Chess in Colorado
HistoryIn 1968, the 69th annual U.S. Open Chess Championship was held in Aspen. At the 1995 Colorado Open, David Lucky and Todd Bardwick played the longest continuous chess game between masters in U.S. history.[4][5][6] In total, the game lasted for 12 hours with 143 moves. In 2023, Kevin McConnell and his family took over PALs Chess Academy, one of Colorado’s largest chess enrichment programs.[7] To encourage greater chess participation among girls, PALs hosted the Rocky Mountain All-Girls Chess Camp in July 2025.[8] Helping teach the camp were WFM Mairebis Castillo and WGM Sabina Foisor. On October 8, 2024, Garry Kasparov spoke at the University of Colorado Boulder.[9] The event took place inside of the Macky Auditorium. The coronavirus lockdowns led to increased interest to chess across the state, especially among youth.[10] An October 2023 article in the The Gazette noted strong turnout at a tournament that took place at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. The Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs hosts free chess tournaments for participants of all ages at its library.[11] CompetitorsAs of August 2025, the following people are the top rated active USCF players from Colorado:[1]
Other top Idaho chess players who aren't currently active USCF members include IM Steven M Odendahl (2507 Rating), GM Dashzegve Sharavdorj (2502 Rating), and Alexei Novikov (2459 Rating).[12] State championshipThe 2025 state champion is Griffin Thomas McConnell.[13] In 2024, the state champion was Eamon Curchin Montgomery.[14] External linksReferences
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