About us
Meet and Play Chess in the Monterey County Area. There will probably be both in-person and online meetups.
Upcoming events
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- $12.00
Salinas Valley Chess Festival
Salinas Valley Community Church, 368 San Juan Grade Road, Salinas, CA, USthe second annual Salinas Valley
Chess Festival
Rapid tournament open to all players, ages 5 to 105, novice to master!
Blitz tournament limited to chessplayers experienced with the chess clock.
Rapid emphasizes strategic play and calculation, while Blitz requires quick decision-making and intuition.
Saturday, August 8, 2026
Salinas Valley Community Church, 368 San Juan Grade Road, Salinas CA 93906
Sponsored and hosted by Salinas Valley Chess Club. Organized and directed by Chess Monterey.
Rapid tournament player registration 9:15-10am
$12 entry fee. Free entry for youth players (grades K-12) and SVCC members.
Games timed with 30 minutes per player, plus 30s increment added with each move. (G/30;+30)
4 sections: USCF-rated Championship, Challengers, Contenders,
and non-rated Candidates
Entrants to rated sections must be current members of USCF -- join or renew at uschess.org
Championship section is limited to the eight top-rated entrants (incl. qualifier from July 11 Challengers).
Challengers section is limited to the next group of eight entrants based on USCF ratings.
Contenders section is for the remaining entrants, including unrated players wanting to earn a USCF rating.
Candidates section is a non-rated introductory section for novice and youth players.
3 rounds: 10:30, 1:00, 3:30
Candidates section has 4 rounds: 10:45, 12:15, 2:00, 3:30
Swiss-system pairings. No eliminations -- everyone plays all rounds.
Half-point bye(s) may be arranged at registration or requested at least 20 minutes before scheduled round.
Please bring your chess set and clock. A limited number of sets and clocks are provided by the organizer.
Players must record all moves of their games on provided scoresheets or in their own scorebook.
Trophy to 1st in each section. Medals to grades K-12 students who complete their scheduled rounds.
Winners of Challengers section are seeded into the September 12 Championship section.
Winners of Candidates section must play in USCF-rated sections in future tournaments.
Blitz tournament player registration 5-5:45pm
$12 entry fee for all players
Games timed with 5 minutes per player, plus 2s increment added with each move. (G/5;+2)
8-10 rounds, starting at 6pm, finishing around 8:30pm
1 section: USCF-rated, all entrants must be current USCF members
Number of rounds and tournament format depend on number of entrants.
Crystal trophy to 1st place.
For advance registration or to subscribe to ***Chess Monterey ***weekly email newsletter, contact:
Joseph Rice, USCF Tournament Director, Jos.Rice@comcast.net 831 524-4488
Upcoming monthly Monterey County tournaments on 9/12, 10/10, 11/14, 12/12, 1/2, 2/6.1 attendee
Past events
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