Are you ready to subscribe to Northwest Chess and join your state chess federation (for residents of Washington/Oregon)? - See: PayPal Subscription/Membership Form | Printable Form (PDF file). Residents of other states may subscribe without a state membership.

• Northwest Chess Facebook page | NWC Facebook "app" page for mobile device screen.

• Online Registration – Available for some upcoming open and scholastic events.

• Search the NWC website using Google™ custom search (this opens a new page).

• Northwest Chess blog - See reports on local chess events and occasional comments and discussion from NWC officers and editors.

• Now 502 issues! Northwest Chess magazine back issues - For a complete list of available issues (scanned prior to Sept. 2008, made from the print production files thereafter), please see the Northwest Chess Scanning Project page. Washington Chess Letter scans from the 1947-1964 time period are also available and included.

• Our games viewer has been updated to the Chessbase viewer, which has many modern features. You can view games from the Washington and Oregon state championships and some other regional chess tournaments in your browser. See the games page.

Note: See calendar for more info about upcoming chess events.

October - Advertised Chess Events

• See calendar for more info about upcoming chess events, including ad links.
• Oct 11, 18, 25 Seattle CC Autumn Leaves (Rds 2-4), Seattle, WA
• Oct 12 Monroe National Chess Day Rapid Championship, Monroe, WA
• Oct 12 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
• Oct 26-27 Seattle CC Autumn Adult Swiss, Seattle, WA

October - Scholastic Events

• Chess4Life offers various events such as classes, camps and quad tournaments.
• Oct 26-27 19th Susan Polgar Foundation National Open for Girls & Boys, Bellevue, WA

Important note: All extra copies of Northwest Chess are received and handled by Josh Sinanan. If you would like to request an extra copy or didn't receive your copy in the mail, please contact Josh, joshsinanan@gmail.com. Eric Holcomb is no longer the Business Manager. Please mail all checks and other written items to the Orlov Chess Academy address at the top of this page.

Report on Chess Olympiad — FIDE (International Chess Federation) has reported on the "spectacular conclusion" of the 45th Chess Olympiad, held Sept. 10-23 in Budapest. The event witnessed a record-breaking 188 teams in the Open section and 169 in the Women’s section, making it the largest Olympiad ever. According to FIDE, "With fierce competition and unforgettable games, India emerged victorious in both the Open and Women’s categories—a historic double gold that captivated fans worldwide." But the U.S. teams also performed very well—with a silver in the Open section, and a bronze in the Women's section. IM John Donaldson captains the U.S. team, and may have a report soon.

James McCormick (1936-2024) - We have been advised by IM John Donaldson that 7-time Washington State chess champion James McCormick, otherwise known as "Unkel Jim," passed away in September, at the age of 88. Jim won the championship for the first time in 1960, and for the last time in 1981 - see the list. Look for an obituary from John in an upcoming edition of NWC. Here is a story about Jim shared by GM Yasser Seirawan from a few years back at the St. Louis chess club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJlaz7aOC2A.

October magazine! The October 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Friday, September 27. It's a 32-page issue with "Answers to the puzzles in last month’s issue," "Coaching Corner" by Ralph Dubisch, "Interview with Michael Omori" by Ken Lee, "WCF Father’s Day Weekend Chess Festival," "Vidip Kona, New National Master!" and "Seattle Seafair Open" by Josh Sinanan, annual "USPS Statement of Ownership," and a back-cover photo of Riaan Babbar by Meiling Cheng. Cover: Michael Omori and Siva Sankrithi by Meiling Cheng. See the teaser edition (selected pages). The teaser edition contains the Michael Omori interview, but it's also available as a separate PDF file here.

Newest NM! Congratulations to Vidip Kona of Redmond, Wash., who recently became Washington State's newest National Master! Vidip achieved a U.S. Chess rating of 2201 as a result of winning 2nd Place in the 74th Oregon Open, held in Portland Aug. 31 - Sept. 2, 2024. Along the way, Vidip scored clutch wins against Oregon's Jason Cigan (2175) and Washington's Vikram Srivastava (2241). See the final round win against Vikram Srivastava (ChessBase link) that clinched the NM title for Vidip. US Chess crosstable link.

September magazine! The September 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Friday, August 30. It's a 32-page issue with "He Twins Tandem Simul" by Josh Sinanan, "Interview with Danny Musovski" by Ken Lee, "2024 US Junior Open (Washington Players Shine!)" by Siva, Sarang, and Vivaan Sankrithi, "M’ Lady’s Hand" by Glen O’Harra, "Washington State Elementary Chess Championship" by Josh Sinanan, "My Nationals" by Ted Wang, "Washington Open (Part Two)," "Mid-Year Scholastic Cup" and "Seattle Summer Kickoff" by Josh Sinanan, and a back-cover photo of Samuel He, Daniel He, and WCF President Josh Sinanan by Meiling Cheng. Cover: Samuel He (L) and Daniel He during their tandem simul at Blakely Hall in Issaquah. Photo by Meiling Cheng. See the teaser edition (selected pages). The teaser edition contains the Danny Musovski interview, but it's also available as a separate PDF file here.

August magazine! The August 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Friday, July 26. It's a 48-page issue with a Letter to the Editor by Xavier Palathingal, "Washington Open (Part One)" by Josh Sinanan, "A Conversation with Viktors Pupols" by Ani Barua, "2024 Reykjavik Open" by David Zhou, "Another Game from Reykjavik" by Sridhar Seshadri, "2024 WA vs BC Intermat" by Josh Sinanan, "76th Idaho Open" by Jay Simonson, "2024 Washington Senior Championship" and "2024 Washington Girls Championship" by Josh Sinanan, and a back-cover photo of Oscar Sprumont by Meiling Cheng. Cover: Aziz Degenbaev by Meiling Cheng. See the teaser edition (selected pages).

International Exchange Students - Youth for Understanding has a few international exchange students needing a host family this upcoming school year beginning in August. See the flyer with a resume for each availble student, or contact Olive Elwell, oelwell@yfu.org. There is also an opportunity to host a German exchange student via the CIEE high school foreign exchange program. See the scholastic opportunities page.

Young Master! Ted Wang, a 4th grader from St. Thomas School in Medina, became Washington State's youngest ever master on June 15. Ted achieved the title at the age of 10 years, 6 months, and 26 days, breaking the previous record held by IM Anthony He (11 yrs, 3 months, 20 days). Ted scored 2/2 at the Seattle Chess Club June Quads, hosted at the Seattle Chess Club in Greenlake and gained 21 points to boost his US Chess rating to 2211, scoring wins against LM Viktors Pupols (2200) and NM Yiding Lu (2231). Congratulations Ted! Also see the July NWC teaser edition. Photo courtesy of U.S. Chess.

July magazine! The July 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Friday, June 28. It's a 32-page issue with "Ted Wang Becomes Washington’s Youngest Ever NM" by Josh Sinanan, "2024 Oregon Senior Open" by Wilson Gibbins, "2nd Annual Eastside Open," "Second Annual Bellingham Open" and "Rockefeller + Barber Closed" by Josh Sinanan, "SCC 2nd Annual Friday Night Championship Invitational" by John Selsky and Fred Kleist, "Surreal" by Glen O’Harra, "Western States Regional CC For Woman And Girls" by Chouchan Airapetian, "Building Community Through Chess" by Ken Lee, and a back-cover photo of Megan Lee by Meiling Cheng. Cover: Dominic Colombo by Josh Sinanan. See the teaser edition (selected pages). The teaser edition contains the Gelareh Golanbar interview, but it's also available as a separate PDF file here.

See old news previously appearing on this page.

Some local tournament reports were previously posted to the Northwest Chess (NWC) blog, found at http://www.nwchess.com/blog/. Links are to NWC blog post or other report, usually US Chess or scholastic rating report. However, blogging activity has stopped. If you are interesting in blogging for your club's events, please let us know.