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Northwest Chess — Chess News from Washington, Oregon and Idaho

Northwest Chess is a non-profit corporation registered in Washington State.
Address: NWC c/o Orlov Chess Academy, 4174 148TH AVE NE BLDG I STE M, REDMOND, WA 98052-5164.
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Washington Chess Champions 1862 to Date
Year(s) Champion(s) - See summary table below
for title and birth/death years where known
Tournament Site
City (WA) or other location
Number of
Players
Winning
Score
1862-1875 Clarence B. "Pop" Bagley
1875-1890 Andrew W. Piper (see notes)
1890-1895 Griffith Davies
1895-1915 Earle Robinson Jenner
1915-1925 William Andrews Dickey
1926 Otto A. Case
1927 Arvid Johnson
1928-1929 Vivian Childs Klug
Where available, the link under "Number of Players" is to a PDF file of the event crosstable
as compiled by Russell Miller from old issues of WCL, NWC and other sources.
1930-1931 Jacob Leonard Sheets
1932 Jacob Leonard Sheets (see notes) Seattle Chess Club 6 4 / 5
1933 Jacob Leonard Sheets Seattle Chess Club 10 8 / 9
1934 Olaf Ivan Ulvestad Seattle Chess Club 10 8.5 / 9
Scan of 1934 tournament booklet with games – thanks to Andy Ansel for permission to use.
1935 James Hurt Seattle 8 6 / 7
1936 Jacob Leonard Sheets Seattle Chess Club 8 6 / 7
1937 James Hurt Seattle Chess Club 9 7 / 8
1938 James Hurt Seattle Chess Club 6 7.5 / 10
1939 Hugh Enochson Seattle Chess Club 6 8 / 10
1940 Jacob Leonard Sheets
1941 James Hurt
1942 Jacob Leonard Sheets
1943-1946 (Lapse due to World War II - see notes)
1947 Jacob Leonard Sheets
1948 Charles K. Joachim Seattle Chess Club 19 5.5 / 6
1949 Robert C. Stork Seattle Chess Club 20 5 / 5
1950 (no tournament)
1951 Charles Standish Ballantine Assembly Hotel, Seattle 12 9.5 / 11
1952 Olaf Ivan Ulvestad (see notes) Assembly Hotel, Seattle 9 7.5 / 9
1953 Elmars Zemgalis Seattle Chess Club 10 9 / 9
1954 Jacob Leonard Sheets Seattle Chess Club 9 7.5 / 8
1955 William Bills Seattle Chess Club 6 4.5 / 5
1956 Olaf Ivan Ulvestad Seattle Chess Club 6 3.5 / 5
1957 Robert Edberg Seattle Chess Club 6 4 / 5
1958 Viesturs Seglins Seattle 4 5.5 / 6
1959 Elmars Zemgalis Seattle Chess Club 7 6 / 6
1960 James H. McCormick Seattle Chess Club 6 5 / 5
1961 Viktors Pupols (see notes) Don Eilmes Home, North Seattle 12 4 / 5
1962 Viesturs Seglins Max Mage Home, West Seattle 6 3.5 / 5
1963 Gerald Ronning Max Mage Home, West Seattle 8 6 / 7
1964 Gerald Ronning (see notes) Seattle Chess Club 4 + 1 2.5 / 4
1965 James H. McCormick Seattle Chess Club 7 5 / 6
1966 James H. McCormick Seattle Chess Club 7 6 / 6
1967 James H. McCormick Seattle 5 3.5 / 4
1968 James H. McCormick (see notes) Seattle 8 7 / 8
1969 James H. McCormick (see notes) Seattle 8 7 / 8
1970 Michael J. Franett Seattle Chess Club 8 5 / 7
1971 John A. Braley J.K. Gill, Northgate Shopping Center, Seattle 8 7 / 7
See John Braley's seven winning games with light notes by IM John Donaldson: cbv | pgn formats.
1972 Michael J. Franett
See Seattle Times article/photo
Seattle 8 6 / 7
1973 Michael J. Franett
See newspaper article/photos (round 1)
See newspaper article (round 3)
Bon Marche,
Northgate Mall, Seattle
8 5.5 / 7
1974 Viktors Pupols
See newspaper article/photo
Seattle 8 5 / 7
1975 Johnny D. Walker
See newspaper article/photo
Seattle 8 5.5 / 7
1976 Yasser Seirawan (see notes)
See newspaper article about seeding
Seattle 8 5 / 7
1977 Yasser Seirawan Seattle 8 6 / 7
1978 Viktors Pupols & Eric Tangborn
(see notes)
University of Washington, Seattle 8 5 / 7
1979 John Donaldson Seattle 8 5 / 7
1980 John Donaldson Mercer Island 8 6.5 / 7
1981 James H. McCormick Mercer Island Community Center 8 5.5 / 7
1982 Neil V. Salmon & Bill H. McGeary Tacoma Chess Club 8 5 / 7
1983 John A. Braley Bellevue 8 6 / 7
1984 Bobby Ferguson Bellevue 8 5.5 / 7
1985 Kent Pullen & Jeremy D. Silman Bellevue 7 4.5 / 6
1986 Matthew Edwards & John A. Braley Burien Library 8 4.5 / 7
1987 Bobby Ferguson Seattle Chess Club 8 5 / 7
1988 Matthew Edwards West Seattle 8 5 / 7
1989 Viktors Pupols Olympia 10 7.5 / 9
1990 Neil V. Salmon Redmond (Microsoft Campus) 8 5.5 / 7
1991 Neil V. Salmon University of Washington, Seattle 8 5.5 / 7
Beginning in 1992, the links under "Number of Players" are to the official USCF crosstables
giving all the players' names, ratings and results.
Additional sections (such as the Premier section) are also included in these crosstables.
1992 Georgi Orlov Seattle 10 8 / 9
1993 Georgi Orlov Seattle 10 8 / 9
1994 Michael Oshiro & Neil V. Salmon Seattle 10 6 / 9
1995 Georgi Orlov & Elena Donaldson Seattle 10 7.5 / 9
1996 Georgi Orlov Seattle 10 8.5 / 9
1997 Georgi Orlov Tacoma 10 8.5 / 9
1998 Slava Mikhailuk Seattle 10 9 / 9
1999 Georgi Orlov Seattle 10 7.5 / 9
2000 William Schill Renton 10 6 / 9
2001 William Schill & Harley Greninger Seattle 10 6.5 / 9
2002 Neil V. Salmon Seattle 10 6 / 9
2003 Slava Mikhailuk Bellevue (Oki Foundation) 10 7 / 9
2004 Slava Mikhailuk Bellevue (Oki Foundation) 10 7.5 / 9
2005 Slava Mikhailuk Bellevue (Oki Foundation) 10 7.5 / 9
2006 Slava Mikhailuk Tacoma (UW Tac. campus) 10 7 / 9
2007 Ignacio Perez Seattle & Shoreline 10 7 / 9
2008 Gregory Serper Seattle & Shoreline 10 8 / 9
2009 Costin Cozianu Redmond & Bellevue 10 7 / 9
2010 Howard Chen Seattle Chess Club 10 8 / 9
2011 Howard Chen Seattle Chess Club 10 6.5 / 9
2012 Howard Chen Seattle Chess Club 10 7 / 9
2013 Ignacio Perez Seattle Chess Club 10 6 / 9
2014 Nat Koons Seattle Chess Club 9 5.5 / 8
2015 Roland Feng Seattle Chess Club 10 6.5 / 9
2016 Michael Lee Microsoft (Redmond campus) 10 7 / 9
2017 Roland Feng & Nick Raptis Microsoft (Redmond campus) 10 6.5 / 9
2018 Roland Feng Microsoft (Redmond campus) 10 7.5 / 9
2019 Roland Feng, Anthony He and Michael Lee Microsoft (Redmond campus) 9 5.5 / 8
2020 Megan Lee Pacific Northwest Chess Center, Kirkland 10 7.5 / 9
2021 Anthony He Online via Chess.com 10 7.5 / 9
Beginning in 2022, we are no longer providing a separate webpage on this website
for the state championships, however, the events are covered in NWC magazine.
The links under "Number of Players" are to the official USCF crosstables.
2022 Megan Lee Orlov Academy - Seattle & Redmond, WA 10 8 / 9
2023 Brandon Jiang Microsoft (Redmond campus) 10 7 / 9
2024 {In progress} Microsoft (Redmond campus) 10  
 
Notes on Washington Chess Champions 1862 to Date

1875-1890 – Andrew W. Piper had a store in downtown Seattle. A park area in Seattle that was his homestead now exists. He is listed as Andrew in the WA Death Index, having died in 1904 which matches other information. [Research by Russell Miller.]

1932 – According to "History of Washington Chess" by John Nourse (Aug. 1950), "There was no Washington State Tournament in existence until 1932." (Presumably match play before then.) See the above-referenced 1934 tournament booklet for more information.

1944 - A recently discovered article in the 30 Jan 1944 Seattle Daily Times states that "Leonard Sheets, defending titlest and Richard Dightman via this afternoon as the annual state championships get underway at the Seattle Chess Club, 408 Marion Street. The first player winning five games will take this match."

1952 – Score of 7.5 out of 9 included a playoff game.

1961 – Vik Pupols won the tourney on a tie-break.

1964 – Vik Pupols won the tourney in 1964, but Gerald Ronning took title in a match.

1968 – Score includes playoff win by James H. McCormick over Robert Holzinger.

1969 – Score includes playoff win by James H. McCormick over Kent Pullen.

1976 – Tournament was held in February. The following players tied: Vik Pupols, Ray Fasano, Yasser Seirawan. The playoffs were to be March 30-April 13 per article in April NWC by the TD Robert Karch. May NWC has short article about the playoff results. Seirawan won the playoff 3-1. Pupols was 2.5-1.5 and Ray 0.5-3.5.

1978 – Pupols-Tangborn playoff match ended in 2-2 score.

1985 – Event started with eight players, however Ken Tomkins did not finish 50% of his games.

 
Number of Years as Champion (Tie counts as fractional year.)
(*) In early years, player may not have been required to defend title every year.
(**) Sheets would have 13 years (tied with Bagley) if war years were included.
#Years Champion Title Born/Died
20 Earle Jenner (*)   1875-1933
15 Andrew W. Piper (*)   1828-1904
13 Clarence B. Bagley (*)   1843-1932
11 William A. Dickey (*)   1862-1943
9 Jacob Leonard Sheets (**)   1904-1980
7 James McCormick   1936-
5.5 Georgi Orlov IM 1964-
5 Griffith Davies (*)    
5 Slava Mikhailuk  FM 1971-
4 James Hurt   1917-1999
4 Neil V. Salmon  NM 1955-
3.5 Viktors Pupols LM 1935-
3 Olaf Ivan Ulvestad   1912-2000
3 Michael J. Franett   1941-2004
3 Howard Chen NM 1993-
2.83 Roland Feng FM 2000-
2.5 John A. Braley   1944-2017
2 V. Childs Klug    
2 Elmars Zemgalis   1923-2014
2 Viesturs Seglins   1926-2016
2 Gerald Ronning    
2 Yasser Seirawan GM 1960-
2 John Donaldson IM 1958-
2 Bobby Ferguson    
2 Ignacio Perez FM 1967-2022
2 Megan Lee WIM  
1.5 Matthew Edwards   1959-
1.5 William Schill FM 1957-
1.33 Michael Lee IM 1993-
1.33 Anthony He FM 2005-
1 Otto A. Case   1872-1957
1 Arvid Johnson    
1 Hugh Enochson    
1 Charles K. Joachim   1905-1980
1 Robert C. Stork    
1 Charles Standish Ballantine   1929-2008
1 William Bills    
1 Robert Edberg   1929-2015
1 John D. Walker   1948-2018
1 Gregory Serper GM 1969-
1 Costin Cozianu FM 1973-
1 Nat Koons NM  
1 Nick Raptis FM  
1 Brandon Jiang NM  
0.5 Eric Tangborn IM 1961-
0.5 Bill H. McGeary   1957-
0.5 Kent Pullen   1942-2003
0.5 Jeremy D. Silman IM 1954-2023
0.5 Elena Donaldson WGM 1957-2012
0.5 Michael Oshiro   1970-
0.5 Harley Greninger NM 1960-
157 Total    
5 Yrs. with no tournament    
51 No. of different players