Organization History
Over the years, Chess Club at UCR has expanded its scope of operations and services tremendously.
This webpage is a dedication to the history of the organization and its accomplishments over the years.
2023 - 2024
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Begin partnership with the Day & Knight Chess Club (Thanks, Edwin!)
Continued participation in the Chess Ambassadors program (Thanks, Brian!)
Hosted a rapid tournament on-campus (February 11)!
Collaborate with the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) to host an event for our students who reside on-campus (Thanks, Anthony!)
Hosted quarterly general meetings on chess variants such as Bughouse and Hand & Brain
Sustain tabling sessions at two locations per week between the newly opened Native American Garden & Pierce building on Wednesday afternoons and inside the Barn on Friday evenings
2022 - 2023
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Participating in the inaugural Chess Ambassadors program (Congrats, Brian and Seetal!)
Attended the Los Angeles Collegiate Invitational Tournament, the first in-person intercollegiate chess tournament in southern California post-COVID
Expand tabling sessions to two locations per week - including the newly refurbished Barn (Thanks, Edward!)
Hosted two tournaments on-campus (February 5 and April 30)!
Begin partnership with the Los Angeles Chess Social (Thanks, Karl!)
2021 - 2022
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Chess Club at UCR receives a full page publication in the Summer 2021 issue of Chess Magazine, Rank and File (p. 30) by the SCCF.
September 29, 2021: Resumed tabling sessions on-campus for the first time in nearly 2 years following COVID-19 restrictions
Held dual in-person & online events each week throughout the school calendar year
Participated in the Collegiate Chess League (CCL) for Season 3 (Fall 2021) and Season 4 (Spring 2022)
Hosted the first in-person tournament in the post-COVID era (March 5, 2022)
Had our first officer elected as a board member of the Southern California Chess Federation (Congrats, Pooja!)
2020 - 2021
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Launched our Official Website and Discord Server (Thanks, Johnny!)
Hosted online events every week via Lichess
Distribute T-shirts to all participants in our first ever remote "All Star Tournament" (December 5, 2020)
Participated in UC Davis Intercollegiate Classical Tournament (January 3 - February 7, 2021)
Premiere of the Collegiate Chess League (CCL). Chess Club at UCR participates in the first open season (January 23 - March 13, 2021) with two teams led by captains David Wong and Dylan Rojas.
Graduating senior & President David Wong was the first officer to give a speech at commencement (Congrats, David!)
2019 - 2020
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Hosted two tournaments (November 16, 2019), including an intercollegiate tournament on leap day (February 29, 2020)
Teach chess variants, such as bughouse, shogi, and 4-way chess
Hike to the C with four generations of club presidents
Transition to remote-based activities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
Train a new cohort of officers remotely and develop new webinar series, including Games of the Month
President Michael Tang was named a runner-up finalist for the campus-wide award "President of the Year" issued by the UCR Office of Student Life
2018 - 2019
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Recruited hundreds of frosh via tabling at all summer orientation sessions (July - August 2018)
Co-sponsored summer program with Pastor Tim Jun at Joy Riverside Church
Hosted the first intercollegiate chess tournament at UCR (October 27, 2018)
Co-hosted the 2019 California Intercollegiate Chess Tournament (April 27, 2019 at UCLA)
Hosted the first outdoor chess tournament with catering from the Habit during their pre-opening weekend (May 18, 2019)
2017 - 2018
Major accomplishments, events, and milestones include:
Registered as a non-profit and begin an off-campus bank account
Successfully won 3 grants netting over $2,000 in funds for equipment and club shirts
Hosted a Simul exhibition featuring NM Austin Hughes
Guest Lecture of NM Andrew Sacks recounting his 1964 match against Bobby Fischer
Hosted four tournaments (December 2, February 3, March 3, May 25)
Led first delegation of UCR Chess Team at the California Intercollegiate Tournament (April 7 at UCLA)
President Jeremy Alexander was named a runner-up finalist for the campus-wide award "President of the Year" issued by the UCR Office of Student Life
