Are you ready to subscribe to Northwest Chess and join your state chess federation/association (for residents of Washington, Oregon and Idaho)? - See: PayPal Subscription/Membership Form | Printable Form (PDF file).

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• Online Registration – Available for some upcoming WCF 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.

• Northwest Chess logo store on CafePress - order shirts, coffee mugs and other merchandise.

• Now 431 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.

• As of Nov. 2017, 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 directly in your browser. See the games page.

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

Important note: The Northwest Chess Forum (bulletin board for chess-related discussions) has fallen into disuse for about the past three years, is difficult to properly administer (for example, due to spammers), and will be removed shortly. Please download and save any discussions, games, etc., posted in this forum if you don’t want to lose them. As an alternative, persons with interesting chess-related content to share can request an author account on our Northwest Chess blog. All requests should be made to the Business Manager, and should include a sample of the type of content you intend to share.

Important note: Please read "From The Publisher’s Desk" in the December magazine. There has been an increase in state membership dues for the first time in 15 years, starting in January. See the PayPal membership application page to make a payment, or see the printable membership/subscription form. Life memberships are also available - please inquire if interested.

This Week/Holiday Weekend - NWC Grand Prix events!

• Nov 23-25 Washington Class Championships, Lynnwood, WA - See ad/flyer
• Nov 24 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR

This Week/Holiday Weekend - Other (non-GP) events!

• Nov 20 Portland Tuesday Quads (Rd 3), Portland, OR

December magazine! The December issue of Northwest Chess is in production, and should be mailed by about 11/28. It's a 32-page issue with "2018 PCC Club Championship," "Portland Fall Open" and "October 2018 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger, "Norman Friedman Memorial" by Jeffrey Roland, "Three Washington Players at 2018 WYCC" by Igor Shubin, "2018 Washington Challenger’s Cup" by Josh Sinanan, "GM James Tarjan Simultaneous Exhibition" by Russell (Rusty) Miller, and a back-cover photo of "Chess Set at Pawns and Pints Meetup" by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: Josep Companyo at Norman Friedman Memorial by Adam Porth. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

WCF hats to be available at WA Class! WCF President John Sinanan reports, "Our friends at Embroiderrific will be making some more WCF hats and beanies for the upcoming WA Class. The cost for either WCF-branded embroidered hat (beanie or baseball cap) is $16.95 + tax. I'll be putting in an order about a week before the tournament, so please let me know if you would like one." (contact: Josh Sinanan, joshsinanan@gmail.com)

World Championship! Tied 4-4 (all draws) as of 11/19. Defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway is playing challenger Fabiano Caruana of the U.S.A., for the FIDE world chess championship, beginning Friday 11/9 in London. See the official match website. Also see "Championship Countdown" by John Henderson, follow John's blog throughout the match, and follow the US Chess coverage. | See The Next "Next Bobby Fischer" on Slate (slate.com).

IM Minev named to FIDE Trainers Hall of Fame! As reported by IM John Donaldson, "IM Nikolay Minev (1931-2017; see 2017 news page) lived most of his life in his native Bulgaria and Seattle and contributed greatly to the chess life in both places, but his greatest impact was in Greece. Before his arrival in the late 1970s the country had no Grandmasters and only a handful of International Masters. When he left the situation had completely turned around. His most famous pupils were Grandmasters Grivas and Skembris but he had an impact on the careers of close to a dozen titled players. His legacy lives on with them."

November magazine! The November issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 10/23. It's a special 48-page issue with "Ora Annette Buckendorf (1928-2018)" from the Times News, "68th Annual Oregon Open" and "September 2018 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger, "CJA Award For Best State Magazine," "Oregon Closed State Championship" by Sarah McCoy, "Washington Women’s Championship" by Mary Kuhner, More Washington Women’s Championship" by Anne-Marie Velea, "Even More Washington Women’s Championship" by Stephanie Velea, and a back-cover photo of "Students Learn To Play In Rathdrum, Idaho" by Adam Porth. Cover: Matt Zavortink and Owen McCoy by Josh McCoy. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

Chess Olympiad! As reported by IM John Donaldson, "The Chess Olympiad starts in Batumi, Georgia, on Sept. 24. The United States, defending champions, enters the 180 country event as the top seed with an average rating for its first four boards (Caruana, So, Nakamura and Shankland) of 2772. Right behind it are Russia (Kramnik, Nepomniachtchi, Karjakin and Jakovenko) at 2764 and China (Ding, Yu, Yi and Hao) at 2755." Also see "Flying Start" on the John Henderson blog. Updates (10/5): As reported by John Henderson, "In the Open section, China edged out the United States and Russia to clinch the gold medal and the Hamilton-Russell Cup, while in the Women’s section, China likewise squeezed out Ukraine to take gold and the Nona Gaprindashvili Cup." Both involved tiebreaks; see the article for details. Also see "Olympiad Wrap-Up: Amazing Result!!" on Elliott Neff's blog.

Chess companion wanted - Mr. John Epley (photo at left), age 88, is no longer able to travel to his chess club in Vancouver, Wash. due to a disability, and would like someone to visit and play chess. According to daughter Cathy, "Dad is 88, has severe aphasia, which means he can’t talk, read or write anymore because of damage from a stroke in 2009. He can still play chess, but he is slow. Everyone loves him. He lives in Vancouver in an adult care home off Mill Plain and 97th. I am willing to pay someone to come one to two times a week. It is as much about companionship as the chess. The person should have good chess skills and not be a novice. I am looking for a companion but also for some serious competition because it is hard for him to find intellectual stimulation with his disabilities. Dad was president of his chess club in high school and also played in college, and then on and off thereafter. Chess is the one hobby he can still enjoy despite his disabilities. Contact: Cathy Epley, 503-516-7173, email cepley@mac.com.

Donaldson retires from MI! The Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco has announced the retirement of its Chess Room Director, IM John Donaldson. "John's contributions have been outstanding. Over his 20 years of service, John has worked tirelessly to make our chess program one of the most respected in the country. He lead our Tuesday Night Marathon to become the largest weekday chess tournament in the country. He has helped to introduce the game of chess to many who have entered our building and has organized and hosted approximately 17 weekend tournaments a year. John faithfully published a weekly club newsletter since the early 2000's to share game scores and history of the club and he has been a dedicated advocate for the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club during his many chess related excursions around the world. We cannot thank John enough for the recognition and prestige he has brought to the Mechanics' Institute through his various accomplishments with the U.S. Chess team and on his own merit. John will be sorely missed!"

October magazine! The October issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 9/24. It's a 32-page issue with "Upset Drama At Spokane Falls Open" by James Stripes, "August 2018 Unrated Rapids" by Brian Berger, "Boise Chess Club #20" by Jeffrey Roland, "2018 Vancouver Open" by Jacob Mayer, "2018 Vancouver Open Sacrifices" by Phillip Seitzer, "Seattle Classic" by Jacob Mayer and Josh Sinanan, "Truelson At The Seattle Classic" by Joseph Truelson, "More Seattle Classic" by Eric M. Zhang,  "Jason Yu Becomes National Master" by Josh Sinanan, "Mini-Tournament No. 7, Return Of The Mouse Trophy" by Jeffrey Roland, "Coquille Summer Of 2018" by Nancy Keller, "Seattle GM Summer Camps And Flood" by Jacob Mayer and Josh Sinanan, "August 2018 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger, and a back-cover photo of Dustin Herker at Las Vegas International Festival by Nancy Keller. Cover: Bill Rottmayer at Spokane Falls Open by James Stripes. See the full issue (all pages with color).

It's a Tie! The 6th Sinquefield Cup, staged at the Saint Louis Chess Club, ended in dramatic fashion with an unprecedented three-way share of the title - see "A Walk in the Forest" on John Henderson's blog (posted 8/28); also "Carry On Caruana" (posted 8/31). Note that two of the tied players, M. Carlsen (Norway) and F. Caruana (USA), will meet for the world championship this fall.

September magazine! The September issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 8/30. A few copies were available at the Oregon Open on Sunday. It's a 32-page issue with "ICA Summer Classic" by Jeffrey Roland, "4th Annual Rose City Sectionals" by Brian Berger, "US Chess National Senior Invitational" by Michael Presutti, "2018 Players Memorial" by Adam Porth, "East Idaho Senior Games" by Jay Simonson, "July 2018 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger and Isaac Vega, "2018 Washington State Championship Brilliancy Prize" by Josh Sinanan/Curt Collyer/Jacob Mayer, "Aaron Grabinsky Third IM Norm In Philadelphia" by Aaron Grabinsky, "Photo of past CJA Awards" by Adam Porth, and a back-cover photo of Drew Machin by Jeffrey Roland. Cover: Jerrold Richards and Morgan the Dog by Brian Berger. See the full issue (all pages with color).

New Master! See Jason Yu becomes National Master on the NWC blog.

NWC Wins CJA Award! Northwest Chess is pleased to once again be the recipient of the Chess Journalist Award for Best Magazine / Newsletter, one of "The Top Four" awards, awarded by the Chess Journalists of America (CJA). The 2018 award certificate, shown here, names Editor Jeffrey Roland. Congratulations to Jeff and all of our NWC magazine contributors. This is five years in a row for Jeff!

Pan-American Youth follow-up! We had previously reported that several local youth chess players would represent the U.S. at the 2018 Pan-American Youth Championships in Santiago, Chile, July 21-29. Now that it's over, we're pleased to report that Sophie Velea and Anne-Marie Velea won gold medals in the girls under 10 and girls under 14 divisions, respectively, with Anne-Marie also earning the title of Woman FIDE Master. Both of them will continue to represent the U.S. at future events in Spain and Greece, and at the 2019 Pan-American Championship in Ecuador. 22 countries participated in the 2018 tournament, with Team USA winning 1st place! Photo of Team USA courtesy of Monica Olaru. Also see the post on the NWC blog.

See old news previously appearing on this page.

Some local tournament reports are 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. Thanks to Rusty Miller for writing most of the tournament reports from 2013 until April 2014. Rusty stepped down, but started blogging again occasionally as of Nov. 2014. If you are interesting in blogging for your club's events, please let us know. Click on photos to enlarge, or see photos in some of the blog posts.

Photo: Playing hall at the World Youth Chess Championships. Credit: Igor Shubin.

Scholastic Events (September-October): Oct 19-31 World Youth Chess Championships (ages 12-18), Halkidiki, Greece Oct 20 BYC Quad Tournament, Bellingham, WA Oct 20 Open Window School Fall Tornado, Bellevue, WA Oct 13 Dueling Knights State Qualifying Tournament, Bellingham, WA Oct 13 PNWCC October Scholastic, Kirkland, WA

Photo: Washington Women's Co-Champions WCM Minda Chen and WFM Anne-Marie Velea. Credit: WCF.

Open or Invitational Events (September-October): Oct 31 PNWCC Wednesday Quads, Kirkland, WA Oct 2-30 Portland Chess Club Championship, Portland, OR Oct 27-28 Washington Challenger’s Cup, Seattle, WA (flyer) Oct 28 PNWCC Sunday G90 Quads, Kirkland, WA Oct 27 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Oct 27 Cottonwood G/45, Mountain, ID Oct 27 PNWCC Saturday G60 Tournament, Kirkland, WA Oct 26 PNWCC Friday Rapid Tournament, Kirkland, WA Oct 5-26 Seattle CC Autumn Leaves, Seattle, WA Sep 20-Oct 25 Fall 2018 Tournament, Spokane, WA Oct 24 PNWCC Wednesday Quads, Kirkland, WA Oct 21 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Oct 21 Bethel Monthly Sunday Chess Quads, Eugene, OR (flyer) Oct 20-21 Chandra Alexis Chess Club US Chess/FIDE Invitational Tournament, Boise, ID Oct 19-21 Western States Open, Reno, NV - (flyer) Oct 19 PNWCC Friday Rapid Tournament, Kirkland, WA Oct 17 PNWCC Wednesday Quads, Kirkland, WA Oct 14 PNWCC October Novice, Kirkland, WA Oct 13-14 National Chess Day-Portland Fall Open, Portland, OR Oct 13-14 Washington Game/60 Championship, Seattle, WA - (flyer) Oct 12-14 Norman Friedman Memorial & National Chess Day Tournament & Blitz Tournament, Boise, ID Oct 13 National Chess Day James Tarjan Simultaneous Exhibition, Vancouver Mall, Vancouver, WA - See ad/flyer | Vancouver Mall website event listing | Rusty Miller photos of the event Oct 12 PNWCC Friday Rapid Tournament, Kirkland, WA Oct 10 PNWCC Wednesday Quads, Kirkland, WA Oct 6-8 New West Open, New Westminster, BC, Canada Oct 7 Seattle CC Novice, Seattle, WA Oct 5-7 PNWCC Masters Tournament, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Oct 5-7 Varennes International Chess Championship, Varennes (QC), Canada (flyer) Oct 6 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Oct 6 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Oct 6 Bend Fall Quads, Bend, OR (flyer) Oct 4 PNWCC GM Blitz Tournament, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Oct 3 GM Jianchao Zhou Simul Exhibition and PNWCC Fund Raiser, Kirkland, WA Oct 1 PNWCC Grand Opening Bughouse Tournament, Kirkland, WA Sep 29-30 Eastern Washington Open, Spokane, WA Sep 29 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Sep 29 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Sep 11-25 Portland Tuesday Night Quads, Portland, OR Sep 23 Bethel Monthly Sunday Chess Quads, Eugene, OR (flyer) Sep 21-23 Seattle Fall Open, Seattle, WA Congratulations to co-champions Matt Zavortink and Owen McCoy! Sep 14-16 and 22-23 Oregon State Championship and Invitational (rescheduled), Portland, OR Sep 15 Eastern Idaho Open, Pocatello, ID Sep 14-16 WA Women’s Championship, Seattle, WA (flyer) Sep 9-13 Headless King Tournament, Spokane, WA Sep 9 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Sep 9 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA Sep 8 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Sep 1-3 68th Annual Oregon Open, Portland, OR (flyer) Sep 2 Oregon Open Blitz, Portland, OR

Photo: Chess players gave the Bryan Black memorial chess tables a workout after the dedication ceremony. Credit: Sean Robinson.

Open or Invitational Events (July-August): Aug 7-31 Portland Tuesday Night Quads, Portland, OR Aug 3-31 Seattle CC Dog Days, Seattle, WA Aug 9-30 August Adjeeb Quads, Spokane, WA Aug 26 Boise Chess Club #20, Boise, ID (flyer) Aug 26 PNWCC Blitz Fundraiser, Redmond, WA Aug 25 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Aug 25 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Aug 19 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Aug 18-19 Spokane Falls Open, Spokane, WA Aug 18-19 Spokane City Championship (match), Spokane, WA Aug 15-19 2nd Annual Seattle Chess Classic, Seattle, WA (flyer) Aug 12 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA Aug 11-12 Vancouver Open, Vancouver, WA (flyer) Jul 28-Aug 5 119th U.S. Open Championship, Middleton, WI Aug 4 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Aug 4 Medford Open, Medford, OR Jul 28-31 National Senior Tournament of Champions, Middleton, WI Jul 10-31 Portland Tuesday Night Quads, Portland, OR Jul 29 Seattle CC Novice, Seattle, WA Jul 28 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Jul 28 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Jul 6-27 Seattle CC Hot as Hades, Seattle, WA Jul 25 Presentation to Seattle Chess Club, "Chess – It’s More Than Just a Game" by Jim Egerton, MBA Speaker, Best-Selling Author, Teacher, & Chess Coach (flyer | video) Jul 20-22 Seattle Seafair Open, Seattle, WA Jul 21 Portland Rapid and Blitz Championships, Portland, OR Jul 21 Bend Summer Open, Bend, OR (flyer) Note: Quads changed to 6-player rated open section. Jul 15 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Jul 13-15 WA vs. OR Challenge Match, Seattle, WA (flyer) Instead of a WA vs. OR Challenge Match, we held two Scheveningen Team Matches, with teams composed of 5 players as advertised in the original flyer. Jul 14 ICA Summer Classic, Boise, ID (flyer) Jul 8 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA Jul 7-8 4th Annual Rose City Sectionals, Portland, OR Jul 7 Seattle Chess Masters Series, Seattle, WA (flyer) Jul 5 Bryan Black Chess Park Memorial Dedication, Puyallup, WA See the City of Puyallup webpage for this event. Facebook invite page: https://www.facebook.com/events/391430618028957/. See The News Tribune and Puyallup Herald article.