New York State Chess Association

The New York State Chess Association (NYSCA) is the oldest continuously-run chess organization in the United States, having been formed in Auburn, New York in 1878, as the "Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania Chess Association." The NYSCA name has been used since 1886. It is the official New York State affiliate of the United States Chess Federation, and its history pre-dates the establishment of USCF. It organizes a variety of State-sanctioned championship tournaments[1] across the Empire State, including the annual New York State Chess Championship, which has been held in Albany on Labor Day weekend since 2006.

While the State Championship and State Scholastic Championship has been held in every major city in the state, in recent years the State Championship and State Scholastic Championship has been most successful in the Albany-Saratoga region. The State Scholastic, the oldest of its kind in the US, celebrated its 56th anniversary in Saratoga Springs in February–March 2023.

New York State champions have included Bobby Fischer, Joel Benjamin, José Capablanca, and Frank Marshall. The current -- and 146th annual -- champion is FM William Graif, who earned the title in 2024.[2] The current Scholastic champion is New York City player FM Gus Huston. The article "Hamilton 1941" by Bill Townsend, describing the games of a week-long championship held at Colgate University, won a Chess Journalists of America award for Best Historical Article.

NYSCA currently has several hundred members. Its current president, as of 2025, is New York City chess teacher Sophia Rohde.

Karl Heck is the editor of Empire Chess, the quarterly periodical of NYSCA.

Other major events sponsored by NYSCA include the New York State Open, which has been held in Lake George the past few years. There is a highly successful Girls Championships, which have been held in New York City.

Membership in NYSCA is $20 for one year, and $57 for three years for four printed issues of Empire Chess.

NYSCA also provides funding for its champions to attend the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, the Barber K-8 Championship, Rockefeller Tournament of Elementary School Champions and the Irwin Tournament of Senior Champions.

New York State champions

Year Cahmpion Location
1 1878 Judge James R. Cox Auburn
2 1879 H. A. Richmond Auburn
3 1880 Rev. Samuel R. Calthrop Syracuse
4 1881 Rev. John Costello Tunkhannock, PA
5 1882 George H. Thornton Buffalo
6 Jan 1883 Rev. Samuel R. Calthrop Elmira
7 Dec 1883 Niles D. Luce Elmira
8 1884 Niles D. Luce Elmira
9 1885 Niles D. Luce Elmira
10 1886 Dr. J. M. Cassety Albany
11 1887 Eugene Delmar New York City
12 1889 Samuel Lipschutz New York City
13 1890 Eugene Delmar New York City
14 1891 Eugene Delmar New York City
15 1892 Albert Hodges Skaneateles
16 1893 Albert Hodges New York City
17 1894 Alber Hodges New York City
18 1895 David Graham Baird New York City
19 1896 Nicolai Jasnogrodsky New York City
20 1897 Eugene Delmar New York City
21 1898 Gustav H. Koehler New York City
22 1899 Samuel Lipschutz, William M. DeVisser New York City
23 1900 Eugene Delmar New York City
24 1901 Julius Finn New York City
25 1902 Berthold Lasker New York City
26 1903 Otto Roething New York City
27 1906 Hermann Helms New York City
28 1907 Julius Finn New York City
29 1908 Julius Finn New York City
30 1909 Clarence Howell New York City
31 1910 Jose Raoul Capablanca New York City
32 1911
33 1912
34 1913
35 1914
36 1915
37 1916
38 1917
39 1918
40 1919
41 1920
42 1921
43 1922
44 1923
45 1924
46 1925
47 1926
48 1927
49 1928
50 1929
51 1930
52 1931
53 1932
54 1933
55 1934
56 1935
57 1936
58 1937
59 1938
60 1939
61 1940
62 1941
63 1942
64 1943
65 1945
66 1946
67 1947
68 1948
69 1949
70 1950
71 1951
72 1952
73 1953
74 1954
75 1955
76 1956
77 1957
78 1958
79 1959
80 1960
81 1961
82 1962
83 1963
84 1964
85 1965
86 1966
87 1967
88 1968
89 1969
90 1970
91 1971
92 1972
93 1973
94 1974
95 1975
96 1976
97 1977
98 1978
99 1979
100 1980
101 1981
102 1982
103 1983
104 1984
105 1985
106 1986
107 1987
108 1988
109 1989
110 1990
111 1991
112 1992
113 1993
114 1994
115 1995
116 1996
117 1997
118 1998
119 1999
120 2000
121 2001
122 2002
123 2003
124 2004
125 2005
126 2006
127 2007
128 2008
129 2009
130 2010
131 2011
132 2012
133 2013
134 2014
135 2015
136 2016
137 2017
138 2018
139 2019
140 2020
141 2021
142 2022
143 2023
144 2024

References

  1. ^ "144th annual New York State Championship". US Chess.org. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  2. ^ "NYS Champions". NYSCA. September 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2025.


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