequently:
What should my child do the night and morning before the tournament?
Children should eat a good dinner and get a very good night’s sleep. Avoid scary movies, arguments, and negative conversations the night and morning before the competition. Please postpone sleepovers until after the event. Being well-rested will help children play with more concentration and focus. They will also have more energy in the later rounds. Solving puzzles on ChessKid or reviewing chess topics they have already learned is okay but trying to learn new material in the hours before a tournament is generally not helpful.
What should we bring to the tournament?
Have your child wear their school or clubt-shirt, because it will be fun for them and will make it easier for you to see them.
notation book, pencils (if your child knows how to take notation)
chess clock (if you have one, write your name on it and bring a spare battery. Set it for the tournament time control ahead of time)
sweater or sweatshirt (in case it gets cold in the tournament room)
portable chair (if your child is in K-1, you may want to sit outside of the K-1 tournament room)
snacks, drinks
any medication your child may need
chess set, book, game, or tablet and charger (in case your child finishes a round earlier, write your name on the chess board and bag)
phone or camera (share photos afterwards with your club, PTA, etc.)
When and where should we arrive?
Try to arrive early so you have time to meet with your team and help your child find their board for the first round. If you are registering onsite, try to arrive even earlier. If you have registered and paid in advance, then large tournaments typically do not require you to sign-in while small ones might (please check this in advance).
Confirm in advance if your team will meet in a team room or the “skittles room.”
The NC K-12 Championship usually allows teams to rent team rooms. For the February 10-12, 2023 event in the Raleigh Convention Center, the Indermaur Chess Foundation has reserved rooms 302a and 302bfor the schools we support.
Other events like the Triangle Championship have a “skittles room” or waiting area. For the January 15, 2023 event, this will be rooms 301a and 301b in the Raleigh Convention Center.
Who from our school is registered? Can another parent watch my child if I cannot stay the whole time?
Large events usually provide lists of players who are already registered, so you can arrange carpools, child supervision, etc. Here are links to the registration lists for the 2023 Triangle Championship and the 2023 NC K-12 Championship.
Can I still register my child? Can parents play, too?
Most events allow late and even on-site registration (although usually at a higher fee than if you had registered early). Some events like the Triangle Championship have Adult or Family sections.
Where can I find my child’s US Chess membership number?
How will I know who my child will play and where they should sit?
The tournament director will post new “pairings” on a physical bulletin board before each round. Many events now also post these online. The pairings are typically in alphabetical order by last name. Find your child’s name, what color they will be playing, and on what board they will be playing. Tips: take a photo of your child’s pairing and, once they are seated, make sure your child is seated across from the correct opponent, as the other child might be at the wrong board.
How are pairings generated?
Large chess tournaments use “Swiss System” pairing. Players are initially ranked and grouped by their ratings. Swiss pairings split each group into two halves and pair the top of the first half with the top of the second half. For example, if, after two rounds, there are 16 players with 2.0 scores, #1 will play #9, #2 will play #10, etc. If there are 4 players with 1.5 scores, #1 will play #3, and #2 will play #4. This process repeats to cover all groups of players. This Wikipedia article that explains this in more detail including exceptions and special situations like accelerated pairing.
Why does my child have to play such a highly rated player?
The pairings for the first round or two in big tournaments typically have the largest disparity in ratings. After that the games are much more evenly matched. Most children will get to play some opponents who are rated higher than they are. They may also play some who are rated lower or are un-rated. Please encourage your child to focus on their game – not their opponent’s rating. If they play someone un-rated or with a low rating, the opponent could be a strong player who is new to tournament play. They should not let their guard down but instead focus on playing their best. When children play higher-rated opponents, they should stay focused, play thoughtfully, and look for any mistakes their opponent may make (as their opponent may let their guard down).
How many rounds will my child play? Could they get eliminated?
Every child gets to play every round. No one is eliminated. That is one of the advantages of Swiss System pairing.
What should I do if my child needs to miss a game?
Please request a bye for the round that your child will miss. You can do this via the tournament website. If you request this in advance, your child will receive 0.5 points for that round. It also prevents another student from being paired with your child that round and sitting at the board waiting for your child.
How are tournaments scored?
Players earn 1 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In big tournaments, your child will need to walk with their opponent to a scorer’s table and report their score together. Your child’s tournament score is the total of the points they earned from each of their games. Team scores are usually the total of the top 4 individual scores.
How are ties broken?
Ties are broken using formulas based on your opponents’ success in the tournament. For example, if you are tied with someone for first place and your opponents did better than theirs in the tournament, then you would receive the first place trophy. There is also a good Wikipedia article describing these tie break calculations.
How many trophies and medals are awarded?
Large tournaments like the Triangle and NC Championships typically present over 100 awards for all ability levels. Students will be able to win individual and team awards.
Review your games and those of potential opponents. Ask yourself questions like, “Why did I do this? What was their plan?” and try to answer them. Try to remember what you were thinking during the game. You can also replay your ChessKid games by clicking “Play,” selecting “Game History,” clicking on the result for a specific game, and then clicking on the magnifying glass icon to step through that game.
First and foremost, students play with their friends, which is really fun!
Competing as a group relieves pressure that some students may feel, because if they lose some – or even all – of their games, they can still encourage their teammates and contribute to their team’s success.
They can wear school t-shirts, sit together, and enjoy snacks as a group between rounds to help build school spirit!
Team events are usually generous with team trophies, so schools have a good chance of winning something, especially if they have multiple teams.
Team events are a great way for coaches and organizers to promote their chess club! They can announce the team’s success at school and in the PTA newsletter, display their team trophies at school, and submit photos of the event to the yearbook.
Parents and teachers can also network with their peers from other schools and get ideas for improving their programs.
Now that I have convinced you to enter your club in a team event, here are some great ChessKid articles to help you prepare your students and their parents:
Note: Since US Chess significantly enhanced its membership system, please see our “Reading a new US Chess Rating Report” article for information on their current rating report. The remainder of this post explains the previous rating report.
Congratulations for playing in a US Chess rated tournament or for encouraging your child to play in one!
If you asked to get notified when your rating is updated in your US Chess membership profile, then you will receive an email with a link to your tournament’s rating report.
I will use this example from the 2021 US Championship to explain how to read your rating report:
Before your name, you will see your pairing number for the event. In this example, Fabiano Caruana has pairing number 1, and Wesley So has pairing number 2.
Under your name you will find your US Chess member ID, the type of rating (R=regular, Q=quick, B=blitz, OR=online regular, OQ=online quick, OB=online blitz), and your rating before the event followed by your rating after the event. In our example, Caruana’s regular rating changed from 2871 to 2861.
The next column will show the total number of points that you earned in the event. You will get 1.0 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In our example, Caruana, So, and Sevian tied for first with 6.5 points.
If you do well in a tournament, you may earn a norm. If you do, then the information below the “Total Pts” score shows the highest norm you earned in this event. For more information on norms, see The USCF Title System.
The columns after the “Total Pts” column will list your result for each round in the tournament (W=win, D=draw, L=loss, X=forfeit win, F=forfeit loss, U=unpaired), the pairing number of your opponent, and whether you played the W=white or B=black pieces. In our example, in round 4 Caruana got a draw with So while playing Black.
For more information about US Chess ratings and rating reports, please see:
Twenty-six NC players, including many students, competed in the 121st US Open during the summer of 2021 in Cherry Hill, NJ. Everyone in this event played in a single section, so they had a good chance of playing a FIDE Master, an International Master, or even a Grandmaster. If one of your students does get to play in an event like this, please ask their parents to take photos to share with your club.
Getting to play in an event like this or a national scholastic championship would clearly be an exciting experience for any student, but, even if they cannot attend one of these events in person, you can still use them to teach and motivate your students.
First, you can follow the events using articles on uschess.org or other chess websites. You can also find players for your students to follow and root for. For example, this page, www.uschess.org/tournaments/2021/usopen/?page=ADVANCE lists the players registered for the US Open by section and by state.
Then you can review games from the top players as part of your chess club lessons. You can leverage expert analysis to help you prepare for these lessons. For example, this US Chess article describes the US Open event and summarizes some of the top games: https://new.uschess.org/news/three-schedules-one-task You can also prepare by watching live streams or recorded video analysis of top games using sites like: https://www.twitch.tv/uschess
It will be exciting to see your students cheer for and learn from top players!
Indermaur Chess Foundation 