The United States Chess Federation is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating system, awards national titles, sanctions over twenty national championships annually, and publishes two magazines: Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids. The USCF was founded and incorporated in Illinois in 1939, from the merger of two older chess organizations. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its membership as of 2020 as COVID hit was 97,000; as of July 2022 it is 85,000.
Paul Truong is an American chess player, trainer, and organizer. He was born Trương Hoài Nhân in Saigon, South Vietnam. Truong holds the USCF title of National Master and the FIDE title of FIDE Master.
Joel Lawrence Benjamin is an American chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). In 1998, he was voted "Grandmaster of the Year" by the U.S. Chess Federation.
A comptroller is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executive who acts as the head of accounting, and oversees the preparation of financial reports, such as balance sheets and income statements.
Arnold Sheldon Denker was an American chess player and author. He was U.S. champion in 1944 and 1946. In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States Chess Federation, including in 2004 the highest honor, "Dean of American Chess".
Following are the results of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship from 1937 to date. The tournament determines the woman chess champion of the United States.
James Aaron Bell is a retired American executive of The Boeing Company.
Arthur Bernard Bisguier was an American chess player, chess promoter, and writer who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM).
William Birrell Franke was an American businessman and government official. He was best known for his service as United States Secretary of the Navy from 1959 to 1961 under Dwight D. Eisenhower.
William Goichberg is a chess master and chess tournament organizer and director. He founded the Continental Chess Association (CCA), which runs the annual World Open and other large tournaments. He is also a former president of the United States Chess Federation (USCF).
Donald Schultz was a president and a vice-president of the United States Chess Federation (USCF). He was elected vice-president on August 14, 2005. He was defeated by the Susan Polgar-Paul Truong slate when he ran for re-election in July, 2007. He was a rated chess expert.
Benjamin Philip Finegold is an American chess grandmaster and YouTuber/Twitch streamer. He had previously been nicknamed the "strongest International Master in the United States" until receiving his Grandmaster (GM) title in 2009.
Denis J. Barry was president of the United States Chess Federation from 1993 to 1996. He was an enthusiastic chess organizer, best known for establishing the US Amateur Team East Chess Championship, which is held annually in Parsippany, New Jersey, and which remains one of the most popular USCF events. Barry was the captain and guide for the US Blind Team in three Blind Chess Olympiads. He also organized the third USCF Blind Championship in 1977, and was the first to use Braille wallcharts at that tournament.
Albert J. "Al" Lawrence is an American chess expert and author.
A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most prestigious of which is Grandmaster; many national chess federations also grant titles such as "National Master". More broadly, the term "master" can refer to any highly skilled chess player.
A chess rating system is a system used in chess to estimate the strength of a player, based on their performance versus other players. They are used by organizations such as FIDE, the US Chess Federation, International Correspondence Chess Federation, and the English Chess Federation. Most of the systems are used to recalculate ratings after a tournament or match but some are used to recalculate ratings after individual games. Popular online chess sites such as chess.com, Lichess, and Internet Chess Club also implement rating systems. In almost all systems, a higher number indicates a stronger player. In general, players' ratings go up if they perform better than expected and down if they perform worse than expected. The magnitude of the change depends on the rating of their opponents. The Elo rating system is currently the most widely used.
Tom Braunlich is an American customizable card game (CCG) designer.
The Roanoke Valley Chess Club was founded in 1947 in Roanoke, Virginia, and is the oldest continuously operating chess club in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Roanoke Valley Chess Club receives an annual grant from the Dorothy S. and Walter Muir Memorial Fund, managed by the Foundation for the Roanoke Valley. The Roanoke Valley Chess Club is an IRS non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, registered with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The Roanoke Valley Chess Club brings and sustains chess activities to the region, and holds regular events. These events include United States Chess Federation USCF Grand Prix tournaments. The club also holds volunteer annual outreach events during Roanoke's annual Festival in the Park, Grandin Court Block Party, and more.
Jay Bonin is an American International Master in chess, chess teacher, author and lecturer. He is known as the "Iron Man of Chess" and is among the most active tournament players in the US, having played over 25,000 tournament games.
William Cornwall is an American chess coach, educator, and journalist best known for his long-running weekly chess column, "Chess: A Knight's Tour".