Ben Caiello new SC State Champion

Forty-three players entered this year's five round championship event at the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbia October 14th-16th.

Congratulations to GM Elshan Moradiabadi and WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor on winning first and second place prizes in the Open Section! Both Grandmasters went undefeated throughout tournament play.

Congratulations to Benjamin Caiello our new SC State Champion for 2016! Ben, who was also our 2015 State Scholastic Champion and Denker representative, finished the tournament with 3/5 points. Ben and Elijah Neumann (also with 3/5 pts) tied for 1st place with Ben winning on tie-break. Congratulations again to both of these fine players!

Eli Moore won the Junior Championship section and increased his rating by 120 points! The South Carolina Chess Association would like to thank all players and spectators who helped make this year’s tournament a success! Special thanks to David Causey and Daniel Smith for organizing and directing this year's event. Thank you Jordan Anderson for your TD help on Saturday. Drew Plyler provided the live broadcast of board 1. David and Maureen Grimaud accompanied GM Elshan and WGM Sabina during their stay here in Columbia. This event was sponsored by Precision Tune Auto Care.

Congratulations to this year's winners...
OPEN SECTION: (1st) GM Elshan Moradiabadi (TX) 4.5 pts; (2nd) WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor (TX) 4.0 pts
U2200: (1st/SC State Champion) Benjamin Caiello (SC) 3.0 pts (Tie-break) (T)
U2000: (2nd/SC Runner Up) Elijah Neumann (SC) 3.0 pts (T)
Top Senior: Edsel Pena (SC) 2.5 pts (T), Keith Eubanks (SC) 2.5 pts, Gene Nix (SC) 2.5 pts, Donny Gray (FL) 2.5 pts

AMATEUR SECTION/U1800
U1800: (1st) Shaun McCoy (SC) 4.0 pts (T); Jayavel Kumaresan (GA) 4.0 pts  
U1600: (2nd) Gil Padilla Ortiz (SC) 3.5 pts (T)
Top Senior: Gil Padilla Ortiz (SC) 3.5 pts (T)
RESERVE SECTION/U1400
U1400: (1st) Venkata Guruvelli (SC) 4.5 pts (T); (2nd) Paul Pena (SC) 4.0 pts (T)
U1200: Richard Trela (SC) 2.0 pts
U1000: William Tabakian (SC) 1.0 pts
Top Senior: Gary Morrow (SC) 3.0 pts (T)
JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SECTION (under 19)
(1st) Eli Moore (SC) 3.0 pts (T), (2nd) Mohnish Behera (NC) 3.0 pts, (3rd) Alex Tabakian (SC) 2.5 pts

GM Ftacnik visits

He's been to Greenville and hes been to Charleston and tonight GM Lubomir Ftacnik will be giving a lecture and simultaneous exhibition tonight at the St Andrews Regional Library 2916 Broad River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210. Lecture will start promptly at 6:30pm.  $5 donations to SCChess will be accepted.
Come and learn and see if you can win a game vs a GM.

Rapid May 19th and Play opportunities

Charleston Chess Club starts their championship on Wednesday.  Register by 7 pm round starts at 7:30pm. Anyone from Columbia planning on going?

Thursday we will have a rapid tournament with 3 games of G15 +10inc.  Quads based on rating otherwise a small swiss section.  Hope to see you all there.

There's a Reverse Angle Tourney in Charlotte on Saturday.  http://www.charlottechesscenter.org/#!reverse-angle/c23f7

Plenty of opportunities to get out and play.

Here's a k and p endgame to chew on.
W to move.

Sam Copeland 2016 Champion, Eubanks Runner-up

Congratulations to all award winners in the Club Championship.

NM Sam Copeland 2016 Club Champion with 5 points, Keith Eubanks runner-up 4 points, U2000 Ian Bell with 3 points, U1600 Marty Anderson with 3 points, U1200 Charles Stevenson with 3 points!

 In Round 5, NM Sam Copeland finished with a perfect 5 points with a win against Ian Bell on Board 1. Keith Eubanks defeated Gil Holmes on board two to move to 4 points.

Marty Anderson outlasted Shaun McCoy to claim the U1600 prize in what was the longest and arguably hardest fought game of the night.

Charles Stevenson claimed the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating Daniel Smith to move to 3 points and claim the U1200 prize.

 Last years champion, Ben Caiello, defeated the ever improving Eli Moore on Board 5. Rade Musulin defeated tough competitor Birney Blind and Bob Halliday claimed the point against the steadfast Josh Goley.

Twenty-four players played in the 2016 version of the club champs and logged 43 games over the 5 weeks. The average rating was 1586.

The class breakdown included:
National Master 1
Expert 3
Class A (1800-1999) 5
Class B (1600-1799) 3
Class C (1400-1599) 4
Class D (1200-1399) 3
Class E (1000-1199) & below 5.

Interesting to note the average rating post event (which includes other posted tournaments between start date and end) is 1601. Charles Stevenson increased his rating 88 points. Keith Eubanks' rating increased 61 points and Eli Moore's rating increased a whopping 178 points between the April supplement and this tournament rating.

May 12th is casual night. If you have a game from tournament you would like to share let me know we will start the night with game demo before the blitz and bughouse craziness.

 

Round 4 Recap Copeland Leads with 4 points

Going into Round 5 Sam Copeland leads with 4 points.  Leo Rabulan, Keith Eubanks, and Ian Bell sit at 3 points each.
Full Crosstable
Board1 Game

Board2 Game

Leading contenders for the U2000 trophy
Ian Bell, Keith Eubanks 3 points
Adam Holmes and Steve Boshears 2 points each

Leading contenders for the U1600 trophy
Currently with 2.5 points Shaun McCoy
Marty Anderson and Daniel Smith with 2 points

Leading contenders for the U1200 trophy
Charles Stevenson with 2 points
Eli Moore and Ed Stewart with 1.5 points

Club Champs Update Post Round 3 Quick Results

Next week a showdown between Sam Copeland and Keith Eubanks looms, each with 3 points each.

Sam Copeland defeated Leo Rabulan and Keith Eubanks claimed the point against James MacDougall.

Adam Shaw, as white, defeated Gil Holmes.  According to my records is the seventh time this match up has occurred in recent history.

Ian Bell grabbed a pawn and hung on against Daniel Smith.

Steve Boshears claimed the point against Richard Watts.  Charles Stevenson was up early on but Marty Anderson came away with the point.

Shaun McCoy defeated Birney Blind and Mike Mayfield ground out the win vs Ed Stewart and Eli Moore claimed the point against Luke Copeland.

Most likely Club Champion and runner up is in the running for leaders Sam Copeland and Keith Eubanks.  Leo Rabulan and 4 others sit at 2 points each.

Leading contenders for the U2000 trophy
Currently with 2 points
Ian Bell
Adam Holmes
Steve Boshears

Leading contenders for the U1600 trophy
Currently with 2 points
Marty Anderson
Shaun McCoy with 1.5 points

Leading contenders for the U1200 trophy
Charles Stevenson
Birney Blind
Eli Moore
Ed Stewart

Club Championship starts tonight

The Columbia Chess Club Championship starts tonight and will run for 5 weeks through May 5th.  $10 entry for the tournament for club members.  Can register on site.  Can't commit to all rounds,  $3 per round.  One open section with first round accelerated.  1 half point bye can be requested.  No 5th rd byes.

Can Ben Caiello defend the title he won with an impressive 4.5 points or will you claim the title?

On April 9th, in coordination with Strategerycg.com, the Midlands Scholastic Chess League will host MSCL IV with an adult section.  To preregister or for more info check here.

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Ashland Quick LII

Ten players battled over the boards during Ashland Quick LII.

Gilbert Holmes played solid and exciting chess scoring 3 victories in the top swiss section.  Ian Bell and Rade Musulin claimed second with 2 points

In the next section, Mike Mayfield was the leader with 2.5 points and Richard Watts, claimed second with two points, only succumbing to Mayfield in an interesting King and Pawn endgame.

In the last round, Gil was matched with co-leader Ian Bell.  The game was an English Attack vs Bell's Najdorf Sicilian defense.  Bell's king had marched to the center of the board and at first glance it looks as if all is lost for the black pieces.  Inexplicably, Bell forgot to press his clock after his 28.  ..Ke5 move in a even or slightly better position(according to the Silicon Master Fritz).  Six minutes clicked off in this critical position giving Holmes the win.

Round 3 Holmes vs Bell.

In round 2, another interesting game involving Bell, included a gutsy attack leading to what seemed to be a forced mate around move 23.  Fritz saves the position, but definitely an interesting game.

Round 2 Bell vs Musulin

Full Results here.


Upcoming Events of Note
Governor's School tournament in Hartsville, SC on February 20th
Casual and Blitz Mahem on February 25th
SCCA State Scholastics Tourney Mt. Pleasant, SC on February 27th
March 3rd starts Ashland XLVII and runs for 4 weeks through March 31st
No Meeting March 24th due to planned church activities.  Happy Easter March 27th
Club Championship starts April 7th  runs for 5 weeks through May 5th.

Ashland XLII Round 3 is Jan 28th

Round 3 continues the tournament on January 28th.

Gil Holmes leads the Open section with 2 pts.

Birney Blind leads the U1505 with 2 pts.

Check full standings here.

Ashland XLII Rd 2 Jan 21st

Round 2 continues the first regular tourney of the year on January 21st. 

Call or text your entries by 7:15 PM to be included.

This tourney will run through February 11th.

Quick Tournament Jan 7th

Come start the new year off with a 2 round quick tournament on January 7th.

Call or text your entries by 7:15 PM to be counted.