Nevada Chess, Inc.

Nevada Chess is sad to announce the passing of renowned chess coach and 2006 Nevada state chess champion Virgil Reyes. Virgil won more than 800 games in US Chess Federation sanctioned tournaments, achieving an expert level peak regular rating of 2147 in 2016. In internationally rated competition, he achieved a peak World Chess Federation standard rating of 1998 in 2015 by defeating a FIDE Master at the 2015 Downtown Chess Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Virgil was a US Navy veteran. He was the chess coach at Saint Viator Parish School for several decades. A Memorial Service will be held at Southern Nevada State Veterans Cemetery, 1900 Veterans Memorial Drive, Boulder City, Nevada 89005 on Friday, April 10, 2026 at 1:20 p.m. Interment will take place immediately following the service. All are welcome. There is a gofundme page at www.gofundme.com/f/CoachVirgilReyes to support funeral expenses and create a scholarship in the name of Virgil Reyes to support chess playing students in the Archdiocese of Las Vegas Catholic Schools.

The board of directors of the Silver State Chess Association have decided to name the K-5 team championship trophy at the Southern Nevada Scholastic Chess championship in honor of Virgil Reyes. There will be a remembrance ceremony to honor Virgil at the 2026 Southern Nevada Scholastic Chess Championship on March 7th at Del Sol. The remembrance ceremony is planned to be held just before the start of the awards ceremony at approximately 6PM.

The 2026 Southern Nevada Scholastic Chess Championship will be held on Saturday, March 7, 2026 at

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts   
3100 E Patrick Ln    
Las Vegas, NV 89120

For more information or to register, please visit www.kingregistration.com/event/2026SNVSCh

Season 4 of the States Cup online chess league is scheduled to start on April 22. Nevada entered 2 teams in the league during season 3, and we are planning to enter at least 2 teams for season 4. Any Nevada player who is interested in playing should contact Tom Brownscombe at tkbrownscombe@hotmail.com no later than March 27. Full league rules and match schedule can be found at https://docs.google.com/…/1qmHRbNwB47J89LgsKUezEvj…/edit

Matches are played online on chess.com on Monday nights. Once our teams have been registered, players who wish to join a team should contact Ryan Phillips. Ryan will add players to existing team rosters based upon availability in accordance with the league rules. Note that high rated players (2130+) who might have any interest in playing in this league should contact Tom Brownscombe no later than March 27 to be put on an initial team roster because league rules restrict the addition of high rated players after rosters have been created.

This is the schedule for season 4:

• Regular Season:
  • Match 1: Apr 22, 2024
  • Match 2: Apr 29, 2024
  • Match 3: May 6, 2024
  • Match 4: May 13, 2024
  • Match 5: May 20, 2024
    – no matches during Memorial Day weekend –
  • Match 6: Jun 3, 2024
  • Match 7: Jun 10, 2024
• Post-Season:
  • Quarterfinals: Jun 17, 2024
  • Semi-Finals: Jun 24, 2024
  • Finals & 3rd Place Matches: Jul 1, 2024

Relegation Matches:  Jul 1, 2024

Matches may be live streamed on www.twitch.tv/nevadachess or on the personal channels of various Nevada chess players (such as my personal channel www.twitch.tv/1more1time). More information about streaming will be posted later. If you would like to live stream one or more matches please contact Tom Brownscombe sometime in March.

The 2023 Nevada Chess membership meeting will be held at 6PM on Sunday, April 16th at

Bridgeopolis

4955 S. Durango Drive, Suite 220

Las Vegas, NV 89113

There will be an election of officers. Anyone who wishes to be nominated for the officers’ election prior to the meeting should contact Tom Brownscombe at tkbrownscombe@hotmail.com. Nominations may also be made at the meeting. The proposed meeting agenda is:

2023 Annual Nevada Chess Membership Meeting Agenda

Bridgeopolis

4955 S. Durango Drive, Suite 220

Las Vegas, NV 89113

1. Meeting will be called to order at approximately 6PM.
2. Election of officers.  The following have been nominated in advance (in alphabetical order): Tom Brownscombe, Tam Lester, Alan Losoff, Ryan Phillips, Marvin Raab, Gale Winds-Cunningham.  Additional nominations may be made at this time.
3. Discussion and planning for the 2023 Nevada State Chess Championship.
4. Discussion of the 2023 Nevada State Scholastic, Senior, and Girls state chess championships and initial planning for the 2024 Nevada State Scholastic, Senior, and Girls state chess championships.
5. Discussion of stipends for the 2023 Nevada representatives to the Denker, Barber, Rockefeller, Haring, and Irwin tournaments.
6. Discussion of 2023 Nevada delegates to the USCF (we have 2 this year) and the possibility of stipends for delegates.
7. Other topics of interest to the attendees.
8. Meeting adjourns.

An officers meeting may take place after the conclusion of the membership meeting.

If you wish to attend the meeting via Zoom, use the following link to register:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tdOmgrjosGNPoSKXCiZtCN7JXwiN-cp27

On Sunday, April 16, Nevada Chess will hold the Nevada State Girls’ Chess Championship and the Nevada State Senior Chess Championship at Bridgeopolis at 4955 S. Durango Drive.

Suite 220

Las Vegas, NV 89113

The winner of the Nevada State Girls Chess Championship will represent Nevada at the Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions July 29 – August 1 in Grand Rapids Michigan and may be nominated for other Girls’ invitational events.

The winner of the Nevada State Senior Chess Championship will represent Nevada at the 6th Annual John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions July 29 – August 1 in Grand Rapids Michigan.

Current US Chess members residing in Nevada are automatically members of Nevada Chess, the state affiliate for Nevada. All members age 18 and older are eligible to vote. Agenda items include election of officers and discussion of the 2023 Nevada State Championship. Email nominations for officers or other topics you would like added to the agenda to NevadaChess@gmail.com.

More information will be posted soon.

The 2023 Nevada State Scholastic Chess Championship will be held Saturday, March 4th at

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts

3100 E. Patrick Ln.

Las Vegas, NV 89120

More details will be posted here soon.

Register at King Registration

Season 3 of the online States Cup Chess League will begin in November. There are 2 divisions, an upper division for players rated 1800+ and a lower division for players rated 1400-2199. Upper division matches will be on Tuesdays at 7PM Pacific time, starting November 1st. Lower division matches will be on Wednesdays at 7PM Pacific time, starting November 2nd. The lineup will change every week, so players do not need to commit to playing all matches. Players rated 1800-2199 can potentially play in both divisions. Matches will be played online on chess.com. Matches will be live streamed on twitch.tv. If you are a Nevada chess player rated 1400 or higher and you would like to play in season 3 of the States Cup Chess League, please contact team Co-Captain Ryan Phillips at ​fantasybball702@gmail.com. We especially need players rated 2100+ to make our upper division team competitive with the teams from other states.