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).

• 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.

• Northwest Chess Forum (bulletin board for chess-related discussions)
  New registrations require advance approval; use the response form at the bottom of this page to inquire.

• 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 1947-1952 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.

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

This Weekend - NWC Grand Prix events!

• Aug 16-20 Seattle Chess Classic, Seattle, WA - See ad/flyer | half-page ad/flyer
• Cancelled! Aug 19 Seattle CC Saturday Quads, Seattle, WA - See August SCC ad
• Aug 20 Portland Sunday Quads, Portland, OR
  Note: Previous Saturday Quads change to Sunday starting this month.

This Weekend - Other (non-GP) events!

• Aug 18 Pierce County Championship (G/120) (Rd 3), Tacoma, WA

September magazine! The September issue of Northwest Chess should be mailed around 8/23. It's a 32-page issue with "Remembering James Shroeder (1927-2017)" by John Donaldson, "2017 ICA Summer Classic" by Jeffrey Roland, "Rose City Sectionals" by Brian Berger, "N.W. Represented Well at National Scholastic" by Owen McCoy, "July 2017 PCC Quad 45" by Brian Berger, "CJA Award for 2017 Best State Magazine," "A Little Chess Nostalgia from 1979" by Philip Peterson, "2017 Washington State Championship Brilliancy Prizes (Part 2 of 2)" by Michael Hosford and Eric Tohni, and a back-cover photo of James Schroeder at 2012 US Open in Vancouver by Jeffrey Roland.

NWC Wins CJA Award! Northwest Chess is pleased to once again be the recipient of the chess journalist award for Best State Magazine, awarded by the Chess Journalists of America (CJA). The 2017 award certificate, shown here, names Editor Jeffrey Roland. Congratulations to Jeff and all of our NWC magazine contributors.

Chess companion wanted - Mr. John Epley (photo at left), age 87, 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, "He is still cognitively sharp and a delightful man but plays slowly because of his stroke and age. I would be willing to pay someone to spend time with my father playing chess a couple times a week. It would mean a lot to me to find someone to play with him. I guarantee you that they would have a good time with my dad as he is a very interesting man." Contact: Cathy Epley, 503-516-7173, email cepley@mac.com.

ACM discount still available! American Chess Magazine, in cooperation with Northwest Chess, is pleased to offer a $5 discount using the code published in the ACM ad in the May edition of NWC. (See the teaser version for the ACM ad page, and a review by NWC games editor Ralph Dubisch.)

August magazine! The August issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 7/26. It's a 32-page issue with "Letter to Editor" by David Lucky, "GM Timur Gareyev Comes to Iowa...I Mean Idaho!" by Adam Porth, "2017 PCC Summer Open," "June 2017 PCC Quad 45" and "June 2017 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger, "Helping Chess in Equatorial Guinea" by Avi Gupta and Seth Talyansky, "The Xu Open" by Jeffrey Roland, "Northwest Players at the 2017 Women’s Open" by Mary Kuhner, "2017 Washington State Championship Brilliancy Prizes (Part 1 of 2)" by Michael Lee and Curt Collyer, and a back-cover photo of Fred Kleist by Jim Berezow. Cover: GM Timur Gareyev by Adam Porth. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

Visit to Fischer's Grave - The son of Oregon chess player Russ Winge recently visited Iceland, including the site of Bobby Fischer's grave, as shown in the photo, at a humble location ... the graveyard of an inconspicuous country church. And, yes, there's construction in progress in the background. For a story of Fischer's life, including the final years in Iceland, consider reading Endgame - Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall ..., by Frank Brady.

July magazine! The July issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 6/28. It's a 32-page issue with "Orlov Triumphs at Washington Open" by Josh Sinanan, "Idaho Scholastic Champion Of Champions" by Jeffrey Roland, "Minda Chen at Chicago All-Girls National Champ" by Zhou Chen, "Susan Polgar National Open" by Monica Olaru, "Spokane Chess Club Elections" by Kevin Korsmo, "May 2017 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger, "May 2017 PCC Quad 45" by Micah Smith, "Miscellaneous Game from Seattle Masters 8" by Curt Collyer, "Aaron Grabinsky achieves second IM Norm" by Aaron Grabinsky, and a back-cover photo of "Isaias Oregel and other players at Washington Open" by the WCF. Cover: Georgi Orlov at 2017 Washington Open by the WCF. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

Progress towards Norms! Two Northwest chess players made progress towards international title norms at the Chicago Open, held Memorial Day weekend - IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti (originally from Idaho) is now 2/3 of the way to GM with a second norm; and Aaron Grabinsky of Oregon achieved a second IM norm, finishing with a score of 5.5 of 9, beating two GMs in the process! See link under "Completed Tournament / Match News" for the crosstables.

June magazine! The June issue of Northwest Chess was mailed on 5/23. A limited number of copies were available at the WA Open. It's a 32-page issue with "2017 Idaho Open" by Jeffrey Roland, "11th Annual Clark Harmon Memorial" by Brian Berger, "2017 Grand Pacific Open" by Mike Murray, "Congrats to NM Derek Zhang!" by Josh Sinanan, "BCC #13" by Jeffrey Roland, "MVCC Championship" by Adam Porth, "District 91 Scholastic Chess Tournament" by Jay Simonson, "April 2017 PCC Quad 45" and  "April 2017 PCC Game 60" by Brian Berger, "12th Annual OSCF State Championship" by Owen McCoy, "2017 Girls State Scholastic Championship" and "2017 Wood River Elementary Chess Championship" by Adam Porth, and a back-cover photo of "Corey Longhurst at Boise Chess Club" by Jim Berezow. Cover: Alex Machin at 2017 Idaho Open by Jeffrey Roland. See the teaser (selected pages with color).

Revisiting the 2012 U.S. Open in Vancouver, WA! - See the high-quality set of photos taken by Philip Peterson, the NWC back issues during the Aug-Oct 2012 time period, and the Northwest Chess blog.

Interesting Article! See "The Fischer King: Recalling four days in 1964 when Bobby Fischer brought his game to Louisiana" (and was hosted by local chess star Jude Acers) from a 2015 edition of The New Orleans Advocate.

Set for Sale! The very intricate hand-made wooden chess/checker set pictured here is for sale for $300. It sits 2' x 2' and 6.5" tall. Contact: Kelly Humeston in Idaho Falls, ID, email kellyinidaho@hotmail.com, phone 208-483-2400.

See old news previously appearing on this page.

Beginning in 2013, 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. 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: Washington team at the Intermatch. Photo by Victoria Doknjas.

Scholastic Events (May-June): Orlov Chess Academy Tournament of Champions (Jun 10) in Seattle ChessKid Online National Invitational Championship (CONIC) (Jun 2-4) - See the story about the national champions Washington Open Scholastic (May 27) in Lynnwood, WA Idaho Scholastic Champion of Champions tournament (May 27) in Boise Naomi Bashkansky event (May 20) at the Vashon Library, sponsored by the Vashon PTSA and Chautauqua Chess Club Supernationals VI (May 12-14) in Nashville, TN - Roland Feng won the K-12 championship that included a dozen 2400+ players. See a report on the US Chess website. Susan Polgar National Open (May 6-7) in Livermore, CA - The Velea sisters did well again: 1st girls under 14; 1st girls under 12; and tied for 2nd in girls under 10. WA vs. BC Intermatch (May 6) in Seattle, WA Chesssport.com GM Supernationals Prep (Apr 22-May 6) in Bellevue, WA OSCF Championship (May 5-6) in Seaside, OR