Eubanks takes the 2011 Club Championship!!!!

Thirty four players battled for the 2011 Club Championship with Keith Eubanks (2027) defending Board 1 in the final round defeating Erik Murrah (1701) to finish with the first perfect score in the Club Championship and claim his second Title in dominating fashion!

2010 Champ Philipp Lamby (2188) defeated Paul Farb (1900) to take clear second with 4 points. Edsel Pena (1986) took the point from Dave Vetterlein (1800) as George Morton (1728) won over Ralph Buske (1489).

Birney Blind (1194) outlasted a determined Mark Woodman (1177) to take the final round point and secure the Top U1600 Trophy with 3 points. Russell Thurmond (1600) finished on a positive note with a win over Shiva Balasubramanian (1302) as Jason Arthur (1404) claimed the point from Alex Humphreys (830).

Paul Lowry (1108) secured the draw against David Boyd (1317) and it was enough to allow Paul to win the U1200 Trophy with 2.5 points. Richard Watts (1130) defeated Mike Meekins (954) to finish with a win.

Max Witherell (1204) defeated fellow Jr Player Christian Dunlap (916) to win the Top Jr. Player Trophy with 2 points. Amazingly, all five trophies were won outright! Each trophy winner also receives a one year club membership.

Thanks to everyone for making this the largest, strongest and most competitive Club Championship to date! Congratulations to the Trophy Winners!

Next week is Ashland Quick XXIV.

Be sure to check the Club Message board for the poll on trying the 30s increment instead our usual 5s delay in Ashland XX. Please give feedback on the message board or at the club Thursday evening.

Game of the Month #1 and Border Battle 2011

The voting has ended and our first Game of the Month for 2011 is the round 5 game from the Ashland Team Tournament, Ashland XIX between James MacDougall and Paul Farb. This game features a classical Main Line Sicilian Najdorf (ECO B99) between two of our clubs top players. Enjoy this fierce Battle.

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

Both players will receive a free entry to a regular club tournament.

Game of the month #2 voting will begin soon so submit your games to the club database.


The Annual Border Battle took place this past weekend in Lake Norman, NC.
The featured match was between our Phillipp Lamby and NC Champion and full time chess coach Craig Jones. The champions battled to a even 2-2 but SC fought valiantly but succumbed to the on-slought of the NC players.

Live Games were broadcast and full recaps can be found at schess.org and ncchess.org.

This Saturday, March 26th there is a Reverse Angle in Charlotte, NC. If you have never been to a Reverse Angle its a great 1 day tournament with plenty of good competition to hone your game.

Thursday March 24th is the final round of the Club Championship. Awards will be given that night. Come out and have some fun.

Border Battle 2011 Underway

Today the annual Border Battle begins.

Tune in for Live Games

http://columbiachess.com/DGT/BorderBattle/tfd.htm

Lamby and Kenzie Moore have black for round 1.

Eubanks still perfect going into the Final Round!!

Twenty four players compete in Round 4 of the 2011 Club Championship.

Keith Eubanks (2022) defeated co leader Paul Farb (1908) and now stands alone at the top a full point clear of the field, ready to reclaim the title he won in 2008. Four players are tied at 3 points for the Runner Up spot led by Philipp Lamby (2190) who bounced back to win over Adam Shaw (1699). Also on 3 points are David Vetterlein (1800), who found the win over Steve Boshears (1626) in a tough Knight ending and Erik Murrah (1691), who had a solid upset win over Paul King (1924). Edsel Pena (1986) returned to pick up the point from Russell Thurmond (1600) .

Ralph Buske (1452) secured the draw with Gil Holmes (1805) as Birney Blind (1233) won over Mike Meekins (982) and both trail U1605 Trophy leader Mike Mayfield by .5 point.

Mark Woodman (1045) took the point from Christian Dunlap (851) to pull even for the U1205 Trophy with Paul Lowry (1060), who settled peacefully with Jason Arthur (1404).

Richard Watts (1129) split the point with Alex Humphreys (830) and Max Witherell (1110) defeated Mark Acklie (952).

The Final Round of the 2011 Club Championship will be Thursday, March 24. Trophies will be awarded that night.

The Border Battle is being contested this weekend in Cornelius, NC. Check the SCCA Website for updates over the weekend.

Here are the Team Rosters (Cola Chess members are in bold):

SC Champ: Philipp Lamby; NC Champ: Craig Jones

SC HS Champ: Kenzie Moore; NC HS Champ: Samuel Xin

Team South Carolina:

Expert--Keith Eubanks and Stephen Welt
Class A--Bill Taylor and John Vonderlieth
Class B--Joerg Lohse and Karl Bossmeier (Day 1) - Ron Gaskins (Day 2)
Class C--James Brown and Daniel Smith
Class D--Shiva Balasubramanian and Michael Boone
Class E--Torri Whatley and Gordon Miller

Team North Carolina:

Expert---John Timmel and Peter Giannatos
Class A---David High and Bill LeFew
Class B---Mike Eberhardinger and Mark Biernacki
Class C---Shawn Spencer and Anthony Cato
Class D---Ray Hight and Rudy Abate
Class E---Walter High and Ethan Yen

Eubanks & Farb lead after Three Rounds!!

Twenty eight players battled in Round 3 of the Club Championship and two are left with perfect scores heading into the penultimate round.

Keith Eubanks (2022) upset defending champ Philipp Lamby (2190) and Paul Farb (1908) upset James MacDougall (1993) moving both to 3-0 and setting them up on Board 1 next week.

Paul King (1924) survived against Cody Kyzer (1252) and David Vetterlein (1800) won over Shiva Balasubramanan. Adam Shaw (1699) took the point from Birney Blind (1233), Erik Murrah (1691) scored the win over Jaime Sanyer (1185) and Steve Boshears (1626) defeated Mark Woodman (1045).

David Boyd (1330) settled peacefully with Mike Mayfield (1275) and both lead for the U1605 Trophy with 2 points. Gil Holmes (1805) survived to claim the point from Daniel Smith (1313) while George Morton (1728) took the point from Christian Dunlap (851). Russell Thurmond (1600) won over Richard Watts (1129), Paul Lowry (1060) picked up the point from Alex Humphreys (830) and Jason Arthur (1404) returned and scored the win over Mark Acklie (952). Mike Meekins (982) broke into the win column with a victory over Max Witherell (1110).

Two rounds to go and all six the trophies are still up for grabs! Trophies will be awarded to First, Second, Top U1605, Top U1205 and the Top Jr. Player. Who will claim the hardware??!!

Round 4 will be Thurs, March 17.

The Border Battle between SC & NC will be March 19 & 20 in Charlotte. The Columbia Club is represented by State Champ Philipp Lamby, Expert Keith Eubanks, Class C Daniel Smith & Class D Shiva Balasubramanian. Good Luck Team SC!!

Club Championship - Round 2

Twenty eight players compete in Round 2 of the Club Championship with around another ten playing casually and watching the battles rage.

Philipp Lamby (2190) outlasted Edsel Pena (1986) on Board 1 to move to 2-0. Keith Eubanks (2022) defeated Paul King (1924) as Paul Farb (1908) won over George Morton (1728) creating a three way tie at the top. Ben Caiello (1509) scored an upset win over Russell Thurmond (1600), David Boyd (1330) defeated Richard Watts (1129) and Mike Mayfield (1275) escaped with the point from Daniel Smith (1313).

David Vetterlein (1800) broke into the win column with a victory over Dan Caiello (1420) as Adam Shaw (1699) outlasted Cody Kyzer (1252) and Erik Murrah (1691) defeated Shiva Balasubramanian (1236). Steve Boshears (1626) took the point from Birney Blind (1233), Ralph Buske (1452) won over Alex Humphreys (830), Jaime Sanyer (1185) picked up the point over Mark Acklie (952), Mark Woodman (1045) won over Mike Meekins (982) and Christian Dunlap (851) scored the win over visiting G.M. Boykin (1111).

Round 3 with normal pairings is Thursday, March 10.

***Breaking News*** Dan Caiello ties for the SC Scholastic Championship and wins the Denker Trip!!!