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• We are making Northwest Chess magazine back issues available on this website! 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 1947-1952 and 1955-1964 time period are also available.

• We've added MyChessViewer 2.2 from MyChess.com, which allows you to view games from some local chess tournaments directly in your browser. See the games page.

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

Congratulations to Washington State chess champion Nat Koons! The Washington State Championship & Premier concluded Feb. 15-17 in Seattle. Photo by Duane Polich at left shows Nat lifting the state championship trophy.

Congratulations to Nick Raptis for successfully defending his Oregon State chess championship! Nick also won the Oregon championship in 2001 and 2013, and tied with Oleg Zaikov for the championship in 2005.The Oregon State Championship concluded Feb. 23 in Portland, one week late due to a weather delay. See blog post. Photo by Grisha Alpernas at right shows Nick holding the championship trophy.

Congratulations to Caleb Kircher, the new Idaho State Champion! See the ICA webpage for this event.

This Week/Next Weekend - NWC Grand Prix events! Tacoma CC March Semi-Class Saturdays (Week 2 on Mar 15) - See flyer; Tacoma CC March Open Sundays (Week 2 on Mar 16) - See flyer. Important: See updated info on NWC TA page about the Tacoma CC Saturday and Sunday events - a discount is available! Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Mar 16).

This Week/Next Weekend - Other (non-GP) events! Portland Tuesday Night Quads (Rd 2 on Mar 11); Portland Chess Club USCF-rated Thursday Blitz (Mar 13); Pierce County Chess League (Rd 6 on Mar 14) in Tacoma; Portland Saturday Quads (Mar 15).

Scholastic Video! See "Chess teaches elementary students more than moves" from Spokane Public Schools.

Get Ready for the biggest kids' event of the year! Washington State Elementary Chess Championship or click here to see WSECC Facebook page Smith Cove Cruise Terminal Pier 91, Magnolia WA 98121 Saturday April 12th, 2014

March magazine! The March issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 2/27. It's a 32-page issue with State Championship Early Report, Rusty’s Chess History by Russell Miller, Oregon Chess News, Seven Book Reviews by IM John Donaldson, Elliott’s Chess Tips by NM Elliott Neff, Washington Chess News, The Dialogue That Ends With A Point by Jacob Stinar and Jeffrey Roland, Idaho Chess News and Andre Murphy at the Mountain Home Open by Jeffrey Roland (back cover). The front cover features Quentin Van Law at Dragon Chess Open. Photo by Adam Porth. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

Carlsen chess app! Magnus Carlsen officially launched his iOS chess app on 2/26: Play Magnus. In this app you have a chance to play against a Carlsen-tuned chess engine. Play Carlsen from the age of 5 up to present day. Includes exclusive training video content by the World Champion himself. Download the app for free on the App Store: http://appstore.com/playmagnus. In another story about Magnus, Chess4Life founder Elliott Neff had the opportunity to meet Carlsen at a luncheon in San Francisco in January ... see the story.

Now at Princeton! Former Washington junior chess star Michael Lee now attends and plays for Princeton University ... see "Princeton a Repeat Champ at Amateur Tournament" in the New York Times.

In Memoriam - The Spokane Chess Club reports the death of Bill McBroom, 1937-2014. Regional chess, and the Spokane Chess Club in particular, suffered a huge loss with the recent death of Bill McBroom in Missoula. Bill, a retired professor of sociology at the University of Montana, was instrumental in building the chess relationship between Spokane and Missoula. He was a regular at the Collyer Memorial since the second Collyer in 1994. Bill was one of the original supporters of the Gary Younker Foundation and worked hard to promote chess in Montana, Spokane and northern Idaho.

Kasparov Story! See "What is Garry Kasparov's Next Move?" from the Smithsonian Magazine website.

Scholastic Article! See "A mighty fine chess player" from the Stanwood Camano News (Feb 18).

Congratulations ... to the Seattle Seahawks on their dominating Super Bowl victory. Now want to find out who's going to win the state chess championship? ... Visit the Seattle Chess Club or follow our coverage online. At the same time, the Oregon championship will be contested in Portland (delayed - see above), and Idaho residents can play in their state championship, Feb. 15-17. More chess in Seattle ... see "In the Disquiet of Downtown, a Community of Chess Players Thrives," about chess in Westlake Park, from Seattle Weekly.

Portland Chess Club website updated! The Portland CC has a new website which improves its appearance as well as accessibility of past tournament results and future tournament information. Check it out at http://pdxchess.org/.

U.S. Championships! It's been announced that the U.S. Chess Championship and U.S. Women's Championship will again be held in St. Louis, May 7-21, followed by the U.S. Junior Closed Championship, June 20-July 3. See a blog post by Rusty Miller.

Most Active Players! Rusty Miller reports that the following chess players in the Northwest have been most active in USCF events since online recordkeeping began in the early 1990s: August Piper (Seattle) 785 events, Nick Raptis (Portland) 691 events, Fred Kleist (Seattle) 511 events, David Griffin (Spokane) 509 events, Viktors Pupols (Kingston) 419 events and Jim Waugh (Spokane) 417 events. Did we miss anyone?

In Memoriam - See "Legendary Dan Mayers, 92 year old world chess championship tourney competitor, dies in Sun Valley, Idaho" on the Jude Acers blog. (Mayers died on Jan. 2, 2014.)

Interesting article! See Portland Chess and Go Programs Booming on the American Go Association blog.

February magazine! The February issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 1/23. It's a 32-page issue with Idaho Chess News, Oregon Chess News, Washington Chess News and photo of Water Bottle at the Western Idaho Open by Jeff Roland! Cover: Steven Breckenridge giving a 52-board simul. Photo by Sean Tobin. See the teaser (selected pages with color). Northwest Chess Grand Prix results for 2013 are also summarized in this issue, and are now available in the GP section of this website. Prize checks have been mailed to Washington and Oregon winners as of 1/30; Idaho is delayed because we are missing some addresses. (If you are listed as an Idaho GP winner, please contact info@nwchess.com.)

Another chess movie! See Rusty Miller's blog post about the chess-themed movie Life of a King.

January magazine! The January issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 1/2. it's a 32-page issue with Oregon Chess News, Idaho Chess News, Washington Chess News, World Chess Championship Games and collage of three pictures of Jacob Stinar juggling chess pieces while balancing a chess king on his forehead by Jeff Roland. 8 pages of this issue were printed in color! Cover: Magnus Carlsen as drawn by local artist, Brian Berger. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

See old news previously appearing on this page.

Thanks to Rusty Miller for providing most of the tournament reports. Click on photos to enlarge. Additional photos can also be found in some of the blog posts. Beginning in 2013, most local tournament reports will be posted to the Northwest Chess (NWC) blog, found at http://www.nwchess.com/blog/. Links are to NWC blog post or other report.

Participants in the Washington Girls Championship. Photo by TD David Hendricks.

Scholastic Events (March): Chess4Life Bellevue Catholic Challenge (Mar 8) in Bellevue, WA NW SW Washington Championship (Mar 8) in Vancouver, WA Shelton View Scholastic K-6 (Mar 8) in Bothell, WA Rook Madness Scholastic Tournament (Mar 8) in Spokane, WA Washington Girls Championship (Mar 2) in Redmond, WA 2nd Annual Wildcat Classic Scholastic (Mar 1), Oregon City, OR Richland March Madness K-12 Tournament (Mar 1) Seattle Country Day School K-5 Tournament (Mar 1) Vancouver Washington YMCA K-6 Tournament (Mar 1) OHSCTA State Team Championship (Feb 28-Mar 1) at South Umpqua High School, OR WA State High School Chess Team Championships (Feb 28-Mar 1) in Issaquah, WA

Nick Raptis vs. Michael Goffe at the Portland Spring Open. Photo by Brian Berger.

Open Events (March): Portland Spring Open (Mar 8-9) Portland CC G/60 (Mar 1) Seattle CC Sat. Quads and Mini-Quads (Mar 1) Tacoma CC vs. Seattle CC Match (Mar 1) in Seattle USCF Rated Rapid (G/15) Chess Tournament (Mar 1) at Coffee Time in Portland

Photo: Washington President's Cup winners Patrick Van Dyke, Samuel He and Peter Lessler.

Open Events (February): Seattle CC February Event (Fridays, Jan 31-Feb 28) Portland CC unrated Thursday Blitz (Feb 27) Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Feb 23) Dave Collyer Memorial (Feb 22-23) in Spokane IM John Donaldson lecture and simul (Feb 21) in Spokane Portland Tuesday Night Quads (Feb 4-18) Olympia Chess Club President's Day Open (Feb 17) Idaho Closed State Championship (Feb 15-17) in Twin Falls Washington President's Cup (Feb 15-16) in Seattle Portland CC USCF-rated Thursday Blitz (Feb 13) Spokane Winter Championship (concluded Feb 13) British Columbia Open (Feb 8-10) in Richmond, BC USCF Rated Rapid (G/15) Chess Tournament (Feb 1) at Coffee Time in Portland Seattle CC Saturday Quads and Mini-Quads (Feb 1)

Photo: Daniel He, winner of the 2014 Washington State Junior Closed.

Scholastic Events (January): Washington State High School Individual Championship (Jan 31-Feb 1) in Bothell, WA - Also see official WHSCA webpage. Chess for Success regional tournament (Jan 25) in Redmond, OR (article in Bend Bulletin) Coquille Chess Tournament/OSCF Qualifier (Jan 24) in Coquille, OR (newspaper story) WA Junior Open and Reserve (Jan 20) in Bellevue, WA Chess4Life Scholastic Chess Tournament (Jan 20) in Bellevue, WA Einstein Wise Scholastic Tournament (Jan 20) in Vancouver, WA I Have a Dream Scholastic Tournament (Jan 20) in Klamath Falls, OR Winter Chess Fest Scholastic (Jan 18) at Broadview Thompson Elem. School in Seattle, WA Winter Carnival Chess Tournament (Jan 18) at South Eugene High School in Eugene, OR Metzger Winter Classic Scholastic Event (Jan 11) in Tigard, OR Washington State Junior Closed (Jan 3-5) The winner is seeded into the Washington State Championship in February.

Photo: Nick Raptis vs. Dillon Murray at the Gresham Open.

Open Events (January): Tis Your Move TGIM event (Jan 6-27) in Beaverton Tis Your Move Sunday Slam events (Jan 19 and 26) in Portland Portland CC G/60 (Jan 25) Northwest Open (Jan 25) in Tacoma Tacoma CC New Year's Quads (Jan 10-24) Seattle CC January Friday night events (Jan 3-24) Portland Tuesday Night Quads (Jan 7-21) Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Jan 19) Emil Anka simul-lecture (4 p.m. Jan 18) at the Seattle Chess Club Tacoma CC Let's Play Booth at Tacoma Dome (Jan 18) Portland Saturday Quads (Jan 18) Mountain Home Open Chess Tournament (Jan 11) in Mountain Home, ID Seattle City Championship (Jan 10-12) Spokane CC Quick (G/10) (Jan 9) Seattle CC Novice (Jan 5) Gresham Open (Jan 4-5) in Gresham, OR Seattle CC Saturday Quads (Jan 4) USCF Rated Rapid (G/15) Chess Tournament (Jan 4) at Coffee Time in Portland Tacoma CC New Year's Mini-Swiss (Jan 3)

Photo: Roland Feng giving simul at the Seattle Chess Club. Photo: Nick Raptis and Carl Haessler at the Portland CC for their talk on Dec. 4.

Open/Scholastic Events (December): New! Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation Winter All Star List (as of Dec 31) New! Top 12 Active Players in Portland Chess Club Events (2013) New! Top 10 Players to take part in WCF events in 2013 Seattle CC Sunday (Holiday) Tornado (Dec 29) Portland CC G/60 (Dec 28) Tacoma CC Mini After Christmas Swiss (Dec 28) Tis Your Move Sunday Slam (Dec 21 or 22) in Portland Steven Breckenridge simultaneous exhibition (Dec 21) in Beaverton Christmas Congress (Dec 21) in Tacoma Portland CC Third Thursday Blitz (Dec 19) Portland Tuesday Night Quads (Dec 3-17) Northwest Chess Open (Dec 14-15) in Seattle Portland Winter Open (Dec 14-15) Western Idaho Open (Dec 14-15) in Boise. NM Roland Feng simultaneous exhibition (Dec 13) at the Seattle Chess Club - see flyer Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Dec 8) Redding Sundial Bridge Chess Open (Dec 7-8), Redding, CA USCF Rated Rapid (G/15) Chess Tournament (Dec 7) at Coffee Time in Portland Seattle CC Saturday Quads (Dec 7) Lincoln High Scholastic Event (Dec 7) in Portland Blitz Chess Time (Blitzen) (Dec 5) in Spokane Recap of Anand-Carlsen World Chess Championship match (Dec 4) at the Portland CC by LM Nick Raptis and LM Carl Haessler.

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