There was a beach party at the  Hyatt Regency Valencia this weekend and partygoers brought their own boards — chess boards that is.

About 570 young chess players from across the state gathered at the local hotel this weekend for the 2013 SuperStates Southern California Scholastic Chess Championships, many showed up sporting the recommended Hawaiian shirts.

“We decided to go with a beach party theme,” said tournament host Coach Jay Stallings, director of the California Youth Chess League, based in Valencia. “The beach theme just seems to make problems easier to deal with,” he said, standing by a wall of glittering gold-colored trophies.

“It’s hard to yell at a guy in a Hawaiian shirt.”

More than 80 local chess players joined the competition, Stallings said.

And, there were some stars of the chess world at the event as well.

“About half a dozen of kids here are on the U.S. Youth Chess Team, representing the United States in far away places such as South America and Turkey,” Stallings said.

James Vickers, of Bakersfield, made the journey through the Grapevine so that his two sons — Jordan, 7, and Ryan, 11 — could take part in the chess tournament.

“They’re both very good,” he said. “They can beat dad, so there you go.”

Competitors from kindergarten to 12th grade filled four ballrooms at the Hyatt both Saturday and Sunday.