Chess in Colorado refers to competitive chess played within the state of Colorado. As of August 2025, Colorado has 868 active players registered with the United States Chess Federation. The current USCF Colorado state affiliate is the Colorado State Chess Association.
History In 1968, the 69th annual U.S. Open Chess Championship was held in Aspen.
At the 1995 Colorado Open, David Lucky and Todd Bardwick played the longest continuous chess game between masters in U.S. history. In total, the game lasted for 12 hours with 143 moves.
In 2023, Kevin McConnell and his family took over PALs Chess Academy, one of Colorado’s largest chess enrichment programs. To encourage greater chess participation among girls, PALs hosted the Rocky Mountain All-Girls Chess Camp in July 2025. Helping teach the camp were WFM Mairebis Castillo and WGM Sabina Foisor.
On October 8, 2024, Garry Kasparov spoke at the University of Colorado Boulder. The event took place inside of the Macky Auditorium.
The coronavirus lockdowns led to increased interest to chess across the state, especially among youth. An October 2023 article in The Gazette noted strong turnout at a tournament that took place at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Colorado Springs.
The Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs hosts free chess tournaments for participants of all ages at its library.
Competitors As of August 2025, the following people are the top rated active USCF players from Colorado: PositionNameUSCF RatingUSCF Titles1Michael A Mulyar2464Original Life Master, National Master, Life Senior Master (norms-based)2Isaak Parpiev2439National Master3Gunnar Andersen2381Original Life Master, National Master, Life Master (norms-based)4Sullivan Mac McConnell2355Original Life Master, National Master, Life Master (norms-based)5Philipp Ponomarev2328National Master, Life Master (norms-based)6Paul Richter2324National Master, Life Master (norms-based)7Noel Hernandez Marques22688Jesse Cohen2228National Master, Candidate Master (norms-based)9Richard Shtivelband2218Original Life Master, National Master, Life Master (norms-based),10Brian D Wall2200Original Life Master, National Master, Life Master (norms-based) Other top Colorado chess players who aren't currently active USCF members include IM Steven M Odendahl (2507 Rating), GM Dashzegve Sharavdorj (2502 Rating), and Alexei Novikov (2459 Rating).
State championship The 2025 state champion is Griffin Thomas McConnell. In 2024, the state champion was Eamon Curchin Montgomery.
External links Colorado State Chess Association
References