Accessing Print TLAs via our Online System

When we introduced our new database structure, we announced the following about the print TLA system in a CLO post in June 2020:

“New TLA system. TLA stands for “Tournament Life Announcements.” These are the list of tournament ads that you see at the back of Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids. This extends to data entry, which consumes a great deal of time. Additionally, TLAs that appear in print have a lot of shorthand. This is necessary to reduce line count, which is how TLA charges have been calculated for decades. So, we currently have a system that costs organizers more to list a TLA, costs US Chess more staff time to enter the TLA, and costs users (especially new members and scholastic parents/coaches) frustration in understanding the shorthand used in a TLA. This new system will lower the cost of placing a TLA, greatly reduce the amount of staff time required to enter a TLA, and will encourage organizers to use more plain-language verbiage in their announcements, making them easier to read. Finally, TLAs will be searchable by both event type and by radial distance from a central ZIP code – a feature that is not currently available due to the way the TLA system is designed.”

However, due to the reduction in events during the pandemic, we chose to temporarily include all of the “plain-language” TLA information in print. With the return of over-the-board chess, our print TLA sections have started to expand in a way that is not sustainable. This is because organizers have embraced the entry box for additional TLA information now that a per-line charge is no longer a factor.

Effective with the January Chess Life, only the key TLA information is included in Chess Life. For all the “plain-language extras,” a unique URL is now provided at the end of each TLA for easy access on uschess.org.

This box will be provided in all future TLA sections:

Here is an example of a TLA from the January issue:

And here is an example of what you see (laptop view) if you enter the URL new.uschess.org/node/31224:

If you are new to creating TLAs, please see "How to Create a TLA" on this page.

Thank you for being a valued affiliate with US Chess. If you have any questions about this system, please contact Dan Lucas at Click here to show email address.