I had the wonderful experience of reading and reviewing Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer, an outstanding chess book by IM John Donaldson. The amount of effort that has gone into this book is truly impressive, and it significantly deepens a reader’s understanding not only of chess, but of the kind of thinking that leads to winning more games. Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer contains an incredible amount of material drawn from Fischer’s own writings, including My 60 Memorable

Minnesota's January freeze was no match for the heat generated at Roseville Skating Center this weekend (Jan 17-18)—what an incredible turnout! Photo credit: Jiten Patel (more on our Facebook page!) We reached 179 players, nearly filling our 180 cap for a vibrant, packed-house event. The hall buzzed with focus during rounds, animated discussions afterward, and the warm community feel that defines chess in our state. US Chess Results 🔥 Prize Winners 💰️ Big thanks to Chie

Thanks to Jenny Bourne for sharing all the photos in this post! Eastview High School and the MSCA proudly hosted the returning 2025 Apple Valley Scholastic, a standout event in Minnesota’s scholastic chess calendar. Led by coach Bob Dettmer and the Eastview Chess Team, with Sarah Wahl and Jenny Bourne directing, the tournament unfolded smoothly from start to finish. 141 players participated in the 5-round, 4-section Swiss tournament. Twenty-six players competed in the open se

The 2nd annual Minnesota State Quick Championship was held on October 18 at the Plymouth Community Center. In the end, a familiar name topped the 77 player table: Sammy Narayanan is our new Quick Champ! 🙌 Thank you to TDs Jenny Bourne and Suhaas Pothula for a great job running the show. 🙏 Quick 🔥 US Chess Results 💵 Prize Winners Quick Championship @ PCC Narayanan plays Radermacher in Round 7 (photo by Jiten Patel) October 25-26 saw the State Senior Championship happening

After 6 tournaments, 5 months, and a whole lot of CHESS, the MSCA's 2025 Summer Grand Prix Series concluded this past weekend in Roseville at the Northern Open. IM Sammy Narayanan lapped the field and coasted to the checkered flag with another 5-0 performance. All of us were in his rearview mirror, but 2024 Grand Prix Champion Josiah Jorenby was close enough to claim the 2nd highest cumulative point total and the coveted qualification spot for the premier section of the Mar

Thank you to everyone who responded to last month’s chess building survey. When the survey closed on June 22, we had received 111 responses, including dozens of thoughtful narrative comments. Below is a brief summary of the results and our intended next steps. Survey Results / Key Findings Quantitative responses 86.5% of respondents thought the MSCA’s rental of a chess building would be beneficial for our Minnesota chess community. 82% of respondents would be willing to suppo