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.

Local Chess Stars to Battle in ChessKid.com Online National Championships!
by Amanda Mateer
My name is Amanda, co-scholastic coordinator for ChessKid.com, and I'm excited to announce that ChessKid will be hosting the 2nd Annual Online National Chess Championship, June 14th-17th 2013!
Josiah Stearman
The nation's best scholastic chess players will come together online in each respective age group to battle over the web for a national title.
Read More
CalChess Girl Power at All-Girls Nationals
by Alan Kirshner
The United States Chess Federation held the 2013 All-Girls Nationals in Chicago during the weekend of April 26 through the 28. The Kasparov Chess Federation sponsored the tournament that drew 280 girls from all over the nation.
Weibel Girls at Nationals
A number of girls from NorCal competed and made their mark in the history book of this decade old event.
Read More
What Does it Take to Make A National Champion Team
by Juie Xie (Sartorio)
On January 27, 2013, I opened my email as usual but was surprised to receive the following unusual message. A "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Sartorio: "My name is Jay Liu and I'm Joanna Liu's father. I get your information from Gomes PTA Directory. Joanna is a 5th grader at Gomes and a decent chess player...
Gomes K-5 National Champtions
Read More


5/25-27/2013
Event:  Best of the West
            Class Championship
            plus scholastics grade level!
Addr:   Santa Clara Marriott
            2700 Mission College Blvd
            Santa Clara, CA
Rounds: 6
   Prizes: $20,000
   TC: 6x30/90 SD/60
           (Open FIDE rated)
   Entry Fee: $124
Contact: Salman Azhar
e-mail: ask@bayareachess.com

Click HERE For Class Champ Flyer

Click HERE For Scholastic Flyer

Advanced Registration List HERE

Regular (Open) Tournament
Quick List
Scholastic Tournament
Quick List
Play online chess
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 and talented Aditya Kumar as editor with our January 2012 issue. Our current issue is 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!