Join us for Rated Chess Events on the first & third Thursday of each month Beginning February, 2025
The CCC will be conducting USCF rated events on the 1st & 3rd Thursday of each month (provided the Library is open to the public or barring any unforeseen events. Any potential deviations to this schedule will be announced on our website or via email in advance if possible). Club meetings in which there are no scheduled tournaments will be casual play unless otherwise stated.
***On the First Thursday of each month we will host Rated Groups (Quads)* at Game in 15 minutes (G/15; d/0). Must have current USCF Membership to participate. Entry fee is $20. Approximately 80% of entries returned as a winner takes all prize in each Quad/Group. Ties Split the prize. All prizes awarded via Zelle or PayPal after the conclusion of the event. All entries must be received in advance -- Please note that Registration will close NO LATER than the Wednesday morning prior to the event OR when Quads have filled, whichever comes first -so reserve your spot ASAP as space is LIMITED. No Day of or late entries will be allowed. *In the event that there is a Group of more or less than four players, a different tournament format/time control might be used for that group or groups.
***On the Third Thursday of each month we will host a Rated Blitz (Game in 5-minutes (G/5; d/0)) tournament in an Open format. Must have current US Chess Membership to participate. Entry fee is $10 for the Blitz events and prizes will be based on entries. Approximately 75-80% of entries will be returned as prizes. All prizes awarded via Zelle or PayPal after the conclusion of the event. ALL entries must be received in advance -- Please note that Registration will close NO LATER than the Wednesday morning prior to the event or when tournament capacity has been reached, whichever comes first. Reserve your spot ASAP as space is limited. No Day of or late entries will be allowed.
Email the Club for more information as well as to REGISTER for these events. Please be sure to indicate the date and format of the tournament you wish to enter in your email (Quad or Blitz)
*** Clocks start at 4:30pm for each event unless otherwise stated, so please arrive early!
March Blitz in the Desert!
Congrats to the winners of the March Blitz (G/5) Round Robin Tournament held on 3/20 --and a big thank you to all that participated!
Full results below:
First Thursday (March) USCF Rated Quads
15 competitors took part in our Monthly Quads/Groups Tournament. Every group produced fighting chess and some very exciting games! Thank you to all that participated and congratulations to the winners of each Group.
Group 1: IM McCambridge & FM Meyer (TIE) $33 each
Group 2: Wyatt Montgomery $65
Group 3: Ethan Linn $65
Group 4: Koen Tolman $50 (group 4 was a 3-player group)
Complete tournament results can be found HERE
Third-Thursday USCF Blitz 02/20/2025
11 players competed in our Third Thursday USCF Rated Blitz tournament on Thursday, February 20th.
The surprise winner with a perfect 4 - 0 score was Axel van der Velden, having defeated the two top ranked players, IM McCambridge and FM Meyer respectively.
Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to all that participated. Please remember that the club hosts rated USCF events on the First & Third Thursday of each month!
1st Place: Axel $40
2nd Place (Tie): Vince and Lars $15 each
Best Under 1200 (3-way tie): Wyatt, Koen and Max $7 each
Complete results below
First-Thursday, February USCF Quads 2025
On 2/6/2025 we launched our first monthly G/15 USCF Rated Quads Tourney with 16 players competing! Winners of each Quad received $65! Congrats to the winners and thank you to all that participated!
2024 Christmas Time-Odds Tournament Results
21 Club Members faced off over 4-rounds in our Holiday Odds-Tournament. Thanks to all that attended and made the tournament the fun event that it was. Thank you Wyatt and Axel for supplying some Holiday goodies for everyone to enjoy! Congratulations to the winners! Special mention must be made of FM Lars Meyer who took on ALL of his opponents at the ridiculous odds of 17 minutes to 3 minutes! Only one player was able to nick the Master for a Draw, Justin Tolman.
Full Results Below
November 2024 Quads:
20 players competed in 5-Groups on the the 21st of November - the winner of each group won $70! There was a clear winner in each Group except for Group #1 where IM McCambridge shared 1st place with FM Meyer. Congrats to all the winners.
FM Meyer fends off 23 opponents without a single loss in the 2024 Summer Simul!
Coach Lars set a new Club Record on July 11th by completing his exhibition against 23 of the Valley's strongest players with the undefeated score of 22-1, giving up just two Draws (to Axel van der Velden and Bill Strong respectively).
Facing so many opponents at once is a daunting task that requires intense concentration and a fair degree of stamina! As usual, Coach Lars made the task even more difficult for himself by alternating colors with his determined opponents. Bravo Lars on a stellar performance and THANK YOU for putting on this display for us!
Here is a snippet from my own (Axel's) game with Lars where I missed a nice opportunity to play for an advantage:
After a tame Opening Variation where I tried my best to get Lars to fall asleep while I went into vacuum-cleaner-mode by "Hoovering" as many pieces off as possible, we reached the above position.
I recognized that White had an edge but failed to find the right plan to pursue it. Had I found 17.a4!, White would have had a completely dominating position (the computer claims a near winning positional advantage for White after: 17...Nb6 18.a5 Nc8 19.Be5. While these moves aren't forced, they do illustrate the bind that White has on the position).
Instead, I played the less accurate 17. Bb4 and the game quickly fizzled into a Draw after 17...Nb8 18.Rxd8+ Kxd8 19.Bc3 Re8 20.Bf6+ Kc7 21.Be5+ Kc8 22.Bxb8 Kxb8 23.Rd1 - Draw agreed.
If you participated in the Simul and would like Coach Lars to consider YOUR game for his next Live Game Breakdown, please email it below:
Ken Farr Memorial Action Tournament 2024
On Saturday, March 23rd, CCC held its first Saturday USCF Rated tourney --The 2024 Ken Farr Memorial in honor of our late friend.
20 competitors faced off against each other over 5-rounds of fighting chess! Not surprisingly, FM Lars won clear first place but only after some dangerous moments in his last round game with Justin Tolman who managed to hold the Master to a Draw!
Thank you to all that participated and to the Farr family for visiting us, providing refreshments and donating an allotment of Ken's Chess books to the club. Complete results are below:
FM Meyer (Coach Lars) does it again!
Not only did Coach Lars sweep the field in our end of year Christmas tourney, but he also took clear first place in CCC's first USCF Rated Tournament of 2024!
FM Meyer scored an impressive 7/8 in the G/5 Blitz losing only one-single game to newcomer Jacob Guisto. Congrats Lars!
Full results below:
2023 Coachella Chess Club Championship:
FM Meyer Defends his Title!!
Coach Lars successfully defended his title of Coachella Chess Club Champion 2023 with an undefeated score in the Premier Group of the Championship. Bravo Lars and CONGRATULATIONS!!
Adam Page took top honors in the Reserve Group, also with a perfect score! Congrats Champs!
Coachella Chess Club has joined forces with Chess.com to provide our members with the best online experience! Be on the lookout for cool prizes from our partners including premium memberships, merchandise and more!
G5 Club Championship Qualifier (the FINAL Qualifier)
The afternoon of October 26th saw 11 players battle-it-out for the last two remaining spots in this years Club Championship! The tournament was hard-fought with many exciting games as well as many of the expected "Doozies" of a Blitz Tournament!
In the end, FM Lars Meyer took clear 1st place with a 5-0 score cementing his place in the Premier Group of the Club Championship. Sal Flores was the highest scorer (U1700) not already qualified and secured his participation in the Reserve Group of the Championship!
Bravo to all of the competitors! Complete results below:
IM Vince McCambridge Simultanious Exhibition 10/19/2023
On October 19th, IM McCambridge came out to the Club to take on 18 determined CCC members in a Simultaneous Exhibition!
Vince scored a blistering 16.5 - 1.5 score, adjudicating only two of the three Draws given due to lack of time at the Library. A truly fantastic achievement that we are extremally grateful for -as ALL of the proceeds went to the Club and future Club projects! Thank you again Vince! --We look forward to having you back for some Rated tournaments soon!
G/20 Club Championship Qualifier
Congratulations to Ivan on taking clear 1st place in the G/20 Qualifier! With this victory, Ivan secured his spot in the Premier Group of the Club Championship!
Sharing 2nd and 3rd place were Adam and Ken respectively, Adam picked up the spot in the Reserve Group of the Championship.
Congrats to all on a very hard-fought tournament!
G/10 Club Championship Qualifier 2023
The G/10 Qualifier took place on 9/21 and saw Elias Semaan take clear 1st place and a spot in this year's Club Championship Premier Group! Ken and Dominik tied for 2nd place. Both Ken (who replaced Elias in the CVSS Qualifier) and Dominik are now both slotted into the Reserve Group of the Championship. Congrats to all! Complete results are below:
The 1st Annual Coachella Valley Summer Swiss 8/24 - 9/14/2023
Congratulations to Axel van der Velden on winning the 1st Annual Coachella Valley Summer Swiss! In clear second place was FM Lars Meyer who elected take a 1/2-point Bye in the Final round. Third place was captured by Elias Semaan and Elliot Brennan took Best U1200 honors.
With this victory, Axel earned a spot in the Club Championship Premier Group and Elias earned a spot in the Reserve Group. Both events will be held later this year.
Below are the complete tournament results. Thanks to all that participated!
June USCF Rated Tournament
Our June 29th Tournament was a success and saw three groups of 5-players competing for Cash prizes. Below are the final results:
May 25th FM Lars Meyer Simul: 14-0!
Last Thursday, May 25th, Coach Lars gave 14 Club members quite the shellacking, finishing them off in just two hours with the undefeated score of 14-0!
It was a fun, competitive and learning experience for all!
A big thank you to Lars for his generosity conducting this event.
Bravo Lars!!
Look for games from this simuil in the July Game Breakdown!
Chess Teaching for young Adults and Juniors (22 and younger) at La Quinta Library.
As I have received many requests to offer lectures at a more affordable rate, I have decided, as an experiment, to conduct Chess Classes at La Quinta Library on Saturdays from 10 – 11:30am.
These group lessons will be a mixture of lectures and supervised play among the students. I will conduct these lessons on a trial-basis through the end of May. Afterwards, I will evaluate, together with my students, if this is a viable way forward and if enough students will attend to make it worthwhile.
The price will be $60 (per person) for the entire month ( 4 Saturdays/4 lessons) and registration is required prior to participation.
To obtain a consistent flow in the teaching I can unfortunately not accept Students who only want to attend single sessions.
This first course will be directed at players who are comfortable playing the game and knowledgeable about general rules like Castling, Pawn promoting and en-Passant capture, essentially a course for those individuals looking to improve to the next level.
The dates will be May 6, 13, 20 and 27.
Please sign up via email or text to Coach Lars augustschade525@hotmail.com phone:442-236-8128
Number of participants is limited to 8.
See you soon!
-Coach Lars
Our friends at Chess House have generously given CCC members a discount code for 12% off your purchase!
Use code "Coachella" at checkout!
April G/20 Action!
Congratulations to Lars Meyer for his clean-sweep of the top group!
New member, Kameron Craig mowed down the competition in the second group with ma 2-0 score. Good Job!!
March Blitz Double-Round Robin Tournament 3/30/2023
Congratulations to FM Lars Meyer for winning 1st place in the Group A Double-Round Robin Blitz tournament with the perfect score of 10-0! Bravo Coach Lars!!
2nd place went to Axel van der Velden with 6-points, largely due to an upset victory in one of his match games against IM Vince McCambridge.
3rd place was shared between IM McCambridge and Gor Chailyan at 4.5 points each.
Group B was convincingly won by Monte Halprin with the blistering score of 9-1! Great job Monte!
2nd place in Group B was won by Elliot Brennan with 7 points and third place was shared by James Diaz (who was the only player to win against Group winner Monte!) and Dominik Rutkowski both with 6-points.
Congratulations to all!!
USCF Rated G/5 Quad & Unrated G/10 Quad
Congratulations to Lars Meyer for winning the USCF Rated G/5 Quad with a perfect 3-0 score -
and - congratulations to Ernesto Abadilla for winning the unrated G/10 Quad with the same perfect score!
Final results:
Rated Game in 5:
1st. Lars
2nd. Axel
3rd. James
4th. Elliot
Unrated Game in 10:
1st. Ernesto
2nd. Craig
3rd. Dominik
4th. Steven
Congratulations to all -and remember -more USCF Rated Blitz Action on March 30th! See the website for more details and get registered No Later than March 23rd!
FM Lars Meyer Simul 02/23/2023
FM Meyer took just a little over an hour to demolish the field in his first CCC Simul on Thursday at the La Quinta Library. Lars scored an impressive 9-1 yielding only two Draws - to Gor Chailyan and Axel van der Velden respectively. Some of the games from the Simu will be posted in the March edition of Game Breakdown with light notes by Lars.
Thank you to all that participated and to those that came to watch, it was a fun night for all. We will be hosting more events like this one in the future.
News & Updates
*If using a mobile device, scroll down to bottom of page for images and diagrams
As of Thursday, August 18th, we will meet weekly at the La Quinta Public Library from 4pm - 6:30pm. All ages and skill level are welcome.
*
A big THANK YOU to the LQ Library who, beginning in November, are allowing the Coachella Chess Club use of their large and well-equipped Annex Room for our meetings. This will make hosting larger events like Simultaneous Exhibitions and Rated tournaments much easier and more comfortable for all!
*
Get those games in for Lars' monthly Game Breakdown! Email them to CoachellaChessClub@gmail.com
*
Congrats to Lars on winning the Summer Game in 10 tournament on 9/1.
Below are the top 3 finishers:
1). Lars
2). Elliot
3). Axel
*
Be sure to submit any of your interesting games that you would like FM Meyer to "Breakdown" in his monthly Instructional! He will select one each month! email games to CoachellaChessClub@gmail.com
*
In addition to hosting some USCF Rated Blitz & Quick Chess Tournaments (Game in 5 and 15 minutes) on the horizon, Coach Lars will also be conducting a Simultaneous Exhibition and Game Lecture! -More details to follow!
