 |
Northwest Chess — Chess News from Washington, Oregon and IdahoNorthwest Chess is a non-profit corporation registered in Washington State.Address: PO Box 84746, Seattle, WA 98124-6046. See magazine section for Business Manager address and subscription information. |
 
 |
| Washington Chess Champions 1862 to Date | ||||
| Year(s) | Champion(s) - See summary table below for title and birth/death years where known |
Tournament Site City (WA) or other location |
Number of Players |
Winning Score |
| 1862-1875 | Clarence B. "Pop" Bagley | |||
| 1875-1890 | Andrew W. Piper (see notes) | |||
| 1890-1895 | Griffith Davies | |||
| 1895-1915 | Earle Robinson Jenner | |||
| 1915-1925 | William A. Dickey | |||
| 1926 | Otto A. Case | |||
| 1927 | Arvid Johnson | |||
| 1928-1929 | Vivian Childs Klug | |||
|
Where available, the link under "Number of Players"
is to a PDF file of the event crosstable as compiled by Russell Miller from old issues of WCL, NWC and other sources. |
||||
| 1930-1931 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | |||
| 1932 | Jacob Leonard Sheets (see notes) | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 4 / 5 |
| 1933 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | Seattle Chess Club | 10 | 8 / 9 |
| 1934 | Olaf Ivan Ulvestad | Seattle Chess Club | 10 | 8.5 / 9 |
| Scan of 1934 tournament booklet with games – thanks to Andy Ansel for permission to use. | ||||
| 1935 | James Hurt | Seattle | 8 | 6 / 7 |
| 1936 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | Seattle Chess Club | 8 | 6 / 7 |
| 1937 | James Hurt | Seattle Chess Club | 9 | 7 / 8 |
| 1938 | James Hurt | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 7.5 / 10 |
| 1939 | Hugh Enochson | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 8 / 10 |
| 1940 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | |||
| 1941 | James Hurt | |||
| 1942 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | |||
| 1943-1946 | (Lapse due to World War II) | |||
| 1947 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | |||
| 1948 | Charles K. Joachim | Seattle Chess Club | 19 | 5.5 / 6 |
| 1949 | Robert C. Stork | Seattle Chess Club | 20 | 5 / 5 |
| 1950 | (no tournament) | |||
| 1951 | Charles Standish Ballantine | Assembly Hotel, Seattle | 12 | 9.5 / 11 |
| 1952 | Olaf Ivan Ulvestad (see notes) | Assembly Hotel, Seattle | 9 | 7.5 / 9 |
| 1953 | Elmars Zemgalis | Seattle Chess Club | 10 | 9 / 9 |
| 1954 | Jacob Leonard Sheets | Seattle Chess Club | 9 | 7.5 / 8 |
| 1955 | William Bills | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 4.5 / 5 |
| 1956 | Olaf Ivan Ulvestad | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 3.5 / 5 |
| 1957 | Robert Edberg | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 4 / 5 |
| 1958 | Viesturs Seglins | Seattle | 4 | 5.5 / 6 |
| 1959 | Elmars Zemgalis | Seattle Chess Club | 7 | 6 / 6 |
| 1960 | James H. McCormick | Seattle Chess Club | 6 | 5 / 5 |
| 1961 | Viktors Pupols (see notes) | Don Eilmes Home, North Seattle | 12 | 4 / 5 |
| 1962 | Viesturs Seglins | Max Mage Home, West Seattle | 6 | 3.5 / 5 |
| 1963 | Gerald Ronning | Max Mage Home, West Seattle | 8 | 6 / 7 |
| 1964 | Gerald Ronning (see notes) | Seattle Chess Club | 4 + 1 | 2.5 / 4 |
| 1965 | James H. McCormick | Seattle Chess Club | 7 | 5 / 6 |
| 1966 | James H. McCormick | Seattle Chess Club | 7 | 6 / 6 |
| 1967 | James H. McCormick | Seattle | 5 | 3.5 / 4 |
| 1968 | James H. McCormick (see notes) | Seattle | 8 | 7 / 8 |
| 1969 | James H. McCormick (see notes) | Seattle | 8 | 7 / 8 |
| 1970 | Michael J. Franett | Seattle Chess Club | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1971 | John A. Braley | J.K. Gill, Northgate Shopping Center, Seattle | 8 | 7 / 7 |
| 1972 | Michael J. Franett See Seattle Times article/photo |
Seattle | 8 | 6 / 7 |
| 1973 | Michael J. Franett | Bon Marche, Northgate Mall, Seattle |
8 | 5.5 / 7 |
| 1974 | Viktors Pupols | Seattle | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1975 | Johnny D. Walker | Seattle | 8 | 5.5 / 7 |
| 1976 | Yasser Seirawan (see notes) | Seattle | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1977 | Yasser Seirawan | Seattle | 8 | 6 / 7 |
| 1978 | Viktors Pupols & Eric Tangborn (see notes) |
University of Washington, Seattle | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1979 | John Donaldson | Seattle | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1980 | John Donaldson | Mercer Island | 8 | 6.5 / 7 |
| 1981 | James H. McCormick | 8 | 5.5 / 7 | |
| 1982 | Neil V. Salmon & Bill H. McGeary | Tacoma Chess Club | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1983 | John A. Braley | Bellevue | 8 | 6 / 7 |
| 1984 | Bobby Ferguson | Bellevue | 8 | 5.5 / 7 |
| 1985 | Kent Pullen & Jeremy D. Silman | Bellevue | 7 | 4.5 / 6 |
| 1986 | Matthew Edwards & John A. Braley | 8 | 4.5 / 7 | |
| 1987 | Bobby Ferguson | Seattle Chess Club | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1988 | Matthew Edwards | West Seattle | 8 | 5 / 7 |
| 1989 | Viktors Pupols | Olympia | 10 | 7.5 / 9 |
| 1990 | Neil V. Salmon | Redmond (Microsoft Campus) | 8 | 5.5 / 7 |
| 1991 | Neil V. Salmon | University of Washington, Seattle | 8 | 5.5 / 7 |
|
Beginning in 1992, the links
under "Number of Players" are to the official USCF crosstables giving all the players' names, ratings and results. Additional sections (such as the Premier section) are also included in these crosstables. |
||||
| 1992 | Georgi Orlov | Seattle | 10 | 8 / 9 |
| 1993 | Georgi Orlov | Seattle | 10 | 8 / 9 |
| 1994 | Michael Oshiro & Neil V. Salmon | Seattle | 10 | 6 / 9 |
| 1995 | Georgi Orlov & Elena Donaldson | Seattle | 10 | 7.5 / 9 |
| 1996 | Georgi Orlov | Seattle | 10 | 8.5 / 9 |
| 1997 | Georgi Orlov | Tacoma | 10 | 8.5 / 9 |
| 1998 | Slava Mikhailuk | Seattle | 10 | 9 / 9 |
| 1999 | Georgi Orlov | Seattle | 10 | 7.5 / 9 |
| 2000 | William Schill | Renton | 10 | 6 / 9 |
| 2001 | William Schill & Harley Greninger | Seattle | 10 | 6.5 / 9 |
| 2002 | Neil V. Salmon | Seattle | 10 | 6 / 9 |
| 2003 | Slava Mikhailuk | Bellevue (Oki Foundation) | 10 | 7 / 9 |
| 2004 | Slava Mikhailuk | Bellevue (Oki Foundation) | 10 | 7.5 / 9 |
| 2005 | Slava Mikhailuk | Bellevue (Oki Foundation) | 10 | 7.5 / 9 |
| 2006 | Slava Mikhailuk | Tacoma (UW Tac. campus) | 10 | 7 / 9 |
| 2007 | Ignacio Perez | Seattle & Shoreline | 10 | 7 / 9 |
| 2008 | Gregory Serper | Seattle & Shoreline | 10 | 8 / 9 |
| 2009 | Costin Cozianu | Redmond & Bellevue | 10 | 7 / 9 |
| 2010 | Howard Chen | Seattle Chess Club | 10 | 8 / 9 |
| 2011 | Howard Chen | Seattle Chess Club | 10 | 6.5 / 9 |
| Notes on Washington Chess Champions 1862 to Date | ||||
|
1875-1890 – Andrew W. Piper had a store in downtown Seattle. A park area in Seattle that was his homestead now exists. He is listed as Andrew in the WA Death Index, having died in 1904 which matches other information. [Research by Russell Miller.] 1932 – According to "History of Washington Chess" by John Nourse (Aug. 1950), "There was no Washington State Tournament in existence until 1932." (Presumably match play before then.) See the above-referenced 1934 tournament booklet for more information. 1952 – Score of 7.5 out of 9 included a playoff game. 1961 – Vik Pupols won the tourney on a tie-break. 1964 – Vik Pupols won the tourney in 1964, but Gerald Ronning took title in a match. 1968 – Score includes playoff win by James H. McCormick over Robert Holzinger. 1969 – Score includes playoff win by James H. McCormick over Kent Pullen. 1976 – Tournament was held in February. The following players tied: Vik Pupols, Ray Fasano, Yasser Seirawan. The playoffs were to be March 30-April 13 per article in April NWC by the TD Robert Karch. May NWC has short article about the playoff results. Seirawan won the playoff 3-1. Pupols was 2.5-1.5 and Ray 0.5-3.5. 1978 – Pupols-Tangborn playoff match ended in 2-2 score. 1985 – Event started with eight players, however Ken Tomkins did not finish 50% of his games. |
||||
| Number of Years as Champion (Tie counts as one-half year.) (*) In early years, player may not have been required to defend title every year. (**) Sheets would have 13 years (tied with Bagley) if war years were included. |
|||
| #Years | Champion | Title | Born/Died |
| 20 | Earle Jenner (*) | 1875-1933 | |
| 15 | Andrew W. Piper (*) | 1828-1904 | |
| 13 | Clarence B. Bagley (*) | 1843-1932 | |
| 11 | William A. Dickey (*) | 1862-1943 | |
| 9 | Jacob Leonard Sheets (**) | 1904-1980 | |
| 7 | James McCormick | 1936- | |
| 5.5 | Georgi Orlov | IM | 1964- |
| 5 | Griffith Davies (*) | ||
| 5 | Slava Mikhailuk | FM | 1971- |
| 4 | James Hurt | ||
| 4 | Neil V. Salmon | NM | 1955- |
| 3.5 | Viktors Pupols | LM | 1935- |
| 3 | Olaf Ivan Ulvestad | 1912-2000 | |
| 3 | Michael J. Franett | 1941-2004 | |
| 2.5 | John A. Braley | 1944- | |
| 2 | V. Childs Klug | ||
| 2 | Elmars Zemgalis | 1923- | |
| 2 | Viesturs Seglins | ||
| 2 | Gerald Ronning | ||
| 2 | Yasser Seirawan | GM | 1960- |
| 2 | John Donaldson | IM | 1958- |
| 2 | Bobby Ferguson | ||
| 2 | Howard Chen | NM | 1993- |
| 1.5 | Matthew Edwards | 1959- | |
| 1.5 | William Schill | FM | 1957- |
| 1 | Otto A. Case | 1872-1957 | |
| 1 | Arvid Johnson | ||
| 1 | Hugh Enochson | ||
| 1 | Charles K. Joachim | 1905-1980 | |
| 1 | Robert C. Stork | ||
| 1 | Charles Standish Ballantine | 1929-2008 | |
| 1 | William Bills | ||
| 1 | Robert Edberg | ||
| 1 | John D. Walker | ||
| 1 | Ignacio Perez | FM | 1967- |
| 1 | Gregory Serper | GM | 1969- |
| 1 | Costin Cozianu | FM | 1973- |
| 0.5 | Eric Tangborn | IM | 1961- |
| 0.5 | Bill H. McGeary | 1957- | |
| 0.5 | Kent Pullen | 1942-2003 | |
| 0.5 | Jeremy D. Silman | IM | 1954- |
| 0.5 | Elena Donaldson | WGM | 1957- |
| 0.5 | Michael Oshiro | 1970- | |
| 0.5 | Harley Greninger | NM | 1960- |
| 145 | Total | ||
| 5 | Yrs. with no tournament | ||
| 44 | No. of different players | ||
