Before California split into two chess "states" in 1977, the traditional state championship was scheduled every Labor Day weekend. The failure of the state-wide organization to conduct championships for several years in the mid-1970s provided one of the reasons for the formation of the SCCF.

At an early SCCF meeting, the officers voted to award the first SCCF state championship title to the winner of a futurity at The Chess Set, Lina Grumette's legendary Hollywood club. Two years later, another Chess Set futurity awarded the second title.

The SCCF began organizing its own Labor Day tournament in 1979. The first event was small and not billed as a state championship. However, the SCCF gained exclusive use of the Labor Day weekend in succeeding years. The highest-scoring Southern California resident in the Open section earns the title of Southern California Open champion.

Since 1989, the SCCF has conducted an invitational championship, the Southern California Championship, every July. The SCCF invites eight of the best local players, choosing the previous year's champions, qualifiers from the SCCF Candidates tournament, and sometimes others by rating. The prize fund comes from donations and the SCCF treasury.

In 2003, the SCCF expanded the tournament to 10 players in the hope of making it an international title tournament, eligible to award IM norms. The tournament reverted to eight players the next year.