Weekly Meetups

Summary

Casual play in a relaxed atmosphere.  Open to adult and teen players of all skill levels.  Younger players are welcome with supervision.

Where

Prescott Public Library – Main Floor – Elsea Room
215 E Goodwin St, Prescott, AZ 86303
(928) 777-1500

When

Every Saturday from 12:00 to 15:00 (3 pm)

Format

Variety is the spice of life, so we aim for something different every week, depending on how many people show up.  The first two hours are usually dedicated to some sort of match play and the last hour set aside for “something” different as shown in the lists below:

12:00 to 14:00: Match Play Events

• Open Challenge
• Mini-Event – Quick Ladder
• Round-O (modified Round Robin)
• Time Warp (clock play where stronger players have shorter time limits)

14:00 to 15:00: Something Different (changes each week)

• Bughouse – Four players on two boards; captured pieces are given to your teammate.
• Team Chess – Two teams, where players rotating making moves, based on what is on the board – no coaching allowed!
• Transcendental – Pieces on the back rank do NOT mirror each other.
• Improve your game – Members present and discuss ways to improve all aspects of your game.

Summary

Casual play in a casual bar style atmosphere.  Food and drinks available for purchase.

Where

Founding Fathers Collective
218 N Granite St, Prescott, AZ 86301
(928) 541-1556

When

Every Wednesday from 18:00 to 21:00 (6 – 9 pm)

The Granite Creek Chess Association is a former US Chess Federation affiliate which has broken ties with FIDE and boldly declares in defiance that FIDE is NOT the only body allowed to declare a World Chess Champion. . We hold tournaments most Wednesday nights at Founding Fathers along the Granite Creek in downtown Prescott. And the winner is declared the World Chess Champion. Current World Chess Champion, as of April 1 2026, is Duncan Rae.

Sometimes we just play casually, and there is plenty of didactic chess go along with the adversarial. Recently a woman who didn’t even knew how the pieces moved when she arrived learned piece movement, the basics of checkmate, and played her first game. She played the Sicilian! One time we had a eight year old playing an 80 year old with several experienced players providing analysis. Our regulars are all willing to help others learn and improve.

Our Wednesday night chess sessions coincide with Open Mic night and Cigar and Whiskey night over at Founding. There is a wonderful coffee shop, abundant tap wall, full bar, and cigar shop. Our chess rules are just let USCF chess rules except that you can touch the rook first when you are castling if you want to; heck, you can touch the King and the Rook at the same time if you like. And speaking of touch-move, the GCCA also encourages not to enforce it if it would like ruin a really good game or something. And tournament rules are like whatever we feel like doing that night for time control and recognition that you are in a wacky environment where some band is playing and people are drinking beer and eating pizza from the food truck outside. Witty banter, trash  talk, live in person commentary…all of these are highly encouraged but still like just one person to a board. Like know yelling out good moves to one guy. That would just be rude and we are a very polite chess club.

All are invited to the Granite Creek Chess Association chess nights and compete for the World Chess Championships. Hans can come be the World Chess Champion and do good on his pledge. Hikaru can come do it just for the views. Sergey Karjakin could win it despite other bans. Vincent Keimer does not seem to busy this year so he might as well. And Magnus has already broken with FIDE pretty much. All Grandmasters are invited.

And so is everyone else, from beginner to influencer. Everyone can come compete to be the next World Chess Champion!