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Hi everyone! From what I can gather this club has been inactive for the most part for the last couple of years, but I felt like it would be best to ask this question here since there seem to be a lot of people here who would be knowledgeable on the topic. I'm currently 1790 NW / 1715 USCF (profile is here if it's useful) / 1677 FIDE and looking to improve as much as possible before going to college in 2 years as I'm a rising 11th grader, and most of my work in the last couple of years has been self-study, getting myself up from a 1100 USCF rating since the end of the pandemic; that being said, I feel that I'm likely to (and have) hit significant roadblocks in my progress due to school + just the difficulty of self-studying chess in general and it'd be nice to have a coach to help work on specific areas of growth, such as with calculation in classical games and positional play. The problem I'm sort of facing right now is that a lot of the teaching in the Washington is focused around the intermediate level and with elementary/middle school aged kids, so there don't seem to be a ton of options for people like me who are inching towards the "adult improver" sort of demographic (I had meant to ask Coach Orlov and Josh a few years back, but I believe they don't do private lessons anymore, which is a bummer). Though part of the kids' progress can be attributed to their increased levels of neuroplasticity, I feel that it's just getting harder to keep up with them in general nowadays. If anyone has any suggestions for where I could begin to look for finding coaching and private lessons, please do respond below or message me! I'd be potentially willing to work with anyone in the Seattle/Bellevue area around my age or above who's preferably (though not absolutely necessary) titled. Thanks everyone in advance

Curious why do we have a separate rating system than USCF for tournaments in pacific northwest? I think most of scholastic tournaments have only that rating and adults are dual rated Few troubles I see with a separate rating system USCF rating for the scholastic kids is lower because they compete in local tournaments and not the USCF rated ones NWRS ratings have a haphazard update schedule and seemed to be maintained by volunteers. Its hard to explain to kids why there is a different rating in NWRS, USCF, chess.com, lichess etc Does USCF charge a significant fees for making these events USCF rated?

Happy Independence Day everyone!!

If you know any 6th - 12th grade players in SW Wa, tell'm about the Southwest Washington Middle and High School Chess Championships at Centralia College on Feb. 4. I reckon it's been five years or so since a rated MS-HS tourney has taken place in these parts. Both tournaments are regional championships, limited to students in western Washington who reside south and west of King County. The high school championship is both an individual and team event. Winning high school teams qualify to play in the 57th annual Washington State High School Chess Team Championships, to be held March 4 at Stanwood High School. Normally teams qualify for State out of their high school chess league. Last March, Regional Qualifying Tournaments were approved to provide a path to State for areas without a high school chess league, such as Pierce County. Both the middle school and high school tournaments are offered free of charge, courtesy of the Washington High School Chess Association and the Chess Enrichment Association, two non-profits helping to bring the benefits of chess to students. Advance entry required, beginners welcome. http://northwestchess.info/swwa.html High School Championship http://northwestchess.info/swms.html Middle School Championship

For online tournaments why are the prize payouts roughly half of the entry fees? I understand that there are costs related to running a tournament, but if the tournament is online it's not like a venue is being rented for the event. So why are the tournament organizers taking so much?

I want to acquire some books like My 60 memorable games. Alekhines best games etc. Spassky's best gamesDo we have a library or someone who is willing to sell them? I know I can acquire these from amazon etc but I don't want to buy a ton of chess books and create a collection and they collect dust after few years. I know seattle chess club had a lot of books but not sure if they are being open in this COVID time.

I thought it would be a good idea to create a thread for members to seek online playing opportunities with other WCF community members. Use this forum to post game requests for live/daily games. Please include your general availability (include time zone) and preferred time control.

My son Sankalp is now playing chess and gradually improving. He is currently ~900 NWCS rated and going to 1st grade in fall. This covid time has been great for his improvement because I have time to teach and mostly follow his online games. HIs only other offline tournament though rather fun, I couldn't really understand what he was playing. His notation is rather spotty and he told me that his opponent wanted a draw so he gave it But now since all tournaments have notation and precise clocks this has been great to understand what he was doing and where he can improve. There are a steady stream of online scholastic tournaments and I want to draw comparisons between them and get more recommendations or thoughts Pros Cons Comments NW chess tournaments Trophies are huge and inspiring Fairly regular Opponent kids names are fairly familiar and might meet them OTB one day Take a while for the results and ratings to be posted. Organization and controlling the kids over zoom is wild (though they are getting better). Registration:https://nwchess.com/OnlineRegistration/ Chess4life quads Regular, happens every friday Quad format Very streamline organization and registration Opponents are fairly familiar Starts pretty late in the day at 7pm! Not open to feedback, i requested to change earlier times few times but no response They are not giving trophies yet but only certificates Registrationhttps://chess4life.configio.com/ Chesskid tournaments Happens every day, multiple times! Free if you have their membership Horrible platform and buggy Games have no set start time No trophies or prizes Only one section, so getting into top is almost impossible https://www.chesskid.com/ Chess NYC tournaments Happens almost everyday USCF rated! Custom playing platform, seems solid enough Quad format EST times, so have to wake up early Their custom playing platform doesn't let draw offers or even resign! 20 min time control, seems rather rushed https://chessnyc.com/play-n-stay-online-play