Dear USCF Member:
I am honored to be serving as your President for the next two years; this is an initial report. The new Executive Board and Crossville office are working on many ideas to promote chess, and I hope to follow up with good news in the future.

Best wishes to our members in the Gulf Coast areas hard hit over the summer; USCF should make an extra effort to help rebuild chess in your area. For the latest news on the Federation’s response to these disasters, see http://www.uschess.org/Katrina.php.

USCF’s financial condition has improved dramatically since 2003, but we still face the challenge of turning around a membership decline. Adult membership totals, off 35% in the nine year period 9/95 to 9/04, declined by only 2% from 9/04 to 9/05- not as bad, but still unsatisfactory. And junior memberships, long a bright spot, are now cause for concern. Youth membership rose 42% from 9/95 to 9/04 but declined 7% in the year after 9/04, and Scholastic membership, up 41% from 9/95 to 9/04, is down by 12% during the past year.

We need to reverse these declines, and can do this only with the help of our affiliates: the state associations, chess clubs, and tournament organizers who run most of the USCF-rated events in our country. Activity truly does mean members, and the type of activity most beneficial to American chess is that which provides club, open tournament, or scholastic events to players in areas now lacking them.

If you are a member who is not involved with an affiliate, you can still help by telling your friends about the Federation, or better yet, contact our office to find out how you can hold your own USCF-rated tournaments. Or perhaps you, or a friend or relative, are in a position to help one of our events obtain corporate sponsorship?

The Federation has not always provided the type of service and encouragement to affiliates that would maximize rated activity, but times have changed. Tournaments no longer take a month or more to be rated, but can be submitted online, so members see the crosstable with updated ratings at uschess.org/msa within a few hours! USCF does not view tournament announcements in Chess Life as a source of advertising revenue, but rather as an essential service to members and affiliates, so we provide such information at a much lower price than several years ago, and free under certain conditions (and by the time you read this, news of our new online TLA program may be posted on our website).

And we have listened to the many complaints that, especially for clubs and smaller tournaments involving relatively little time and expense for players, the cost of USCF dues is impacting attendance. The new Executive Board recently voted to restore the Tournament Membership, an idea last tried 15 years ago, in an improved form that we expect will stimulate rated activity.

A Tournament Membership (TM) will be available beginning November 1 for $10 to satisfy the USCF membership requirement for any USCF-rated event of four rounds or less. Longer events qualify for this TM only if they are quick-rated, or if all games are played on weekdays. For events that do not qualify for the $10 TM, a $20 TM is available. We may not sell many of the latter, but don’t wish to make it too cheap, as we believe that most players in major events are willing to join for a year.

Each TM entitles the player to one issue of Chess Life (US, Canada or Mexico addresses only), plus the option of applying the TM fee, within 90 days, to a one-year Adult, Promotional Adult, Senior, Sustaining or Life membership. No more than one TM fee may be applied to the cost of any one-year membership.

Note that in addition to the TM, other reduced dues options remain in effect: 1) New members and those whose memberships last expired 2004 or before may join for a year for $38 ($36 online). 2) Anyone may join through an affiliate for 6 months for $27. Both of these options include a monthly Chess Life.

Your input is welcome; email addresses of the Executive Board and Executive Director can be found http://www.uschess.org/about/uscfeb1.php.

The Federation relies to a large extent on volunteers; please let us know if you have a skill you can offer.

Have a happy holiday season, and I hope to see you at the 2006 US Open (August 5-13, 8-13 or 9-13 at the Doubletree Oak Brook near Chicago, $89 room rates!), if not before.