Upcoming Event: 38th Snowstorm Special
The Charleston Chess Club will host the 38th Snowstorm Special on February 11-12, in historic downtown Charleston.
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. We hope to see you in Charleston come rain, sleet, or, of course, snow.
Beaufort Academy Places Second in USCF Tournament
Beaufort Academy placed second in the United States Chess Federation's National Youth Action Tournament in Miami, Florida, December 10-11, 2011. The Beaufort Tribune article about the event can be found here.
Beaufort Academy Wins Scholastic Tournament
Beaufort Academy won the South Carolina Independent School Association chess tournament in Orangeburg on October 27. The event was covered by The Island Packet.
2nd Annual Greenville Scholastic: Results
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2011 Greenville Scholastic
The St. Mary’s School Chess Club hosted the 2nd Annual Greenville
Scholastic Open on Saturday, October 29th. Eighty-three K5-8th graders
competed in four sections in this USCF-rated five-round tournament. One
objective of the organizers was to encourage new players to try
scholastic competition. This year over 40% of the entrants had
previously never played in a USCF-rated event! The top finishers were:
K-2
Yutong Cao
Ryan Chea
Josh Lagleva
St. Mary’s Catholic School was first in Team.
K-4
Luke Wacker
Spencer Chea
Andrew Widman
St. Mary’s Catholic School was first in Team.
K-6
Alexander Moreno
Mason Fox
Kristopher Luo
Clemson Elementary was first in Team.
K-8
Jesse Jiang
Ben Ragan
Elias Longenecker
St. Joseph’s Catholic School was first in Team.
WYFF News Channel 4 covered the event on their 11:00PM and Sunday
Morning News programs. The St. Mary’s School Chess Club appreciates the
assistance provided by Drew Plyler and Geoff Grimaud from the SCCA;
Wayne Goddard from Clemson; John Schmidt from St. Paul’s; and, Tim
Rankin and Wayne Williams from the Greenville Chess Club.
Annual Meeting Minutes
October 16, 2011, Annual Meeting
Walter Simultaneous Exhibition
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Charles Walter Simultaneous Exhibition
Charles Walter, five-time South Carolina Chess Champion, conducted a simultaneous chess exhibition at Dutch Square Center on October 21, 2011. For the second year in a row, Mr. Walter was undefeated, winning all of the approximately 20 games he played simultaneously. This exhibition was part of the global Martin Gardner celebration, with Mr. Walter beginning every game with the move 1.h4, thereby reprising an April Fool's joke perpetrated by Martin Gardner in one of his famous Mathematical Games columns in Scientific American. This is the second year Mr. Walter has participated in the Gardner celebration.
72nd SC Championships: Results
The 72nd South Carolina Chess Championships were held in Columbia on October 14-16.
IM Alexander Matros won the Open section title with 4.5 points.
72d SC Championships Photo Gallery
| OPEN SECTION | PRIZE | NAME | STATE | PTS. | |
| 1st & SC Champ | $ 335.00 | Alexander Matros | SC | 4.5 | Trophy |
| 2nd & SC Runner-up | $ 167.50 | Wayne Christensen | SC | 4.0 | Trophy |
| 3rd | $ 84.00 | Peter Dyson | FL | 3.5 | |
| U2200 | $ 84.00 | Keith Eubanks | SC | 3.0 | |
| U2000 | $ 84.00 | Edsel Peña | SC | 3.0 | |
| U1800 SECTION | AMATEUR | ||||
| 1st & SC Champ | $ 167.50 | Rade Musulin | SC | 5.0 | Trophy |
| 2nd & SC Runner-up | $ 84.00 | John Yates | SC | 3.5 | |
| 2nd & SC Runner-up | $ - | Ben Caiello | SC | 3.5 | Trophy |
| U1600 | $ 42.00 | Lendel Robinson | SC | 3.0 | |
| U1600 | $ 42.00 | Marvin Sparrow | NC | 3.0 | |
| U1400 SECTION | RESERVE | ||||
| 1st | $ 167.50 | Michael Kruse | SC | 4.5 | Trophy |
| 2nd | $ 84.00 | Suhas Madiraju | NC | 3.5 | |
| SC Runner-up | Darell Hunt | SC | 2.5 | Trophy | |
| U1200 | $ 84.00 | Kyle Overton | NC | 2.0 | |
| U1000 | n/a |
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. . . .”
GM Ftacnik Exhibitions
After the Columbia Open, GM Lubomir Ftacnik gave simultaneous exhibitions in the following cities:
Greenville Chess Club: GM Ftacnik 11.5 - Greenville 0.5, August 25. Tim Rankin obtained a draw.
Florence Chess Club: GM Ftacnik 11.0 - Florence 0.0, August 22
Greenwood Chess Club: GM Ftacnik 12.0 - Greenwood 0.0, August 23
Charleston Chess Club: GM Ftacnik 9.5 - Charleston 1.5, August 24. About twenty people attended a lecture given by GM Ftacnik, followed by eleven players in a simul. John Vonderlieth won the first game ever by a Charleston player in five simuls GM Ftacnik has given over the years. David Causey obtained a draw.
Columbia Open: Results
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Alexander Zelner
The
Columbia Open was held on August 19-21, at the Hilton Garden Inn
in the Harbison area of Columbia. Alexander Zelner of Orlando,
Florida, won the tournament by upsetting GM Lubomir Ftacnik in the fifth
and final round to finish with 4.5 points. Zelner won the top $1,000
prize in a strong section which also included an international master
and four other master level players.
In post tournament comments, GM Ftacnik, who was ahead two pawns at one
point in the Zelner game, said he thought he had the stronger position,
but perhaps overestimated the strength of his position. He said Zelner
played brilliantly at the critical moment. Zelner had offered Ftacnik a
draw in the game, but Ftacnik did not accept, needing at the moment a
full point to share in the first prize with NM Chris Mabe and IM
Alexander Matros who took an early draw and finished with 4.0 points.
Zelner spoiled all this by beating Ftacnik outright, putting Mabe and
Matros in a tie for 2nd/3rd.
Eugene Davenport and Ian Wanda shared 1st/2nd in the U1800 section with
4.0 points each, sharing $1150 in prize money.
Prave Suthahran and Jun Peña shared 1st/2nd in the U1400 section with
4.0 points each, sharing $1150 in prize money.
The tournament had seventy-three players from at least five states. Five
thousand dollars in prizes were paid out. Don Lemaster was chief
tournament director, and Klaus Johnson was his assistant.
If you left the tournament before the final prizes were caculated and are on this list, your check is being mailed to you. If you don't receive it by Sept. 1st, please contact David Grimaud (President - SCCA) at DWGrimaud@aol.com.