Mr. Joe Lux asked the following question:
“What is your stand on ICC-USCF relationships?”
This is the answer from FM Paul Truong, one of the most important candidates in the upcoming USCF Executive Board Election:
I think the USCF should reach out and partner up with ICC, FICS and other reputable Internet servers. Why? There are several reasons:
* I truly believe that the past management / boards missed the boat because they did not understand the importance of the Internet. Some did not think that it is important to improve the USCF to stay current. I was in college from the early to mid 80’s. My first and main major was computer. Even though I did not pursue a career in computer (I decided to go with Marketing and Management), I constantly train myself to stay current.
I remember playing in a number of Bill Goichberg’s events back in the 80’s. I also remember how he used to make pairings using index cards. Now, TDs can use WinTD or SwissSys to make pairings faster and more efficient. Whether we like it or not, technology will improve.
* There are a lot more games played on the Internet today than OTB chess. Many kids and even adults I know have never played a single OTB tournament game and yet they have played thousands of online games. This opens up an incredible opportunity for the USCF to increase memberships and revenues.
* I never liked the idea of “exclusive” contracts with any server. If the USCF does that, they will alienate others since many of these online members are very passionate about the server they play on.
I would like to see the USCF having co-promotional agreements with many reputable servers. This would be a win-win situation for all sides. This can be done without costing the USCF a penny and it can bring to the USCF badly needed revenues.
If elected, I will push for co-operation between the USCF and online servers. ICC is obviously ranked among the top servers in the world. FICS also has a strong membership core. PlayChess and WCN are some other big names.
Best regards,
Paul Truong
How important is Internet chess and national federations like the USCF? What is your take?
I fully agree with him. Great job! The USCF has done very little in this area.
He nailed this one right on the head.
National federations are not important at all! Only FIDE is important as a federation.
I think Mr. Truong is very correct. I play only on the Internet. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like chess. The USCF should pay more attention to the online chess community. Bravo!
Having played and been a memeber on numerous sites on the net many now defunct I think The USCF should not merge with ICC or any other site. The ICC is using a DOS system that should be put in a museum! I think its very important for The USCF to have a new and improved chess play site unique to give The USCF an Indetity that would attract not only American but worldwide paricipants that would create through memberships much needed financial resources for American chess. I used to play at USCF, over all the site is nice but the playing board is just atrocious. It needs much better graphics. Also USCF play chess site needs exciting events such as simuls with Masters, lectures, rapid played games where masters talk out there moves, and online tournaments maybe with prizes if possible. Merging with other chess play sites to me would make the online chess experience generic. It also would give the USCF an image of unimaginative, cheap, and lazy. The better you make a chess play site the greater your audience will be!
Also the most important thing on any internet chess play site is the best in anti cheating devices!
Great idea that demonstrates a way to successfully grow the USCF
I hope he gets on the board to share his thoughts on Marketing
With due respect, your post shows the basic problem with the USCF: every problem is approached from the perspective of how that area can be leveraged to the advantage of the USCF — how, for example, the USCF can use such-and-such area to increase memberships.
The USCF is a non-profit, educational and cultural, and charitable organization. It isn’t a business. It is tax exempt. How about making the question: what are the needs of people playing on computer chess sites requiring the involvement of the USCF? How can the USCF help in this area?
If the USCF can help in an area, such as computer chess, and it can do it in a way that fits within its budget, etc, then by all means it should do so. But if the question is only how can the USCF exploit some area of chess to increase memberships or advantage the USCF, then my feeling is that it should just butt out.
Spot on. I’ve never understood why USCF was so late to the game with Internet Chess. Partnerships with the major servers is just what I’d hope to see.
I am a uscf life member for a a long time. I have not played a tournament game for over 10 years.
I played more chess in a few weeks on ICC than in over 20 years otb.
USCF has given away its book sales.
Not only has uscf missed the boat. But uscf is in danger of being obsolete without internet chess.
I think everyone deserves and answer to the question. What can USCF do for me as an internet chess player. I suspect NOTHING.
What does uscf do for tournament chess players now. I suspect almost NOTHING.
The USCF first needs to get its own act together. It is a corrupt discusting organization with unmentionables on its EB. Lets first clean up the act. Then perform its present duties. Only then stick its nose into other people’s business.
The USCF was suppose to put together internet chess. Where is it? ICC is a professional organization. Have you tried their new Dasher software. It will take anyone a very long time to match that software. How are you going to get all the chess professionals to play on your site. ICC has all the grandmasters.
Forget it. I would much rather see anyone except uscf mess up ICC. They do not need uscf anymore. USCF is a dumb organization.
I support Susan to win the election. She is the last hope for chess in usa.
I have an idea. Why not close up uscf. put it out of business and give it all away for free to ICC. That would solve the problems of USCF,
USCF Life Member
I agree with the previous post and repeat my previous post. Unless there is some problem in Internet chess that people agree the USCF is uniquely positioned to solve, it should simply let it be. When Internet chess was new and USCF might have been able to help, it didn’t do anything other than add confusion by fragmenting the market and helping to create yet another, and distinctly mediocre, chess server operated by Game Parlor, which is a failure.
Now the USCF should just put its efforts into some other area of chess that needs development. Maybe start with getting its own act together.
There is nothing that USCF can do for Internet chess at this point, other than screw it up.
The popular servers like ICC, FICS, and playchess.com, all provide vastly better service to their members than USCF does and they charge less. Indeed, FICS is free. Imagine that. Free chess. An organization run by voluteers actually doing something for chessplayers just for the love of chess. What a concept!)
The fact that people running for office in the USCF feel that the USCF is losing a revenue opportunity is too bad. Elbowing its way into a field that is already well-served by other chess businesses/organizations, is not what the USCF ought to be doing.
Internet chess doesn’t have any needs that can be addressed by the USCF. Even if there were some problem which the USCF could help with (there isn’t), the USCF has proven itself so incompetent, it would probably only make things worse.
paul t. will bring much needed innovative and business like approach to managing its affairs.
indeed, uscf rated internet chess should be available for us paying members.
how about it paul?
“USCF partner up with ICC” —
I presume this means have the ICC route game results to the USCF, so the USCF can officially rate the games, much as if they were played OTB in a USCF affiliated tournament.
And the USCF would collect money from ICC for every game routed for rating.
All assuming the two players opt for that.
Unless something else meant.
An effort in this area, by the USCF, is so long overdue I cannot see that far back in time.
I wonder, would this be for a new “Online Rating”, different from the standard “OTB Rating”?
Gene_M
The online service (e.g. ICC) gives you a rating already. Why pay to turn it over to USCF?
Any online rating is not useful or valid in the real world anyway because of cheating. It just helps you get a sensible pairing from the server.
The ICC is an incredibly useful training tool that my son and many of his friends use to prepare themselves for scholastic tournaments. His school coach mentioned that he was thinking about arranging training quads on the ICC and I thought it was a great idea but I did wonder about how to prevent cheating (whether through a computer or an overly competitive chess dad!) But I will say that the USCF seems a little bit behind the times in this regard. Yes, we log onto the USCF website to check on his rating after a tournament but he is on the ICC every night either playing or observing other games.
What use would a USCF online rating be? All the servers already have rating systems that work quite well. Would a USCF online rating be portable to more than one online server? Would it be portable to an OTB tournament?
How much would the USCF charge for this service? Currently, ratings are very expensive for what they are. An OTB tournament player who doesn’t want the magazine (who would want it?) is already paying a fee higher than what any of the servers charge for their entire service. That isn’t enough for the USCF: they charge tournament organizers pay 50 cents per game to the USCF to rate it. Plus they charge more for the organizers to list the tournaments. Charge. Charge. Charge. And all these charges don’t add up to enough to keep the USCF in reasonable financial shape.
The USCF would approach this, as it does everything, as a “revenue opportunity” or as a way to compel people to buy a USCF membership. It would become a tax on online chess, the way that tournament players currently have to pay a USCF tax. Indeed, one (of the many) reasons that online chess is popular is that it is cheap and there is no stupid USCF tax.