Pictured here is former ICA President, Jeff Roland, in March, 1980 at the age of 17 when he discovered the Boise Chess Club, the Idaho Chess Association, and began playing chess in officially rated tournaments.

My Chess History, Part 1 by Jeff Roland (written in 1997)

The following Jeff Roland's chess games from the first ever Idaho Scholastic Championship tournament in 1980. At the time, it was called the "Idaho High School Championship" and the following year the name of the subsequent tournaments was changed to "Idaho Scholastic Championship". The final game is a unique oddity. After the tournament, Dick Vandenburg and Larry Parsons played an 8-board Simultaneous Exhibition, but it was not your typical Simul. Parsons played odd numbered moves, and Vandenburg played even numbered moves. They played 7 of the contestants in the tournament, plus Paul Johnson, who had come to watch his friend (Jeff Roland) play. Parsons and Vandenburg won every game.

Click Here to view Jeff Roland's Chess Games in our game viewer.

Idaho Chess History is an ongoing project to preserve the history of chess in the state of Idaho. We will be making available more personal histories and other historical content as it becomes available.