Chess expert is a rating and title given by the United States Chess Federation. It is awarded to players rated from 2000 to 2199. Players rated above that are masters. Players below that are class players. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the governing chess organization within the United States and is one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled due to interest in Bobby Fischers rise to the World Championship. ...

Approximately 400,000 chess players have USCF ratings, of which approximately 4000 are rated 2000 or better. Thus, chess experts are in the top 1% of all tournament chess players. A chess table is a table with a chessboard painted or engraved on it. ... The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the governing chess organization within the United States and is one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled due to interest in Bobby Fischers rise to the World Championship. ...

The title of chess expert is not awarded for life. Every time a tournament chess player plays a game, his rating goes up or down depending on whether he wins or looses and on how strong his opponent is. If the rating of a chess expert falls below 2000, he is not a chess expert any more. This is in contrast to international titles awarded by FIDE, which are awarded for life. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ...

In European countries the term of "expert" is not used. Instead, players of that level are called "candidate masters".

The first USCF rating list was published in December 1950. On that list, experts were players rated from 2100 to 2300 and masters were players rated from 2300 to 2500. However, within a few years, it was discovered that the ratings were rapidly deflating. As a result, the classifications were dropped by 100 points so that since then experts were rated between 2000 and 2200.

In 1960, the USCF adopted the new Elo rating system replacing the original Harkness System. There have been continuous adjustments to that system ever since, with the primary purpose of stabilizing the rating system against the forces of inflation and deflation, so that a chess expert today will be approximately the same strength as a chess expert was 20 or 40 years ago. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the governing chess organization within the United States and is one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled due to interest in Bobby Fischers rise to the World Championship. ... The ELO rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ... Kenneth Harkness (1898-1972) was a chess organizer and a manager of the United States Chess Federation. ...

External links

• Official USCF Rating List
• History of the USCF Rating System