Massachusetts Chess Association

05/27/2026

Top prize winners at the 94th Massachusetts Open, held May 23-25 in Marlborough.

Championship: Jamison Kao (CT)
Under 2100: Maitreya Ganguly, Matthew Beauvais
Under 1800: Samuel Park
Under 1500: Alexander Chung
Under 1200: Lucas Sun, James Clark, Anubhab Mukherjee
Scholastic Under 600: Michael Liu, Sofia Parker
Scholastic Under 300: Siheet Patro
Blitz: Nikhil Kalghatgi

Since Jamison Kao is from Connecticut, the seven Massachusetts players tied for second place in the Championship Section are Massachusetts State Co-Champions: GM Alexander Ivanov, IM Denys Shmelov, FM Danila Poliannikov, Jerry Chen, Dattasai Kilari, William Wu, and Ryan Sowa.

For a complete list of prize winners, see the tournament report at MACA Chess News:

Chess News Provided by The Massachusetts Chess Association

05/21/2026

This weekend: Play in the Mass Open! (and watch out for those back-rank mates… sorry, Paul! ♟️🤷‍♂️😉😄) Don’t miss the biggest Mass Chess event of the year! Details & register now: masschess.org/massopen

05/04/2026

Top prize winners at the 34th Massachusetts G/60 Championship, held May 3rd at the Renaissance Hotel in Framingham.

Championship: IM Denys Shmelov
Under 2200: Alexander Mendonez, Praharsh Varada
Under 2000: Sebastian Gueler, Robbie Galpern
Under 1800: Phu Vo
Under 1600: Xavier Fradera, Samuel Park
Under 1400: Robert E King
Under 1200: Murat Aguzarov
Under 1000: George Koren

For a complete list of prize winners, see the tournament report at MACA Chess News:

Chess News Provided by The Massachusetts Chess Association

04/29/2026

This Sunday, May 3: 34th Mass Game/60 Championship! $3,000 in guaranteed prizes in 8 sections! Complete details and register now: masschess.org/g60

04/27/2026

Top prize winners at the 9th Massachusetts Senior Open, held April 25-26 in Marlborough.

Open Section: FM Nelson Castaneda (CT). The top Massachusetts player was Vlad Farfel.
Under 1810 Section: Stephen Shea.

For a complete list of prize winners, see the tournament report at MACA Chess News:

Chess News Provided by The Massachusetts Chess Association

04/27/2026

Parinya Jain won the Massachusetts Girls Championship, held April 25-26 in Marlborough. For a complete list of prize winners see the tournament report at MACA Chess News:

Chess News Provided by The Massachusetts Chess Association

04/25/2026

Follow the 2026 MA Girls' Championship Finale (invitational) online! The boards are streamed Lichess with a 15-min delay. Come cheer for the girls! 5 round robin rounds, G/90 +15 Sat-Sun! Round times: (Sat) 10am, 2pm, 5:30 pm; and (Sun) 10am, 3pm. LINK: MAchess.org/MAGirls2026

https://machess.org/MAGirls2026

04/17/2026

The 9th Mass Senior Open is coming up April 25-26! If you were born on or before Apr 26, 1976, well you're in luck 😄 you are invited to play! Details & register: masschess.org/senior

04/17/2026

I was recently asked by Silman-James Press to review IM John Donaldson's new book Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer. "Studying Fischer's writing is key to understanding the thinking of this exceptional chess mind," Donaldson wrote in the book's introduction. The book brings together Fischer's articles, annotations, transcripts and other writings, starting with his first published words: his 1956 "Game of the Century" win over Donald Byrne, annotated by Fischer with his mentor Jack Collins for Chess Life magazine. Fischer prided himself on the quality of his annotations and analysis, which hold up impressively well; fresh and high relevant for players of today, even in our era of seemingly all-knowing chess engines. Fischer's final published chess analysis for an Icelandic newspaper in 2005 somehow was just as fresh and insightful as his body of work, nearly all of which was published in 1958-1971. The book is an excellent companion to Donaldson's 2000 biography, Bobby Fischer and his World. Photos from the book: (1) book cover, (2+3) a reconstructed copy of Fischer's game score vs. Byrne written by Bobby Fischer shortly after his "Game of the Century" victory, (4) a 1959 postcard from Bobby to his mother, blaming his 4th loss to Mikhail Tal, who Bobby said was "jumping up and down and trying to annoy (me)", and (5) a nice surprise, especially for Wachusett Chess Club members: a photo from a simul Fischer played in Fitchburg, MA on March 2, 1964, in which then-master candidate Stephen Brandwein held Fischer to a draw. - Mike Urbonas 🙂

04/13/2026

Top prize winners at the Fourth Spiegel Cup Qualifier, held April 12th in Medfield, Mass.

Grades 6-8: Viraj Rastogi (playoff winner). Maitreya Ganguly
Grades K-5: Brooks Jiang
Grades K-3: Aaryash Palaparthi
Reserve Under 1200: Jack Chen
Reserve Under 900: Aaryash Kumar, Esther Arolovitch
Reserve Under 600: Mark Gutner
Reserve Under 300: Jonathan Liu

For a complete list of prize winners, see the tournament report at MACA Chess News:

Chess News Provided by The Massachusetts Chess Association