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

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• We are making Northwest Chess magazine back issues available on this website! Currently, you can see the Sep 2008-October 2011 magazines! Scans have also been added of the Aug 2004-Aug 2008 magazines, thanks to Mike MacGregor of the Tacoma Chess Club.

• 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.

This Weekend! Tacoma CC Mini Swiss (Feb 4); Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Feb 5); Seattle, WA - See calendar and TA pages for more info about upcoming chess events.

Rescheduled!! The WA Junior Open scheduled for the MLK Monday holiday (Jan 16) has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 4 due to weather conditions. WCF Scholastic Director David Hendricks has notified registered participants by e-mail, or see the online registration page.

All-American! The 2012 All-America Chess Team announced by USCF has one Washington player on the Age 10 team, Roland Feng of Seattle. See the story on the USCF website for details.

Happy 75th! See "Boris Spassky: a chess legend turns seventy-five" on the ChessBase website.

Search Events! The USCF "Events Rated" tool will show events by state and month, similar to the list that used to appear in the printed rating supplements, according to Rusty Miller.

January 31 was the last day to see a display of chess boards and pieces from around the world at the Tigard, Oregon library. The display items are part of chess player Kermit Olson's collection.

New Logo! The new Northwest Chess logo including the state of Idaho is now in official use! Many thanks to Philip Peterson for the design of this logo!

January magazine mailed! - The January issue of Northwest Chess has been printed and was mailed on 1/11. It's a 24-page issue with "Brazil: Chess, Music and Papaya" by Guy Bashansky, "Marcell Szabo at the W.Y.C.C." by Csaba Szabo, "Book Notes" by IM John Donaldson, "Idaho Chess News" by Jeffrey Roland, "Northwest in Southern California" by NM Steven Breckenridge, "Washington Challengers' Cup" by Harley Greninger, and the usual Grand Prix update. See teaser (selected pages).

Rulebook Changes! See summary of USCF Rulebook and Policy changes (PDF file on USCF website).

New! Korean Chess Set! Included are photos of a very large Korean soapstone chess set bought in Seoul, South Korea about 30 years ago. Each piece is quite large and in display condition on a massive board/hand carved table. (The king/queen are about 6.5 inches tall and weigh in the 1.5-2 pound range. The board is 29 x 29 and about 12 inches high.) The owner is curious about assessing its value and maybe selling it.
Contact Daniel Schwartz for more information.

Now on YouTube! The movie Bobby Fischer Against the World.

In Memoriam - Art Wang, who tied for 1st with Viktors Pupols at 4-1 in the 1961 Washington Closed, died recently. He placed well in several Washington and Oregon events while stationed at Fort Lewis. He had a master level Northwest Rating. He lost a five-game match with Pupols 1.5-3.5 held after the state championship event in 1961. Obit at USCF website.

December magazine mailed! - The December issue of Northwest Chess was uploaded to the printer on 12/9, and was mailed on 12/13. It's a 24-page issue with Games from the Oregon Open, Northwest Chess News, Oyster Bay Inn Classic report, Idaho Chess News, Interview with GM Yasser Seirawan, and the usual Grand Prix update. See teaser (selected pages).

Grand Prix! Standings in the 2011 Robert Karch Memorial Northwest Chess Grand Prix were updated as of November 30. See the GP home page for links to PDF files.

Discounts!! - Three-year subscription discounts are still available to Northwest Chess!! (These include full OCF or WCF memberships as applicable to residents of Oregon and Washington.) Pay only $60 for three years (adult), $40 (junior) or $12 (additional family member w/o subscription). These favorable rates have been extended, but won't last forever! So act now even if your subscription hasn't expired.
New rates are available on the PayPal subscription page and on the PDF (mail-in) subscription form. Washington residents: please add the applicable sales tax.

November magazine mailed! - The November issue of Northwest Chess was uploaded to the printer on 11/12, and mailed on 11/18. It's a 24-page issue with a U.S. Open report, a Metropolitan International report, Idaho Chess News, an article by Bill McGeary, a couple of creative pieces by Carol Kleist, a National Chess Day report, and the usual Grand Prix update. See teaser (selected pages).

New! Boy Scouts Chess Merit Badge Program. (This link is also available on the scholastic page.)

Another Seirawan article! - See November 12, 2011 "Chess Notes" from The Boston Globe. Seirawan Interview! - A "Fantastic interview with GM Seirawan" was posted on Susan Polgar's blog, and also on the ChessBase news page, with more photos. The interview was originally done by IM (and WGM) Ana Matnadze for the Official Magazine of the Catalan Chess Federation. See the writer's blog also.

New! Lothar Hirneise, president of the new Amateur Chess Organization (ACO), is announcing that they are the "new World Chess Organization for amateur chess players," not connected to FIDE. More information about the ACO and its events can be found at www.amateurchess.com.

U.S. Chess League! - The USCL 2011 regular season is now over, and the Seattle Sluggers finished with 3.5 wins, 6.5 losses in match play. See the USCL website for details including the playoffs, or some information about the Sluggers was also posted on our Facebook page (see below) and our 2011 Sluggers event page. Exhibition! On October 17, the Seattle Sluggers (led by GM Varuzhan Akobian) took on the 2011 WA Team Champions (led by FM David Bragg) in an exhibition match at the Seattle Chess Club. Although the Sluggers won the exhibition easily, it was likely an exciting experience for all! The match took place alongside the scheduled Sluggers match against the Los Angeles Vibe.

October magazine finally ready! - After a long delay, the October issue of Northwest Chess was finally uploaded to the printer and mailed the last week of October! You can also download it from the back issues page. Also see the story "Kleist returns as editor" below. Cover: Robert Herrera, Photo credit: Andrei Botez.

2012 U.S. Championships! - The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) will host the 2012 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship simultaneously May 7 through May 20, 2012. This marks the fourth consecutive year that each of these prestigious events will be held at CCSCSL.

Kleist returns as Editor! - Northwest Chess announced on October 11 that Fred Kleist, a former editor of 70 issues of Northwest Chess magazine from 2002 to 2008, is returning as editor with the November 2011 issue, at least on a temporary basis. Editor Ralph Dubisch, responsible for 54 issues, most recently from November 2008 to date, agreed to step down due to family commitments. The Northwest Chess board thanks Ralph for his excellent service, and hopes that he will be able to serve NWC again in the future. Ralph’s last magazine as editor, the October 2011 edition, was delayed and is now being printed.
See our October 11, 2011 press release for more information.

National Chess Day (October 8)! - See report on Washington events by Gary Dorfner. Also see story/video "Chess is more than just a board game" from KCBY News about a National Chess Day "living board game" activity in Coquille, Oregon.

Idaho joins NWC! - Northwest Chess is pleased to announce that the Idaho Chess Association (ICA) is joining Northwest Chess (NWC) effectively immediately. As part of a deal worked out in Portland, Oregon on August 14, 2011, the ICA is now represented on the NWC board of directors, and Northwest Chess is now the official state publication of the ICA. See our October 3, 2011 press release for more information.

See old news previously appearing on this page.

Thanks to Rusty Miller for providing most of the tournament reports.

Scholastics (January)! Michael Omori of Seattle, a junior at Lakeside High School, won the 2012 Washington High School Individual with 4.5-.5. The event was held Jan 27-28 at Ferndale High School in NW Washington. He was the highest rated player in the tournament which was held in three sections and had 69 players. He can represent Washington State at the Annual Denker tournament to be held during the 2012 U.S. Open in Vancouver, WA. Crosstables link.

Complete (January)! Seattle CC Saturday Quads (Jan 28); Portland CC G/60 (Jan 28) - FIDE Master and USCF Life Master Nick Raptis of Portland continued his winning ways in the Portland CC G/60 events. In this event, he was the top-rated player and scored 4-0. Neil Dale of Portland was the tournament director. 20 players took part. USCF Crosstable link; B.C. Active Championship (Jan 28-29), Vancouver, BC; Seattle Chess Club Novice (Jan 21); Tacoma Open (Jan 21); Corvallis MLK G/45 Chess Tournament (Jan 16) in Corvallis, OR - The Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation sponsored a 45-player, 3-section event called the 2012 Corvallis MLK. Dan Dalthorp was the chief tournament director. NM Nick Raptis of Portland, OR won the Power Section with 4.5-.5. He was nicked for a draw by NM Corey Russell of Medford, OR. Henry Lancaster scored 4-0 to top the Mighty RDA Section. John Ornes Orn won the 3rd Section with 3.5-.5. USCF crosstable link; The 3rd Annual Golden State Open top section included 3 NWC players. Howard Chen of Monroe WA, Luke Harmon-Vellotti of Idaho, and Viktors Pupols of Kingston WA. They all scored 4-3 and Pupols won $84.50. He beat Luke, giving another one of his many lessons to young players. The tournament was held in Concord, CA (Jan 13-16). Crosstable: http://www.goldenstateopen.net/; Seattle City Championship (Jan 13-15) - This annual event was held at the Seattle CC under the direction of Fred Kleist of Seattle. In the 9-player Open section, Chouchanik Airapetian of Edmonds, WA scored a perfect 5-0. The Reserve Section had 24 players and a tie for first place at 4-1 between Masayuki Nagese of Redmond, WA and Dietmar Schimmel of Kirkland, WA; Gresham Open (Jan 7-8) in Gresham, OR - Nick Raptis won this annual event with 4.5-.5 score. The event had 47 players, versus 58 in 2011. Neil Dale handled the TD task. USCF crosstable link; Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Jan 8) - There was a three-way tie for 1st, at 3-1, in the 15-player January Tornado. Kyle Haining, Peter J. O'Gorman and Masayuki Nagase all had that score. None of them lost a game but did give up draws or 1/2 point byes. Fred Kleist was the TD and played also. USCF crosstable link.

Complete (December)! Seattle CC Insanity (Dec 31); Seattle CC Saturday Quads (Dec 31); Portland CC G/60 (Dec 31) - Steven Breckenridge won the last tournament of 2011 at the Portland CC, the monthly G/60 event, with a perfect 4-0 score. 12 players took part in the event directed by Michael Morris; North American Open (Dec 26-29), Bally's Las Vegas, NV - Click here for standings - Several players from Washington, Oregon and Idaho took part. The top prize winners from Washington state were Naomi Bashkansky (U1250, place 1-4, 6 points out of 7, undefeated), Masayuki Nagase (U1700, place 2-5, 5.5 points out of 7, undefeated), Igor Ummel (U2100, place 2-6, 5.5 points out of 7, undefeated). These Washington and Oregon players also got prizes: Terrance Li, James Wang, Peter J. Sherman, Trey Michaels, Anthony L. Lamb, Ethan Bashkansky, H.G. Pitre, Noah Fields, Colin Field-Eaton; Portland Winter Open (Dec 17-18) - Curtis Brooks won this event with a score of 4.5-.5 in the 12-player Open Section. Frederick Davis and Dagadu Bapurao Gaikwad topped the Reserve Section with 4-1 scores. 20 players took part in this section. Gregori Alpernas served as TD; Portland Blitz Chess Championships (Dec 18) at Portal Games (reported by TD Galen Pyle) - This event was very successful. We had 26 participants for the six-round double Swiss tournament. I think that the players had fun and appreciated the fast pairings. Steven Breckenridge won the tournament with 11.5/12. Stephen was undefeated in the tournament until the last round when Radu Roua sacrificed a rook for a perpetual. John William placed second with 9/12. Third place was a three-way tie between Mike Goffe, Becca Lampman and Nate Khingratsophone. The bughouse tournament after party was won by Steven Breckenridge and Steven Witt; December Active #2 (Dec 18) in Vancouver, BC; Christmas Congress (Dec 17) in Tacoma, WA - Murlin Eugene Varner Jr. of Woodinville, WA topped the results crosstable of the Christmas Congress with a 2.5-.5 score. Seven players took part including TD Gary Dorfner. The event was sponsored by the Tacoma CC and held at their club site; Santa’s Quads (concluded Dec 16) in Tacoma, WA; Seattle Sunday Tornado (Dec 11) - 15 players took part in this monthly event. Viktors Pupols was the top rated player in the event and he won it, 3.5-.5. Marcel Szabo was able to nick Vik for a draw. Fred Kleist was the TD; Spokane G/10 (Dec 10); Western Idaho Open (Dec 10-11) in Boise, ID; Corvallis/Albany Open (Dec 10-11) in Corvallis, OR - Steven Breckenridge won the event 4.5-.5, drawing with Nick Raptis, who placed 2nd with 3.5-1.5. 14 players took part in the Open section. Yogi Saputa won the 10-player under 1800 section, also 4.5-.5. Dan Dalthorp directed the event; December Active #1 (Dec 4) in Vancouver, BC; Portland Chess Shop's Chess Rapids at Portal Games (Dec 4) - This event attracted 15 players, with a G/29 time control. Steven Breckenridge won with 4-0. Galen Pyle directed the event; Seattle Saturday Quads (Dec 3).

Scholastics (December)! See USCF crosstables of 2011 National Youth Action West event, held Dec 10-11 in Irvine, CA. Several players from Washington and Oregon took part.

Complete (November)! WA Class Championships (Nov 25-27) and Thanksgiving Scholastic (Nov 25)

Photos: Kyle Haining receiving 1st place trophy from David Hendricks. (Kyle won the 4th – 7th grade open section of the Thanksgiving Scholastic with a perfect 5.0.); Nick Raptis and Dereque Kelly; Ignacio Perez and Dereque Kelly; Josh Sinanan and Raptis. Dereque was the winner of the WA Class Masters section.

The 2011 WA Class Championships cross tables list 131 players under the direction of Fred Kleist. A few players who had byes in their section played a game that round in another section. The Master section was won by Dereque Kelley with 4.5-1.5. It had 22 players. The Expert Section had 8 players and was won by David Zick with 4.5-1.5. He had not played any rated chess for about 5 years. The A Section winner was Becca Lampman with 5-1 over 25 other players. The B Section drew 30 players with the winner being Matthew Nills. Class C had two winners at 4.5-1.5, Murlin Varner and Sangeeta Dhingra with 21 players taking part. Class D of 17 players also had two players scoring 4.5-1.5, Boas Lee and Howard Hare. Class E winners were Howard Hwa and Kirill Filimonov at 5-1 and 26 players in the section. As you would expect with players paired against others with nearly the same rating there were quite a few drawn games. As usual for Seattle-located events most of the players were Washington State residents. There were two from Oregon, four from British Columbia and one from Minnesota (but a former Washington player). See photos on Northwest Chess Facebook page; Portland CC Club Championship (ended Nov 29) - Nick Raptis and Steven Deeth both scored 4-1 in the 13-player Portland CC Championship. Games were played at rate of one a week. Steven beat Nick but was held to draws by 3rd place finisher Robert Lundin and Jeremy Waterman; Portland CC G/60 (Nov 26) - The event had 16 players. Jerry Sherrad of Portland topped the field with 3 wins and a draw. Mike Montchalin of Pendleton was among those with 3-1. He has not played rated chess for several years. Neil Dale of Portland directed and played also; Seattle CC Sunday Tornado (Nov 20); Tacoma CC Fall Quads (Nov 19); 29 players made the trek to Missoula Montana for the Turkey Open (Nov 12-13). The 5-0 winner was Ted Belanoff, rated 2146, from California. Scoring 4-1 were John Julian and Mike Murray, both of Washington. They tied for 1st place in the 24-player 2010 edition of this event. There were seven players from Washington (mostly Spokane area), only one from Idaho, the rest from Montana plus the winner. The chief TD was Daniel McCourt and the sponsoring affiliate University Community CC.

Southern Idaho Open (Nov 12 in Twin Falls) - group photo shown; Oregon Class Championships (1400+ on Nov 11-12, U1400 on Nov 13) - This event was held at the Portland Chess Club under the direction of Dale Wentz of Keizer, OR. A total of 33 players took part. The Master/Expert Section was won by Steven Breckenridge with a perfect 4 wins score. At 3-1 were Nick Raptis and Daniel Gay in the 10 player section. The Class A section of seven players was won by Micah Smith with 2 wins and 1 draw plus a 1/2 point bye. The nine players in the Class B/C section were topped by the 3.5-.5 score of Alexander Mueller-Warrant. The under 1400 rating section had eight players, only one of which was unrated. The winners of this section were Praveer Shakan and Cameron Green at 3-1; Seattle CC Saturday Quads (Nov 12); Jack Taylor Memorial (Nov 12-13 in Victoria, BC) - see the results on the Victoria CC website; Tacoma CC Blitz Championship (Nov 11); Seattle CC Championship (Sep 9-Nov 11) - This event was won by Fred Kleist of Seattle with a 6.5-.5 score. 17 players took part. Fred was also the TD. Seattle CC Extravaganza (Nov 4-6) - Nat Koons and Roland Feng finished with 6-1 scores in the Seattle CC Extravaganza. Patrick Van Dyke was 3rd at 4.5-2.5. Feng lost to Koons but Koons was held to draws by Van Dyke and Viktors Pupols. 16 players took part in the Open section, three of them only paired for one round. The Reserve Section was won by Dan Mathews at 5.5-1.5 (three draws) in the 19 player event. Fred Kleist was the TD, assisted by his wife Carol; Byron Massey Memorial Chess Tournament (scholastic and adult, Nov 5 in Coquille, OR); Portland Chess Shop Unrated G/30 Tournament (Nov 6).

Scholastics (November)! Players from Washington State performed well in the National K-12 Chess Championships in Dallas, Texas, on November 18-20. Stanley Zhong won 9th place in the 1st grade section. Aaryan Deshpande won 8th place in the 2nd grade section. Marc Huang won 12th place in the 3rd grade section. Also in the 3rd grade section, Asher Thakur won 1st place U800. Kyle Haining won 7th place in the 6th grade section. Ethan Gottlieb won 8th place in the 12th grade section. In the National K-6 Blitz competition on November 17, Kyle Haining won 5th place, Noah Fields won 8th place, Marc Huang won 1st place U800, and Asher Thakur won 2nd place U800.
Photo: Kyle Haining (and his trophies) courtesy of Breck Haining.

The Washington State Mini-Teams Championship was held at Interlake High School on 11/19. There were 24 three-player teams, 70 players in all. TD was Rick Jorgensen. The winners were: 1st Interlake (A) - Michael Wang 5.0, Abinav Viswanathan 4.5, Andrew Porisch 4.5; 2nd Lakeside (B) - Darren Wu 4.0, Peter Sherman 4.0, Nicholas Xing 4.0.

Complete (October)! Seattle CC Novice (Oct 30); Portland CC G/60 (Oct 29) - Nick Raptis was tied by Vlajko Lakic for first place. Both scored 3 wins and a draw. Nick drew with Steven Breckenridge in round 4 and Vjajko drew in round 2 with Steven Witt. 22 players took part in the event directed by Jon Fontune; Washington Challengers' Cup, Seattle, WA (Oct 29-30) - Harley Greninger won the Open Section with a 3.5-.5 score in a field of 25 players. In 2nd place with 3-1 were Joshua Sinanan, Viktors Pupols and Huso Hadzic. Joshua Doknjas of BC won the Reserve Section with a 4.5-.5 score in a field of 22 including two unrated players. Fred Kleist was the TD; EAC Tournament #10 (Oct 29-30 in Surrey, BC); Tacoma CC Championship (concluded Oct 28); Spokane Chess Club Fall Championship (Oct 27) - A night of make-up games nearly brought an end to the club's fall championship, but one more make-up game this weekend is necessary to settle the prize winners. John Julian won his make-up game to join Michael Cambareri as co-champions; they each scored 4.5 to top the field; Western States Open (Oct 21-23 in Reno, NV) - See report (and a few games) on the USCF website - The Seattle Chess Club won the team prize; Portland Fall Open (Oct 15-16 at Portland CC) - Steven Breckenridge won the 16- player Open Section with 4 wins and a draw with Brain Esler. Brian had three draws in the event and tied with Curtis Brooks for 2nd place at 3.5-1.5. The Reserve Section ended in a tie at 4-1, with top scores achieved by Dan Oswalt and Frederick Davis. Oswalt lost to Davis while Davis lost to James McAleer. Among the 15 players in this section were two unrated players. The Chief TD was Gregori Alpernas; Seattle Saturday Quads (Oct 15); Vancouver Open Chess Tournament (CFC Rated, Oct 8-10) in Surrey, BC, Canada; Seattle Sunday Tornado (Oct 9); Washington Team Championship (Oct 8) in Seattle; Oyster Bay Inn Classic (Oct 1-2) in Bremerton, WA - David Rupel of Olympia, WA won the 10-player open section with a 3-1, two draws score. Premier section of 11 players was won by a score of 3.5-.5 by Mathew Nill. Nine players took part in the reserve section with Thomas Taylor having top score of 4-0. Kitsap County Chess Club was the sponsor with Kristen Dietsch handling the TD part; Eastern Washington Open (Oct 1-2) in Spokane - The Spokane Chess Club reports on Facebook: "2011 Eastern Washington Open crosstable is up on USCF website. Congratulations to winner John Julian, and to section winners John Dill (B), Dave Griffin (C), Pat Kirlin, Maria Naess, and Nathaniel Scapopo (D and under), and to Jerry Morton for winning Biggest Upset." 35 players took part under the direction of Kevin Korsmo. Rusty adds that "Mark Erickson came in second place clear with a 4-1 score. He had not played OTB chess since 2007 per the MSA USCF records."

See old tournament news previously appearing on this page.

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