October 3, 2011

Idaho Chess Association joins Northwest Chess

Northwest Chess, a non-profit organization which currently publishes Northwest Chess magazine representing the Washington Chess Federation (WCF) and the Oregon Chess Federation (OCF), is pleased to announce that the Idaho Chess Association (ICA) is joining Northwest Chess (NWC) effectively immediately. As part of a deal worked out in Portland, Oregon on August 14, 2011, the ICA is now represented on the NWC board of directors, and Northwest Chess is now the official state publication of the ICA.

ICA past president and current board member and webmaster Jeff Roland was instrumental in bringing ICA onboard with NWC, and will write a monthly article for the magazine about the Idaho chess scene. Jeff will also continue to maintain the ICA’s website at www.idahochessassociation.org, while NWC Business Manager Eric Holcomb will update the NWC website at www.nwchess.com to include Idaho.

Beginning in January 2012, Idaho tournament organizers will have the option of participating in the NWC Grand Prix, in which players can earn points to compete for annual prizes in six different classes from Master down to Class D. Each of the three states (Washington, Oregon and Idaho) has a separate competition and prize fund, although players can earn points in any of the three states. See the NWC website for more information.

Because of differences in how the ICA treats memberships, NWC will not initially collect membership dues for ICA like it does for WCF and OCF. Instead, memberships and magazine subscriptions will be collected at certain Idaho chess events, with agreed-upon amounts retained by ICA and remitted to NWC. The current total cost for a membership and monthly magazine subscription is $25 per year. Idaho residents may subscribe directly to NWC via the NWC website, however subscriptions purchased in that manner will not include an ICA membership.

Some back issues of Northwest Chess magazine are available as PDF files for free on the NWC website.

For questions, please contact NWC or the ICA via the respective websites.

Eric Holcomb
NWC Business Manager