Interested in almost instantaneous rating changes? How about a super velocity membership renewal? Does express IDs for new members sound appealing? A shorter lead-time for TLAs would be nice. Can you live with on-line only TLAs at the last second? How about keeping your affiliate info updated in real time? Mike Nolan is the ringmaster guiding the USCF .in its implementation of these 21st century services that are at your disposal on-line at http://www.uschess.org by clicking on the TD/AFFILIATE tab at the top of the page.

First time users
1. Click on the MEMBERS ONLY tab at the top of the page.
2. Sign in using your own USCF ID and pin number.
3. On the next screen click on: TDs & Affiliates: Request access to the USCF's TD/Affiliate Support Area https://secure.uschess.org/MembersOnly/MO_login.php and follow the directions.
4. Sign up as a TD by clicking the button in front of “Myself as a TD” and filling in the required info in that one column. At the bottom of the page agree to the terms and click the “Send” button on the left.
5. You will need an e-mail address to complete the form. If you don’t have one sign up for a free e-mail account on the web (check out: Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, …). Without an e-mail address the USCF can not offer you any of their new millennium services.
6. Sign up as an Affiliate by clicking the button in front of “A USCF Affiliate.” Now fill in all the required information for BOTH columns beneath “Myself as a TD” AND “A USCF Affiliate.” At the bottom of the page agree to the terms and click the “Send” button on the left.
7. Remember to copy down the login ID(s) and password(s). Mike Nolan suggests that TDs should not give their login and password to anyone else. The USCF will never ask a TD or an affiliate for their password.
8. You can now sign into the TD/Affiliate service area as either a TD or Affiliate.

TD/Affiliate Service Tips

• To guarantee that a TD can submit your event for ratings keep your affiliate authorized TD list updated.
• Keep the all the affiliate info updated.
• Give the affiliate login info to at least one other officer.
• Keep your USCF Affiliate and USCF personal membership current so you will not be denied on-line access.
• TDs can submit rating reports when they sign into the TD/Affiliate area as a TD, not as an affiliate.
• Keep updated on the latest services and help tips by visiting the USCF forums.

Rating Report Tips

• Submit and pay for your new/renewed memberships on-line before you submit the tournament rating report.
• All players must be members and have IDs before the software event can be rated.
• Memberships can be submitted in groups (batches); however, some experience with tab delimited files or Excel (or any basic spreadsheet) is necessary.
• If just one player snail mailed the USCF for a renewed/new membership, then the event cannot be rated until that membership is processed at the USCF office.
• The instant ratings service will work only if the rating fee is paid on-line.
• TDs can process memberships and rating fees on-line and send the USCF payment via snail mail. The event gets rated instantly when those fees are processed.
• TDs can still submit reports off-line.
• Off-line TD rating reports eventually get entered on-line by the USCF staff.
• If there is a membership or ID problem with an on-line or off-line rating report, the tournament will not be rated by the software until the TD takes care of the membership/ID issues.
• Membership/ID issues are resolved quicker if the TD has an e-mail address.
• Be patient. These are new services and a work in progress. Old software will have to talk to new software.
• New services will probably be offered on-line in a piecemeal fashion. Check the TD/Affiliate area often to keep updated. Especially useful will be the link on your TD/Affiliate page to the on-line Forums.

Pairing Software and On-Line Tips

• WinTD and SwissSys can still prepare your rating reports; however, it is best to create those reports in a folder on your hard drive. This will be useful when you have to upload the files and browse your hard drive to find them.
• Have your software create a text file of the wall chart and save it to the folder with the rating report. It is needed for the on-line submission process.
• You will be given a chance on-line to review/edit your event before it is submitted.
• In the edit process you will get a chance to add extra sections, extra players, and extra rounds.
• If you have on-line access at your tournament site you can submit events that are in progress so that you can check out the review/edit screen for membership issues. You can later re-submit the completed event.
• If you have on-line access at your tournament site you will also need e-mail access.

Questions of a general nature should be posted on the USCF Forums, so that everyone can benefit from the answers. Some good ideas have come from the discussions on the USCF Forums. Questions involving specific membership or event problems should be handled via e-mail, either to the appropriate USCF department or to mnolan@uschess.org

Thanks to Mike Nolan for his help in preparing this column.

You can contact this columnist at uscfrulebook@yahoo.com with your non-technical comments. Send your comments and evaluations to: Email: USCFrulebook@yahoo.com or to Tim Just, 37165 Willow, Gurnee, Il. 60031.