I am currently the only TD in Alaska. I am starting slow and trying to build up chess tournaments here in the state with small tournaments planned for each month.
The entire state only has about 100 USCF members.
I know in the past, Alaska used to have state championships, and I was wondering how I look them up. I thought if I could find some of those previous players, and invite them to some of these small tournaments, perhaps that would bolster some more interest.
Is there a list somewhere that I can look over the current champions and previous ones?
I am hoping to find seniors, scholastic, and regular champions.
I know your state affiliate has changed over the years but if you know the affiliate name, you should be able to search in MSA for the affiliate and find past crosstables if they were US Chess rated events. MSA goes back to late 1991. You should also look at the April Chess Lifes as they list the overall state champion (if submitted) for the past year in the annual yearbook issue of the magazine. Due to space, they don’t list any other state champions. You may also look at the US Open invitational webpages as they list the state the player represented so you could find senior and youth reps that were designated as state champions.
I recall from many years ago that Peter S. Cleghorn was Alaskan state champion. Both the US Chess MSA and the FIDE Profile have entries for him. Links are
Unfortunately, Mr. Cleghorn, per the records, no longer lives in Alaska and is 90 years old, if still living. I don’t suppose he would want to fly to Alaska at that age to participate or be part of such a small tournament, but it was a good lead and a good read about some of his games, so thanks for the suggestion.
The winner was from Utah. So can a state champion be from another state? I didn’t understand that. Also, many who were state champions now live somewhere else. Notable example being our one and only GM, Bryan Smith, who lives in Pennsylvania now, though he was the state champion about 25 years ago.
Though it is possible, I feel it is unlikely for a person to pay the very expensive air fare to travel to Alaska for a chess tournament.
I found his chess.com profile, but he does not accept challenges, nor messages from non-friends. I put in a friend request, perhaps he will answer that. Contacting him before our April 27th Blitz tournament would be really great, if I can figure out a way to reach him. Having the last recorded state Blitz champion at our little tournament would be pretty awesome!
Depends on how the event was announced, but I think it’s much more common to say something like “the highest placed Alaska player will win the title of Alaska state champion”, in which case Richard Clendaniel would be the one you’d want to track down.
A paper crosstable from that time would show the home state at that time, but MSA shows only a player’s current state for everything. In 1994 the winner was in CA. The next OTB event was 2013 in AK. Then next OTB event was 2022 in AZ followed by three OTB events in UT. He may have been on a vacation in AK that happened to coincide with the tournament. He may have been living in AK in 2013.
Well, here is my list of players I’d like to try to contact, if possible:
12666317: BENJAMIN EMMANUEL HOBACK
12654549: RICHARD FRANK CLENDANIEL
12701656: THOMAS BLAINE WEBB
16423236: JAYSON HUNTER
30265574: KATHERINE WEDDLETON
16624880: ALEX MICHAEL ZMIJEWSKI
12637496: ARTEM E RUPPERT
If anyone has any leads, that’s great, if not, I’m searching through social media and the like.
I also sent out an email blast for all Alaskan’s in the databases with emails. It went to 54 Alaskans, and 46% of them opened the email, per the blast info.
Due to privacy issues, the national office cannot give you a mailing address for a member if that member has requested confidentiality. (Email address are never given out, and a member who opts out of email blasts will not be included in any blasts.)
As noted upthread, the data on MSA shows CURRENT membership information from our records, including state, not what it was at the time the event was held. Someone could be visiting the state, or a player could be using a home address while living or attending school in another state, etc. (For several years a former Nebraska champion was still showing up as living in Nebraska, though he was attending college in Texas. Even after he graduated and moved to another state, I think it was a while before he got around to changing what address we had on file.)
In the days before Google (yes, I’m THAT old!), my wife was the correspondence secretary for her sorority chapter (there is no longer an active chapter at that school, the chapter closed in the 70’s.) She tried all kind of ways to track down missing alumni, including some that OUGHT to be easy to find, such as the first wife of a very well know movie star. I’m not convinced Google and other Internet tools have made it easier to find people.
This Forum is a good place to start with a question like yours.
I am the 1970 Central Junior High School Chess Champion in Anchorage. Back then I knew nothng about US Chess and rated chess. We were stationed at Elmendorf AFB and I checked out and read every chess book in the library.
I remember reading in the newspaper about things happening during Fur Rondezvous Weekend (AKA Rondy). The sled dog race, the carnival, and a chess tournament were the things catching my eye. I didn’t see any other details about the chess tournament. I’m guessing that because of the big weekend it was probably the state championship.
I suggest organizing the state championship for Fur Rondezvous Weekend in Anchorage. Since Rondy has been in existince since 1935, its organizers may have knowledge of past chess championships. You should call them at (907) 274-1177).
Alaska had one representative at the 2021 US Armed Forces Open Chess Championship in Graprevine, TX. He was active duty Coast Guard. I sent him an email letting him know about you.