With an upcoming raise in ICC rates, (about $20 a year increase), it might be time to look at a Partnership to get a U.S. Chess Federation playing site. If we could split the cost with an educational site, we might be able to have viable site.
Maybe, but partnerships have been tried before – with internet playing sites, chess clocks, chess-playing computers, and even a brain pill, to name a few. They have usually not worked out well. USCF often ends up supporting an inferior product, without even knowing it’s inferior until much later. And then, inevitably, come the claims of favoritism and unfair play.
I think it would be much better for USCF to limit itself to governance rather than partnership, especially exclusive partnership. That’s the idea behind the OTB rating system, and behind selling clocks of several different brands. With internet playing sites, USCF could set some standards, then sanction online events from any playing site that agrees to the standards (a separate rating system for online play would help a lot here).
Bill Smythe