CHESS
Port Townsend
Port Townsend Chess is a Washington State registered nonprofit association. The Port Townsend Chess mission is to work to make chess a little bit of a big deal in Port Townsend through volunteer scholastic and community chess.
Chess Night Port Townsend
Every Tuesday 6 - 8 pm
Aldrich’s Market (upstairs)
940 Lawrence St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
We play chess. Do you? Do you want to?
A few hours of chess, community, and various degrees of competition. Open to all ages, skill levels, and interests. Women and younger players are encouraged.
New to chess or just getting back into it? Help, guidance, and advice are always available. Experienced players will find a good game here.
Bring a chess board and set if you can (but we always have a few extra)
Let's Play Chess
Registration and details:
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Saturday, May 31, 2025
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The Cotton Building, Port Townsend
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$25 Registration Fee
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5 Games - No Elimination - Swiss pairing
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Limited to 50 players
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All WA 3rd-12th grade students
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NWSRS rated - All Skills / All Levels
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Elem 3-5; MS 6-8; HS 9-12 Sections
Top 3 players in each section get a US Chess Tournament Travel Set
Tournament Plaque / Trophy for Top School Team in each section
Blue Heron Middle School Chess Team Wins Regional Chess Championship
The Blue Heron Middle School chess team was the champion at the Washington High School Chess Association - Olympic Regional Middle School Chess Championship held in Poulsbo, WA on February 8, 2025.
Blue Heron Middle School sent a team of 9 strong players that turned in a dominating team performance, finishing with 15 points, to capture top honors.
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90 student chess players participated in the tournament
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In addition to the Blue Heron team, teams from Quileute Tribal School (La Push); Kingston Middle School; and Poulsbo Middle School participated in the tournament
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Lexa Lee, an 8th grader at Blue Heron, turned in a commanding performance winning all five of her games in the tournament.
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Additionally, individual Blue Heron players finished in 5th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 21st, 25th, 27th, 28th overall.
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Every player on the Blue Heron team finished with two or more points in the tournament. No other team accomplished this.
It is 2025 and Chess is Happening
January 2025
Olympic Regional High School / Middle School Chess Championships
Poulsbo, WA Saturday, February 8, 2025
The event is free and registration is easy. High School / Middle School Registration
Chess Fest at Salish Coast Elementry School
Saturday, April 26, 2025
A fantastic, fun, exciting day of elementary school chess and prizes
Port Townsend Olympic Peninsula Scholastic Open
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Details and registration: ChessReg: Olympic Peninsula Scholastic Open
Outdoor Chess on the Plaza (by Better Living Through Coffee)
May - September 2025
Most Sundays 1pm – 3pm (weather permitting – attendance varies)
Bring a board, set it up, and there is a good chance you get a chess game going
National Chess Day Student Tournament
Saturday, October 11, 2025
Looking for more Regional Chess? Start here:
ChessReg Regional Tournament Registration
Northwest Chess Association Tournament Registration
Olympic Regional High School and Middle School Chess Championships Are Coming Up!
December, 2024
The NW Scholastic Chess Association has set the dates and locations for the new Olympic Regional MS/HS Chess Championships, February 8, 2025, at North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo.
We are very excited for teams from both Port Townsend High School and Blue Heron Middle School Olympics Regional Chess Championship. The last two years the Blue Heron Middle School chess team competed at the SW WA Regional Championship. They took home third place honors each year (just 1/2 point out of second place and 11/2 points out of first last year). Many of those Blue Heron kids have moved up to High School and there is a new group of talented players who have moved up to Middle School this year.
The event is free and registration is easy. Olympic Regional High School / Middle School Chess Championships
Chess in the Classroom
August, 2024
Port Townsend Chess is absolutely excited to partner with Salish Elementary School to introduce chess to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade classes throughout the 2024 - 25 school year!
This incredible program is set to enhance students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills while igniting their love for the game. Learning chess not only fosters intellectual growth but encourages teamwork and sportsmanship.
With enthusiastic adult volunteers engaging through teaching, coaching, and just playing games with the kids, we aim to inspire the next generation of chess enthusiasts and critical thinkers.
Some of the classes have even started challenging other classes and even classes in other schools to chess matches. This is how you build a chess culture in a community!
June, 2024
Port Townsend Chess is going to try and make outdoor Chess on the Plaza by Better Living Through Coffee happen this summer. It is the kind of thing that should be happening in a place like Port Townsend.
Playing chess on the plaza adds a unique blend of focus and energy to the game. People walking by and the occasional street performer invites a sense of community, with passersby occasionally stopping to watch or join in. The contrast between the intense concentration of the game and the lively atmosphere of the plaza creates a dynamic experience.
Look for Port Townsend Chess on the plaza by Better Living Through Coffee on Sunday afternoons between 1 - 3pm (when the weather is nice).
We'll have boards and sets ready to go.
Salish Coast Elementary Chess Fest
May, 2024
What do you get when you put a whole bunch of kids in a large room with a giant chess board, a bunch of chess sets, cookies and a lot of prizes for playing games?
A lot of fun, that's what.
The Chess Fest at Salish Coast Elementary was a wonderful day. Kids from first grade through fifth grade playing chess together. Parents getting to see their kid playing in a room with a bunch of other kids.
This is how a chess culture starts in the community. Thank you to the school, the parents, the volunteers and the kids for making it a wonderful day.
Chess at The Nest
A Port Townsend Chess volunteer (and a really good chess player) has been doing some chess coaching at The Nest. Other kids saw them playing chess and asked The Nest to schedule a chess meet-up so they could play.
So . . . Port Townsend Chess purchased and donated three regulation chess sets and boards so The Nest could get this going.
The Nest is a Community Coffee House - where 100% of the proceeds go towards youth and young adult programming.
Drop in, have a coffee, and play a game or two.
1119 Lawrence Street, Uptown, Port Townsend
Wed-Thurs 8:30-5pm| Fri 8:30-7:30pm | Sat 8:30-5pm
Regional Chess Success for Blue Heron MS
March, 2024
Blue Heron Middle School has achieved great success in regional scholastic chess competitions. In both 2023 and 2024, the school's team earned 3rd place overall in the Southwest Washington MS Chess Championships (with individual players finishing in the top 10 and top 20 players overall) while competing against larger teams and more established chess programs.
These regional scholastic tournaments can be quite large, with hundreds of participant. It’s impressive that Blue Heron students are able to dive right in and make their mark within the Washington Scholastic Chess community.
Looking ahead, we are excited about the upcoming Olympic Regional Middle School Chess Championships in 2025. This new regional tournament, organized by the Washington High School Chess Association, will bring together schools from Kitsap, Jefferson, and Clallam Counties. We can’t wait to see what the future holds!
2024 Southwest Washington
Middle School Chess Championship
New Chess Club at Salish Coast Elementary
January, 2024
UPDATE: More than 100 kids, grades 3, 4 and 5, signed up for chess club. More than 100 kids, indeed!
In 2024 Port Townsend Chess will begin partnering with Salish Coast Elementary School for the launch of a brand-new school chess club for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.
This is very exciting!
This will dovetail nicely with Port Townsend Chess volunteer activities with the ongoing chess clubs at Blue Heron Middle School and the Port Townsend High School chess club (which we hope to expand in the 2024-25 school year).
National Sea Cadets Chess Training
December, 2023
Port Townsend Chess was proud to provide volunteer chess training for the 2023 National Sea Cadets Advanced Leadership Strategy course at Fort Worden in December.
Sea Cadets ages 13 to 18, from across the country participated and had the opportunity to learn about the history, strategy, and tactical thinking involved in chess.
The 2023 National Chess Day Tournament
October, 2023
The 2023 National Chess Day Tournament in Port Townsend on October 14, 2023, is done and in the books. It was by all accounts an event to remember (and hopefully repeat for future tournaments). The location was beautiful, the players were exemplary, the chess was well-matched and the parents all behaved themselves.
Let’s do the numbers:
28 players registered
Players came from Port Townsend, Chimacum, Kingston, Poulsbo, Stanwood and Blaine
13 individual schools participated
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4 different High Schools
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5 different Middle Schools
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4 different Elementary Schools
5 different school districts represented
9 individual prizes awarded, 3 in each section (HS, MS, Elem)
2 Top School Team plaques awarded (North Kitsap HS, Blue Heron MS)
And to our sponsors, Skillmation and Aldrich’s Market, thank you. You made all of this possible and you helped make our community a better place for it. Thank You!
Port Townsend Chess Inaugural Spring Tournament a Success
June. 2023
The inaugural Port Townsend Chess Spring Tournament was a resounding success. This was our first effort, so we didn't know what to expect, but whatever our expectations, we exceeded those.
35 players signed up at the close of registration and could have added 10 or 12 more who got the itch to play a little late after registration closed. We had student players from as far away as Redmond and Yelm.
It was a multi-generational event. The players were about equally split between students and adults. We had students from 5th grade to HS seniors all competing. The adults were well represented.
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Mike Murray, a Port Townsend resident who is also the current Montana open chess tournament champion was (expectedly) the top player overall.
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Sebastian Manza, from Port Townsend High School, captured the top high school position.
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Jan Borkowski, from Timberline Middle School in Redmond, WA was second overall and the top middle school player.
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Westley Jones, 5th grade Ocean School K-12 in Port Townsend, was the top elementary school player.
For many, this was their first chess tournament experience and most seemed ready for more. That is why we are scheduling the Port Townsend Chess National Chess Day Student Tournament on October 14, 2023.
Port Townsend Chess
Port Townsend Chess is a registered non-profit charitable association with the Washington Secretary of State, registration number 2008785. More information is available at https://www.sos.wa.gov. 360-725-0377.