Greetings!
Northern California is home to one of the most plentiful chess regions in the United States.   We are one of the top five states* in membership in the U.S. Chess Federation.  


We have dozens of local chess clubs in our club list that you can drop in and enjoy a casual game.   The Mechanic's Institute Chess Club   in downtown San Francisco is in fact the oldest chess club in the U.S.   If you are serious about some competition, look at our tournament page as there is a chess tournament for almost every weekend in the year.   We have several of the top scholastic players in the United States and a few of them are even World Champion caliber for their age group.

* USCF considers Northern and Southern California two different states.

National Junior High School Championships Final Report
by Alan Kirshner
Anyone who has attended a spring national scholastic championship can attest to the fact that predicting an out come is near impossible.

2nd Place Horner Junior High

Players contest seven rounds of grueling chess over three days with a game in two hours(four hour potential playing time) plus a five second time delay on each move. .
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Samuel Sevian Wins Clear First in 2012 Hans Poschmann Memorial
by Ken Zowal
National Master Samuel Sevian bested all competitors to claim a clear first place in this weekend's Hans Poschmann Memorial chess tournament.

Hans Poschmann

The event was held at Fremont's award-winning Club Sport fitness facility.
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The Best Scholastic Players in California Collide at State Championship
by Steven Camacho
The annual California event took place April 21st through April 22nd in Santa Clara.

Large Banner at the Event

The event was organized by TD Salman Azhar, Ph.D. who wishes to thank all the players, parents, everyone who attended, volunteered and supported the annual state scholastic chess event.
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5/6/2012
Event: 6th Annual Ray Schutt
            Memorial
            Blitz Tournament
Addr: Mechanics Chess Club
          57 Post Street
          San Francisco, CA
Rounds: 5(double)
   Prizes: $750
   TC: g/4+2
   Entry Fee: $10
Contact: John Donaldson
e-mail: chessroom@milibrary.org

click here for more more information

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Re-Birth of the CCJ
The CalChess Board of Directors has voted to start publishing the California Chess Journal again. In March, Eric Schiller created a Winter 2009 issue ( see back issues), later we had well-known writer Frisco Del Rosario create a Summer 2010, up to January 2011 issue. Now we have the young Aditya Kumar as editor with our January 2012 issue. ( see below). With your support, we are hoping to continue publishing an electronic version four times a year. Once we get this established, issues will be FREE and emailed to all current CalChess members.

If you are interested in receiving a copy, make sure your membership is up-to-date, by checking for your name on the Membership List. We will also publish back issues on the website, and if CalChess has the financial resources, you may see some printed issues you can pick up (for free) at your local tournament!