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South Carolina Chess Association

Lee Hyder Memorial Tournament: Results

The Aiken County Chess Club hosted the first Lee Hyder Memorial Tournament in Aiken, April 26-27, 2008. Twelve-time state champion Klaus Pohl won the event with a perfect score. Erik Walker won the U2000 section, while Gerald Battaglia took first U1600. The field included two other master level players, as well as several experts and Class A players. Crosstables.

Dr. M. Lee Hyder earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California (Berkley) in 1962. He then took a position at the Atomic Energy Commission's Savannah River Laboratories near Aiken, South Carolina, where he worked as a research chemist until retirement. He was a pillar of South Carolina's chess community. He won the state championship six times: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1974, and 1978. Dr. Hyder edited the SCCA's newsletter from 1968-1975, 1981-1983, and 1990-1995. He organized many tournaments and was instrumental in bringing the quarter-final match for the World Championship between Korchnoi and Mecking to Augusta in 1974. He became the first and (so far) only South Carolina resident to be elected to the USCF Policy Board, as national secretary. He also served as a trustee of the US Chess Trust for over a decade. He passed away on November 3, 2003. The picture to the right shows him at the 1999 SC Championships.

2008 National High School Championship

FOUR SOUTH CAROLINA CHESS PLAYERS placed at the National K-12 High School Championship this past weekend, April 17 - 20, in Atlanta, Georgia in the seven round, three day tournament. In the "Under 1600" Section, Daniel Dodds scored 6.0 to tie for 3rd - 8th, and Zach Templeton scored 5.5 to tie for 9th - 19th. In the "Under 800" Section, Daniel Lee scored 6.0 to tie for 3rd - 5th, and Morgan Wang scored 5.5 to tie for 9th - 12th.

South Carolina sent a total of 26 players to the tournament, not counting coaches, parents, and supporters. The results were promising as most South Carolina contestants scored well. The three contestants in the Championship "Open" Section all scored 4.0 or better. Michael Lauria and Rade Muslin scored 4.5 each, with Lintu Ramachandran scoring 4.0 and beating an expert, Andy May, in the first round. Andy, the 2007 Washington State High School Champion, had already placed second in the Blitz tournament on Thursday and managed to rebound and pull a total of 5.0 points to place 37th overall.

Team results - the DW Daniel High School Team consisting of Kenzie Moore, Zachary Templeton, Arjun Grover, and Jonathan Sarasua tied for 10th but placed 13th on tiebreakers in the U1600 division. The RC Edwards Middle School Team consisting of Daniel Lee, Morgan Wang, Paul Dutkiewicz, and Sam Cooper won 4th place in the U800 division.

Also of note for our state is the 8.5 points scored by Rade Musulin in the Blitz Tournament. Maureen Grimaud was the sole S.C. participant in the Parents & Friends Tournament.

Buncombe County Scholastic: Results

On April 12 the following players from local schools participated in the 2008 Buncombe County Scholastic Chess Tournament in Arden, North Carolina: Michael Lauria and Kenzie Moore from D.W. Daniel High School; Zachary Templeton, Daniel Lee, and Morgan Wang from R.C. Edwards Middle School; and Torin Moore from Clemson Elementary School. All the players enjoyed some success. Torin Moore tied for third in the K-5 section by winning 3 out of 4 of his games (but he did not place due to tie breakers). Morgan Wang tied for third but placed 5th on tie breakers by winning 3 out of his games in the K-8 section. Kenzie Moore tied for second but placed third on tie breakers by winning 3 out of 4 of his games (loosing only to the first place winner) in the K-12 section. Zachary Templeton placed second by winning 3 out of 4 of his games (loosing only to the first place winner) in the K-12 section, and reigning state high school champion Michael Lauria placed first by winning all of his games in the K-12 section. The players represented their schools and the upstate well. Congratulate them when you see them.

Border Battle 2008: Aliyev Wins Match!!

South Carolina Champion Timur Aliyev won the four game match against Chris Mabe, North Carolina's reigning chess champion. The first two games of the match were played in Charlotte April 5-6, with each player winning a game. The final two games were played in Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina, April 12-13. Game three was drawn. Aliyev won the fourth game and the match 2.5/1.5.

Click here to replay all four games.

Scholastic Championships: Results

The 2008 Scholastic Championships were held on March 8 at the Samuel A. Heyward Career & Technology Center in Columbia, South Carolina. One hundred eight students participated.

2008 SC High School Chess Champion Michael Lauria

Crosstables

Games from Board 1

The surprise of the tournament was Daniel Dodds' third round upset win over last year's High School co-champion and Denker representative, Lintu Ramachandran. However, Dodds could not get by Michael Lauria (another co-champ from 2007), allowing Lauria to take home the High School title with a perfect 5.0 score. Daniel Dodds, Rade Muslin (another co-champ form 2007), Lintu Ramachandran, and newcomer Joseph Austin tied for second place in the High School section with 4.0 points each.

The Middle School section was won by Arjun Grover with 5.0 points, followed by John Custer, 4.5 points. Kevis Tsao placed first in the Elementary School section with 5.0 points, followed by a three way tie for second at 4.0 points: Eric Cheng, Mowei Tang, and Paul Heebner.

The top female player was Hannah Whately of the Middle School Section with 3.0 points. Also the winner of the Sixth Grade trophy, she will represent the state at the Polgar National Invitational for Girls. Michael Lauria will represent the state at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions.

All the first place teams were from the upstate. D.W. Daniels High School (Klaus Pohl, coach) unseated the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics to win the High School section. R.C. Edwards Middle School (Wayne Christensen, coach) won first in the Middle School section. Clemson Elementary won the Elementary School section.

NAME	TROPHY	COMMENTS

D. W. Daniels High School	First Place Team - High School
Michael Lauria	First Place - High School
Daniel Dodds	Second Place - High School	awarded by tie-break (4-way tie)
Rade Musulin	Third Place - High School	awarded by tie-break (4-way tie)
Lintu Ramachandran	First 12th Grade
Joe Austin	First 11th Grade
Daneil McEachern	First 10th Grade
Emmett Harcum	First 9th Grade

R. C. Edwards Middle School	First Place Team - Middle School
Arjun Grover	First Place - Middle School
John Custer	Second Place - Middle School
Zachary Templeton	Third Place - Middle School	awarded by tie-break (6-way tie)
Jonathan Surasua	First 8th Grade
Daniel Lee	First 7th Grade
Hannah Whatley	First 6th Grade

Clemson Elementary	First Place Team - Elementary School
Kevis Tsao	First Place - Elementary School
Daniel Custer	Second Place - Elementary School	awarded by tie-break (3-way tie)
Eric Cheng	Third Place - Elementary School	awarded by tie-break (3-way tie)
Vijay Mishra	First 5th Grade
Mowei Tang	First 4th Grade
Erik Anderson	First 3rd Grade
Dru White	First 2nd Grade
Aakash Reddy	First 1st Grade
Kevin Rogers	First Kindergarten

34th Snowstorm Special: Results

Over thirty players descended upon beautiful Charleston on February 8-10 for the 34th Snowstorm Special. Timur Aliyev, the South Carolina State Champion, and Chris Mabe, the North Carolina State Champion, tied for first with 4.5 points each. Having drawn their game in the fourth round, the two champions agreed to play a separate match of six games to determine the true "Carolina Champion." Details of this match will be announced soon.

Crosstable.

Other results of the 2008 Snowstorm:

Third Place Overall - Stephen Welt (Charleston) 4.0

Class A - Lintu Ramachandran (Florence)/Yuval Shemesh (Wilmington, NC) 3.5
Class B - Josh Nissenboim (Charleston) 3.0
Class C - Gerald Battaglia (Augusta), Wayne Hedger (Atlanta), Ian Morton (Charleston), Douglas Schwetke (Charleston), Mark Skelcher (Charleston) 3.0
Class D - Russ Crawford (Charleston)/Alex Henderson (Aiken) 2.0
Class E - Geoff Grimaud (Columbia) 1.5
U1000 - Teigh Berg (Aiken), Susan Reed (Charleston), Christian Taylor (Aiken) 2.0

In February 1973, sixteen hardy South Carolina chess players played in a chess tournament during the middle of a seven inch snowstorm, one of the worst storms in South Carolina history. To commemorate the snowstorm and the event, the Charleston Chess Club has held an open tournament every February since the great snowstorm. The tournament was dubbed the "Annual Snowstorm Special" and has been held every year since 1973 except 2002-2003.

GSSM January Open: Results

Twenty players competed in the January Open chess tournament hosted by the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) on January 19. The five-round (G30) swiss event was open to adult and strong scholastic players. Chris Falter of Irmo was perfect through the five rounds to win clear first place. Cecil Clarkson of Myrtle Beach and GSSM student Junda Chen tied for second, with the only loss for each coming at the hands of Mr. Falter. In the second round, Junda defeated reining state scholastic champion Lintu Ramachandran of Florence. GSSM alums Kemper Talley and Dan Ward were also among the twelve who braved the elements to come in from off campus to play.

New website: Aiken County Chess Club

Check out the Aiken County Chess Club's new website: Click here.

SC Championships: Games

Click here to replay 41 games from the 68th SC Championships.

Gamecock Open VI: Results

The Columbia Chess Club hosted the Gamecock Open tournament on Saturday, December 8, in West Columbia. Kevin Kane (1930) won the event with four points. Kane is pictured on the right.

Crosstables.

Bill Taylor and Gerald Battaglia of Aiken/North Augusta did a great job running the tournament as well as playing in it. They both put their duties as directors ahead of their interest as players. For instance, in one close game, Battaglia had a clear won position, but lost due to time. His opponent thought that Battaglia's time loss was caused by his tournament duties and magnanimously offered to change the win to a draw. Battaglia refused and took the full point loss. As they say, "no good deed goes unpunished." The SCCA appreciates their service, sacrifice, and dedication.

Western North Carolina Chess Team Challenge

The Western North Carolina Chess Team Challenge was held in Fletcher, North Carolina over the weekend (11/10/07) with over 100 scholastic chess players participating on twenty-five teams. Two teams from Central, South Carolina participated. The RC Edwards Middle School Chess Team went undefeated in match and individual play, scoring 15.5 out of a possible 16 points!!! Zachary Templeton, Jonathan Sarasua, Arjun Grover, and John Custer composed the team. They swept their competition winning the K-8 first place trophy. Congratulations to them for this outstanding performance.

Even though the D.W. Daniel Chess Team was not able to field its strongest team due to schedule conflicts for many of its potential participants, the team performed admirably well. The team, represented by Michael Lauria, Kenzie Moore, Haaris Kahn, and Hannah Baker, placed third in the High School division against very strong competition.

Both schools represented the Palmetto State well.

68th SC Championships: Best Game Prize

The SCCA has awarded USCF Master Andrey Chumachenko (2444) the Best Game prize for his fourth round win against Chris Mabe (2277). Florida chess retailer Sig's Chess sponsored the $25 prize. Click here to replay the game with analysis by Fritz 9.

68th SC Championships: Timur Aliyev Wins Again!

The 68th South Carolina Chess Championships were held in Columbia on October 26-28. Timur Aliyev of Columbia, South Carolina, and Andrey Chumachenko of Charlotte, North Carolina, tied for first place in the tournament with 4.5 points each in the five round event. Aliyev, who is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina, holds the state title for the second year in a row.
Photo Gallery

James Thompson won the U1800 section, and Zachary Templeton (15) of Clemson tied for second. Scholastic Prize winners were: Daniel Dodds (16) of Blythewood, who won the U1400 Section trophy; Ebbie Yazdani of Irmo, who won the U1400 Section Runner-up trophy Jonathan Sarasua (13) of Clemson, who won the Top Junior trophy; Geoff Grimaud (17) of Chapin, who won the Top Junior Runner-up trophy.

In conjunction with the championship, the South Carolina State Association held its annual meeting, electing the following officers to one year terms: David Grimaud (Chapin) - President; Dr. Mickey Lauria (Clemson) - Vice President; Bill Taylor (Aiken), Secretary; and David Causey (Mt. Pleasant) - Treasurer.

Dr. Robert John McCrary was completely surprised when he was given the state's prestigious "Dr. M. Lee Hyder Award" to a rousing ovation. This award for meritorious service is given out on rare occasions to individuals that exhibit the dedication, hard work, sacrifice, and steadfast determination modeled by Dr. Hyder during his long career serving his local club, the SCCA, and the USCF.

Click here for Final Crosstables

The first South Carolina chess championship was contested on July 26, 1926, at the YMCA in Columbia. Eight players competed. Professor William H. Morton of Converse College won the event with a perfect score. Professor Morton was also the first President of the South Carolina Chess Association, which was formed immediately prior to the tournament. The SCCA has held a championship every year since 1926, except from 1934-1947, when the organization was inactive.

The creation of the SCCA was due in large part to the efforts of Mr. Elmer B. Hallman of Spartanburg. A resolution adopted at the 1926 organizational meeting noted that Mr. Hallman “by the exercise of his energy, tact, enthusiasm and zeal, brought about such interest, in South Carolina, in the game of chess as to make a State Chess Association a possibility. . . .” I hope you participate in the 68th South Carolina Chess Championships with the same energy, tact, enthusiasm and zeal.

Palmetto Chess E-Blast

Our electronic newsletter, Palmetto Chess E-Blast, is now active. E-Blast will provide the latest information about SCCA events and tournaments. Please use the form to the right to submit your email address to receive the latest SCCA news.