Saturday, May 28, 2011

Lamby wins Ashland Quick XXV!!

Twelve players competed in Ashland Quick XXV with Philipp Lamby (2112) taking clear first in the Top Quad posting a perfect 3-0. Adam Shaw (1536) claimed second place scoring two upsets to finish 2-1.

Cody Kyzer (1106) scored three upsets to go 3-0 to win the Middle Quad ahead of Max Witherell (1107) who took clear second at 2 points with two upsets of his own.

Keeping with the theme of the evening, Daniel Smith (1055) went a perfect 3-0 with one upset to take clear first ahead of Christian Dunlap (798) who took second with 2 points scoring an upset of his own.

In a strange evening, all quads finished 3-2-1-0 with a total of 10 upsets!

Next week is Round 1 of Ashland XXI. Registration ends at 7:15. Email, text or call before 7:15. Round starts 7:30.

Two weekend tournaments nearby this month:

Statesville Open June 17-19 - Statesville, NC
SC Open June 24-26 - Greenville, NC

Mark your calendar for the Columbia Open Aug 19-21. $5000 prize fund guaranteed! 40 Grand Prix Points! See tournament page or TLA for full details.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Mabe wins the 4th Annual Lee Hyder Memorial!!

Lee Hyder Memorial IV
by Bill Taylor

May 20-22, 2011

The fourth annual Lee Hyder Memorial was held May 20th thru 22nd 2011 in it’s new location of Columbia, South Carolina at the Hilton Garden Inn, Harbison. This hotel is becoming a favorite for Columbia tournaments with a convenient location for traveling players and excellent accommodations.

The tournament had a good turn-out with 31 players competing in three sections.

The Open Section had a strong field of 13 players including the current SC state champion Dr. Phillip Lamby and current NC state co-champion NM Chris Mabe. Other notable players were current SC senior state co-champs Klaus Pohl and Wayne Christensen, Donny Gray of Georgia and area newcomer Ananth Pappu.

The top prize was claimed by Chris Mabe with 4.0 points followed closely by Ananth Pappu and Dr. Phillip Lamby with 3.5 points each.

The U1800 Section was well represented with 10 players. Christian Ruel of Aiken took first place in the section, second place for the section was shared by Bobby Halliday and Mike Eberhardinger.

The tournament was rounded out by 8 players in the U1400 section with top prize going to Greg Blythe.

There were several upcoming tournament announcements made. These included the SC Class Championship in July, the Columbia Open in August and the NC Open in September. Check the SC and NC state websites for details on these and other upcoming events.

Thanks to everyone that attended and helped with LHM IV, the full results are shown below.

FINAL RESULTS


Friday, May 20, 2011

Casual Night - Lee Hyder THIS weekend!

Around a dozen players came out for some "Stress Free" chess and some last minute preparation for the Lee Hyder Memorial this weekend here in Columbia.

Over a dozen Cola Club members are entered in this weekend's event. If you can't play, drop by and check out the action. Casual chess will be played in the lobby and I'm sure a few players will drop by the Bulldog in between rounds. This should be the largest LHM to date and is the first tournament in the Columbia Grand Slam series. There will be Twitter updates throughout the weekend. Registration is Friday from 5:00-6:45 and Sat from 8:30-9:15.

Here are the other three local weekend tournaments:

South Carolina Class & Blitz Championships July 9-10
The Columbia Open Aug 19-21
72nd South Carolina Championships Oct 14-16

Check the USCF TLA section for full tournament listings.

Next week, Thurs May 26, is Ashland Quick XXV. Come out and fill your need for speed! These games only affect your Quick Rating.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Lee Hyder Memorial - This Weekend!!

Here is the early entry list for the Lee Hyder:

Open
Chris Mabe
Donny Gray
Keith Eubanks
Gary Newsom
Paul Farb
Adam Shaw

U1800
Russell Thurmond
John Roberts
George Morton
Robert Mahan
Bob Halliday

U1400
Richard Watts
Tim Staley
Daniel Smith
James Price
Mike Meekins
Emilio Garrido
David Boyd
Birney Blind

If you have not entered you can still register at the club this Thursday during Casual Night.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Eubanks wins Ashland XX!!

Twenty nine players competed in Ashland XX as Keith Eubanks (2076) defeated David Vetterlein (1800) in the final round to take clear first. Adam Shaw (1780) took the point from Paul Farb (1901) to finish in clear second with 3.5 points. Ben Caiello (1615) scored the win over Russell Thurmond (1600) as Dan Caiello (1515) outlasted Steve Boshears (1614).

Craig Patton (1298) defeated Mark Woodman (1152) to secure clear first in the Amateur Section. Mike Mayfield (1308) won over Mike Meekins (914) to take clear second. Richard Watts (1141) defeated Christian Dunlap (924) to score his third straight win. Pani Wickramasinghe (1383) won over Mark Acklie (879) as Birney Blind (1237) defeated Jonathan Bundy (105). Daniel Smith (1343) took the point from James Price (1098) and Max Witherell (1181) defeated Jason LeFebvre (UNR).

The rated tournament is HERE.

Next week, Thursday, May 19 is Casual Night. Come out for some "Stress Free Chess" before the Lee Hyder Memorial next weekend. Around a dozen Cola Chess members are entered at this time. You can register on site either Friday evening 5:00-6:45 or Sat morning 8:30-9:15.

The Award Standings have been updated.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Eubanks takes the lead!

Twenty players do battle in the Penultimate Round of Ashland XX. Keith Eubanks (2036) grabbed the lead by .5 point with a win over former leader Paul Farb (1900). Adam Shaw (1810) took the point from Ben Caiello (1608) as David Vetterlein (1800) outlasted Steve Boshears (1638). Russell Thurmond (1600) found the win over Dan Caiello (1420) and George Morton (1728) settled peacefully with David Boyd (1317).

Craig Patton (1283) marched to the top of the Amateur Section with a victory over Mike Mayfield (1275). Mark Woodman (1177) posted his second straight win defeating Christian Dunlap (916) and moving into joint second. Mike Meekins (954) has regained his form with his second straight win, this time defeating Birney Blind (1194). Richard Watts (1151) also made it two straight with a win over James Price (1098). In a battle of Rookies, Megh Testerman (UNR) took the point from Jason LeFebvre (UNR) scoring her first tournament win.

The final round of Ashland XX will be Thursday, May 12.

If you're looking for a game on Saturdays head over to Augusta. The Chess Players of Augusta meet at Arsenal Games & Hobbies starting at 10:00 am. Around a dozen players made it out this past Saturday and fun time was had by all!

Be sure to take advantage of the early entry discount for the Lee Hyder Memorial May 20-22 here in Columbia. Entry fee is $65 until May 12 and $80 after. This week is your last chance to early enter at the club on Thurs night.

**Be sure to check out the Candidates Matches on your favorite site. US Champ Gata Kamsky holds a 2-1 lead over Veselin Topalov with the fourth game taking place Sunday at 7:00am.