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.

Shankland Wins Northern California International
by Kostya Kavutskiy
GM Sam Shankland won the 2012 Northern California International with 7/9 while Faik Aleskerov earned his final IM norm.

GMs Shankland vs. Freidel

Going into the last two rounds there were several players with excellent norm chances. Many others came close to meeting the requirements.
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Shankland leads Northern California International
by Kostya Kavutskiy
After seven rounds GM Sam Shankland is leading the Northern California International with 6/7 points.

Tournament Hall

The 2012 Northern California International is turning out to be one of the most prestigious and well organized tournaments in the United States, mainly due to the strong effort put in by the organizers to meet all of the players' needs. Kostya Kavutskiy brings us the full story from the NorCal House of Chess in Fremont.
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02/05/2012
 Event: 5th Annual
            CalNorth
            Age Level Champs
Addr: Newark Pavilion
          6430 Thornton Ave, Hall #1,#4
          Newark, CA
Rounds: 4 or 5
USCF Rated: Yes
Prizes: Trophies to
          top 15 places
          in each section + teams
TC: G/30 or G/45
Entry Fee: $35
Contact: Alan Kirschner
e-mail: info@CalNorthYouthChess.org

click here for more information

click here for Advanced Entry List

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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 the current January 2011 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!