This is the archive of chess newsletters for the L.A. Chess Ladder!
In our Chess Newsletter, you can read about the latest matches, tournaments, and updates to the site. The chess newsletter is e-mailed to every member the day it is posted. If you are a member and you aren’t receiving these, send us an e-mail to resolve the issue.
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Latest Chess Newsletter!
3/26/2022
Hello Everybody!
Welcome to the latest edition of the LA Chess Ladder Newsletter. It has been two years since our last newsletter and a lot has happened!
In February 2020, we had a fun tournament at the Pocock Bar in Santa Clarita that featured 12 players. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country hard. Pocock became the last event we had in 2020.
Early in 2021, the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines became available. The cases were still high, but the protection offered by the vaccines was substantial. So, the LA Chess Ladder cautiously resumed our in-person tournaments for vaccinated members.
As the months passed, 2021 turned into a remarkable year for the LA Chess Ladder. We had events all over LA County: Santa Clarita, Glendale, Long Beach, San Gabriel, and Woodland Hills. We had more new members join in 2021 than we have had in any other year. In fact, some of the biggest tournaments we’ve ever had happened in 2021. The hit TV miniseries, The Queen’s Gambit, came out in October 2020 but became quite popular in 2021. This raised public interest in chess even more.
It’s 2022 and the ladder is stronger than ever! Our main ladder has 162 active members, an all-time high. Our biggest tournament ever was the Redondo Beach Tournament in February at the home of ladder player, Sylvia Kohn. The event featured 32 players!! The LA Chess Ladder continue to be on Facebook, and we are now on YouTube and Instagram. Be sure to follow us on social media.
The LA Chess Ladder exists! It feels so good to say that again after being frozen by the pandemic for more than a year. Our chess community exists because of love. We love chess! We love to learn, to teach, to network, to socialize, to celebrate, and of course to play this amazing game. A game, a sport, a religion, a way of life! Some of our members drive over an hour to play in our tournaments. Some of our members have been playing with us for years! 2022 marks the 10-year anniversary of the start of the LA Chess Ladder and we aren’t going away any time soon. Thank you to all our players, hosts, family, and friends who have helped to make this possible and keep the dream alive!
A Few Reminders:
- Send in your challenge match results and I’ll update the Standings right away.
- Visit our Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages and be sure to like and post and share with your friends 🙂
- Keep up with upcoming events at our Tournaments Page.
- For a detailed discussion of how the Ladder works, click on the Ladder Rules Page.
- Our Chess Player Directory has updated contact info on all of our members. Keep us updated if your contact info changes.
- Play and network with our members on chess.com using our Chess.com Usernames page. Send in your user name if you haven’t already so ladder members may connect with you.
- Check out our members at the Chess Photo Gallery. Send in an updated photo and I’ll upload it right away.
- The Chess Game Viewer has ladder matches that you can play through move by move. Send in one of your ladder games to have it uploaded.
- Archives of our Past Tournaments and Chess Newsletters are stored on the site.
- If you are new to chess, check out our Learn to Play Chess page.
- Chess books can be borrowed from our Chess Library.
- Chess Lessons are available to ladder members.
- Play through games of your favorite champions on our Grandmaster’s Page.
- Our organization is free, but you may make contributions at our Donations Page.
- A collection of useful Chess Web Pages is also featured on our site.
We are always looking for places to play. We have had tournaments and events at houses, apartments, parks, churches, businesses, and restaurants. If you would like to host an L.A. Chess Ladder tournament or social event, just send an email to lachessladder@yahoo.com and we will make it happen. Stay tuned for info on more events!
That’s all folks! Feel free to share this newsletter with anyone you wish and encourage your friends to join us.
See you over the board!
– Darren
2/8/2020
Hello Everybody!
Welcome to the latest edition of the LA Chess Ladder Newsletter. Say hello to our newest members: Gianna Ligios, Peter Selvin, Alexander White (not pictured), Victor Lopez, Zeke Greenwald, Eliseo Villareal, Lee Meyers, Ivan Thieu, Dylan Solovyev, Arlen Madathian. Welcome to our Los Angeles Chess Community.
We’ve had some great events recently! The November Knights Tournament brought us back to the Massey home for one of the biggest LA Chess Ladder tournemants ever (17 players). Our host, Grey Massey, tied with Eric Youngquist to win the tournament. Later, we returned to Bryan Rivera’s home near Downtown for the December Diagonals Tournament. Once again, the host won the event. Specifically, Bryan tied with Joseph Gurrola to finish ahead of the pack. Then, in January, we played in a new location. The L.A. Chess Ladder Severed Head Tournament took place at the South LA Café and featured 10 spirited players. Darren Himeles and Rutilio Banuelos won the day. Check out our tournament page for full results on these events.
We have several tournaments coming up! The Pocock IV Tournament will take place at the Pocock Bar in Valencia at noon on 2/16/2020. Then, The Tournament Classic will be at 11 am on 3/15/2020 at the Valley Glen home of ladder player, Marco Reed. Check out our tournament page for all the details and send an email to enter.
We are always looking for places to play. We have had tournaments and events at houses, apartments, parks, churches, businesses, and restaurants. If you would like to host an L.A. Chess Ladder tournament or social event, just send an email to lachessladder@yahoo.com and we will make it happen. Stay tuned for info on more events!
Player Spotlight: Eric Youngquist! Eric joined us in September 2019 and proceeded to win back to back events at the October Bishops Tournament and November Knights Tournament. Based on these results, Eric now sits at #8 on the main ladder and #2 on the blitz ladder. Watch out for this intense, dangerous, player.
A Few Reminders:
- Send in your challenge match results and I’ll update the Standings right away.
- Visit our Facebook page and be sure to like and post and share with your friends 🙂
- Keep up with upcoming events at our Tournaments Page.
- For a detailed discussion of how the Ladder works, click on the Ladder Rules Page.
- Our Chess Player Directory has updated contact info on all of our members. Keep us updated if your contact info changes.
- Play and network with our members on chess.com using our Chess.com Usernames page. Send in your user name if you haven’t already so ladder members may connect with you.
- Check out our members at the Chess Photo Gallery. Send in an updated photo and I’ll upload it right away.
- The Chess Game Viewer has ladder matches that you can play through move by move. Send in one of your ladder games to have it uploaded.
- Archives of our Past Tournaments and Chess Newsletters are stored on the site.
- If you are new to chess, check out our Learn to Play Chess page.
- Chess books can be borrowed from our Chess Library.
- Chess Lessons are available to ladder members.
- Play through games of your favorite champions on our Grandmaster’s Page.
- Our organization is free, but you may make contributions at our Donations Page.
- A collection of useful Chess Web Pages is also featured on our site.
Well, that’s about it! Feel free to share this newsletter with anyone you wish and encourage your friends to join us. I’m really happy with how the ladder is doing so far in 2020. Be sure to sign up for the Tournament Classic coming up in March and especially sign up for the Pocock IV which is in one week. Check back for another chess newsletter.
See you over the board!
– Darren
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Questions? Concerns? Want to join the L.A. Chess Ladder?
Contact Darren at lachessladder@yahoo.com
