RI Scholastic State Chess Championship – hosted by Southeast NE Chess Assoc

SENECA TO HOST 2023 RI SCHOLASTIC STATE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

The Southeast New England Chess Association (SENECA) is set to host the 2023 Rhode Island Scholastic State Chess Championship on Sunday March 19, 2023 at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, RI.  Students in grades K-12 are eligible to participate.  For more information, go to www.senecachess.org .  Registration closes end of day on March 17, 2023.

This year’s event may be be the best since 2019 because of the recent surge of interest in the game.  During the pandemic, many people took to playing chess online.  The convenience of chess-playing sites like chess.com, the immense popularity of the Netflix series, THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT, and the proliferation of online chess commentary and instruction on YOUTUBE and other platforms, all contributed to an unprecedented popularity in chess.  In fact, chess.com’s subscriber database in 2020 was around 35 million people and today there are over 100 MILLION!

This new chess popularity has resulted in more chess clubs being formed (formal and informal), more chess classes and more organized tournaments.  While these additional opportunities are great for chess players, they can also be confusing.  For example, a club or organization can call an event a ‘championship’ but it is really just a championship for that club or for that organization.

On the other hand, SENECA is the Rhode Island state affiliate of the United States Chess Federation.  As the RI state affiliate, SENECA runs the official adult (all ages) and scholastic (grades K-12) RI chess championships each year.  This year’s scholastic championship has three sections by school grade:  ELEMENTARY (K-5), MIDDLE (6-8), and HIGH SCHOOL (9-12).  The top RI finishers in those sections are considered STATE CHAMPIONS and are nominated by SENECA to represent Rhode Island at invitation-only national tournaments held later this year.

For chess players in grades K-12, if you have an interest in playing in this year’s official RHODE ISLAND SCHOLASTIC STATE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP, or if you want to learn more about other chess playing opportunities for all ages, go to www.senecachess.org or email us at:  [email protected].

The Southeast New England Chess Association (SENECA) is a RI-based 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization that promotes learning and playing the game of chess in the region of southeast New England.  SENECA (www.senecachess.org ) is also the RI state affiliate of the US Chess Federation (www.uschess.org ).

Southeast New England Chess Association

PO Box 40604 Providence RI 02940 401-359-1602 [email protected]