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

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

• 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 437 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: As of Feb. 28, 2019, Idaho residents no longer receive an ICA membership when subscribing to NWC via this website (including any mailed payments to NWC). For ICA membership options, please visit the ICA website. It is expected that these options will soon include a "premium" membership with a NWC subscription.

Important note: On Nov. 18, 2018, the NWC board decided to add "Foundation" to its corporate name, becoming the Northwest Chess Foundation. We will completely update the website once this name is officially registered with the State of Washington and the IRS. This does not affect the name of the magazine - it's still Northwest Chess!

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. Please download and save any discussions, games, etc., posted in this forum if you don’t want to lose them.

This Weekend - NWC Grand Prix events!

• Mar 23-24 Portland Spring Open, Portland, OR
• Mar 24 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA - See March SCC ad

This Weekend - Other (non-GP) events!

• Mar 23 PNWCC USCF Open, Kirkland, WA

Immediate short-term foreign exchange student opportunity - see scholastic opportunities page.

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.

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. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

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. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

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. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

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.

Washington vs. British Columbia match group photo.

Open or Invitational Events (January-February): Feb 5-26 Portland Tuesday Quads, Portland, OR Feb 24 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Feb 24 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA Congratulations to Washington State chess co-champions, FM Roland Feng, FM Anthony He and IM Michael Lee! Feb 16-18 and 23-24 WA State Championship, Redmond, WA US Chess crosstables. For photos, please see WCF facebook page. Feb 23-24 The 27th Dave Collyer Memorial, Millwood,WA Feb 23-24 PNWCC USCF Open - Masters Qualifier, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Feb 23 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Feb 22 IM John Donaldson Simul & Lecture, Spokane, WA Feb 1-22 Seattle CC Cabin Fever, Seattle, WA Congratulations to Idaho chess co-champions Kevin Xu and Jacob Nathan! Feb 16-18 Idaho Closed State Chess Championship, Twin Falls, ID Congratulations to Oregon chess champion Jason Cigan! Feb 9-10 and 16-18 Oregon State Championship and Invitational, Portland, OR US Chess crosstables. For photos, please see Portland Chess Club Facebook page. Feb 17 Bethel Monthly Sunday Chess Quads, Eugene, OR (flyer) Feb 16-17 Washington President's Cup, SCC, Seattle, WA (flyer) Feb 16 PNWCC G60 Medal and Master’s Qualifier, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Feb 3 SWOCC Winter Fun, Coos Bay, OR Feb 2-3 PNWCC 1st RAR Chess Cup, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Feb 2 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Feb 2 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Feb 2 Groundhog's Day Open, Bend, OR (flyer) Feb 1 Free Game Review and Analysis Class at Portland CC, Portland, OR Jan 8-29 Portland Tuesday Quads, Portland, OR Jan 27 PNWCC G60 Medal and Master's Qualifier, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Jan 26 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Jan 26 Portland Chess Club Annual Membership Meeting, Portland, OR Jan 25 PNWCC Friday Night Rapid and Quads, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Jan 4-25 Seattle CC January Thaw, Seattle, WA Jan 18-21 PNWCC FIDE Open - Olympiad Gold, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Jan 18-20 Washington vs. British Columbia Challenge Match, Victoria, BC (flyer) Jan 20 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA Jan 20 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Jan 19 Southern Oregon Open, Medford, OR Jan 19 ICA MLK Blitz Championship, Boise, ID Jan 17 IM John Donaldson and GM Bu Xiangzhi - Lecture and Simul at Microsoft, Redmond, WA (flyer) Jan 16 Super GM Lecture and Blitz at PNWCC, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Jan 13 Bethel Monthly Sunday Chess Quads, Eugene, OR (flyer) Jan 12-13 PNWCC USCF Open - Masters Qualifier, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Jan 11-13 Seattle City Championship, Seattle, WA Jan 12 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Jan 11 Seattle CC January Thaw (Rd 2), Seattle, WA Jan 11 PNWCC Friday Night Rapid and Quads, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Jan 6 Seattle CC Novice (crosstable bundled with Jan 5 quads), Seattle, WA Jan 5-6 3rd Annual Neil Dale Memorial Open, Portland, OR Jan 5 Seattle CC Saturday Quads (and other events), Seattle, WA

Photo: Some action and a greeting from the Winter Chess Classic. Credit: Josh Sinanan/WCF.

Open or Invitational Events (November-December): Dec 26-30 Washington Winter Chess Classic, Seattle, WA (flyer) Dec 26-30 28th Annual North American Open, Las Vegas, NV Dec 29 North American Open Blitz, Las Vegas, NV Dec 29 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Dec 28 PNWCC USCF Quick Quads G25 D3 (flyer) Dec 28 Seattle CC Patzers’ Challenge, Seattle, WA Dec 7-28 Tacoma Chess Club Class & Club Championship, Tacoma, WA Dec 22 Winter Solstice in the North, Rathdrum, ID Dec 21 The US Team at the 2018 Chess Olympiad-discussion by John Donaldson, Portland, OR Dec 21 PNWCC USCF Quick Quads G25 D3 (flyer) Dec 7-21 Seattle CC Package Express, Seattle, WA Dec 4-18 Portland Tuesday Quads, Portland, OR Dec 16 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Dec 16 Bethel Monthly Sunday Chess Quads, Eugene, OR (flyer) Dec 15-16 Northwest Chess Open, Seattle, WA (flyer) Dec 14-16 PNWCC FIDE Open, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Dec 7-14 2018 Panamerican Seniors & Veterans Chess Championships, St. Croix, USVI (flyer) Dec 13 PNWCC GM Lecture and Timed Simul Dec 9 Washington Blitz Chess Championship, Seattle, WA (flyer) Dec 9 Washington Game/20 Championship, Seattle, WA (flyer) Note: The Blitz and G/20 events were incorrectly flagged as GP events in the December magazine. Events faster than G/30 are not eligible for the GP. Dec 9 Mark Haggerty Memorial, Port Angeles, WA Dec 8-9 Portland Winter Open, Portland, OR Dec 8 Western Idaho Open, Boise, ID (flyer) Dec 8 Southern Oregon Open, Medford, OR Dec 8 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Dec 8 PNWCC G60-Medal-Masters Qualifier Dec 7 PNWCC USCF Quick Quads G25 D3 Dec 1 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Nov 23-25 Washington Class Championships, Lynnwood, WA (flyer) Nov 24 Portland Game in 60, Portland, OR Nov 24 North Idaho Open, Rathdrum, ID Nov 6-20 Portland Tuesday Night Quads, Portland, OR Nov 18 Seattle CC Sunday Tornado, Seattle, WA Nov 18 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR Nov 18 Bethel Monthly Sunday Chess Quads, Eugene, OR (flyer) Nov 17-18 Washington vs. Idaho Chess Match, Boise, ID (flyer) Note: Also called "November Third Weekend" on the rating report. Nov 17 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA Nov 1-15 Turkey Quads, Spokane, WA Nov 12 PNWCC GM Blitz, Kirkland, WA Nov 9-12 PNWCC Masters Tournament, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Nov 9-11 11th Seattle CC Extravaganza, Seattle, WA Nov 10 Southern Idaho Open & Veteran's Day Tournament, Twin Falls, ID Nov 10 Portland CC Unrated Rapid, Portland, OR Nov 10 Redmond Fall Open, Redmond, OR (flyer) Nov 9 PNWCC Free Friday Night Rapid/Dual, Kirkland, WA Nov 3-4 Oregon Class Championships, Portland, OR Nov 3-4 PNWCC USCF Open, Kirkland, WA (flyer) Nov 3-4 Turkey 2018, Missoula, MT Nov 3 Southern Oregon Open, Medford, OR Nov 3 2nd Washington Corporate and Collegiate Team Chess Tournament, Amazon Houdini North, Seattle, WA (flyer) Sep 7-Nov 2 Seattle CC Club Championship, Seattle, WA