National Chess Day Wrap-Up

Just counting events tagged with National Chess Day or NCD on US Chess’s Membership Services Area, affiliates hosted 48 rated tournaments around the country with 2,242 chess players competing on Saturday, October 11.

This doesn’t even include a number of large national, regional, and state events also held that weekend, with over 200 tournaments taking place in total. This is in addition to all of the other festivities, variant tournaments, and puzzle competitions also organized across the country.

Below is a round-up of some of the largest events from the weekend. Feel free to share more information and photos to Click here to show email address, and keep an eye out for updates to this page.

Opens

A national event on National Chess Day is too perfect to pass up. Bay Area Chess organized this year’s National Class Championship, with 182 players competing across seven sections from Master to E-and-below in Milipitas, CA. IM Eric Li took clear first in the top section with a 5/6 score, and Alex Nguyen claimed the top prize in the Expert section, also with a 5/6 score. Downstate, ICEA Chess hosted 104 players for a one-day tournament in Los Angeles.

There was a second national event over the weekend, too: the 2025 US Armed Forces Open, held from October 11 through 13 in Kings Point, New York. Cadet Addison T. Lee, USMA ’26, took top honors with 4½/5, and Michael A. Miller won the Veterans Open with 4/5.

Continental Chess Association hosted two major events, as well. The 33rd Annual Midwest Class Championship in Wheeling, IL. boasted 293 players across seven sections, and the 14th Annual Hartford Open pulled in an additional 177 players in Windsor Locks, CT. In Wheeling, GM Harsha Bharathakoti and FM Sharvesh Deviprasath tied for first in the top section with 4½/5 scores. In Hartford, FM Danila Poliannikov won the top section with a 4½/5 score, ahead of five players tied for second with 4/4.

The Michigan Chess Association’s Bottom Half Class saw 204 players compete in the slightly unusual class format where sections are determined by “odds” rather than evens, making the sections Under-1900, Under-1700, and so on. In other words, the players typically in the “bottom half” of a class tournament are now the ones to beat! IM Joshua Posthuma won the top section with 4½/5 ahead of three players tied for second with 4/5.

The Denver Chess Club’s DCC Fall Classic was one of the larger regional events, boasting 128 players across four sections. FM Gunnar Andersen took sole first with 4½/5 ahead of a strong field of local masters.

Boca Raton Chess Club’s Gulf Coast October Open in Estero, FL. hosted 110 players across five sections, which is particularly impressive considering the large scholastic event held not too far away in Doral, FL (see below). GMs Julio Becerra and Nikola Mitkov shared top honors with 4/5 scores in the top section.

The Charlotte Chess Center’s Reverse Angle 145 was appropriately timed for a long-standing monthly event, drawing 60 players. Four players went 2½/3 in the top section: Steve Alappatt, Zubin Baliga, Tanay Sanghani, and Kishan Karthigeyan.

When states that don’t host a huge number of rated events organize an open tournament for NCD, it makes the event really feel “national.” That was the case this year with open events by the Utah Chess Association (36 players in Salt Lake City), Hancock County Chess in Ellsworth, ME. (45 players), and Fargo Chess Club (41 players in North Dakota).

For The Children

Of the many scholastic events over the weekend, Chess in the School’s CIS Manhattan Chess Day Scholastic was the largest, with 377 players (all below 1400!) battling it out and getting some great over-the-board experience at the beginning of the school year.

The Houston Scholastic Chess Association boasted 286 players at the National Chess Day at Eisenhower HS Scholastic. About 350 miles away, in Brownsville, 197 girls competed in Paperclip Pairings’ 2025 Texas State Girls’ Championship, where this year’s Haring representative Sunny Zhang tied for first with 4½/5 along with Jie Laboriante who, despite the 800-point rating gap, held Zhang to a draw in their penultimate-round match-up.

The Florida Scholastic Chess League (FSCL) National Chess Day Scholastic was one of the largest scholastics of the weekend, boasting 279 players in Doral, FL. Another 109 players competed 350 miles upstate in Jacksonville for ScholasticChess.org’s National Chess Day Scholastic.

The Washington Chess Federation’s National Chess Day Scholastic in Bellevue, WA. saw 73 players compete. Hopefully we’ll see all of them in Spokane this December!

The Hampton Roads Chess Association (HRCA)’s National Chess Day Scholastic was also a major hit, with 64 competitors.

In Fremont, CA., 58 players competed in the 2025 Fremont Scholastic Championship. The tournament was part of the Fremont Chess Festival, which also featured CalChess Champion Pranavi Pramod, FIDE Master Aditya Arutla, and FIDE Master Lucas Jiang hosting a simultaneous exhibitions for all ages.

In Roswell, GA., another 57 players attended the Mohar National Chess Day Tournament.

The DMV Chess Club hosts a number of online and in-person tournaments around the tri-state area, and 55 players attended the Forest Edge Elementary Open and Scholastic in Reston, VA.

And more

Editor’s note: Since becoming Digital Editor for Chess Life Online, I have dreamt of publishing more regular wrap-ups of the sorts of events that are eligible for our Plan Ahead Calendar (as well as invitational tournaments).

I try to time this coverage around holiday weekends, but I’m including a few events from the lead-up to NCD here instead of waiting until Thanksgiving.

Do you want coverage of your tournament on Chess Life Online for future reporting or roundups? If so, email Click here to show email address with information of upcoming or recently concluded (i.e. within 1-2 weeks) events.

For concluded tournaments, please include links to or screenshots of final standings, as well as links to DGT games or attached, transcribed game scores from 1-3 games of winners. Photos of the tournament and of winners are also a plus (cell phone photos are fine for online publication).

The Atlantic Chess Association’s 2nd Annual Blue Ridge Open, held Sept. 19-21 in Dulles, Va., featured 74 players, with 28 competing in the Open. FA Peter Craney was the chief arbiter for this event, and games from the top boards can be reviewed here.

GM Tal Baron won the first prize with a score of 4/5, but it was not an easy win for him: both FM Vaibhav Kalpaka and CM Aiden Li gave him a tough fight, each holding the grandmaster to a draw. Franco Alejandrino won the U2000 section. Salbin Ismayilova and Smaran Sainathuni tied for first place in the U1500 section.

Players in the Washington, D.C. area are looking forward to playing in the Atlantic Chess Association’s 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Open, beginning Oct. 31, at the same venue. Unlike the Blue Ridge Open, the Thanksgiving Open is planning to have two FIDE-rated sections, providing an opportunity for more players to work on their international rating. Thanks to Shilpa Vaidya for sharing the results from this event.

A week before National Chess Day, Chess Journalists of America President Joshua Anderson organized two one-day events in Exton, Pa. — the 23^rd Holly Heisman Memorial and the Exton Autumn Open — and contributed a write-up about the former (see results):

The great thing about yearly events is that they develop a rhythm. This being the 23rd year of the Holly Heisman Charity event, we have a definite rhythm for this one-day event raising money for the Holly Heisman Fund. This fund, run by the Philadelphia Foundation, helps various projects for supporting women in need. Each year we raise around $1,500 and the Fund has well over $100,000.

The K-8 Under-900 is our beginner section and benefits from many chesskid.com donations and such. This year the section was won by Sivesh Alluri with the only perfect score among 24 kids.

The Under-1500 section is usually won by some up-and-coming kid who, within the next few years, will make expert if not master. This year, Riaan Gandhi, who in March had placed second in the K-6 Under-600 section at SuperNationals VIII, won with a perfect 5/5 score.

The Open section is always a combination of longtime experts and masters, many of whom have known Heisman for decades, as well as up-and-coming young talent. This year, the experienced players ruled the day with only high school senior, Sebastien D’Stair and high school freshman Charan “Cherry” Perumalla, finishing in the top seven. Peter Minear scored 4½/5 to win the section and a board and set donated by House of Staunton.

This event works not only because of the generosity of the players, but because of the generosity of many chess businesses and clubs. Chess.com gives a tremendous number of free memberships of various types, while House of Staunton and Russell Enterprises regularly donate items. Tournament entries and t-shirts are common prizes from such groups as the Center City Chess Club in Allentown, Masterminds Chess Club in Philadelphia, Myerstown Chess Club, South Jersey Innovation Center, and my own Tri-Bridges Chess Club. 

Stay tuned for highlights and puzzles in the coming weeks from the 2025 FIDE World Youth Championship in Durres, Albania. But one side event seemed appropriate to include here, especially since it took place on the eve of National Chess Day. Sure, International Chess Day was in July, but who cares? 

On October 10, Azerbaijan's IM Khagan Ahmad and USA's Xin Qi tied for first in a 14-round tournament of a new variant known as Dice Chess. As the name implies, this variant introduces a bit of chance into our beloved game of skill. The result was Qi, rated 1690 US Chess, tying for first with an IM. 

The rules are simple: each player rolls three die at the start of their turn. These rolls determine which three pieces they can move. This could mean getting three strong developing moves on your first turn or, if you roll a queen and two rooks, having to "pass" your turn altogether. 

The other rule worth remembering is that winning the game requires capturing the king. This means the game does not end at checkmate if you do not have an additional turn to capture the king. It also means that a player can make moves while in check! The game's creators were on site for the tournament, and shared some advice with our delegation:

Is there luck in chess? In this variant, known as Dice Chess, there sure is! @SabinaFoisor shares members of Team USA learning the rules at the @FIDE_Chess World Youth in Durres, Albania. pic.twitter.com/EKfdKzqZZe

— US Chess (@USChess) October 21, 2025

The tournament was open to participants in the World Youth as well as coaches and parents. While Ahmad was competing in the Under-14 Open, Qi was there with his daughter, WFM Jenny Qi, who was competing in the Under-14 Girls and also finished in the top 10 of the Dice Chess event.

If you're interested in this game, you can try it online here.