For NWC magazine contents and PDF files, see the magazine back issues page.

December magazine! The December issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 12/2. It's a 32-page issue with "Free Chess Lectures Weekly" and "Norman Friedman Memorial" by Jeffrey Roland, "Washington Blitz Championship," "Washington Game/60" and "Washington Challenger’s Cup" by Josh Sinanan, "Corporate/Collegiate Tournament" by Florian Helff, "Northern Idaho Open" by Adam Porth, "Arliss Dietz" by Brian Berger, "Chess Peace Cartoons" by Tony Sullivan, "Oregon Chess News" by Frank Niro, "Turkey Open" by Mike Murray,  "Chess Vignette (Yuri)" by Karen Schmidt, "Sridhar Seshadri in Iceland at Fischer Grave (photo)" by Sridhar Seshadri, and a back-cover photo of Corey Longhurst by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: Joshua Price at the Norman Friedman Memorial. Photo credit: Jeffrey Roland.

1947 WA vs. BC Match! Another "blast from the past!" Old issues of Chess Life are now available online, and Rusty Miller discovered that the April 1947 edition page 1 reports on the third international match between Washington and British Columbia. The first two matches were held in 1946. Go have a look to see the outcome of the first three matches! Update: A recent edition of the BCCF Bulletin has an interesting article about BC vs. WA matches in the 1940's. Contact WCF President Josh Sinanan for more information.

November magazine! The November issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 10/31. It's a 32-page issue with "Megan Lee Wins WA Women’s Championship" by Josh Sinanan, Chess Vignette “Karen Schmidt’s Chess Story” by Karen Schmidt, "Eastern Idaho Open" by Jay Simonson, "Keplinger’s Revenge" by David Zaklan, "Chess At The Washington State Fair" by Bill Rogers, "Tacoma Report" by Gary Dorfner, "Seattle Fall Open" by Carol Kleist, "Vancouver Open" by Josh Sinanan, a Miscellaneous Game, "Donaldson Wins FIDE’s Botvinnik Award" by Rusty Miller/John Donaldson, and a back-cover photo of Jacob Mayer at Applebee’s by Josh Sinanan. Cover: Megan Lee, 2019 Washington Women’s Champion, by Josh Sinanan.

Scholarship Available! A "One Move Ahead Chess Scholarship" in the amount of $1,000, funded by the Liebenthal family, is open for applications until March 23, 2020. The scholarship is open to any students high school and above. See the linked page to apply.

Attention PNWCC Players - Pacific Northwest Chess Center in Kirkland no longer uses the NWC online registration system, as of October. Players should instead visit the PNWCC Schedule & Registration page for information. For a complete list of chess events advertised with NWC, please see the NWC calendar page.

Donaldson Award! As reported by FIDE (the International Chess Federation), "Chess trainers are often behind the scenes but they are the driving force of a team or individual success! The FIDE Trainers’ Commission (TRG) announced the Trainer Awards results for the best achievements in 2018. The Mikhail Botvinnik Award, for best trainer of men or a team in an open event, goes to William John Donaldson." (As most of you know, IM Donaldson is from the Northwest, and has been actively involved in chess at all levels for many years. See the November magazine for more information.) New! - Also see Mechanics' Institute Chess Room Newsletter #902 (Jan. 2020) for an article about Donaldson receiving the award trophy.

Ruse de Guerre! A "blast from the past!" - With the help of Russell Miller and Esther Schrader, we're pleased to present an extensive tournament booklet with many games from the Ruse de Guerre Chess Club in Camas, Wash., back in 1964. See: RdG 1964 tournament booklet chapters 1-3 (27 MB) and RdG 1964 tournament booklet chapters 4-6 (23 MB). More club publications (newsletters): Jan 1964 (16 MB) | Jan 1965 (9 MB) | Apr to Sep 1965 (combined, 9 MB).

Volunteers wanted for chess activity at a youth detention center in Washington. See the coaches/volunteers wanted page. (Posted 9/22/2019)

October magazine! The October issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 9/25. Note that the magazine page size is now slightly smaller at 8 x 10 inches. It's a 32-page issue with "Baumanns Inducted Into The ICA Hall Of Fame" by Jef Leifeste, "ICA Hall Of Fame" by Jeffrey Roland, "Letter To The Editor" by John P. Christy, "69th Annual Oregon Open" by Owen McCoy, "Meet Chad Lykins: A Champion Of Scholastic Chess" by Sarah McCoy, "Josh Sinanan Interview" by Carol Kleist, "Seattle Seafair" by Carol and Fred Kleist, "Mahajan Tops Third Seattle Classic" by Josh Sinanan, "A Chess Camp Just For Girls" by Sarah McCoy, "Engineering Consultants, Inc." and "Trader Joe’s Of Boise" by Alise Pemsler, and a back-cover photo of "Cake at ICA Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony" by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: Ellen and David Baumann Inducted Into ICA Hall Of Fame by Jeffrey Roland.

NWC Wins CJA Award! Northwest Chess is pleased to once again be the recipient of the Chess Journalist Award for Best State Magazine / Newsletter, one of "The Top Four" awards, awarded by the Chess Journalists of America (CJA). The 2019 award certificate, shown here, names Editor Jeffrey Roland. Congratulations to Jeff and all of our NWC magazine contributors. This is six years in a row for Jeff!

New master! Congratulations to Eric Zhang of Bellevue, Wash., who achieved a U.S. Chess rating of 2200 as a result of scoring 4 out of 5 points at the 2019 Vancouver Open, held at the Vancouver Hampton Inn & Suites, Aug. 10-11. Along the way, Eric scored wins against Yu-Chen Liang (1792), David Murray (1872), and Zoey Tang (2017). Way to go, Eric!! See the U.S. Chess crosstable. Photo: Eric (right) and WCF President Josh Sinanan.

September magazine! The September issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 9/4, after a short delay. It's a 32-page issue with Editorial by Jeffrey Roland and Ralph Dubisch, a Letter To The Editor by Jerry Richards, "First North Idaho Championship" by Adam Porth, "ICA Summer Classic" by Jeffrey Roland, "PNWCC And Jim Tarjan" by Jim Tarjan, "2019 Best Magazine/Newsletter and award certificate" from Chess Journalists of America, "Emerald City Open" by Carol and Fred Kleist, "Bob Ferguson Fundraising Simul" by Duane Polich, and back-cover art of Bob Ferguson drawn during play at Fundraiser Simul by Eli Lara. Cover: Michael Cambareri playing at North Idaho Championship by Adam Porth.

August magazine! The August issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 7/24. It's a 32-page issue with "Las Vegas International Chess Festival" by Nancy Keller, Las Vegas International (Joshua’s Perspective) by Joshua Grabinsky, "In Memory Of Ernst Rasmussen" by Richard Golden, "Sam And Ernie, A Retrospective" by Michael Murray, "Washingtonian Wallops Wimps At World Open" by Tom Purser, Ernst Rasmussen on Dec. 2010 NWC Cover by Russell Miller, Ernst Rasmussen on May 1990 NWC Cover by Rob Rittenhouse, "Letter to Oregon Northwest Chess Subscribers," "More Games From The Washington Open" with various games annotated by Ralph Dubisch, "ICA Players’ Memorial" by Jef Leifeste, and a back-cover photo of "Finn Belew at the 2019 ICA Players’ Memorial" by Jennifer Leifeste. Cover: Joshua Grabinsky at the National Open by Nancy Keller.

Chess in Seattle! See the story from The Seattle Times, Chess is credited with helping change Westlake Park for the better. Meet one of Westlake’s regulars. (7/15/2019)

July magazine! The July issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 6/26. It's a 32-page issue with "Idaho Senior Open" and "Idaho Scholastic Tournament Of Champions" by Jeffrey Roland, "Inland Empire Open" by Kevin Korsmo, "2019 Washington State Invitational Brilliancy Prizes" by Michael Hosford, "2019 Washington Open" by Josh Sinanan, "44th Annual Keres Memorial" by Roger Patterson, "Unkel Vik’s Solutions From June 2019 Issue" by Viktors Pupols, and a back-cover photo of Alex Goodwin and William Wang by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: Daniel Shubin at the 2019 Washington Open by Sten Petrov.

Maryhill Chess Set Gallery Open! The GEORGE E. MUEHLECK, JR. GALLERY OF INTERNATIONAL CHESS SETS at the Maryhill Museum of Art near Goldendale, Washington is open for the season until November 15; see the website for details.

June magazine! The June issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 5/28. A limited number of copies were available at the Washington Open. It's a 32-page issue with "16th Annual Idaho Scholastic Girls Championship" by Jeffrey Roland, "Washington Senior Championship" by Gary Dorfner, "Grand Pacific Open" by Stephanie Velea, "Washington Championship Game" by Michael Lee, "Washington State Championship Brilliancy Prizes" by Daniel He, "Washington State Premier Brilliancy Prizes" by Samuel He, "Washington State Challengers Brilliancy Prizes" by Mark Smith, "Seattle Spring Open" by Carol and Fred Kleist, "Idaho Open" by Jay Simonson, "9th Annual Oregon Senior Open" and "2019 Portland Spring Open" by Brian Berger, and back-cover images relating to "50 Years Ago — June 1959 Washington Chess Letter — Buz Eddy became editor." Cover: Ava Gaylord vs. Temiloluwa Aderogba, by Jeffrey Roland.

Seshadri represented Washington in GAMMA Reykjavík Open - This international event, also known as the Bobby Fischer Memorial Open, took place April 8-16 in Reykjavík, Iceland, at the beautiful Harpa convention center. Sridhar Seshadri, who advertises his chess academy with NWC, played for the first time in this event. Although "Sri" is certainly an underdog with his FIDE rating of 1603 (US Chess 1739), his recent performance of a draw with Canadian National Master Howard Wu said he may have good chances, and bring laurels to Washington State, if he takes up his game seriously! We wished Sri good luck and a safe and successful trip to Iceland. (Watch for a story in the June edition of NWC.) Photo: Sri in Iceland with a couple of interesting sculptures.

May magazine! The May issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 4/25. It's a 32-page issue with "For The Record" by the Northwest Chess Staff, "Another Name On The Trophy" by Jason Cigan, "Washington President’s Cup" by Travis Olson, "The Game That Matters" by Jeffrey Roland, "Boise Chess Club (Poem)" by Glen O’Harra, "From The Business Manager" by Eric Holcomb, and a back-cover cartoon of "Odie and Morgan playing chess" by Brian Berger. Cover: Jason Cigan by Andrei Botez. An interview with Jason Cigan is also available on The Perpetual Chess Podcast.

Nakamura wins U.S. Chess Championship! The annual U.S. Chess Championship (and also the Women's Championship) were held March 18 to April 1 in St. Louis. See the website and also the final John Henderson blog post, and congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura for winning the championship with a final-round victory. J. Yu is the winner of the U.S. Women’s Championship, with a very impressive score of 10 out of 11 possible points.

Fundraiser! The Seattle Sluggers and Pacific Northwest Chess Center are teaming up to run a joint fundraiser! This is in an effort to help offset the costs of running the Sluggers' GMs each week in the PRO Chess League and to support the development of the PNWCC, which provides a first-class chess playing experience in the Northwest. All funds raised will be evenly split between the Seattle Sluggers and the PNWCC. For info or to donate: https://www.pnwchesscenter.org/donation-and-volunteers. PNWCC is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.

April magazine! The April issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 3/27. It's a 32-page issue with "2019 Idaho Closed" by Jeffrey Roland, "2019 Idaho Closed" by Barry Eacker, "ICA Tip Of The Month" by Adam Porth, "2019 Idaho Scholastic Championship" by Alise Pemsler, "February 2019 PCC Game/60" by Brian Berger, "Dave Collyer Memorial" by Kevin Korsmo, "Photo collage of the John Donaldson Simul" by Adam Porth, "2019 Washington State Team And High School League" by Randy Walther, "2019 Washington State Championship" by Josh Sinanan, and a back-cover photo of "Waiting For Clarity" by Philip Peterson. Cover: A View From Below by Philip Peterson.

GP Final Results! 2018 John A. Braley Memorial Grand Prix final standings and results are available from links on the GP page. Checks were mailed to the Washington and Oregon winners by Saturday 2/23 (Idaho is on hold), or some winners received NWC subscriptions if not currently members of their state chess organization. Congratulations if you're one of the winners!

Exhibit Honors US Chess! A new chess history exhibition, "US Chess: 80 Years - Promoting the Royal Game in America," will open at the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) on March 6, and will be on display through October 27. The exhibit celebrates the US Chess Federation (US Chess), the official governing body of American chess, and its many accomplishments since its 1939 founding. See the WCHOF website for more info.

March magazine! The March issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 2/27. It's a 32-page issue with "Eternal Cube (a poem written at the 2019 Idaho Closed)" by David Zaklan, "2019 Idaho Blitz Championship" by Jeffrey Roland, "ICA Tip Of The Month" by Adam Porth, "PCC January 2019 Game 60" by Brian Berger, "West Regional Scholastic Tournament" by Jeffrey Roland, "Letter To The Editor" by John Frostad, "Introducing Pacific Northwest Chess Center" by Xuhao He, "PNWCC Through A Player’s Eyes" by Coliln Smith, "PNWCC’s First Master" by Lisa & Charles Levine, "Team BC Edges Out Team Washington" by Paul Leblanc, and a back-cover photo of "2019 Idaho Blitz Champion James Wei" by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: GM Bu Xiangzhi and IM John Donaldson visit PNWCC.

Sluggers Season Over! - Jan. 8th was the Sluggers first match of the new season, against the San Diego Surfers, and as reported by Josh Sinanan, "The Sluggers scored an amazing 9-7 victory in the opening match against the San Diego Surfers, former Pacific Division champions!" Other results: (1/15) lost 6.5-9.5 against a very strong Dallas Destiny team; (1/22) won a brilliant match by a score of 9.5-6.5, against long-time archrival, the San Francisco Mechanics; (1/29) finished in 4th place (of 8 teams) in the first "Battle Royale" of the season; (2/6) an 8-8 tie on against the San Jose Hackers; (2/12) a tough loss by a 10-6 score against the Australia Kangaroos; (2/19) finished in 4th place in the second "Battle Royale" of the season; (2/27) lost a tough match 5.5-10.5 against the Minnesota Blizzard; (3/7) lost a tough match 5-11 against the division-leading Chendu Pandas; (3/12) ended the season by finishing in 7th place in the final Battle Royale. So after the final match of the season, the Sluggers finished with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses, unfortunately just missing the cut to stay in the league for next season. Matches had a time control of 15-minutes with a 2-second increment (4 games), and took place on chess.com. The Seattle Sluggers competed in the Pacific Division of the PRO Chess League.

February magazine! The February issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 1/29. It's a 32-page issue with "PCC December 2018 Game 60" and "Neil Dale Memorial" by Brian Berger, "2018 Western Idaho Open" by Jeffrey Roland, "Le Parc d’Echecs" by Carmen Pemsler, "Winter Solstice In The North" by Adam Porth, "Successful Year For Central Oregon Chess" by Eric Holcomb, "Washington Winter Classic" by Josh Sinanan, "Northwest Chess Open" by Duane Polich, "A Hidden Story That Went Unnoticed (Full-Page Ad)" by Sridhar Seshadri, "Eclipse Photo" by Philip Peterson, and a back-cover photo of "Andrew Kitterman at 2018 Western Idaho Open" by Alex Machin. Cover: Alex Machin at 2018 Western Idaho Open by Jeffrey Roland.

January magazine! The January issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Christmas Eve, 12/24! It's a 32-page issue with "From The Publisher’s Desk" by Duane Polich, "Jason Marr On Chess And Life" by Amanda Warren, "2018 Oregon Class Championship" and "PCC November 2018 Game 60" by Brian Berger, "2018 November Third Weekend" by Jameson Tang, "2018 Southern Idaho Open" by Barry Eacker, "2018 Northern Idaho Open" by Adam Porth,  "Western States Open Success" by Joshua Grabinsky, "2018 Washington Class Championships" by Josh Sinanan,  "Washington Class Blitz Event" and "A Thanksgiving Scholastic To Be Thankful For" by Jacob Mayer, "North American Youth Chess Championships" by Mei Xu and Chen Zhou, "Grandmaster Submission!" by James Tarjan, "The Isle Of Mayer" by Jacob Mayer, and a back-cover photo of Drew Machin and Alex Machin by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: John Glenn at the 2018 Southern Idaho Open by Adam Porth.