Sluggers eliminated by Sharks / Dallas Destiny the champs! – The Seattle Sluggers lost their 11/10 quarterfinal match against the Miami Sharks 2.5-1.5, and were eliminated from the playoffs. On December 6, the Dallas Destiny defeated the Boston Blitz in a tiebreak to win the 2008 league championship. See the U.S. Chess League website for more information, including game scores. See previous article "Sluggers slide into playoffs" by Josh Sinanan.

Chess Olympics! – The 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, November 12-25, 2008, is now over! Armenia, the tiny former Soviet republic, repeated as Chess Olympiad gold medalists, while Georgia won the women's division. The U.S. teams both won their final match, and both take bronze. More information can also be found on the USCF website.

In Memoriam – Herman Chiu, 1953-October 18, 2008. Chiu was a USCF master, and was Oregon chess co-champion in 1988, tied with Mike Montchalin. (See the list of Oregon champions.) His other chess accomplishments include an eight-way tie for first in the 2004 St. Louis Open, a three-way tie for first in the 1993 Southern Idaho Open, tied for first in the 2001 Western Idaho Open and Arkansas Open, clear first in the 2000 Normal, Illinois, April Open, clear first in the March 2000 Shoquoquon Open in Iowa and the Greater Peoria Open in Illinois. He continued competing in tournaments in various states through at least September of 2007.

And the Champion is ... Never mind the Phillies ... ask a chess player who's the world champion, and you're more likely to get the answer, "Viswanathan Anand of India!" (Chess players in Philadelphia may have a different response.) Anand won his scheduled 12-game world chess championship match in Bonn, Germany against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia by a score of 6.5-4.5, finishing on October 29 with a 24-move draw as white in game 11. Anand won three games in the match and lost only one game! For details and game scores, see the official match website.

National Chess Day! – October 9 was "National Chess Day," an occasion originally proclaimed by President Gerald Ford back in 1976. So get out there and play!!

Press Release!! Ralph Dubisch named as new Northwest Chess Editor.

Standings! Harmon Memorial Northwest Chess Grand Prix – 2008 standings thru September 16 are available. See who's in the lead! – See the GP page.

Website Rehosted! The Northwest Chess website has been rehosted on Dreamhost, which will give us increased space and capabilities for future growth and improvements. Gone are the ads which appeared at the top of each page, but that doesn't mean we can't help you with purchasing chess products and services – see our links page.

Coincidence discovered between chess and global warming! – See the Northwest Chess Business Manager's two articles appearing in the August and September magazines!

Winner Selected! – Congratulations to Bill Heywood of Portland, Oregon, winner of the "Free Room in Reno" contest which appeared in the August issue of Northwest Chess. Bill received a free hotel room during the 26th Annual Western States Open at the Sands Regency Hotel/Casino in Reno.

Strike Ends! Chess4Life offered a popular chess camp September 2nd to 12th during the Bellevue School District strike. – For info about other Chess4Life programs, simply email kids@chess4life.com or leave a message on 425-283-0549.

Tacoma CC at Puyallup Fair – The Tacoma Chess Club had a booth on the first floor of the Education Building at the Puyallup Fair, Sunday 9/14 and Monday, 9/15.

Terrace Park K-8 PTA-Sponsored Chess Club is looking for two coaches for the 2008-2009 season. See the scholastic coaches wanted page.

Local Juniors Compete in National Events – The 2008 Denker Tournament of Champions was held in Dallas, Texas. Northwest players were Ricky Selzler (Washington) and Daniel Gay (Oregon). The 2008 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls was held in Lubbock, Texas. Northwest players were Leanne Hwa (Washington) and Taylor Bailey (Oregon).

Note! Sales tax now in effect on NWC magazine subscriptions delivered to Washington addresses. Please see the membership application in the magazine section.

Press Release: Northwest Chess to begin collecting WA sales tax in July.

Now it's Elliott! It must run in the family – First, Raphael Neff of ChessHouse.com got married on Friday, June 13th! (Let's hope it's good luck for Raphael and Joanna!) Now, Elliott Neff of Chess4Life has announced that Elliott and Camilla were married, and celebrated their wedding with a reception on August 2nd in Redmond, Washington.

U.S. Championship! – The Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship concluded in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Congratulations to U.S. Chess Champion GM Yury Shulman, and to Women's Champion WGM/IM Anna Zatonskih. See http://monroi.com/the-2008-fkb-us-chess-championship-home.html.

Standings! Harmon Memorial Northwest Chess Grand Prix – 2008 standings thru April are available, along with complete 2007 GP results. Business manager Eric Holcomb mailed checks to the 2007 winners on Monday, 3/31. See the GP page.

"Wenatchee Scholastic Chess Club caters to young players" article in Wenatchee World newspaper. (March 12, 2008)

Relocation! Your business manager has relocated to Bend, Oregon. See the magazine information page for a new mailing address; mail sent to the old address will be forwarded.

Interesting! Article "Was It Only a Game?" by Dick Cavett on Bobby Fischer, plus a video of Cavett's 1971 interview of Fischer, a year before he won the world championship!
http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/was-it-only-a-game/?ref=opinion.

Kevin Korsmo appointed to Washington Court of Appeals – See article in the Spokane Spokesman-Review, "New appeals judge knows way around chessboard."

GM Yasser Seirawan video, explaining why he created S-Chess: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nht2TqabPr0.

Seirawan Chess kits and matching Marshall sets and boards are available for sale! Prices are: S-chess kit (two elephants and two hawks): $10.00; matching Marshall sets and boards: $50.00. You can see photos at http://www.seirawanchess.com/advantages.html.
If you'd like to buy one, please contact Bruce Harper at bruce@seirawanchess.com.

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer, 1943-2008 – One of the world's greatest chess geniuses, Bobby Fischer, died at the age of 64, according to Icelandic national TV and radio. Fischer spokesman Gardar Sverrisson said the former world chess champion died in a Reykjavik hospital on January 17. The US-born former world chess player, who became famous around the world for beating the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in 1972, had been seriously ill for some time. In the words of former WCF president Kent McNall, "This fills me with sadness. I remember so clearly the TIME magazine cover in my doctor's office as a kid. Bobby Fischer made me want to play chess, and I've done so my whole life because of him. I grew to believe he was not sane in later life – and for that reason I did not hold him responsible for the terrible things he said. To me, he'll always be a tragic genius ... but one of my heroes in life." Well said, Kent. Also, here's an excellent piece by King County Councilman Bob Ferguson about Fischer which appeared in the January 24 edition of The Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2004141350_bobbyfischer24.html?syndication=rss.

NWC Press Releases:

• Press Release #1: Northwest Chess combined Feb-Mar issue
• Press Release #2: Northwest Chess advertises in Verizon Yellow Pages
• Press Release #3: NWC Business Manager to move to Oregon

Wow! 100-Board Simultaneous Exhibition with NM Elliott Neff was held on January 12 to benefit the Jubilee REACH Center, Bellevue, WA.

Susan Polgar visited the University of Washington Chess Club on Wednesday, January 9.
Club Info: contact Gregory Alexander, gregory@tatiana.net. Report on the Polgar visit: http://www.chessdiscussion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=658.