The Texas Chess Association has served Texas chess players for over 80 years with tournaments, publications, chess club development, and as the designated Texas affiliate of the United States Chess Federation. Major Texas tournaments (State Championship, Scholastic Championship, Southwest Open, Texas Open, etc) are TCA sanctioned events. TCA members receive Texas Knights, widely considered one of the best chess magazines in the nation. The Texas Chess Association is a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organization.

History

The TCA was founded in 1935 by John Charles Thompson of Dallas. That was also the year of the first annual Southwest Open. “J.C.” went on to win first place seven times, and second place another seven before his work took him abroad in 1952. The Texas State Championship series began after World War II, and Thompson won three consecutive titles in 1947-49. Master Emeritus and TCA founder John Charles Thompson died July 5, 1999. (Obituary)

Two other players would have a similar hegemony over Texas title events: Thompson’s star pupil Ken Smith (11 Southwest Opens, 10 Texas Championships), and Joe Bradford (11 Southwest Opens, 12 Texas Championships).

Regions

REGION I (Panhandle):
Armstrong, Bailey, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Collingsworth, Cottle, Crosby, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Dickens, Donley, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Garza, Gray, Hale, Hall, Hansford, Hardeman, Hartley, Haskell, Hemphill, Hockley, Hutchinson, Kent, King, Knox, Lamb, Lipscomb, Lubbock, Lynn, Moore, Motley, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Reagan, Roberts, Sherman, Stonewall, Swisher, Terry, Wheeler, Yoakum.

REGION II (North Central):
Baylor, Bosque, Clay, Comanche, Cooke, Coryell, Denton, Erath, Falls, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Lampasas, McLennan, Mills, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Shackelford, Somervell, Tarrant, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger, Wise, Young.

REGION III (Northeast):
Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Collin, Dallas, Delta, Ellis, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Grayson, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Limestone, Marion, Morris, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Red River, Rockwall, Rusk, Sabome, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, Wood.

REGION IV (West):
Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Loving, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell, Val Verde, Ward, Winkler.

REGION V (Southeast):
Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton, Orange, Polk, Robertson, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Wharton.

REGION VI (South Central):
Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Colorado, Comal, De Witt, Edwards, Fayette, Frio, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kinney, Lavaca, Lee, Llano, Medina, Milam, Real, Travis, Uvalde, Washington, Williamson, Wilson.

REGION VII (Gulf/Valley):
Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Dimmit, Duval, Goliad, Jackson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Kennedy, Kleberg, La Salle, Live Oak, Maverick, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Webb, Zapata, Zavala.

REGION VIII (Lower Valley):
Cameron, Willacy

REGION IX (West Central):
Andrews, Archer, Borden, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Concho, Crane, Crockett, Dawson, Eastland, Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Howard, Irion, Jones, Kimble, Martin, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Midland, Mitchell, Nolan, Runnels, San Saba, Schleicher, Scurry, Stephens, Sterling, Sutton, Taylor, Tom Green, Upton.

REGION X (Upper Valley):
Starr, Hidalgo