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 across New York 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. 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 This is a list of winners of the New York State chess championship, as given by the association. In the early days, the association also included northern Pennsylvania, hence the 1881 championship held in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. While current regulations require the title holder to be a resident of New York State, this has not always been the case, hence the win by Swiss master Paul Johner in 1911. For various reasons, in some years no championship was held.
YearChampionLocation11878Judge James R. CoxAuburn21879H. A. RichmondAuburn31880Rev. Samuel R. CalthropSyracuse41881Rev. John CostelloTunkhannock, PA51882George H. ThorntonBuffalo6Jan 1883Rev. Samuel R. CalthropElmira7Dec 1883Niles D. LuceElmira81884Niles D. LuceElmira91885Niles D. LuceElmira101886Dr. J. M. CassetyAlbany111887Eugene DelmarNew York City121889Samuel LipschutzNew York City131890Eugene DelmarNew York City141891Eugene DelmarNew York City151892Albert HodgesSkaneateles161893Albert HodgesNew York City171894Alber HodgesNew York City181895David Graham BairdNew York City191896Nicolai JasnogrodskyNew York City201897Eugene DelmarNew York City211898Gustav H. KoehlerNew York City221899Samuel Lipschutz, William M. DeVisserNew York City231900Eugene DelmarNew York City241901Julius FinnNew York City251902Berthold LaskerNew York City261903Otto RoethingNew York City271906Hermann HelmsNew York City281907Julius FinnNew York City291908Julius FinnNew York City301909Clarence HowellNew York City311910Jose Raoul CapablancaNew York City321911Paul JohnerNew York City331912Jacob RosenthalNew York City341913Leonard B. Meyer, George J. BeihoffNew York City351914Roy Turnbull BlackNew York City361915Abraham KupchikNew York City371916Harold E. JenningsBuffalo381917Oscar ChajesRochester391918Kenneth S. HowardRochester401919Abraham KupchikTroy411920Jacob BernsteinAlbany421921Jacob BernsteinSyracuse431922Jacob BernsteinBuffalo441923Rudolph SmirkaBuffalo451924Carlos TorreRochester461925Hermann HelmsBuffalo471926Milton HanauerRome481927Rudolph SmirkaRome491928Anthony SantasiereBuffalo501929Herman SteinerBuffalo511930Anthony SantasiereUtica521931Fred ReinfeldRome531932Nathan GrossmanRome541933Fred ReinfeldSyracuse551934Robert LevensteinSyracuse561935Isaac KashdanBinghamton571936Isaac KashdanPoughkeepsie581937David PollandCazenovia591938Arnold DenkerCazenovia601939Arnold DenkerHamilton611940Robert WillmanHamilton621941631942641943651945661946671947681948691949701950711951721952731953741954751955761956771957781958791959801960811961821962831963841964851965861966871967881968891969901970911971921972931973941974951975961976971977981978991979100198010119811021982103198310419841051985106198610719871081988109198911019901111991112199211319931141994115199511619961171997118199811919991202000121200112220021232003124200412520051262006127200712820081292009130201013120111322012133201313420141352015136201613720171382018139201914020201412021142202214320231442024
See also
Chess in New York (state)
References
External links New York State Chess Association Home Page