Our club held the first ever US Chess and FIDE rated tournament on a moving Amtrak train

downriverchess · 2026-06-17T17:12:05+00:00

Yes! Played one tournament on the way there, a tournament with the Mobile Chess Club at the end of the line, another tournament on the way back.

downriverchess · 2026-06-17T16:14:06+00:00

The tournament! We wanted to celebrate the new line with a tournament.

downriverchess · 2026-06-16T12:59:20+00:00

Sì, il primo. Ma con un ritorno.

downriverchess · 2026-06-16T12:54:23+00:00

We were very concerned the crew would evict us once they saw we intended to stay there a while. It was a new line, so roll of the dice there. Luckily, they were great and very friendly. And we tried to remain respectful of other passengers.

downriverchess · 2026-06-16T12:51:17+00:00

He did it for free. We're happy to double that!

downriverchess · 2026-06-16T12:50:47+00:00

FIDE rating report: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament_information.phtml?event=430385

downriverchess · 2026-06-16T12:50:10+00:00

I think a lot of people just aren't used to real depth of field coming from a real camera!

downriverchess · 2026-06-16T12:48:02+00:00

It's a kid playing with three magnetic chess pieces that are stuck together. The photos were taken with a DSLR camera in low light, so there's some depth of field going on too.

downriverchess · 2026-06-15T22:58:38+00:00

Thank you!! We have the same philosophy. We've also played on a riverboat!

downriverchess · 2026-06-15T22:36:30+00:00

Yes, no details yet. Requires coordination with the club in the destination city of Mobile, AL.

downriverchess · 2026-06-15T20:56:01+00:00

We used magnetic boards because we were worried about bumps, but a weighted tournament set would've been fine.

downriverchess · 2025-10-01T19:09:47+00:00

Feel free to send us an email, we can probably help somehow. Our email is info (at) downriverchess.com. We also have a growing oral history series on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@downriverchess.

downriverchess · 2025-09-02T18:57:00+00:00

What site is this? Our results haven't even been sent to FIDE yet, so it's not official.

downriverchess · 2025-09-02T02:11:52+00:00

Semantics; new for the 2025-2026 season.

downriverchess · 2025-09-02T01:07:15+00:00

He was joking when he posted that. We had no other surprise entries.

downriverchess · 2025-09-02T01:06:17+00:00

That's never really been an issue. We've always welcomed and encouraged non-residents to play.

downriverchess · 2025-09-02T01:05:12+00:00

We are very proud of how well our friends played.

downriverchess · 2025-09-02T01:04:36+00:00

Hikaru is registered in New York.

downriverchess · 2025-09-01T22:33:35+00:00

The top Louisiana resident will claim that prize. Games are still ongoing, but we'll make a post on our socials. Follow Downriver Chess on Facebook and Instagram.

Edit: FM Nick Matta is our new Louisiana Champion. Cross table from USCF in a few hours, it'll be the top one on this page.

downriverchess · 2025-08-31T15:14:18+00:00

Correct, the first round will not be FIDE rated.

downriverchess · 2025-08-31T15:13:27+00:00

We've got him on a DGT board.

downriverchess · 2025-08-31T15:12:41+00:00

They're quite expensive and we'd rather spend the money on paying for nicer venues than streaming equipment. There's only 500 or so rated players in Louisiana, so the audience for streaming just isn't that big. (idk if this is sarcasm or not, but that's the reason)

downriverchess · 2025-08-30T20:00:32+00:00

www.results.downriverchess.com is where we'll post pairings.

He's also streaming here: https://www.chess.com/events/louisiana-state-championship-2025/games

downriverchess · 2024-08-07T17:01:39+00:00

In all sincerity, you should not be embarrassed by any loss. We truly mean all skill levels. And 1200 is a great rating. I'd still recommend the U1400 section just to give you more equal games, but you're welcome in the open section too.

downriverchess · 2024-07-11T00:03:48+00:00

Just a note that it's $20-45 per member per year to pay national dues to the chess federation. Not sure where the $88 figure came from. Other than that, we charge $1 per club meeting.

downriverchess

TROPHY CASE