Note: See calendar for more info about upcoming chess events.
Important Changes (Rev. Oct. 2020) - Please Read |
- If you are a resident of Washington State, your
Northwest Chess subscription includes a state chess
membership. For WCF (Washington) membership options, please continue to use this website.
All WCF memberships are considered "Premium," and include
benefits such as free registration to certain seminars.
- If you are a resident of Oregon, your Northwest Chess
subscription to paper copies includes a "Premium" OCF state
membership. You can also choose a "Basic" OCF membership with
online-only access to NWC magazine. For now, you should contact
OCF directly if you want this option. Also see the
OCF website.
- For Idaho (ICA) membership options, please visit the
ICA website.
These options include a "Premium" membership with a NWC subscription.
- For new subscriptions and renewals,
NWC no longer guarantees that there will continue to be 12
printed magazines each year. There could be
fewer editions, and/or publication could be in an online format.
At present, we expect that printed magazines will continue to be available
for all 2025-dated editions.
- PayPal Subscription/Membership Form |
Printable Form (PDF file).
- In 2018, the NWC board decided to add "Foundation" to its corporate
name, becoming the Northwest Chess Foundation. We will completely update the
website once this name is officially registered with the State of Washington
and the IRS. This does not affect the name of the magazine - it's still Northwest Chess!
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February - Advertised Chess Events
- See calendar for more info about upcoming chess events, including ad links.
- Feb 7, 14, 21, 28 Seattle CC Cabin Fever, Seattle, WA
- Feb 8-9 and 15-17
Washington State Championship, Lakeside Upper School, Seattle, WA
- Feb 21 The Inland Classic Simul & Blitz events, West Central Abbey fellowship hall, Spokane, WA
- Feb 22-23 Seattle CC Winter Adult Swiss, Seattle, WA
- Feb 22-23 The Inland Classic (presented by the Spokane Chess Club), Lakeland Junior HS, Rathdrum, ID
February - Scholastic Events
- Chess4Life offers various events such as classes, camps and quad tournaments.
- Feb 8 HS-MS Olympic Regional, Poulsbo, WA
- Feb 15 HS-MS South King County Regional, Auburn, WA
- Feb 17 Presidential Scholastic, Chinook MS, Bellevue, WA
- Feb 28-Mar 1 Wa. State HS Chess Team Championship and All Comers Tournament, Stanwood, 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.
February magazine!
The February 2025 issue of Northwest Chess
was mailed on Friday, 1/24. It's a 48-page issue with
"Washington Class Championships," "Veterans Day Scholastic,"
"Challenger’s Cup Scholastic" and "Saint Anne Celtic Challenge Fall 2024" by Josh Sinanan,
"Oregon Junior Closed" by Wilson Gibbins,
"US Senior Women’s Chess Championship" by Mary Kuhner,
and a back-cover photo of Christian Jordan by Josh Sinanan.
Cover: Jinmo Nam by Josh Sinanan.
See the teaser edition (selected pages).
January magazine!
The January 2025 issue of Northwest Chess
was mailed on Friday, 1/3. It's a 32-page issue with
"WCF Membership Rates Rise January 1 by Josh Sinanan,"
"2024 SPFNO by SPFNO Organizers,"
"OWS Fall Tornado" and "Monroe National Chess Day Rapid Championship" by Josh Sinanan,
"2024 Oregon Class Championships" by Wilson Gibbins, and a back-cover
photo of "Young Fellow With His Pirate Facepaint!" by Meiling Cheng.
Cover: Josh Sinanan by Meiling Cheng.
See the teaser edition (selected pages).
Gukesh D. is new World Chess Champion! From 25 November to 12
December, defending champion Ding Liren (of China) and his challenger
Gukesh Dommaraju (of India) played for the World Chess Championship in Singapore.
In the event of a draw after 14 games, a play-off was to follow, but Gukesh
won game 14 and the match by a score of 7.5-6.5, becoming the youngest-ever
(age 18) undisputed world chess champion!
See the story on ChessBase.
December magazine!
The December 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Tuesday, 12/3.
It's a 32-page issue with
"Washington Women’s Championship" by Josh Sinanan,
"Michael Franett 1941-2004" by John Donaldson,
"New Adventure Scholastic" by Josh Sinanan,
"Interview With Susan Polgar" by Ken Lee,
"Bobby Ferguson Games" by Ralph Dubisch,
"News Flash: Austin Liu Becomes National Master!" by Josh Sinanan,
"Pioneer Joe’s 1K / The Fall Open" by Steven Breckenridge,
and a back-cover photo of Rekha Sagar and Mary Hjort by Meiling Cheng.
Cover: Erin Bian by Meiling Cheng.
See the teaser edition (selected pages).
The teaser edition contains the Polgar interview, but
it's also available as a separate PDF file here.
Newest NM (another one)!
Congratulations to Austin Liu of Sammamish, Wash.,
who recently became Washington State's newest National Master! Austin
achieved a U.S. Chess rating of 2202 as a result of scoring 3.5/5 points at
the Washington Challenger's Cup, held in Bellevue, Nov. 10-11. Along the
way, Austin scored clutch wins against Washington's Aarav B. Mohan (1690),
William Summerfield (1659), and Oregon's Isaac Vega (1811).
See Austin's
recent win (on ChessBase) against IM Bachin in Reno that propelled him to a
20-point rating gain and a share of 2nd place in the tournament.
Also see the Challenger's Cup crosstable.
Featured in Chess Life! - Local junior Miranda Meng was
featured in the November Chess Life magazine (pages 16-17), as a
result of Miranda's big win at the 2024 Pan-American Youth Championship
(gold medal for Girls U10, held July 15-20 in Orlando, Fla.).
Miranda and her father Fanqi were in Italy for the FIDE World Cadet
Chess Championships, Nov. 14-27, in Montesilvano, Italy. Miranda was the
official U.S. representative in the Girls U10 division, and was immensely
excited to represent the Open Window School Bobcats and Team USA in her
first international competition! Website: https://www.worldcadetschess2024.com/.
Miranda played against the best players from each participating country in her category -
see the roster of players on Chess-Results.com.
Notes on November magazine - First,
we'd like to congratulate editor Jeff Roland for his 12th
complete year (144th issue) of Northwest Chess! Thanks, Jeff!!
Second, we'd like to let you know that in "From the Publisher’s Desk" by
Duane Polich, Duane explains why he's personally endorsing
former Washington State Chess Champion Bob Ferguson for Washington State
Governor. While many chess players will support Duane (and Bob), this is a
personal endorsement and was not voted on by the Northwest Chess Board of Directors. Updates -
See a post-election story on KUOW (NPR network) about Ferguson as chess master and governor-elect. and
see some of Ferguson's chess games on ChessBase.
November magazine!
The November 2024 issue of Northwest Chess
was mailed on Friday, November 1. It's a 48-page issue with
"Oregon Open" by Wilson Gibbins,
"Interview with Megan Lee" by Ken Lee,
"From the Publisher’s Desk" by Duane Polich,
"Seattle Chess Classic" and "Vancouver Open" by Josh Sinanan,
"The Death of a Legend: James McCormick (1936-2024)" by John Donaldson,
"A Miniature from the 2024 Seattle Seafair Open" by Chad Boey,
"Errata October 2024 Issue,"
"Washington vs British Columbia Challenge Match," "Seattle Summer Sizzler" and "Seattle Classic Scholastic" by Josh Sinanan,
and a back-cover photo of Jim Tarjan by Meiling Cheng.
Cover: Zoey Tang by Meiling Cheng.
See the teaser edition (selected pages).
The teaser edition contains the Megan Lee interview, but
it's also available as a separate PDF file here.
See old news previously appearing on this page.
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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.
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Scholastic Events (January-February):
- Feb 1 HS-MS Southwest Washington Regional, Olympia, WA
- Feb 1 Wade King K-8 Qualifier, Bellingham, WA
- Feb 1 HS-MS Vancouver Regional, Vancouver, WA
- Feb 1 Chess Mates Winter Fest, Cascadia ES
- Jan 25 HS-MS Eastern Washington Regional, Cheney, WA
- Jan 25 Decatur Gatorfest, Decatur ES
- Jan 20 WA Junior Open, Interlake HS, Bellevue, WA
- Jan 18 HS-MS Pierce County Regional, Tacoma, WA
- Jan 18 Husky Scholastic Chess Tournament, Moro, OR
- Jan 17-18 HS State Individual Championship, Lakeside, Seattle, WA
- Jan 11 Cascade Enrichment Casual Night Chess, Snoqualmie, WA
- Jan 11 Islands Middle School, High School Chess Championships, Anacortes, WA
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Open or Invitational Events (January-February):
- Feb 1 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
- Feb 1 Monroe Rapid Knights Challenge, Monroe Senior Center, Monroe, WA
- Jan 31 Fifth Friday G/15 (at SCC), Seattle, WA
- Jan 26 WA Presidential Blitz, Blakeley Hall, Issaquah, WA
- Jan 25-26 WA President's Cup, Blakeley Hall, Issaquah, WA
- Jan 25 2nd Free Chess Tournament at Mukilteo Library!, Mukilteo, WA
- Jan 3-24 January Thaw (at SCC), Seattle, WA
- Jan 11-12 Seattle City Championship (at SCC), Seattle, WA
- Jan 4 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
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Michael M. and coach Travis Olson at Mukilteo Library event. Credit: Alex Tkachuk. |
Scholastic Events (November-December):
- Dec 21-22 WA Junior Invitational, Bellevue, WA
- Dec 21
Mukilteo Free Library Arena Tournament, Mukilteo, WA
- Dec 14 Burlington Library Youth Chess Tournament, Burlington, WA
- Dec 8 Whatcom Girls Chess Club, Ferndale, WA
- Dec 4 Samantha Smith Scholastic, Samantha Smith ES, Sammamish, WA
- Nov 29 WA Class Gukesh Thanksgiving Scholastic, Redmond, WA
- Nov 24 St. Anne Celtic Challenge (Fall 2024), St. Anne School, Seattle, WA
- Nov 23 Franklin Fall State Qualifier (K-8), Franklin Academy, Bellingham, WA
- Nov 11 Veterans Day Scholastic, Chinook Middle School, Bellevue, WA
- Nov 10 Challengers Cup Scholastic, Chinook Middle School, Bellevue, WA
- Nov 9 State Mini-Teams Championships (6-12), Everett (Mukilteo), WA
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Open or Invitational Events (November-December):
- Jan 4 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
- Dec 29 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA
- Dec 6-27 Chess City Swiss (at SCC), Seattle, WA
- Dec 21-22 Washington Winter Classic, Bellevue, WA
- Dec 21 Free Chess Tournament at Mukilteo Library!, Mukilteo, WA
- Dec 14 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
- Dec 7 Monroe Winter Rapid Championship, Monroe Senior Center, Monroe, WA
- Nov 30-Dec 1 Seattle CC Piper Memorial Adult Swiss, Seattle, WA
- Nov 29-Dec 1 Washington Class Championships, Redmond Marriott, Redmond, WA
Also see the linked flyer for fun side events!
- Nov 24 Seattle CC November Tornado, Seattle, WA
- Nov 1-22 Seattle CC November Rains, Seattle, WA
- Nov 16 Seattle CC November Quads, Seattle, WA
- Nov 10-11 Washington Challenger's Cup, Chinook Middle School, Bellevue, WA
- Nov 2-3 Oregon Class Championships, Portland, OR
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Scholastic Events (September-October):
- Nov 9 State Mini-Teams Championships (6-12), Everett (Mukilteo), WA
- Nov 10 Challengers Cup Scholastic, Chinook Middle School, Bellevue, WA
- Oct 26-27 19th Susan Polgar Foundation National Open for Girls & Boys, Bellevue, WA
- Oct 5 Open Window School Fall Tornado, Open Window School, Bellevue, WA
- Sep 22 New Adventure Scholastic, Chinook Middle School, Bellevue, WA
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Open or Invitational Events (September-October):
- Oct 26-27 Seattle CC Autumn Adult Swiss, Seattle, WA
- Oct 4-25 Seattle CC Autumn Leaves, Seattle, WA
- Oct 12 Monroe National Chess Day Rapid Championship, Monroe, WA
- Oct 12 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
- Oct 4-6 or 5-6 41st Annual Reno Western States Open, Reno, NV
- Sep 29 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA
- Sep 6-27 Seattle CC Pumpkin Spice, Seattle, WA
- Sep 21-22 Seattle CC Fall Open, Seattle, WA
- Sep 7-8 Washington Women's Championship, Microsoft, Redmond, WA
- Sep 7 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA
- Aug 31-Sep 2 (Labor Day Weekend) 74th Oregon Open, Portland, OR
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See old tournament news previously appearing on this page.
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