Answers.Body: <p>At least as of the date I'm writing this, USCF ratings are valid (effectively) forever.  No one is ever delisted due to inactivity, and the USCF rating system does not &quot;degrade&quot; ratings over time or regard them as less accurate due to the length of time since a player has played their last rated game.  You can walk away from (USCF) organized chess for 20 years or more, and when you come back, you come back with the same USCF ID number and the same rating as you had the last time you played in a rated event.  At least at one time, the unofficial slogan for the USCF rating system was &quot;Once Rated, Always Rated&quot; (though I don't see them use that phrase much these days).</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-14T14:55:38.567Z
Answers.Text: Yep! I stepped away for 36 years and my ID and rating were the same when I resumed playing tournaments. Of course, the rating changed as soon as I played a tournament.
Answers.UserDisplayName: GreenMatt
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-15T02:59:42.990Z
Answers.Text: Absent for 19 years here and everything was still there. I could still look up crosstables of tournaments from 2004.
Answers.UserDisplayName: rougon
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-15T23:01:32.510Z
Answers.Text: Everything back to late 1991 is there....  Ratings history, tournament crosstables, everything....
Answers.UserDisplayName: patbarron
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-05-14T05:44:09.807Z
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Body: <p>In many countries it seems local chess ratings are only kept for players who continue to play rated games.  Does the USCF have such a system?</p>
  
Tags: <rating><uscf>
Title: How long do US chess ratings remain valid for?
ThreadText: # How long do US chess ratings remain valid for?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-13)
  
  In many countries it seems local chess ratings are only kept for players who continue to play rated games. Does the USCF have such a system?
  
  **Tags:** rating, uscf
  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-05-14. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
  
  At least as of the date I'm writing this, USCF ratings are valid (effectively) forever. No one is ever delisted due to inactivity, and the USCF rating system does not "degrade" ratings over time or regard them as less accurate due to the length of time since a player has played their last rated game. You can walk away from (USCF) organized chess for 20 years or more, and when you come back, you come back with the same USCF ID number and the same rating as you had the last time you played in a rated event. At least at one time, the unofficial slogan for the USCF rating system was "Once Rated, Always Rated" (though I don't see them use that phrase much these days).
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Yep! I stepped away for 36 years and my ID and rating were the same when I resumed playing tournaments. Of course, the rating changed as soon as I played a tournament.  
  > **username_3**: Absent for 19 years here and everything was still there. I could still look up crosstables of tournaments from 2004.  
  > **username_1**: Everything back to late 1991 is there....  Ratings history, tournament crosstables, everything....  
  
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