For years I sought a local chess club where I could practice and play with fellow players in my area. This search consumed a good 10 years of my life.
Oh sure, I visited some local chess clubs in the area, notably the Pasadena Chess Club, the Arcadia Chess Club and the West Covina Chess Club, just to name a few.
The problem with these local clubs (as I saw it) was that most were sponsored by the USCF, or their members were rated players with USCF membership, with the possibly exception of the West Covina club which meets at the Senior Center and has as members older gentlemen or retired folks, though to be sure, players of all ages and/or strengths frequented the club.
Strength, there lies the crux of the matter: Chess is more enjoyable when you can play with players of similar strength or level as oneself. This makes sense, though we can all learn from our losses, it's not fun to lose most of the time and a lot of the players in the clubs I mentioned above were so advanced that it was often difficult to find a game where I could meet an opponent at my level.
This all changed about 3 years ago when I discovered the chess club at Citrus College in Glendora. I was taking a desktop publishing class and contributing to the school newspaper at the time, on my way to finishing my degree at Cal Poly Pomona, but while at Citrus I met the members of the club and have happily made new friends and played with them ever since.
With this blog, I hope to document some of my progress in my own game, as well as document my adventures in the chess world as a chess enthusiast and player. I also welcome those in the SGV area, whether you are a beginner, a youngster looking for tournaments, or other relevant information, or want to learn about the history of the game. This is the place for chess, the virtual home of chess in the SGV. Everyone is welcome! Here's some video of the chess action going on at Kelly's Coffee earlier this year.
