The Connecticut State Chess Association, Inc.

10/15/2026

Wickham CC meets again with thirty-one participants. There is still room for more. All are welcome to join any and all of our remaining three fall meetings.

10/07/2026

Thirty-two attend the inaugural Wickham Chess Club meeting. Players enjoyed classical G/60, scholastic G/25 and many, many casual games. Registration will remain open for the entire five weeks. All are welcome to join us Wednesdays 5:30-8 PM at the Wickham Memorial Library in East Hartford!

10/07/2026

On October 3, GM Alexander Ivanov won the 2026 Hartford County Championship, scoring 3.5/4 and extending his CSCA event win streak to six, including the 2026 Connecticut Blitz, Bullet, overall Speed, Senior, Open and now Hartford Championship. Omkar Maralappanavar and Jack Qian tied for second with Maralappanavar winning the computer tie break.

In the U2000, Brady Farmer became the Hartford County Amateur Champion after the computer decided a four-way tie between him, Charilaos Aneziris, Niranjan Sivakumar and Adam Clough, all scoring 3.0/4.

In the lower sections, Venkata Harshavardhan won the U1400 section with 3.5/4, needing only a draw in the final round. Niam Subbarao won the U800 section. And Isaac Wattenmaker won the New England-rated only section.

The 2026 Hartford County Championship was the event's fifth annual installment. This year, due to lack of local Hartford interest, the extension to the city of Hartford and city champion title were removed.

The event was hosted by the East Hartford Raymond Library for the second consecutive year. Fourty-seven players participated, the smallest HCC to date.

Final Standings:
https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/HCC.26.stn.pdf

New England rating report:
https://ratingsnw.com/report26-27/CTHartfordCntyChamp.html

USCF rating report:
https://ratings.uschess.org/event/202610030993

10/02/2026

FREE Weekly USCF- and New England-rated chess at Wickham Memorial Library, Wednesdays, Oct 7-Nov 4 5:30-8 PM. USCF- and NE-rated G/60, NE-rated G/25 (USCF-rated by players' agreement), as well as casual and speed chess activities. All players of all ages and skill levels are welcome!

REASONABLY CENTRAL AND CLOSE TO SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND CENTERS:
Next door to Hartford
20 minutes from Middletown and Meriden, CT
30 minutes from Springfield, MA and Norwich, CT
40 minutes from New Haven, CT
50 minutes from New London, CT
60 minutes from Worcester, MA
90 minutes from Boston, MA
100 minutes from Providence, RI

All equipment provided, late arrival permitted, $10 off USCF membership onsite for USCF-rated activities, Monrad 1v2 pairing for highest quality match ups and 4 1/2 point byes (8 in G/25) in rated sections for all five fall rounds. G/60 plays 1 match per meeting. G/25 plays two matches per meeting. REGISTRATION REQUIRED (link below).

Club Info:https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/Wickham.CC.f26.fly.pdf
Club Reg: https://www.events4chess.com/events/?event_ID=2670&cat=1

09/29/2026

We are just days away form the 2026 Hartford County Championship this Saturday, October 3 at the historic East Hartford Raymond Library (photo below). All players from anywhere and everywhere are welcome to participate!

$1,000+ in event prizes and 20 enhances CSCA Grand Prix ($3,500+ prize annual competition) points will be in play! CSCA will also provide discounted onsite USCF ID purchases/renewals. All titled players are free through September 29, then from prizes.

Event Info:https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/HCC.26.fly.pdf
Event Reg: https://www.events4chess.com/events/?event_ID=2663&cat=1

Grand Prix Info:https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/GPrix.26.27.fly.pdf
Grand Prix Reg: https://www.events4chess.com/events/?event_ID=2653&cat=1

09/27/2026

Uzbekistan wins 2026 FIDE Olympiad. China wins Women's event. U.S. finishes 4th in both competitions, narrowly missing the podium.

Meanwhile, India took silver in the Open and bronze in the Women's event, while Germany took bronze in the Open, and Kazakhstan won the Women's silver.

https://www.fide.com/uzbekistans-dream-finish-olympiad-gold-in-samarkand/

09/27/2026

Khazak billionaire businessman Timur Turlov is elected the next FIDE President.

The Kazakh billionaire and businessman has been elected the eighth president of the International Chess Federation, prevailing in an exceptionally tight ballot at the governing body's General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

09/27/2026

DELAYED REPORT: On April 3 to 5, the CSCA held the Inaugural Connecticut Chess Festival at Trinity College. This was a multi-activity event to expose the community to the game through its many modern applications, featuring the great GM Irina Krush, the only American player to achieve the GM title, as special guest, lecturer and simultaneous play exhibitor.

In addition to activities with Master Krush on Day 1, the event featured OTB adaptation of Arena play and a Game Zero competition. On Day 2, it was speed chess with the Connecticut Speed Championship, which features Rapid, Blitz and Bullet Championships as independent and combined events. Then finally on Day 3, classical chess was played via the annual Senior and Collegiate Championships, as well as the Inaugural Junior Championships.

Master Krush gave a focused lecture on several games of GM Victor Korchnoi and then played a five hour and forty-two minute simultaneous exhibition with twenty-two opponents. Her final score: 20-0-2. The two draws were Andrew Jeselson and Omkar Maralappanavar, who was the last to finish. Regardless of duration, Master Krush, a true professional, sat down with several players to discuss their games after they finished.

Meanwhile, in other Day 1 activities, Brian Dai won the Rapid Over-the-Board Arena, running away from the rest of the field with 36 points. And Matt Chan won the inaugural GameZero Championship.

On Day 2, IM Jan van de Mortel won the Speed Championships, but GM Alexander Ivanov proved that time need not dull your chess brilliance and instead can sharpen it. (See Speed Championships report posted separately.)

On Day 3, NM Mikhail Koganov won the Senior Championships, and GM Ivanov was back for another dominant performance on the Classical Day. (See all Classical events report posted separately as well.)

Finally, three overall prizes were awarded over the course of the entire Festival, in which over 150 players took part. The Top Upset award for the entire Festival went to Warren Wilson for scoring a win over a 703 higher rated opponent in the Rapid Championship. The Top Overall Performance award went to Jesus Hernandez for scoring the most points over the entire Festival. The Top Overall Participation award went to Matt Chan for engaging in the most Festival events.

The CSCA thanks Trinity President Teddy Fleming, Trinity Event Coordinator Ramon Rosario and all of Trinity College for hosting and sponsoring the three-day Festival event and all of its competitions and engagements. The CSCA is planning to make the Festival an annual engagement for the community and for completing several CSCA annual cycle events.

09/27/2026

The CSCA and the East Hartford Library are hosting the 2026 Hartford County Championship at the library on October 3. The event features $1,000+ in prizes and 20 enhances CSCA Grand Prix points in all three CTGP rating categories: Open, U2000 and U1400! Discounted USCF ID purchases/renewals are available on site. Usual entry discounts apply. All titled players are free through September 29. All players from anywhere and everywhere are welcome to participate.

This will be the third straight year that the Library will host the HCC. Special thanks to Library Director Sarah Morgan and her devoted staff!

Event Info:https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/HCC.26.fly.pdf
Event Reg: https://www.events4chess.com/events/?event_ID=2663&cat=1

Grand Prix Info:https://chessct.org/csca/Uploads/GPrix.26.27.fly.pdf
Grand Prix Reg: https://www.events4chess.com/events/?event_ID=2653&cat=1

09/15/2026

Another proposal to resolve "the problem of draws" in chess.

https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2026/september/researchers-offer-biblical-solution-to-ties-in-chess.html

Photo credit: Baac3nes/Getty Images