Are you ready to subscribe to Northwest Chess and join your state chess federation (for residents of Washington/Oregon)? - See: PayPal Subscription/Membership Form | Printable Form (PDF file). Residents of other states may subscribe without a state membership.

• Northwest Chess Facebook page | NWC Facebook "app" page for mobile device screen.

• Online Registration – Available for some upcoming open and scholastic events.

• Search the NWC website using Google™ custom search (this opens a new page).

• Northwest Chess blog - See reports on local chess events and occasional comments and discussion from NWC officers and editors.

• Now 504 issues! Northwest Chess magazine back issues - For a complete list of available issues (scanned prior to Sept. 2008, made from the print production files thereafter), please see the Northwest Chess Scanning Project page. Washington Chess Letter scans from the 1947-1964 time period are also available and included.

• Our games viewer has been updated to the Chessbase viewer, which has many modern features. You can view games from the Washington and Oregon state championships and some other regional chess tournaments in your browser. See the games page.

Note: See calendar for more info about upcoming chess events.

December - Advertised Chess Events

• See calendar for more info about upcoming chess events, including ad links.
• Dec 20, 27 Chess City Swiss (at SCC) (Rds 3-4), Seattle, WA
• Dec 21 Free Chess Tournament at Mukilteo Library!, Mukilteo, WA
• Dec 21-22 Washington Winter Classic, Bellevue, WA
• Dec 29 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA

December - Scholastic Events

• Chess4Life offers various events such as classes, camps and quad tournaments.
• Dec 21-22 WA Junior Invitational, Bellevue, 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.

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.

Report on Chess Olympiad — FIDE (International Chess Federation) has reported on the "spectacular conclusion" of the 45th Chess Olympiad, held Sept. 10-23 in Budapest. The event witnessed a record-breaking 188 teams in the Open section and 169 in the Women’s section, making it the largest Olympiad ever. According to FIDE, "With fierce competition and unforgettable games, India emerged victorious in both the Open and Women’s categories—a historic double gold that captivated fans worldwide." But the U.S. teams also performed very well—with a silver in the Open section, and a bronze in the Women's section. IM John Donaldson captains the U.S. team, and may have a report soon.

James McCormick (1936-2024) - We have been advised by IM John Donaldson that 7-time Washington State chess champion James McCormick, otherwise known as "Unkel Jim," passed away in September, at the age of 88. Jim won the championship for the first time in 1960, and for the last time in 1981 - see the list. Look for an obituary from John in the November edition of NWC. Here is a story about Jim shared by GM Yasser Seirawan from a few years back at the St. Louis chess club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJlaz7aOC2A.

October magazine! The October 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Friday, September 27. It's a 32-page issue with "Answers to the puzzles in last month’s issue," "Coaching Corner" by Ralph Dubisch, "Interview with Michael Omori" by Ken Lee, "WCF Father’s Day Weekend Chess Festival," "Vidip Kona, New National Master!" and "Seattle Seafair Open" by Josh Sinanan, annual "USPS Statement of Ownership," and a back-cover photo of Riaan Babbar by Meiling Cheng. Cover: Michael Omori and Siva Sankrithi by Meiling Cheng. See the teaser edition (selected pages). The teaser edition contains the Michael Omori interview, but it's also available as a separate PDF file here.

Newest NM! Congratulations to Vidip Kona of Redmond, Wash., who recently became Washington State's newest National Master! Vidip achieved a U.S. Chess rating of 2201 as a result of winning 2nd Place in the 74th Oregon Open, held in Portland Aug. 31 - Sept. 2, 2024. Along the way, Vidip scored clutch wins against Oregon's Jason Cigan (2175) and Washington's Vikram Srivastava (2241). See the final round win against Vikram Srivastava (ChessBase link) that clinched the NM title for Vidip. US Chess crosstable link.

September magazine! The September 2024 issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on Friday, August 30. It's a 32-page issue with "He Twins Tandem Simul" by Josh Sinanan, "Interview with Danny Musovski" by Ken Lee, "2024 US Junior Open (Washington Players Shine!)" by Siva, Sarang, and Vivaan Sankrithi, "M’ Lady’s Hand" by Glen O’Harra, "Washington State Elementary Chess Championship" by Josh Sinanan, "My Nationals" by Ted Wang, "Washington Open (Part Two)," "Mid-Year Scholastic Cup" and "Seattle Summer Kickoff" by Josh Sinanan, and a back-cover photo of Samuel He, Daniel He, and WCF President Josh Sinanan by Meiling Cheng. Cover: Samuel He (L) and Daniel He during their tandem simul at Blakely Hall in Issaquah. Photo by Meiling Cheng. See the teaser edition (selected pages). The teaser edition contains the Danny Musovski interview, but it's also available as a separate PDF file here.

See old news previously appearing on this page.

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.