Our Upcoming Events

We will have our regular meeting on Saturday, December 7, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Forest Public Library. Come play or learn the game of chess with us! 

Skip down below to see what special events we have held in recent months

We hosted our 4th annual Roosevelt Chess Classic which attracted our highest turnout in our history with 75 players including 10 teams. We had players from across Mississippi and one from Alabama and an international master from New York.

We hosted our 2nd annual Randy Richardson Memorial Chess Camp for children to learn Chess at the Forest Public Library.  We had a great turnout and more details will be posted at a later time. 

This was also National Chess Day in America. 

We had a booth at the 2024 Wing Dang Doodle Festival at Gaddis Park in Forest to promote the game of Chess. We had an information display and boards set up for people to play the game. We also had a great experience in 2002 and 2023. We had a good number of visitors, some played a few games and we signed up a few for the chess camp and club membership. We look forward to next year for  another wonderful opportunity to introduce chess to more people in our community.

We successfully completed our newest tournament that kicked off a new series that features Quick and Blitz chess action. We had 15 registrations for players who met at Penn's restaurant in Forest. 

The overall tournament included a Quick session of 5 Swiss rounds in the morning into early afternoon with a time control of 15+3. The Blitz session of 6 Swiss rounds in the afternoon had a time control of 5+3. Prizes were awarded to first and second place in two sections of each session - Open and U1000.

We made our first appearance at the Independence Day celebration at Roosevelt State Park where we had a booth set up to distribute information and provided people a chance to play Chess. 

It was a very hot day, but a good crowd. The event officially began at 2 p.m. and from about 2:30 on, we had a steady flow of kids stopping by our booth to play Chess. They were excited about the opportunity to play and ask questions.

The skill levels ranged from very beginner to relatively experienced. We taught a few who played for the first time and others who knew what they were doing. One kid who started out as an absolute newcomer kept coming back with his friends and got better as the day went along.

The day culminated with two teens, girl and boy, who started a game around 7 p.m. and kept playing until it was too dark to see much. The game went about an hour and just after someone provided a portable light, she achieved checkmate sometime after 8 p.m. 

Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a fun day for Chess in Scott County.

We made our fourth appearance on "Good Things with Rebecca Turner" on the SuperTalk Mississippi radio network. The show airs Mondays through Fridays from 2 until 3 p.m. This time, we were joined with co-guest Douglas Stewart, 4-time former state chess champion and treasurer and board member of the Mississippi Chess Association.  The primary topic was growth of chess in Mississippi. 

For more information about our past appearances, CLICK HERE.  

We had a booth at the annual LakeFest community festival on the grounds of the Old Depot in Lake to promote the game of Chess. We had an excellent number of people stop at our tent and express interest in the game. Visitors played the game on site and ask questions. We taught the game to visitors ranging from kids to grandparents.

Our 3rd annual spring tournament was held at Roosevelt State Park. This was our sixth overall tournament to host. All of our tournaments have now attracted a combined attendance of 309 players.

We participated in the annual Forest Christmas Parade on Dec, 1. It was a great experience and we look forward to next year. 

Our 3rd annual fall tournament was held at Roosevelt State Park. This was our fifth overall tournament to host. All of our tournaments have now attracted a combined attendance of 251 players.

We will be a guest on WLBT (Channel 3 - Jackson) for their new features show Studio 3 at 3 p.m. on October 19 talking about the growth of Chess in Mississippi. 

The Mississippi Chess Association (MCA) had a great day at the Mississippi State Fair today. The game received great exposure to a wonderful crowd who stopped at our display area in the Trade Mart to play games and learn more about the game.

We had players at all age levels - as young as 4 all the way to senior adult - who were new to the game as well as experienced ones who showed great command of the game. There was a steady stream of people at our tables all day. 

One cool thing was that we had whole families to sit and play Chess together. What a great site to see such a bonding over a great game. 

We also had a teen whose parents brought her all the way from their home in Mathiston (North Mississippi) just to play with us. She has some good skills too and by the end of the day she was teaching other guests. 

We also enjoyed visiting with Rebecca Turner and her family whose daughters played a game with me. Rebecca has been a great supporter of Chess in Mississippi through having me on as a guest three times talking about the game on her daily radio show on the  SuperTalk Mississippi radio network

What a great way to round out recognition of chess this weekend after having National Chess Day on Saturday.

The Randy Richardson Memorial Chess Camp was held at the Forest Public Library. This was an opportunity for players of all ages to come check out the game, receive initial instructions, and more. The program was focused on children and youth. It was a great success with a wonderful turnout.

We had a booth at the 2023 Wing Dang Doodle Festival at Gaddis Park in Forest to promote the game of Chess. We had an information display and boards set up for people to play the game. We had a great experience in 2002 and and even better one this year. We had a good number of visitors, some played a few games and we signed up a few for the chess camp and club membership. We look forward to next year for  another wonderful opportunity to introduce chess to more people in our community.

We hosted a booth at the Sebastopolooza Festival at Bishop Park in Sebastopol to promote the game of Chess. We had an information display and boards set up for people to play the game. This was our first visit for this event. We had a good number of people stop by to ask about the game and took flyers as we put in a full day. We even had a local dog visit the tent. Thanks to Sebastopol for a great day!

The Forest Public Library hosted its annual children's summer reading program from on Tuesdays during the month of June. We were available with a display set up to answer questions about chess and our club. 

We made our third appearance as a guest on "Good Things" with our partner and show host Rebecca Turner. This time we had a fellow chess leader, Beth Thrasher, talking about the game's growth in Mississippi, how to get involved; and specifically about children learning the game and expanding chess into public schools.  We were on the air from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, June 1.

We had a booth at the annual LakeFest community festival on the grounds of the Old Depot in Lake to promote the game of Chess. We had an excellent number of people express interest in the game. Kids and some adults played on the demonstration board throughout the whole time we were there. Some kids learned the game for the first time and others were already experienced and showed great skills.. It was on the hot side, but a beautiful day and tremendous turnout.  

We had a booth at the Morton Day in Park Festival at Farris Park in Morton to promote the game of Chess. We had a good number of people express interest in the game and several kids played on the demonstration board. 

Our 2nd annual spring chess tournament attracted 45 players from across Mississippi to engage in some great chess games. 

We had a booth at the Wing Dang Doodle Festival at Gaddis Park in Forest to promote the game of Chess. 

It was a wonderful day and we had many visitors ask us about our club and the game. Some played a few games on demonstration sets we had available. 

In 1976, by presidential proclamation, President Gerald Ford declared October 9th to be National Chess Day - a day to celebrate the royal game.

National Chess Day takes place every second Saturday in October.

Everyone is encouraged to play a game - online or in person - to commemorate this special recognition.

As a service project in honor of National Chess Day, the Scott County Chess Club teamed up with the Andrew Jackson Council of the Boy Scouts of America to host a Chess Merit Badge Clinic. 

See Below for more details

 This was our second major tournament this year, third overall, at Roosevelt State Park.