Chess in Idaho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chess in Idaho | |
|---|---|
| Top Player | Christofer Peterson (2243 USCF) |
| Champion | James Wei, Josh Price, & Cody Gorman |
| USCF Affiliate | Idaho Chess Association |
| Active Players | 258 |
Chess in Idaho refers to competitive chess played within the state of Idaho. As of August 2025, Idaho has 258 active players registered with the United States Chess Federation.[1] The current USCF Idaho state affiliate is the Idaho Chess Association.[2][3]
In 2009, at age 10, Luke Vellotti from Boise became the highest-rated chess player in Idaho.[4] By 2013, Vellotti became the top-ranked chess player under 15 in the United States.[5] He began attending the University of California, Los Angeles at age 14.
Around 2016, a teenage Nathan Barry designed a logo for the Idaho Chess Association.[6]
In May 2017, grandmaster Timur Gareyev travelled around Idaho to promote chess education.[7] The trip was sponsored by the Blaine County School District (BCSD) Chess Club. GM Timur began the trip by playing blindfold chess with 18 players at Memorial Park in Boise. The next day, GM Timur travelled to Silver Creek High School, where he participated in a Socratic discussion and attended a chess lesson taught in sign language. One week prior to his trip, he trained the BSCD Chess Club Middle School chess team at that year's Supernationals in Knoxville, TN.
Throughout 2021, David Rush sought to break a world record every week.[8] Rush ultimately broke 43 records, two being "Fastest time to arrange a chess set" and "Fastest time to arrange a chess set (team of two)".[8][9][10]
In May 2025, 13-year-old Griffin Baldwin from Eagle captured local attention when he defeated local news anchor Scott McLinden in a friendly match before heading off to the Chess SuperNationals in Orlando, Florida.[11]
Competitions
The Idaho Chess Association invites top players from the state's scholastic chess championship to the Idaho Tournament of Champions and to major national competitions.[12][13]