There are very good reasons to play in School Chess Association-sponsored USCF rated tournaments and earn an official USCF rating. Here are just a few:

1) If you plan on playing in any USCF national scholastic tournaments, you must have a USCF rating in order to play in the standard section of your choice. The USCF has a new rule that forces unrated players to play in the highest section, or in a special “unrated” section. This is especially important if you have a school or club team. For example, if you have three kids in the K-3 section who are rated 600 and a couple of kids who are unrated, the two unrated kids will not be able to play in the same section as their three rated friends. They will be forced to play in the highest (“open”) section or else play in the unrated section – but they won’t be able to play with their teammates. This will most likely hurt your team’s chances to score well and/or win a trophy.

2) If your child has serious chess aspirations, he or she will need to become USCF rated. Most – if not all – of the college chess scholarship programs are based on USCF ratings.

3) USCF ratings will help your children gauge their improvement as individual chess players, and provide them with an idea of how they stack up against other kids from around the country.

4) Becoming a USCF member has its own benefits, including a great monthly magazine, the ability to play chess on the Internet via US Chess Live, and much more.

5) Participants in the rated sections of SCA tournaments will have the added advantage of playing in a separate, quieter room with longer time controls.