USCF Tournament Director Guide

Everything you need to run and rate your first USCF chess tournament — from certification to submitting the rating report.

1. Get certified as a TD

To rate a tournament with US Chess, at least one director on-site must be a certified USCF Tournament Director. The entry-level certification is Club TD, which requires a current USCF membership and passing a short open-book test on the US Chess Rulebook. Higher levels (Local, Senior, ANTD, National) require experience directing progressively larger events.

2. Sanction the event

Every rated event needs to be pre-registered with US Chess through the TD/Affiliate Support Area (TD/A). You'll pick a rating system (Regular, Quick, Blitz, or dual), the time control, number of rounds, and the affiliate hosting the event. Sanction at least a week ahead so the event appears in the TLA calendar.

3. Set the time control

The time control determines which rating system applies:

• Regular — 30 minutes or more per player.
• Dual (Quick + Regular) — between G/10 and G/65 with increment adjustments.
• Quick — G/10 to G/29.
• Blitz — G/5 to G/10.

4. Registration and check-in

Collect USCF ID, section, byes requested, and payment before the first round. On tournament day, verify each player's USCF membership is current — an expired membership blocks rating submission. Software like CaissaChess pulls live USCF status so you catch expirations at the door, not the night you submit the report.

5. Pairings

Almost all US Chess weekend events use the Swiss system. See our guide to Swiss pairings for how score groups, colors, floats, and byes work. Post pairings, wall charts, and standings between every round.

6. Enter results

Collect result slips at the end of each round and enter them immediately — the next round's pairings depend on accurate scores. Double-check forfeits, byes, and unplayed games; those are the most common sources of a rejected rating report.

7. Submit the rating report

After the final round, submit the crosstable to US Chess through TD/A within seven days. Most pairing programs export a rating report in the exact format US Chess accepts. CaissaChess generates the file, includes the correct rating type per section, and flags players whose IDs or memberships won't validate before you upload.

Common pitfalls

• Expired USCF memberships discovered at rating time.
• Missing time control fields on the sanction — Regular vs Dual.
• Half-point byes not marked when the player didn't show.
• Wrong tiebreak system announced vs used in prize allocation.