Chess in the Rockies

Colorado is known as a great place to ski, to mountain climb, to hike in the Rocky Mountains but I bet you didn't know that it is also a great place to play chess. There are lots of chess tournaments in Colorado including plenty of chess for kids too. Colorado not only has lots of chess tournaments and chess clubs but it also has quite a few chess masters (chess players with ratings higher than 2200. If you love chess and live in Colorado or are just visiting there are clubs and tournaments all up and down the front range, and also quite a few in Western Colorado as well.

The Denver Chess Club meets on Tuesday nights starting at 6:30 for casual play with a monthly rated tournament starting around 7:30 with registration at 7:00. The cost for the rated tournament is 8$, and 6$ if you are a member. There are cash prizes every month. (It only costs $20 per year to become a DCC member).

The club is located at 2400 S. Ash St., in the basement of the Third Christian Reform Church. Parking is free.

The time control for the rated tournament games is G/90.

Although the Denver Chess Club has moved around many times it has certainly been around a long time. The first club was established in 1859 by William Byers, the founder of the Rocky Mountain News.

For more information call Chris Peterson at

admin@denverchess.com, ph: (720)383-0477

Colorado Springs can currently boast of the largest number of club activities in all of Colorado. There is the Tuesday night Chess Club that has been located at the Acacia Hotel for more than 50 years. This club starts at 7:00 on Tuesday nights. For more info call (719)658-1984.

There are two more monthly tournaments in addition to this, all at the delicious Panera Bread restaurant. One starts at 6:00 on Wednesday night near Powers and Carefree (exact location is 3120 New Center Point) and the other starts at 6:00 on Thursday night at the Panera on North Academy.

In addition to this there is the Rocky Mountain Chess School with Lee Simmons, an excellent chess instructor who has a weekly club including a group lesson for the low cost of 5$. Lee also holds a monthly scholastic tournament with a fun parents tournament including cash prizes. For more information on the Rocky Mountain School call (719)634-1144.

As if that's not enough chess you have the Monday night scholastic chess club with free instruction and ladder games! Ladders are fun to climb, so bring your child and let him or her climb the ladder of chess success by winning games and watching his name climb up the ladder.

In addition to all this there is chess that meets most Fridays during the school year at 4:00 in Fairchild Hall at the United States Airforce Academy. For more info on that call Jim Serpa or Pete Cohen at (719)333-4470

There is also a very friendly kids and beginners chess club on Fridays from 3:30 to 5:00 at the East Union Library.

Fort Collins has a great chess club with lots of strong and very active players. They also hold a club on Tuesday nights (what is it with chess and Tuesdays?) and a monthly tournament at the Wild Boar restaurant. The club currently meets at 7:00 p.m. in the food court (second level) of the Lory Student Center at the Colorado State University. For more info email Randy Reynolds at randyteyana@msn.com

If you are west of the Rockies, don't despair, there's chess there too! It meets on Wednesdays at 6:15 at the Steaming Bean on 915 Main St. This club has some very strong players as well so don't think just cause you're on the other side of the mountain you're going to get an easy game!

How can we forget about Pueblo! They've been one of the most active chess cities besides Colorado Springs. They have tournaments and casual play going on all the time at the Daily Grind! For more information call Liz Wood at 719-566-6929.

The Longmont Chess Club meets on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. at Abbondanza Pizzeria, 461 Main St. There are some strong players (including a postal chess master and author) at this club who don't show up very often at other clubs or tournaments, so drop in to the Longmont club for a game and get to play some casual chess with people you wouldn't normally get to play. It's located between the Fort Collins and Denver areas so if you're "Jonesing" for a chess game in between clubs you can go there (and Abbondanza has terrific pizza).

Boulder has been a very active and strong club for many years and has had lots of chess tournaments as well. The club meets on Wednesday nights (except for the 3rd Wednesday of the month) at 7:30 at the Alfred Packer Grill at the University of Colorado at Boulder campus in the University Memorial Center. Don't forget, if it's the third Wednesday of the month they don't meet.

The Castle Rock Chess Club meets on Monday nights at 6:00 in the Philip S. Miller Library.. This club emphasizes scholastic chess (for kids) but adults are welcome too and the play is casual.

Gunnison gets some of the coldest temperatures in the United States, so instead of outdoor fun go to the Western State College and find the College Union Room 202 at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. All levels are encouraged to come. For more information call Jacob Hadar at (970) 641-5856

Delta has a very active club. It is the oldest chess club in Western Colorado. It meets at 6:30 on Tuesday nights at the Bill Heddles Rec Center.

Grand Junction has an active and growing chess club. They've been doing a lot of fun things lately like having a New Year's Eve tournament! Look for more information about them in the future.

And if you want the arts you can go see "Chess, A Musical" coming to Arvada, Colorado March 27 - April 15. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/158506-Casting-Complete-for-Arvada-Centers-Chess

Or you can go to Glovinsky Gallery on a Friday night because one friday a month is Chess and wine night. But if you lose don't blame the wine!

And as if all that isn't enough, there is a fantastic simultaneous chess exhibition coming up featuring two Colorado chess masters and a Colorado Springs chess champion! For the info on that click here.

Even with all this I haven't listed all the possible chess options for you if you live in Colorado. Not to mention all that is available just north of us in Wyoming, with their wonderful annual Wild West Chess Tournament in Saratoga Resort, Saratoga Wyoming. Colorado has always been a chess friendly state, producing such chess grandmasters as Alex Fishbein, and many strong chess masters and local chess author Brian Wall. Even Bobby Fischer once had some of his simultaneous chess exhibitions in Colorado. So never think that just because you are in the midst of some of the most gorgeous mountain scenery in the world that there aren't plenty of chess nerds who just want to stare at the board all day.