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36th Snowstorm Special: Results

The Charleston Chess Club hosted the 36th Snowstorm Special in beautiful Charleston on February 5-7. Andrey Chumachenko, Philipp Lamby, Kevin Kane, and Doug Holmes tied for first, each scoring 4 points.

Crosstables

In February 1973, sixteen hardy South Carolina chess players played in a chess tournament (the South Carolina Junior Championship) 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 except 2002 and 2003.

5th Pat Hart Memorial Scholastic: Results

The Charleston Chess Club hosted the fifth Pat Hart Memorial Scholastic Tournament in Charleston on January 23, 2010.

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Who was Pat Hart?

Coach and Student Challenge: Results

Eight teams featuring sixteen players representing South Carolina and Georgia competed in the 1st Coach and Student Challenge on January 9, 2010. To qualify, there had to be no less than 400 rating points between the coach and student, and no more that 2800 in combined rating points (based on Nov 09 rating supplement).

Top honors were taken by TAYLOR TERROR, THE father and son tandem of Bill Taylor and Christian Taylor from Aiken, SC. Bill continues terrorizing his competition by pitching a 3-0 shutout in the coach section while son Christian finished with 1.5 in the student section. Bill is hot, having raised his rating over 120 points in the last two tournaments.

Splitting second place were the KING KRUSHERS (Columbia) and THE TORNADOS (Charleston) comprised of Columbia club members, Paul Lowry and Erik Murrah and Charleston players Stephen Welt and Cole Johnson respectively. All four players splitting second place won 2 games each in their respective sections out of 3.

Here are the other participants, coaches are listed first.

THE CHECK MATES: David and Maureen Grimaud (husband - wife)
DOUBLE DUTCH: Jerry Rothstein and Vikram Krishnamurthy
THE BACKWARD PAWNS: Daniel Dodds and Chris Aluri
KING KRUSHERS: Erik Murrah and Paul Lowry
KNIGHT HIKERS: Steve Boshears and Richard Watts
FLOTOWN KNIGHTS: Drew Plyler and Patrick Wang
THE TORNADOS: Stephen Welt and Cole Johnson
TAYLOR TERROR: Bill and Christian Taylor (father - son)

70th SC Championships: Results

The 70th South Carolina chess championships were held in Columbia October 16-18. Timur Aliyev won his third SC Championship, scoring 4.5 points in the five round event. Sixty-two players competed.

Crosstables

SCCA President David Grimaud and SC Champ Timur Aliyev

OPEN SECTION
1st Place - Timur Aliyev, 4.5 points - S.C. State Champion trophy
2nd Place - Kevin Kane, 4.0 points - S.C. State Runner-up trophy
3rd-5th - Paul Farb, Cezarte Ramos, and Klaus Pohl, 3.5 points
U2200 - Cezarte Ramos, 3.5 points
U2000 - Paul Farb, 3.5 points

AMATEUR SECTION (U1800)
1st Place- Stephen Morales of North Carolina, 5.0 points
2nd-3rd Place - Rade Musulin, 4.0 points - S.C. State Amateur Champion trophy (tiebreaker)
2nd-3rd Place - Erik Murrah, 4.0 points - S.C. State Amateur Runner-up trophy (tiebreaker)
U1600 Place - Erik Murrah, 4.0 points

RESERVE SECTION (U1400)
1st - Qianli Sun, 5.0 points - S.C. State Reserve Champion trophy
2nd - Robert Melville, 4.0 points - S.C. State Runner-up trophy
U1200 - Ryan Dowling, 3.0 points
U1000 - David Gongre & Shiva Blabusbramnian, 2.5 points

JUNIOR RANKINGS
Adrain Gellert, 3.5 points - 1st Place trophy
Derek Mizushima, 3.0 points - Runner-up trophy (tiebreaker)
Michael Laura, 3.0 points 0 2nd Runner-up trophy (tiebreaker)

Columbia Open: Aliyev Wins!!

Two-time state champion Timur Aliyev won the 2009 Columbia Open with a perfect score. Sixty-two players competed in the event at the Hilton Garden Inn, 434 Coumbiana Drive, in Columbia on August 21-23.

OPEN SECTION

1st - Timur Aliyev, 5.0 pts.
2nd - 3rd - Kevin Kane, Patrick McCartney, 3.5 pts
Best U2000 - Cheng Chu, 3.0 pts
Best Upset - Paul Farb

AMATEUR (U1800) SECTION
1st - Ian Morton, 4.5 pts.
2nd - Derek Zhang, 4.0 pts.
3rd - 6th - Bill Taylor, Bob Halliday, Brittney Dewitt, Erik Murrah, 3.5 pts.
Best U1600 - Brittney Dewitt, Erik Murrah, 3.5 pts.
Best Upset - Brittney Dewitt

RESERVE (U1400) SECTION
1st - 3rd - Chris Labrecque, Charlie LaMarche, Mike Meekins, 4.0 pts.
1st Scholastic - Ben Caiello, 3.5 pts.
Best U1200 - Dan Smith, Cody Kizer, 3.0 pts.
Best Upset - Mike Meekins

Five rounds. Sixty-two players in three sections: Open, Amateur (U1800), Reserve (U1400)

Organizer/Promoter: Erik Murrah
Sponsors: Mike Meekins - Comtura Networks; Columbia Chess Club
Chief TD: David Grimaud; Assistant TD: Ron Labrecque
Open TD: Don Lemaster; Amateur TD: Ron Labrecque; Reserve TD: David Gongre