Grand Master Kaidanov won 13 games and drew 1 in his simultaneous exhibition.  He won all four boards in his blitz simul and won his blindfold blitz game.

For the third straight year Josh Nissenboim has successfully drawn our visiting Grand Master.  Granted the first time they didn’t see him coming,  in hindsight Ftacnik  didn’t really stand a chance.  The second time though, he must have been wondering at how this so called B player was tauntingly, and needlessly, throwing away pawns in a hopelessly drawn opposite color bishop ending until he was up his three useless pawns.  It seems no surprise that Ftacnik didn’t show for a third humiliation.

I’m ashamed to admit I wasn’t sure that Josh would do it again.  When GM Kaidanov announced that he would be taking the white pieces my doubts grew.  When David Grimaud announced that Josh had twice drawn Ftacnik I became down right skeptical.  But as Josh offered a draw in a position I thought he might have been winning I’ve started to ask myself not why these GM’s are letting Josh draw them but why he’s letting them draw him.

The club championship was harrowing, well kind of. In the end it was a tie for first between Stephen Welt and David Causey with 4.5/5. As was pre-arranged the players were to play an indefinite sequence of 2-game mini-matches (G/45) until there was a decisive result. The first and second week experienced missed wins by both sides, and all 4 games were drawn. In week 3 of the playoff Stephen struck in the first game with a win in a Q+R+6 pawns vs Q+R+6 pawns ending. In the second game Stephen offered a draw in a winning position. The draw was accepted, ending the match.

Enjoy a video of this last game.

The Charleston Chess Club Championship has finally finished.  There will be an awards ceremony on July 1st.  Following awards the club champion will perform a simultaneous exhibition.

Please do not confuse this event with GM Kaidanov’s exhibition on June 24th.

Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov will attend the Charleston Chess Club on June 24, 2009, and give a lecture, simul, and four-game blind blitz exhibition.  GM Kaidanov is a highly respected chessplayer who immigrated from Russia in 1991 and now resides in Kentucky.  He has won numerous international tournaments as well as a World Open and U.S. Open.  Check out his website at www.kaidanov.org.

For those who wish to participate, the fee for the evening’s events will be $15.00.  Its “first come-first serve” so register and pay early to ensure a spot.  Finally registration will be at 7:00pm on June 24, with the start of the lecture at 7:30pm.  Bring your boards and sets.

After five rounds both sections are competing in play offs.  In the upper section David Causey and Stephen Welt have tied for first and will begin a mini match on June 3rd.

Round 1

Morton, Ian _0_     Causey, David _1_
Vanderlieth, John _1_     Bryan, Paul _0_
Nissenboim, Josh _0_     Welt, Stephen _1_

Mummert, Billy _1_     Reed, Susan _0_
Gordon, Miller  _1_     Sun, Qinli _0_
Horton, George, _0_     Mummert, Terry _1_

Round 2

Welt, Stephen _1/2_     Causey, David _1/2_
Bryan, Paul _0_    Nissenboim, Josh _1_
Morton, Ian _0_     Vanderlieth, John _1_

Mummert, Terry _0_     Reed, Susan _1_
Sun, Qianli _1_     Horton, George _0_
Mummert, Billy _0_     Miller, Gordon _1_

Round 3

Causey, David _1_     Vanderlieth, John _0_
Nissenboim, Josh _1_     Morton, Ian _0_
Bryan, Paul _0_     Welt, Stephen _1_

Reed, Susan _1_     Miller, Gordon _0_
Horton, George _0_     Mummert, Billy _1_
Sun, Qianli _1_     Mummert, Terry _0_

Round 4

Causey, David _1_     Bryan, Paul _0_
Vonderlieth, John _1_     Nissenboim, Josh _0_
Welt, Stephen _1_     Morton, Ian _0_

Reed, Susan _0_     Sun, Qianli _1_
Miller, Gordon _1_     Horton, George _0_
Mummert, Terry _1_     Mummert, Billy _0_

Round 5

Nissenboim, Josh _0_     Causey, David _1_
Welt, Stephen _1_      Vanderlieth, John _0_
Morton, Ian _1_     Bryan, Paul _0_

Horton, George _0_     Reed, Susan _1_
Mummert, Terry _1_     Miller, Gordon _0_
Mummert, Billy _1_     Sun, Qianli _0_

The Charleston Chess Club Championships will be starting on the April 8th, and it will be a FREE EVENT to club members.  The event will be held in a round robin format with a Game 90 time control.  Because of the round robin format it is very important that when you register you are committing to participate for the duration of the event.   Since this is a USCF-rated event, be sure that your USCF membership is current through the next couple of  months.  Go online at “uschess.org”  to either renew or join.  Also, bring your set, board and clock, but we do have a limited number at the club.

The number of rounds, sections, and dates will be determined by the number of entrants.  In the event of a tie, a two-game match will follow with a G:45 time control until a decisive result is reached.

The club champion is obliged to perform a traditional and honorary simultaneous exhibition against participating club members no later than two months after the completion of the tournament. If you are unable to make it on the 8th please register via email to sawelt@yahoo.com no later than the 7th of April.

When the “dust settled” on the 35th Snowstorm Special on Sunday, FM Andrey Chumachenko and SM Klaus Pohl shared the top prize with a final score of 4 1/2 points out of 5.  They drew each other in a long battle on Saturday night and dispatched all other opponents to achieve their respective victories.

Other prizes won were by Donny Gray (GA) and Wayne Christensen(SC), who shared the Expert prize with a score of 3 1/2-1 1/2. James MacDougall(SC) won the Top “A” prize outright with 3 1/2 points while 2nd place “A” prize was shared among fellow “A” players, Doug Holmes(SC), John Vonderlieth(SC),Stephen Welt(SC), and Yuval Shemesh(NC), each with 3 points.

Top “B” was shared by Ian Morton(SC) and Bill Taylor(SC), both with 3 points.  The Top “C” prize came down to one of the last games, when Wayne Hedger(GA) survived against Chad Moody(NC) to tie Miki Yasuoka(NC) at 2 1/2 points after having lost to Miki earlier.  The only question concerning the “D” prize was how it would be shared since there were only two entrants in the class.  In the end, it was shared equally between Erik Mullah(SC) and Devin Duque(NC), both ending with 2 1/2 points.  The largest group was in the Class “E” and under, where Justin Gonzalez(NC) and William McCorkle(GA) tallied 2 points to share the prize equally.

With a total of thirty eight entrants, 95% of the advertised prize fund of $1,500 was paid out.  Thanks to all who attended and be sure to put the 36th Snowstorm Special on your calendar for next year where we hope to increase the number of entrants and prizes, so that all can enjoy a competitve open tournament in a nice setting.

Check out the final crosstables here.

Past Snowstorm Special Champions

Click on their name for a link to their whereabouts.

1973 - William Patterson(as the S.C. Junior Ch.)
1974 - Stephen Cabaniss /James Hughey
1975 - William McClain
1976 - Charles Lawton, Jr.
1977 - Patrick Hart/Edward McCauley
1978 - Edward McCauley(2)
1979 - Jeffrey Smeltzer
1980 - Paul Tinkler / Lindsay Blanks
1981 - Paul Tinkler(2)
1982 - Patrick Hart(2)/Dale Mountford
1983 - Patrick Hart(3)
1984 - Klaus Pohl/Pat Hart(4)/Wayne Williams/Paul Tinkler(3)/Lindsay Blanks(2)
1985 - Neal Harris
1986 - Edward McCauley(3)
1987 - Edward McCauley(4)
1988 - Klaus Pohl(2)
1989 - Paul Tinkler(4)/Irving Rosenfeld/ Douglas Holmes /Ed McCauley(5)
1990 - Klaus Pohl(3)
1991 - Patrick Hart(5)
1992 - Klaus Pohl(4)
1993 - Jonathan Schroer/Matthew Morris/Lindsay Blanks(3)
1994 - Klaus Pohl(5)/Mark Hoshor
1995 - Mike Williams
1996 - Matthew Morris(2)/Douglas Holmes(2)
1997 - Wayne Williams(2)/Michael Sheaf
1998 - Paul Tinkler(5)/Douglas Holmes(3)
1999 - Paul Tinkler(6)/Douglas Holmes(4)/John Vonderlieth/Justin Daniel
2000 - Klaus Pohl(6)
2001 - Klaus Pohl(7)
2002 - No tournament held.
2003 - No tournament held.
2004 - Klaus Pohl(8)
2005 - Emory Tate/Daniel Tapia/ Leland Fuerstman
2006 - Keith Eubanks
2007 - Andrey Chumachenko
2008 - Timur Aliyev/ Chris Mabe
2009 - Andrey Chumachenko(2)/Klaus Pohl(9)

Amount in parentheses represents number of times placed or tied for first (greater than once).

The 4th Patrick D. Hart Memorial Scholastic was held on Saturday, January 17, 2009, and had a superb turnout of young players.  Though only two high school players and three middle school players attended, the elementary section had thirty-three eager chess players.  The CCC’s on Qiamli Sun (Wando HS) won his four game match with Alex Thibodeau (Thurmond HS) by an impressive score of 4-0!  In the middle school section, Chris Labrecque held off South Carolina’s 2008 Polgar representative, Hannah Whatley, to take the first place trophy, leaving Hannah with second place and Joey Scalf (Christian Academy) with third place.  As mentioned, the elementary section was the busiest, by far, and when the smoke cleared, Simeon Radev, of Bamberg, won the first place trophy on tiebreaks over Kyle McSheehy (Pinckney Elem.), both with perfect 4-0 scores.  Kean Balentine (Pinckney Elem.) took third place on tie-breaks over five others tied at 3-1.  Many thanks to Asst. TD Stephen Welt who encouraged over twenty of his chess students at Pinckney Elementary to sign up and play.  Also, thanks to our local scholastic coordinator, John Crompton, for another helping hand with the annual event.

Check out the final crosstables