CSCA Championship Event -- Registration is OPEN!!!
June 10-11 - CONNECTICUT OPEN (South Windsor) $3,000 and more in Prizes!!! Cambria Hotel @ Evergreen Walk, Room rate: $179/night June 9-10, exp 6/2, reserve. Register Now! Please review flyer for available discounts before registering.

CSCA Tournament Event -- Registration is OPEN!!!
Jun 3 - 27th Annual Robert Musicant-Donald Yazgoor Memorial Tournament (Norwalk), an open scholastic (pK-12) tournament sponsored and organized by the Connecticut State Chess Association and RedBandit Chess and hosted by the Norwalk Public Library (Main). Register Now! Please review flyer for available discounts before registering.

For more tournaments and activities, please visit our Events Calendar

Chess News Wire -- May 2023

• Connecticut IM Maximillian Lu finished with a record of 6-3-2 and a total score of 7/11 at the XVI Continental Championships, held May 15-23 in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic. Also participating were Connecticut GM Robert Hungaski, scoring 6/11, and winner of the 2023 Connecticut Speed Championships, GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez of New York, who finished third overall with 8.5/11. (5/28)
• CSCA Board raises annual membership to $20. CSCA also introduces premium and family premium membership options, which include tournament entry discounts. (5/26)
• CSCA opens registration for the Connecticut Open; the CSCA's first two-day tournament in over a decade. The event will be held at the all new Cambria Hotel at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor. (5/22)
  
  
  The all new Cambria Hotel at Evergreen Walk in South Windor,
  site of the 2023 Connecticut Open
  
  
• CSCA Board welcomes new member, Ismael Pagan. (5/21)
• 25 participate at NBCC Planet Earth. CM Jasmine Su won the event. (5/20)
• Taino CC draws 12 in first tournament. Alex Guziak won the event. (5/19)
• Jordan Groff breaks 2200 to become Connecticut's newest National Master. (5/16)
• Connecticut sends three to Polgar Invitational. 2023 Connecticut Women's Champion and Barber Nominee CM Jasmine Su, 2023 Connecticut Girls Champion and Haring Nominee Lacey Wang and former US Representative at the Pan American Youth Championships and one of the top-rated Connecticut females, Serena Evans, will represent Connecticut at the 20th Annual Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational, June 20-25 at Webster University, St. Louis. (5/4)
• Local player and enthusiast, Luis Delgado, opens Taino Chess Club, a new storefront club at 1020 Farmington Avenue, Berlin. The club is open for casual play Monday thru Saturday 3 to 8 PM. (5/3)
  
  
  Club Owner Luis Delgado outside Taino Chess Club in Berlin.
  
  
• New Britain and Southbury Chess Clubs regular, Ronald Bourassa, passed away on April 29 in Daytona Beach, Florida. One of the most active players in Connecticut from the 1970s to 2009, Bourassa's over-the-board achievements include winning the 1979 NBCC Championship. (5/3)
• Registration is now open for the Hall of Fame Action Championship (May 20) and the 27th Annual Musicant-Yazgoor Tournament (June 3). Please visit our Events Calendar to review and register for these competitions. (5/2)
• NTD Harold Stenzel to direct CSCA's upcoming Connecticut Hall of Fame Action Championship. The event will take place on May 20 at Sacred Heart University's beautiful Bowman Hall, which will provide an inspirational setting for the induction of the first class of the CSCA Hall of Fame. (5/1)
  
  
  Bowman Hall at Sacred Heart University, venue of the 2023 Hall of Fame
  Action Championship.
  
  
• US Chess DEADLINE to register to vote in the June 2023 Executive Board election--six candidates competing for four seats--is today. All eligible US Chess members should login to their US Chess accounts and register to vote. Ballots are sent by June 10. (5/1)

5/21/2023
CSCA Celebrates Connecticut Chess with Inaugural Hall of Fame Induction and First Hall of Fame Class


GM Sergey Kudrin (center left) and FM Kapil Chandran (center
right) pose for a photograph with Chandran's parents at the
Inaugural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on May 20.

Also yesterday at Sacred Heart University, the CSCA held its first ever Hall of Fame Induction. The first Hall of Fame class was a collection of some of the greatest contributors and personalities in Connecticut chess history. The honored inductees were:

• Nick Stevens, posthumous - CSCA Tournaments Coordinator (1970s), organizer, Hartford Chess Club President (1970s-1980s)
• James Bolton, posthumous - Player and State Champion (1953, 1957, 1974 and 1993(Open))
• Bortil Clareus, posthumous - Player and State Champion (1935, 1939 and 1940)
• Robert Mitchell, posthumous - Player and State Champion (1934, 1938, 1939 and 1948)
• Dr. Joseph Platz, posthumous - CSCA President (1960s) and first to incorporate the CSCA, State Champion (1955 and 1960)
• Arkadij Strandins, posthumous - Organizer, Player and State Blitz Champion (1976-1979), NBCC President (30 years)
• Thomas Hartmayer, posthumous - CSCA Director (2000s-2016), UConn Chess Club Organizer and Tournament Director and Player
• GM Sergey Kudrin - Grandmaster Player and State Champion (2004-2009), Senior State Champion (2020, 2022 and 2023)
• Robert Roy - CSCA President (1980s and 1990s), Chess Journalist, Publisher, Organizer and Tournament Director
• Hanon Russell - Publisher, Author, Player and State Champion Quick (1992)
• Christopher Potts - Volunteer Organizer and Coach at Norwalk Library Chess Club (1989-2019)
• FM Kapil Chandran - Scholastic Player, Connecticut Barber and Denker Representative, Denker Winner (2013)
• Beatrice Low - five-time Girls State Champion and six-time Connecticut Haring Representative

5/21/2023
NM Nathaniel Moor Wins Connecticut Action Chess Championship


NM Nathaniel Moor at 2023 Connecticut Action
Championship Awards Ceremony.

Yesterday at Sacred Heart University, fifty players took part in the Inaugural Hall of Fame Action Chess Championship. NM Nathaniel Moor, GM Sergey Kudrin and NM Zachary Tanenbaum finished in a three-way tie for first in the Open section with a score of 4/5. However, on tie breaks, it was Moor finishing in first, Kudrin in second and Tanenbaum in third. In the U1600 section, Sebastian Lopez finished in first with 4/5. In the U1200, Esaimani Balabishegam and Kashvi Madhwani finished tied for first with 4/5, and Balabishegam took first on tie breaks. This part state championship and part celebration was organized by the CSCA in honor of thirteen Hall of Fame inductees and was directed by NTD Harold Stenzel. See rating report and final standings.

4/30/2023
China's GM Ding Liren is New World Chess Champion!


GM Ding Liren at press conference after winning Game 12,
to tie the 2023 World Championship at six all.
(Photo courtesy of David Llada/FIDE.)

Today in Astana, Kazakhstan, China's GM Ding Liren defeated Russia's GM Ian Nepomniachtchi on rapid-play tie breaks 2.5-1.5 after never leading in the 14-game classic stage, which the two finished deadlocked at 7-7. Ding is the first player from China to become World Chess Champion. After being unlikely to participate in the Candidates Tournament and mounting an improbable comeback to finish second there, Ding was catapulted into the Championship match by GM Magnus Carlsen's surprise decision to decline another defense of his World Champion title. Against Neponiachtchi in the final, Ding mounted three wins with white to tie the match, after his opponent took a one-point lead on those three occasions. However, after winning Game 12, Ding would not allow Neponiachtchi another lead, tying Game 13 and 14 and the first three rapid games in the first tie break, before winning the final rapid game and the match.

4/29/2023
NM Rajesh Shanmugasundaram Wins Herr Direktor's Cup at 2023 Hartmayer Memorial


Game 50 Open and U1600 (right) and Game 25 Scholastic (left) sections compete at HMT23 at the Wilson-Gray YMCA in Hartford.


Open winner NM Rajesh Shanmugasundaram (left) facing Jonathan Smucker in
Round 4 for the Herr Direktor's Cup.

Today, 73 players competed in the 2023 Thomas E. Hartmayer Memorial Tournament at the Wilson-Gray YMCA in Hartford. Rhode Island's NM Rajesh Shanmugasundaram, who was the event's and is Rhode Island's top rated player, won the Open section and Herr Direktor's Cup. Sebastian Lopez of Bridgeport won the Under 1600 Section. Ryan Zheng of West Hartford, Jack Qian of South Glastonbury, Eric Gu of Massachusetts and Jay Mehta of Farmington won the K-12 U1000, K-8 U800, K-5 U500 and K-12 Unrated sections, respectively. Scholastic team titles were awarded to Manchester High, Edwards Middle (South Windsor) and Bugbee Elementary (West Hartford). The event was co-organized by the CSCA, YMCA and Kevin Zimmerman. Play was directed by STD Frank DelBonis and TD Matthew Freeman of Rhode Island. See rating report and final standings.

Chess News Wire -- April 2023

• Connecticut's Girls Champion Lacey Wang finished fourth in the Under 10 age group at the National All-Girls Championship with a record of 5-1-0. Sophie Rohrs was the only other Connecticut participant and finished with a record of 3-2-1 in the Under 12 group. In all, 472 players participated in Chicago this year. (4/30)
• Greenwich High School wins 2022-23 FCICL after 9-3 tie break match win over Brunswick School for first place. The league will not hold an individual tournament this year. (4/30)
• CSCA begins premium membership initiative, offering members entry discounts and other benefits. (4/30)
• 18 players participate at RedBandit Chess' April scholastic tournament, held at CCFC. (4/29)
• CSCA President Alexander Lumelsky and Vice President Mikhail Koganov are the 2023 Connecticut Delegates to US Chess and will represent Connecticut at the 2023 US Chess Annual Meeting in August. (4/27)
• Only one Connecticut player, Aaron Krayn of New Fairfield, participated in the National Middle School Championship in Austin, Texas. Aaron finished 28th in the K-8 U1700 section. (4/25)
• Twelve players participate at Wesleyan Chess Club's Fischer Random Rapid. (4/24)
• Andrew Orlowski (below left) and Andrew Cai (below right) win their respective sections at the Way of the Board Chess Club's April Tournament in Ridgefield. Eleven players participated. (4/23)
  
  
  
  
• CSCA postpones first Connecticut Fischer Random/Chess960 Championship after venue conflict. Instead, Wesleyan Chess Club will hold a shorter Chess960 rapid tournament. (4/21)
• CM Jasmine Su is top Connecticut Player at Foxwoods 2023. Of the 444 participants, 58 players were from Connecticut. (4/12)
• Twelve Connecticut players traveled to Washington, DC to take part in the National High School Championship this weekend. IM Maximillian Lu finished in fourth place in the Championship section with five wins and two draws. CM Nathaniel Moor finished 24th with a record of 4-1-2. (4/4)
• Fairfield County Interscholastic Chess League ends league play with a two-way tie between Greenwich High and Brunswick. A tie break match for first will be played. (4/3)
  
  
  
  
• 2023 Connecticut Women's Championship sets attendance record with 16 participants. (4/1)
  
  
  Play More Chess Academy hosts the 2023 Connecticut Women's Championship.
  
  
• CSCA membership peaks at 849 members following the 2023 Connecticut Women's Championship. (4/1)

4/5/2023
CSCA Holds Its First Ever Online Events: New England Online Scholastic and Blitz Championships


NTD Judit Sztaray (top left) directs the CSCA-organized 2023 New
England Online Scholastic Championships.

On March 24 and 25, the CSCA held the first ever New England Online Scholastic Championships and Blitz Championships. These were also the first New England Chess Association tournaments, to be organized by the CSCA. 25 players from 8 states participated in the Blitz Championships on Friday, March 24. 48 players from 11 states participated in the Rapid/Classical Championships on Saturday, March 25. Connecticut notables were as follows:

• Nakul Ramaswamy of Simsbury High is the NECA High School Blitz Champion
• Nadav Hartman of Mansfield Middle is the NECA Middle School Blitz Champion
• Simsbury High School won the High School team Blitz title
• Renbrook School (West Hartford) won the Elementary School team Blitz title
• Calvin Leete Elementary (Guilford) won the Elementary School team Rapid/Classical title
• Bugbee Elementary (West Hartford) won the Primary School team Rapid/Classical title

4/2/2023
CM Jasmine Su Wins 2023 Connecticut Women’s Championship


CM Jasmine Su receives State Champion trophy and first place
prize from CSCA Board Member Saurabh Kumar and Vice President
Mikhail Koganov at the 2023 Connecticut Women’s Championship,
held at Play More Chess Academy in Hamden on April 1.

On April 1, 2023 at Play More Chess Academy in Hamden, sixteen women took part in the Connecticut Women's Championship. This marked only the third time that the event was organized and only the second time as an independent event. CM Jasmine Su won the competition with a score of 3.5/4, drawing her final match with new comer Marfa Esaulova, who finished second on tie breaks. Sophia Rosenholtz of Massachusetts finished third, Mridhulaa Rajagopal finished Top Under 1400, Shesh Budhabhatti finished Top Under 1000, and Annika Kumar won the Top Unrated. See final standings and rating report.

3/19/2022
Thirty Eight Players Take Part in NKSC23; Sebastian Imperati Cruises to Second Knights Title


Brent McCreesh managing the floor at the 2023 Norwalk Knights Spring Championship; CSCA President Alexander Lumelsky conducting the awards ceremony. (photo courtesy of STD NM Ian Harris/RedBandit Chess)

On March 18, the CSCA with the aid of Norwalk Library and RedBandit Chess held the Spring Championship of its Norwalk Knights Library Chess Program at the Norwalk Library. Sebastian Imperati won the Open section with a perfect five-win score, repeating as Program Champion. Kenan Al-Jajeh won the Reserve section, also with a perfect 5-0 score. The event was directed by volunteers STD NM Ian Harris and Brent McCreesh. See final standings Open and Reserve and the event's rating report.

Chess News Wire -- March 2023

• NM Arslan Otchiyev opens the Milford Chess Academy and will hold an open house on April 22. (3/30)
• 28 participate at RedBandit Scholastic at the Chess Club of Fairfield County. (3/27) UPDATED 4/30
  
  
  Players pose with prizes at RedBandit's scholastic tournament,
  held at CCFC.
  
  
• CSCA membership passes 800 individual members following NE Online Championships. CSCA adds Ocean State Chess Association as its eleventh organization member group. (3/26)
• Nakul Ramaswamy wins NE Online Scholastic Blitz Championships. Full report coming soon. (3/26)
• CSCA completes its first online Championship events for New England Chess Association. Final results are pending standard Fairplay Review by Chess.com. (3/25)
• 242 players, of whom 48 were from Connecticut, took part in the CCA's Eastern Class Championship, held in Windsor Locks last weekend. IM Danny Edelman finished in fourth in the Master section with a record of 3-1-1. Meanwhile, Uma Perla won the Class C section with a record of 4-0-1. (3/20) UPDATED 5/1
• 38 participate in CSCA's Norwalk Knights Spring Championship held today at the Norwalk Library. Full update coming soon. (3/18)
• Jordan Groff wins NBCC Club Championship, concluded last week. (3/14)
  
  
• 
  
  William Safianoff (left) wins March 12 Scholastic at Way of the Board Chess Club in Ridgefield. Eight players participated. (3/12)
  
  
• NECA opens renewed New England Clearinghouse to all organizers. Organizers can obtain independent login ID to automatically post events to the Clearinghouse regionally, to avoid event conflicts and promote their activities. (3/10)
• CSCA's Norwalk Knights Spring Program, which starts March 30, is now full and a waitlist option is available. (3/8)
• CSCA to provide lessons with IM Jan van de Mortel to Manchester High School Chess Club. (3/6)
  
  

3/6/2023
Greenwich High, Avon Public, Norfeldt Elementary and Calvin Leete Elementary Are 2023 Scholastic Team Champions


Greenwich High Chess Team (left to right: Victoria Liu, Isaac Dcruz, Elias
Orrell, Carl Homan and IM Maximillian Lu) with CSCA President Alexander
Lumelsky at the 2023 Scholastic Team Championships high school
awards presentation at Manchester High School

On March 4, 2023 at Manchester High School (MHS), the CSCA held its annual Team Championships, for the first time in a new team-focused format. 80 players and 24 teams took part. Greenwich High School, led by IM Max Lu, edged out West Hartford Schools by one point to win the High School title. Avon Public Schools dominated the Middle School section, finishing with a five-point lead over the rest of the field and the state title. Norfeldt Elementary (West Hartford), competing without State K-3 Champion Louise Lu, captured the Elementary School crown on tie breaks over town rival Braeburn Elementary (West Hartford). Calvin Leete Elementary, featuring K-1 State Champion Rylan Chang and K-3 placement holder and older brother Leroy Chang, put on a dominant performance, finishing undefeated, to win the Primary School title. The event was delayed by 90 minutes due to inclement weather over night and into the morning. Regardless, the Elementary and Primary sections were completed by 3 PM, well ahead of the original schedule, and the upper sections concluded on schedule at 6 PM. The CSCA thanks Chief TD NM Ian Harris for another efficiently run CSCA tournament. CSCA also thanks Parag Joshi of MHS and the MHS Chess Club and volunteers for hosting and coordinating a great event. See Final Awards and Rating Report. Additional photos follow.

2/26/2023
GM Sergey Kudrin Wins Third Consecutive Connecticut Senior Title


Sergey Kudrin at the board in Round 3 of
2023 Connecticut Senior Championship

The 2023 Connecticut Senior Championship was held at Wesleyan University, Exley Science Center on February 25. Twelve players took part. GM Sergey Kudrin won his third consecutive senior title scoring 3.5/4. NM Mikhail Koganov finished second with 3/4. Both will repeat as Connecticut's Irwin National Nominee and Alternate. Other prizes included NM Derek Meredith finishing third, Elizabeth Smith finishing top U1800, Charles Rutan finishing top U1400 and Graig Simera finishing top U1000. New comer Hennadii Vasylenko, recently from Ukraine, finished fourth and top unrated. The story of the event, however, may have been the participation of Wesleyan alumnus and New Jersey resident Doran Race, who took multiple trains and a snowy 25-mile bike ride from New Haven to Middletown to play in this tournament. See Final Awards, Standings and Rating Report.

Yale's Maxim Yaskolko Wins Collegiate Championship; Wesleyan Wins 2023 Team Crown


Round 1 gets under way at 2023 Connecticut Collegiate
and Senior Championships at Wesleyan

The 2023 Connecticut Collegiate Championship was held at Wesleyan University yesterday. 33 players took part, including several Connecticut scholastic players. Yale's Maxim Yaskolko (right) won the event with a score of 3.5/4 in the Open Section. UConn's Jonathan Smucker won Second, and SHU's NM Mark Dedona won Third. Yale's Christopher Tanaka finished top U1800, and Farmington High School's Punyavrat Upadhyay won the Top Prospect prize after defeating NM Dedona in Round 2. In the Under 1600 Section, West Hartford's Carter Clayton of Conard High School finished first with a perfect score, also winning the Top Prospect award. SHU's Aidan Shamas won Second and top U1200, and Wesleyan's Collin Holson took Third. Yale's Laurel Turner won top U800. The team competition ended in a two-way tie at the top with 7/12 for Wesleyan and Yale, but tie breaks gave Wesleyan the 2023 Collegiate team title. SHU finished third. The Collegiate and Senior Championships were held together and directed by Senior TD Frank DelBonis and Assistant TD Wayne Powers of Ocean State Chess Association. See Final Awards, Standings and Rating Report.

Chess News Wire -- February 2023

• NM Derek Meredith wins WMCA's Western Mass/Connecticut Valley Championship. (9/27)
• Twelve participated in Hamden Chess Club’s February Fortress on February 25, 2023. Quad winners were Alexander Emmons, Omkar Maralappanavar and Brayden Sabol. (2/26)
• CSCA opens registration for New England Scholastic and Scholastic Blitz Championships on March 24 and 25, CSCA's first online tournaments. [updated: new event dates] (2/23)
• Thirteen players participated in the Hamden Chess Club's Presidents' Day Action Quads Tournament on February 20, 2023. Quad winners were Alexander Emmons, Michael Cuppernull and Amir Perk. (2/21)
  
  
  
  
• CSCA updates team format for March 4 Scholastic Team Championships to give players more team opportunities, including home school and school district options. (2/20)
• Twenty-one participate at the Hamden Chess Club's February Frenzy Scholastic Tournament on February 18. Quad winners finishing with 3.0/3.0 points were: Owen Chance Anatra, Zen Pererra, Aarav Singh Lemar, Dev Girish Kumar and Cassius Rudensky Huge. (2/19)
  
  
  
  
• Fairfield County Interscholastic Chess League standings through Week 9 of competition. (2/13)
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  Marcus Chan (left) wins February 12th Scholastic at Way of the Board Chess Club in Ridgefield. Eight players participated. (2/12)
  
  
• The rebirth and redesign of the New England Clearinghouse is nearing completion thanks to the efforts of CSCA Treasurer/Web Admin and NECA Clearinghouse Coordinator, Gert Hilhorst. (2/3)
  
  

2/21/2023
Connecticut at 2023 USATE
Six Connecticut teams and about 40 Connecticut players took part at the 2023 US Amateur Team East, held in Pasippany, NJ this past President's Day weekend. Top Connecticut Team was "In Memoriam: Mr. Melvin Patrick", comprised of IM Maximillian Lu, CM Nathaniel Moor, Jack Klein and William Ewald. Nathaniel Moor also won Top Board on Board 2 with a score of 5.5/6. Meanwhile, the Top Under 1600 Team was Sacred Heart University: NM Mark Dedona, Brent McCreesh, Declan Coleman and Ryan Richter. Addiitonally, the Top Corporate Team was Azure Knightmare, featuring Connecticut's Harlan Keller on Board 3. Other Connecticut teams were "Dracarys" (NM Ian Harris, NM Mikhail Koganov, Oliver Chernin and Hannon Russell), "Carlsen's Niemasis" (Daniel Cooper, Jeffrey Lawrence, Christopher Potts and Sebastian Botta), "CT Knights" (Vedanta Bhargava, Kushagra Bhargava, Truman Kaczmarczyk and Lacey Wang) and "Magnus Won't Play Me, Either" (NM James Nitz, Michael Pascetta, Mario Guevara-Rodriguez and Norman Burtness). In all, 328 teams took part.

2/19/2023
Wesleyan Chess Club to Offer First CSCA Open Club
Wesleyan Chess Club is opening its doors to the chess community as the first CSCA Open Club, starting March 2. Club sessions will be held from 4 to 6 PM on select Thursdays during the spring semester when school is in session. Participation is free. Registration through the CSCA calendar registration system is required. WCC leadership is excited to share their club and make this valued contribution to the Middletown area and statewide chess communities.

2/15/2023
NECA Approves CSCA Proposal to Add Blitz to 2023 New England Online Scholastic Championships
The New England Chess Association approved the Connecticut State Chess Association's additional proposal for the 2023 New England Online Scholastic Blitz Championships. The Blitz event will take place on March 24 in the evening, starting at 6 PM. Registration will open soon. [updated 2/23: new event date/time]

2/13/2023
GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez wins the 2023 Connecticut Speed Championships


GM Corrales Jimenez (right) playing IM Jan van de Mortel in Round
5 of the Quick Championship at the 2023 Speed Championships,
held at Eastern Connecticut State University on February 11.

On February 11, the CSCA held its second Speed Chess Championships, a combined tournament of Quick, Blitz and Bullet chess. The event was hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University and Chess Club at the beautiful ECSU Student Center and Betty Tipton Room. 55 players from six states, including eight masters, participated. New York's GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez finished first, winning two of the three Speed events--Quick and Bullet--finishing third in the Blitz. Yale student GM Nicolas de Checa finished second overall and earned the title of Connecticut Speed Champion. Checa won the Blitz event, and finished second in the Quick, also attaining the titles of 2023 Connecticut Blitz and Quick Champion. Meanwhile, defending Connecticut overall and all three specific event Champion CM Zachary Tanenbaum repeated as Connecticut Bullet Champion, placing second in that competition. For complete results, standings and more photographs, please visit the Speed Event Page.

2/8/2023
CSCA Awarded NECA's 2023 Online Scholastic Championships
The New England Chess Association awarded the Connecticut State Chess Association the 2023 New England Online Scholastic Championships. The tournament is scheduled for March 25, 2023 and will be held over Chess.com. NTD Judit Sztaray of Northern California and other highly experienced national online directors will direct the event. Competition parameters include three to three and a half hours of online time and over 80, and possibly as many as 150, prizes for players and teams from all six New England states and those from outside the region.

Chess News Wire -- January 2023

• NM Derek Meredith wins Western Massachusetts Chess Association's 31st Mid-Winter Classic, held January 28 in Florence, MA. (1/29)
• Registration is open for the 2023 Women's Championship, April 1 at Hamden Chess Club. (1/26)
• CSCA opens registration for the all new Connecticut Scholastic Team Championships, March 4 at Manchester High School. Event features 74 trophy prizes and an all new team-focused format. (1/26)
• After much planning, CSCA opens registration for the 2023 Collegiate Championship and 2023 Senior Championship, to be held simultaneously on February 25 at Wesleyan University. (1/26)
• CSCA reschedules Thomas Hartmayer Memorial Tournament to April 29 at the Wilson-Gray YMCA in Hartford, to be organized jointly with the YMCA, Kevin Zimmerman and the YMCA's Bishop Chess Club. (1/25)
• CSCA to hold 2023 Connecticut Women's Championship as a standalone event at Hamden Chess Club on April 1. Registration is expected to open shortly. (1/25)
• Fairfield County Interscholastic Chess League standings through Week 5 of play. Eight matches are outstanding, pending completion and report. (1/23)
  
  
  
  
• After a chess-busy first three weeks of January, CSCA membership climbs past 700 individual members, a new record. (1/22)
• Final event page for the 2023 Connecticut Scholastic Championships, played January 7 at Sacred Heart University, is now available for review, including all available photos, reports, links and updates. (1/22)
• Twenty-eight participate at CSCA Girls Championship hosted by the Greenwich Academy. This is the event's second highest total since its inception in 2016. That first event, created over much CSCA and community pessimism and organized by Connecticut Chess Organization--an independent nonprofit project founded by current CSCA President Alexander Lumelsky and the late former CSCA Board member and UConn organizer Thomas Hartmayer--exactly seven years ago on January 21, 2016 at the Farmington Main Library, holds the tournament record with 35 participants. The Connecticut Girls event may not be the biggest, but it pre-dates like tournaments in neighboring states. (1/21)
  
  
  Mid-Round 1 at the 2023 Girls Championship in Young Auditorium at
  Greenwich Academy.
  
  
• BSA Troop 67 (Montville) to host first tournament at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. (1/19)
• Eighteen participate at January 15 Wilson-Gray YMCA Tournament, organized by Kevin Zimmerman and East Side Chess together with the YMCA Bishop Chess Club. NM Yelfry Torres won the event with a perfect score. Ocean State Chess Association's Senior TD Frank DelBonis travelled from Rhode Island to direct. (1/16)
  
  
• 
  
  Sam Rosamond (left) wins January 15 Scholastic at Way of the Board Chess Club in Ridgefield. Eight players participated. (1/15)
  
  
• Connecticut College wins top Small School prize at Pan Am Intercollegiate Team Championship, finishing 17th in the U1800 section. Meanwhile, Yale finished 10th in the Open. Sacred Heart University finished 16th in the U1800. Connecticut's FM Kapil Chandran's University of Chicago-A team finished seventh in the Open. 85 teams from universities across the United States and some from Canada participated in the annual event. (1/8)
  
  
  Connecticut College Pan Am team: (left to right) Miles Griffin, Jaron Bernard, William Mears and Adithya Saranathan.
  
  
• CSCA to broadcast six boards from 2023 Scholastic Championships taking place tomorrow, January 7. Broadcast link coming this evening. Round 1 is at 9:30a. (1/6)
• 51 play in DIG New Year's tournament in Weston on December 31. (1/2)
  
  
  Scholastic sections at DIG New Year's tournament in Weston.
  
  

1/24/2023
Connecticut Chess Journal
The Advent and History of the Fairfield Interscholastic League
by Alvin Hamilton

St. Luke's School's Alvin Hamilton (pictured left) discusses the history of scholastic league play in Fairfield County and the COVID-19-influenced creation of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Chess League, presently in its third year of activities. FCICL meets weekly online and holds an over-the-board individual competition annually. Complete article here.

1/22/2023
Lacey Wang Wins 2023 Connecticut Girls Championship!
Zaynab Chasmawala Wins U800!

It was a tournament of upsets at the 2023 Connecticut Girls Championship, held January 21 at the beautiful Greenwich Academy campus, as top seeds fell to rising stars in the first all-Girls competition since the start of the pandemic. Lacey Wang (pictured right), a Woodbridge fourth grader and Hamden Chess Club regular, who entered the event as the third seed, finished with a perfect 4-0-0 to win the 2023 Girls title and become the 2023 Connecticut Nominee to the US Chess Haring Tournament of State Champions. Lacey defeated both top seeds, including a strong performance against the six-time Connecticut Champion and top seed, Beatrice Low. However, the biggest surprises of the tournament came from Kashvi Madhvani of Farmington, as she defeated the second and fourth seeds in the first two rounds, a rating difference of over 600 and 300 points, respectively. Kashvi finished fourth overall, placing Top Under 1200. In the Under 800 Section, Zaynab Chasmawala of Farmington won first place with a perfect score. The event was directed by Senior TD NM Ian Harris and featured the new CSCA tournament administration upgrades, including online and email pairings and standings, in-event email updates to players and parents, and instant pairing of sections with completed rounds. The Open ran slightly ahead of schedule as all rounds went the distance, while the lower section finished in just four and a half hours. The tournament received thirty-two registrations of which twenty-eight participated, making it the second largest Connecticut Girls Championship to date. The CSCA thanks Greenwich Academy administration and staff, the Greenwich Academy Chess Club, Beatrice Low and Kee Low for hosting this event at the prestigious and historic all-girls school. The event page including final standings, reports, photos and updates is available for review.

1/9/2023
Norwalk Knights Winter Program is Full
As of 5:40 am this morning, the CSCA Norwalk Library Chess Program, featuring instructor NM Ian Harris is full. All 40 slots are now registered. Players interested in participating, who did not make the cut off should register for the wait list option, added to the registration. Wait listed players will be notified, if they may participate.

1/7/2023
IM Max Lu (HS), Jasmine Su (MS), Kushagra Bhargava (ES), Louie Lu (PS) and Rylan Chang (K-1) are Connecticut Champions!

Today at Sacred Heart University, 121 players took part in the 2023 Connecticut Scholastic Championships. The event set several Connecticut records, including a nine-hour completion of a G/55 tournament, a four and a half hour completion of the G/35 sections, participation of the first International Master in a Connecticut scholastic competition, over twenty-two percent female participation and one of the strongest fields in recent memory. Two sections also ended in tie break finales, with Norfeldt Elementary's (West Hartford) Louie Lu edging out Long Lots Elementary's (Westport) Isaac Lantsman for the Primary School title, and New York's Connor Wang defeating fellow New Yorker Ari Drucker in the Elementary section. This was the first tournament held at Sacred Heart's brand new Bowman Hall abbey with its floor to ceiling and in-ceiling windows and Hogwarts-style decor. The final event page and game broadcast, including the exciting NM Nathaniel Moor v IM Maximillian Lu (pictured right) Round 4 face off in the High School section, are available for review.

Click here for 2022 news archive.