Friday, November 9, 2007
My Obvious Absence...Chess in Los Angeles
I want to thank Mike for helping me revive this blog. When I first agreed to begin the weblog last year I thought that I was at a point where I could really contribute some interesting writings and that I might actually have something interesting to say. This may still be the case! However, shortly after my dubious blog beginnings work called me on an extended trip up and down the Pacific coast, starting in Los Angeles (about six months), then Seattle (three months), and finally working outside of San Francisco, near Palo Alto, CA, for about four months.
I was in the Los Angeles area, staying in Westlake Village and working in Thousand Oaks (minutes from Agoura Hills where there is a sizable Western States tournament held each year - I can track down the details for anyone that might be interested), and had decided that I should try to find some outlets where I might exercise my meager chess abilities. I called Fred Wilson in New York and asked him if he would be kind enough to send a quick e-mail to Los Angeles Times chess correspondent Jack Peters to ask his advice on places to play chess in the greater Los Angeles area. He was gracious enough to help me compile the following list, which could be useful for those of you who might find yourselves in the Los Angeles area looking for a game. Alas, with the project responsibilities and limitations on my free time, I never got to any of these places to play. (I did get by the chess tables on the beach in Santa Monica, which is a quite pleasant west coast version of the Washington Square Park chess scene. There were ongoing, quite compatibly I might add, in a very peaceful cooexistence - a rated chess tournament, a heated discussion of Texas Hold'em strategy, several blitz and skittles games, several curious onlookers - including myself, a couple of on-line fantasy stalwarts carrying on a lively conversation, as well as other board games playing out simultaneously on the 24 or so boards there on the beach just south of the main pier! I really enjoyed the experience.)
AAA Chess - look at the aaachessclub.com website
westernchess.com
Pasadena Chess Club (no further information)
Santa Monica Bay Chess Club - Mondays at Joslyn Park, 633 Kensington Road, Santa Monica
Costa Mesa (Octos Chess); I have the contact takashi@cox.net; contact Takashi Iwamoto at 949.689.3511
La Habra Community Center 101 W. La Habra Blvd., La Habra; contact Jerry Schein at 562.691.2393
Exposition Park Chess Club, Public Library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA chess.expoparkla.com
Joshua Tree Chess Club (Friday Evenings), Faith Lutheran Church, 6336 Hallee Rd., Joshua Tree, CA
This information should be fresh. Good luck if you find yourself in Los Angeles!
Oh, and by the way, I did happen to get the famous Mechanics Chess Club on several occasions located at the wonderful Mechanics Institute Library in San Francisco (look for their website), where I attended several wonderful lectures given by Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky, who allowed me to sit in as a guest when I told him that I was visiting from out of town on business. (I also ran into one of the few avid women chess players that I am acquainted with, who had recently relocated from the east coast for her Federal government career post!) Finally, I just wanted to mention too that I had looked briefly into tracking down the location for the Microsoft Chess Club near Seattle, which apparently meets on Friday nights at or near the Microsoft site in Redmond, WA, which a member had briefly described for me when we crossed paths in Minnesota at the big HB Classic in 2005.)
I was in the Los Angeles area, staying in Westlake Village and working in Thousand Oaks (minutes from Agoura Hills where there is a sizable Western States tournament held each year - I can track down the details for anyone that might be interested), and had decided that I should try to find some outlets where I might exercise my meager chess abilities. I called Fred Wilson in New York and asked him if he would be kind enough to send a quick e-mail to Los Angeles Times chess correspondent Jack Peters to ask his advice on places to play chess in the greater Los Angeles area. He was gracious enough to help me compile the following list, which could be useful for those of you who might find yourselves in the Los Angeles area looking for a game. Alas, with the project responsibilities and limitations on my free time, I never got to any of these places to play. (I did get by the chess tables on the beach in Santa Monica, which is a quite pleasant west coast version of the Washington Square Park chess scene. There were ongoing, quite compatibly I might add, in a very peaceful cooexistence - a rated chess tournament, a heated discussion of Texas Hold'em strategy, several blitz and skittles games, several curious onlookers - including myself, a couple of on-line fantasy stalwarts carrying on a lively conversation, as well as other board games playing out simultaneously on the 24 or so boards there on the beach just south of the main pier! I really enjoyed the experience.)
AAA Chess - look at the aaachessclub.com website
westernchess.com
Pasadena Chess Club (no further information)
Santa Monica Bay Chess Club - Mondays at Joslyn Park, 633 Kensington Road, Santa Monica
Costa Mesa (Octos Chess); I have the contact takashi@cox.net; contact Takashi Iwamoto at 949.689.3511
La Habra Community Center 101 W. La Habra Blvd., La Habra; contact Jerry Schein at 562.691.2393
Exposition Park Chess Club, Public Library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA chess.expoparkla.com
Joshua Tree Chess Club (Friday Evenings), Faith Lutheran Church, 6336 Hallee Rd., Joshua Tree, CA
This information should be fresh. Good luck if you find yourself in Los Angeles!
Oh, and by the way, I did happen to get the famous Mechanics Chess Club on several occasions located at the wonderful Mechanics Institute Library in San Francisco (look for their website), where I attended several wonderful lectures given by Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky, who allowed me to sit in as a guest when I told him that I was visiting from out of town on business. (I also ran into one of the few avid women chess players that I am acquainted with, who had recently relocated from the east coast for her Federal government career post!) Finally, I just wanted to mention too that I had looked briefly into tracking down the location for the Microsoft Chess Club near Seattle, which apparently meets on Friday nights at or near the Microsoft site in Redmond, WA, which a member had briefly described for me when we crossed paths in Minnesota at the big HB Classic in 2005.)
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