It's back! One of the longest running tournaments in Whatcom County. Four sections: K-1, 2-3, 4-5 and 6-8. As of this emailing, they're already up to 83 registered, and only 17 slots left. Come join the fun!
The Lynden Christian High School chess team scored 15 wins over the course of the two day,
60th annual Washington State High School Chess Team Championships this weekend, earning the title of State 1A high school chess champions.
The team consists of Ignatius Frost, Ian Peng, Matilda Kimes, Coledon Nielsen, Lilian Peng, Kael King, Declan Bosch and Josh Van Winckel.
Here are the Lynden Christian chess team match scores from State 2026.
Scoring is 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, counting five Varsity games only.
Round 1 vs Seattle Prep 0.5 wins
Round 2 vs Eatonville 2.5 wins
Round 3 vs Edmonds-Woodway 1.5 wins
Round 4 vs Granger 4.0 wins
Round 5 vs Naselle 3.0 wins
Round 6 vs Chiawana (Pasco) 3.5 winsChess State was held February 27 and 28 at Mariner High School in Everett. 52 high school chess teams competed in six rounds over two days, to determine who would take home the Ollie Cup. Together with the State All-Comers tournament, 320 chessplayers competed, and the record for Most Teams Ever at Chess State (48) set back in 2002 was broken.
High school chess teams have to qualify to compete at State. Out of the 52 teams, 28 qualified out of the four Washington high school leagues -- Metro, Kingco, Wesco and Northwest. The other 24 qualified out of the various Regional Qualifier tournaments that took place throughout the state. Teams of all size classifications compete with each other in leagues, regionals and at State.
A chess team consists of five players. The State tournament format is six rounds, no elimination, scoring by total game points (one point per win). Each player is allotted 60 minutes on the clock, so each game lasts up to two hours each.
After two days and six rounds of competition, Lakeside High School of Seattle claimed the Ollie Cup for a year, emerging as Grand Champions by scoring 23.5 wins out of a possible 30. Second overall was earned by Interlake (Bellevue) with 22.5, and Skyline (Sammamish) placed third with 21.5 wins.
Here are the State Champions in each size class.
4A: 1st Skyline (Sammamish), 2nd Newport (Bellevue), 3rd Jackson (Mill Creek)
3A: 1st Lakeside (Seattle), 2nd Interlake (Bellevue), 3rd Seattle Prep
2A: 1st Tesla STEM (Redmond), 2nd
Sehome (Bellingham), 3rd Cleveland STEM (Seattle)
1A: 1st
Lynden Christian, 2nd
Meridian (Bellingham), 3rd Seton Catholic (Vancouver)
2B: 1st Orcas Island, 2nd Tri-Cities Prep (Pasco), 3rd Granger
1B: 1st New Life Christian (Ephrata), 2nd Pope John Paul II (Lacey), 3rd Calvary Christian (Kennewick)
In addition to LC, Sehome and Meridian, also qualifying and competing from the Northwest League were Squalicum (23rd overall), Ferndale (32nd) and Bellingham (34th).
The tournament culminates the high school winter chess season and is organized annually by the Washington High School Chess Association.
Visit the
State 2026 Photo Album to view the final standings, photos and videos of the tournament, as well as results of the leagues and regionals leading up to Chess State.
6.
CUSTER CHESSFEST
FEBRUARY 21, 2026
CUSTER, WACuster Chess Fest Section 6th-8th Grades
pos last name first id numb start end/#gms rd1 rd2 rd3 rd4 rd5 tot
1 Anbuselvam, Mithran HEAHH61F 1267 1336/270 W20 W11 W4 W3 W2 5.0
2 Ferrell, Luka Lee LVNGG98L 1211 1228/ 55 W37 W14 W10 W5 L1 4.0
3 Fredette, Blaise BECHH95C 1140 1143/113 W23 W15 W9 L1 W11 4.0
4 Bhatta, Nihal HORGK82Z 1016 1034/ 79 W30 W17 L1 W14 W9 4.0
5 Melius, Mason FACIF58R 1234 1230/ 89 W24 W22 W6 L2 W10 4.0
6 Ferris, Ari FHVGG98H 1019 1050/ 79 W33 W16 L5 W8 W13 4.0
7 Ravitsky, Avigail FACGH95B 539 720/ 50 W34 L10 W22 W31 W12 4.0
8 Mcneil, Mason VSTIJ49Y 1071 1066/ 91 HPB W21 W12 L6 W20 3.5
9 Mcallister, Noah VSTIK36K 792 811/ 25 W28 W19 L3 W18 L4 3.0
10 Fine-gucker, Logan HORG535R 863 885/152 W36 W7 L2 W15 L5 3.0
11 Crompton, Callum FACHE89B 773 796/107 W25 L1 W24 W17 L3 3.0
12 Qureshi, Danish BLNIF36V 946 912/242 W39 W18 L8 W16 L7 3.0
13 Ritchie, Rowan WHMHH40C 756 748/ 48 D21 D20 W23 W19 L6 3.0
14 Hogue, Tyler OHMHH12A 737 749/ 20 W31 L2 W25 L4 W24 3.0
15 Cancelosi, Nicholas VSTIM25W 678 685/140 W29 L3 W27 L10 W28 3.0
16 Kimball, Miles HORGJ17R 706 705/ 40 W35 L6 W26 L12 W23 3.0
17 Clark, Finn LVNGJ99M 605 610/ 56 W38 L4 W32 L11 W27 3.0
18 Manly, Shafter HORHA72M 670 671/ 88 W26 L12 W35 L9 W25 3.0
19 Bennett, Gavin HORGJ17M 555 574/ 51 W27 L9 W34 L13 W26 3.0
20 Davis, Buzz FACHH39Y 493 652/ 39 L1 D13 W21 W22 L8 2.5
21 Pullman, Nathan BECGF46B 600 591/ 5 D13 L8 L20 W37 W31 2.5
22 Russell, Emerson BLEHK23A 769 709/117 W32 L5 L7 L20 W35 2.0
23 Gilday, Finn VSTGJ17C 205 287/ 40 L3 W38 L13 W29 L16 2.0
24 Soran, Thomas VSTGK35T 425 448/ 47 L5 W29 L11 W35 L14 2.0
25 Ritter, Arie LYAGF46A 600 451/ 5 L11 W37 L14 W34 L18 2.0
26 Pullman, Elizabeth BECIF45Z 800 375/ 5 L18 W39 L16 W36 L19 2.0
27 Rose, Jude BECHF45Y 700 360/ 5 L19 W36 L15 W39 L17 2.0
28 Savchuk, Nilkita BECIF45X 800 333/ 5 L9 L34 W33 W32 L15 2.0
29 Chiabai, Ethan BECGF45W 600 272/ 5 L15 L24 W30 L23 W36 2.0
30 Moreau, Zadian LYMHG73G 100 109/ 13 L4 L32 L29 BYE W34 2.0
31 Solovey, Ethan BECIF45V 800 372/ 4 L14 HPB W37 L7 L21 1.5
32 Nunez, Josh VSTHF45U 700 225/ 5 L22 W30 L17 L28 D33 1.5
33 Nymeyer, Mason HORGK35Z 134 141/ 60 L6 L35 L28 W38 D32 1.5
34 Miller, James VSTGF45T 600 194/ 5 L7 W28 L19 L25 L30 1.0
35 Hensen, Logan BECGF45S 600 300/ 5 L16 W33 L18 L24 L22 1.0
36 Dayton, Dj VSTHF45R 700 115/ 5 L10 L27 W38 L26 L29 1.0
37 Clark, Luke VSTHJ17E 241 194/ 28 L2 L25 L31 L21 BYE 1.0
38 Rushton, James BECIF45Q 800 100/ 5 L17 L23 L36 L33 W39 1.0
39 Lysen, Magnus HORGF93Z 100 100/ 8 L12 L26 BYE L27 L38 1.0
Custer Chess Fest Section 5th Grade
pos last name first id numb start end/#gms rd1 rd2 rd3 rd4 rd5 tot
1 Snyder, Damien CEEFC98M 636 745/ 57 W4 W8 W5 W2 L3 4.0
2 Bormuth, Lucas LYCFD92J 867 855/ 47 W9 W10 W3 L1 W4 4.0
3 Buckham, George SKYFK37E 600 656/137 W10 W9 L2 W8 W1 4.0
4 Charron, Clark NORFF45P 500 620/ 5 L1 W7 W11 W5 L2 3.0
5 Verduin, Bentley CUEFK37A 641 607/ 76 W11 W6 L1 L4 W8 3.0
6 Katyal, Zion BECFF45N 500 375/ 5 W7 L5 L8 W9 W10 3.0
7 Lynch, Hannah CUEFG66W 271 276/ 14 L6 L4 W10 W11 BYE 3.0
8 Martushev, Maksim CUEFG72R 148 219/ 12 BYE L1 W6 L3 L5 2.0
9 Lynch, Noah CUEFG72U 256 245/ 18 L2 L3 BYE L6 W11 2.0
10 Zsiros, Oliver CUEFF45M 500 100/ 4 L3 L2 L7 BYE L6 1.0
11 Kramer, Hudson CIAFG66T 179 117/ 14 L5 BYE L4 L7 L9 1.0
Custer Chess Fest Section 3rd-4th Grades
pos last name first id numb start end/#gms rd1 rd2 rd3 rd4 rd5 tot
1 Litvin, Lev WKEDJ25U 1001 1030/ 68 W19 W5 W2 W3 W4 5.0
2 Reynolds, Elliot WKEDJ64U 634 655/ 57 W20 W11 L1 W12 W8 4.0
3 Reynolds, Bennett WKEDJ64R 699 700/ 52 W9 W13 D4 L1 W6 3.5
4 Vader-davidson, GabrielWKEDG97Y 500 611/ 20 W17 W7 D3 W5 L1 3.5
5 Hamilton, Max FACDH39F 350 411/ 25 W15 L1 W14 L4 W10 3.0
6 Haugness, Avery LYCDJ16D 285 384/ 25 W8 L10 W13 W9 L3 3.0
7 Louws, Micah CUEDJ16B 583 542/ 78 W14 L4 W10 L8 W13 3.0
8 Pullman, Daniel BECEF45L 400 450/ 5 L6 W20 W16 W7 L2 3.0
9 Fine-gucker, Audrey EAGDG71W 100 247/ 33 L3 W17 W18 L6 W12 3.0
10 Talbert, Titus CEEEJ16A 290 302/ 15 D18 W6 L7 W16 L5 2.5
11 Mcallister, Rosalyn CEEEF45K 400 267/ 5 W16 L2 L12 D14 W18 2.5
12 Ellsworth, Emmett PAREG54R 100 155/ 10 L13 W15 W11 L2 L9 2.0
13 Johnson, Declan SILDF45J 300 292/ 5 W12 L3 L6 W17 L7 2.0
14 Sullivan, Maverick CIADF45H 300 208/ 5 L7 W19 L5 D11 D15 2.0
15 Campbell, Eli CUEEF45G 400 122/ 5 L5 L12 D20 W19 D14 2.0
16 Linn, Tyler CIADG72C 224 169/ 15 L11 W18 L8 L10 D17 1.5
17 Kincaid, Cosii CUEDF45D 300 100/ 5 L4 L9 W19 L13 D16 1.5
18 Sheetz, Leylah CUEEF45B 400 100/ 5 D10 L16 L9 W20 L11 1.5
19 Snyder, Emery CEEDG66F 100 100/ 10 L1 L14 L17 L15 W20 1.0
20 Homer, Duke CUEDF45A 300 100/ 5 L2 L8 D15 L18 L19 0.5
Custer Chess Fest Section Kindergarden - 2nd Grades
pos last name first id numb start end/#gms rd1 rd2 rd3 rd4 rd5 tot
1 Ferris, Sam LLLAG54F 386 495/ 32 W9 L3 W5 W2 W4 4.0
2 Goodwin, Bodhi FACCH39B 438 492/ 35 W5 W7 W3 L1 W6 4.0
3 Lynch, Jonah CUECG72J 480 462/ 20 W6 W1 L2 L4 W8 3.0
4 Campbell, Crinan FACCJ64M 386 380/ 29 L7 W9 W6 W3 L1 3.0
5 Bellingar, Olivia CUECF44Y 200 263/ 5 L2 W10 L1 W8 D9 2.5
6 Dietrich, Antonio CEECF44W 200 228/ 5 L3 W8 L4 W10 L2 2.0
7 Casteel, Owen CUECF44V 200 158/ 5 W4 L2 L8 D9 D10 2.0
8 Crompton, Clara FACCH39A 100 119/ 28 W10 L6 W7 L5 L3 2.0
9 Hicks, Colt CUECF44U 200 112/ 5 L1 L4 D10 D7 D5 1.5
10 Soran, Titus CIACF44T 200 100/ 5 L8 L5 D9 L6 D7 1.07.
NW WA YOUTH CHESS CALENDAR 2026Details via
northwestchess.info2026
Mar 7: Wade King Tournament, K-8, Bellingham
Mar 8: Whatcom Girls Chess Club, Ferndale
Mar 21: Parkview State Qualifier Tournament K-8, Bellingham
Mar 28: Fairhaven Chess Tourney K-8, Bellingham
Apr 18: Eagleridge Battle Royale K-8, Ferndale
Apr 25: Washington State Scholastic Chess Championships (ES, MS, HS), Tacoma
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