USCF
The USCF, now branded US Chess, is the official governing body for chess in the United States, a nonprofit that represents the country in FIDE and maintains the national rating system most American tournament players are measured by.
Also called: US Chess Federation
US Chess Federation is the full name, US Chess is the name the organization uses today, and USCF survives as shorthand in older writing and club talk. It was founded in 1939 by the merger of two earlier American federations and represents the United States in FIDE. By its own account it sanctions and rates more than 10,000 tournaments a year, hosts over 25 national championships and awards titles to players from elementary school students to senior citizens.
Most American players meet it the first time they enter a rated weekend event. The organizer reports the results, and the federation processes them into the rating that follows the player from event to event.
The name matters when you read a rating. A US Chess rating and a FIDE rating come from separate lists, kept by separate organizations with separate formulas, so one person usually holds two different numbers. They are related but not interchangeable. US Chess converts a FIDE rating into a starting number for an unrated member, and from 2026 it also feeds the FIDE-rated results of eligible established members into the US rating. Neither number is a plain conversion of the other.
When a coach or website quotes a rating, ask which list it comes from. For the American number itself, see the entry on the US Chess rating. For how the international body relates to national ones, see the entries on FIDE and national federations.
How "USCF" applies to your own results depends on where you stand now, and the improvement plans by rating band show what players near your rating work on.
Related terms
A US Chess rating is the number the American federation assigns a player from results in its rated events; it is separate from a FIDE rating and from ratings on chess websites, so the numbers should not be swapped.
FIDE, the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation, is the international body that publishes the Laws of Chess, keeps the rating lists and awards titles, working through its member national federations.
A national federation is the chess body that represents a country within FIDE; players register through it to appear on the rating list, and it applies for titles and reports rated tournaments for them.
A rating system is a method that turns game results into a number for each player, rising after wins against strong opponents and falling after losses, so that strength can be compared.
Guides that go further
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
How the Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster titles are earned, with every Handbook clause.
The Handbook rules for a first FIDE rating: five rated games, the 1400 floor, the two 1800 draws and a worked example.
Sources
- US Chess, About page, About page, read Oct 21, 2026.
- US Chess, The US Chess Rating System (Glickman and Doan), dated 6 April 2026, Section 2.1, read Oct 21, 2026.
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