The 6th Patrick D. Hart Memorial (PHM) Scholastic chess tournament is being held January 22, 2011.  The new site is the Hawthorn Suites, 2455 Savannah Hwy (US17South) in Charleston, SC.  This is a USCF-rated tournament, but features a special non-USCF section for beginning players.  Checkout the details by clicking on “Upcoming Tournaments” on our main webpage (right side).  For those who never knew Pat, he was an avid chessplayer who excelled in both over-the-board and postal chess, achieving an Expert rating in both.  Though stricken with muscular dystrophy since his youth and wheel chair bound, he was an able chessplayer, even excelling at speed and blitz chess.  Pat was also the backbone behind the Charleston Chess Club, where he served as President and perenial Treasurer until near the end of his life.  He also served as the S.C. Chess Assocation’s Treasurer from 1985 until his death.  He will always be remembered as a pillar of both Charleston and South Carolina chess.  For all scholastic players, join us at the 6th PHM Scholastic and help us support chess as Pat would have.

John Vonderlieth joined his other top club players by chalking up a victory in the Upper section of Weekly Swiss V.  His undefeated score included a win against past champion, Stephen Welt, and a draw with David Causey, who won the last tournament.  Also, in the Lower Section, Michael Doyle had to score points against his other competitors while subjecting himself to games against the upper section when he was paired twice due to lack of opponents.  Congratulations to both victors in their respective sections.  Weekly Swiss VI will begin on January 5 and will be limited to just 4 rounds in order to avoid pairing issues (but if sufficient players turnout, we can easily make it five rounds).  It’s a great time to tune up your game before our annual Snowstorm Special in February.

Approximately ten members and guests turned out for Wednesday night’s meeting venue at Mad River Bar and Grill.  Six members did battle in round 3 of the Weekly Swiss V, resulting in an upset win on top board between new expert, Stephen Welt, and former expert, now “A”, John Vonderlieth.  The second pairing in the Upper Section was Ian Morton playing White against David Causey.  An agreed draw was the result after Causey had been up two pawns, but could not consolidate his position with the presence of opposite-colored bishops.  John Vonderlieth now leads the Upper Section with 2 pts., with three others tied at 1.5.

One game was paired in the Lower Section due to only three players present.  Michael Doyle scored the point against Porter Claytor, while James Pollard graciously accepted the full point bye as the odd player.  Michael now leads the Lower Section with 2.5 points.

The CCC will meet next Wednesday at the usual site.  We need more participants to show up for the final two rounds of the Weekly Swiss V.  Remember, these games are great warm-ups for the upcoming Snowstorm Special in February, 2011.

Due to a church event at Park Circle Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, the Charleston Chess Club will hold its weekly meeting on December 15th at the Mad River Bar and Grille Restaurant at 32 North Market Street in downtown Charleston.  There is a parking garage just south of Market Street on East Bay Street or you may find street parking on Market Street or East Bay Street.  Go to the following link for directions:

 Mad River Bar and Grill

Our meeting will officially commence at 7pm, but for those attending this special event, they can come earlier and enjoy the food and beverage before the meeting (during is okay, too!).  We will try to have our 3rd round weekly swiss if conditions are favorable, otherwise, be ready for lots of skittle and/or blitz games and chess chat.  See you there!

The Folloween IV chess tournament attracted  just 10 players in one section, but the competition more than made up for the low numbers.  In attendance was the 2010 South Carolina champion, Philipp Lamby, from Columbia, who scored two wins and one draw against three of the Charleston Chess Club’s top “A” players to take first prize.  Stephen Welt, Ian Morton and David Causey tied for 2nd with two points and split the 2nd and 3rd place prize money.  A special Under 1200 prize was created for the lower rated players playing in the main section and Charles Ommen and James Pollard split the prize with one point.  See USCF crosstable below for the  final results.

Folloween IV, Charleston, SC, 11/20/10

Just to be sure everyone is aware, the club will meet on Wednesday, 11/24/10, at the regular time and place.  Last year, we had a nice turnout of eager players, so don’t be detered that no one will show up to play.  We will start a new weekly swiss if turnout is sufficient.

The 1st Annual National Chess Day and Festival attracted twenty-one players and was battled down to the last games for a share of the prizes.  When the final handshake was made, Ian Morton and Stephen Welt shared first and second place with 3 points in the Open section, leaving the Under 2000 prize to David Causey with 2.5 points.  Ian reeled off three straight wins after losing to Stephen in the 1st round, while Stephen went undefeated with a win, two draws and a full point bye to tie.   In the U1800 Section,  Bob Halliday from  Columbia scored 3 wins and 1/2 point bye to secure 1st place.  Tied for 2nd were Paul Bryan, Mowei Tang and Michael Kruse.  The interesting story of the tournament was the participation of Trung Tran, a local computer scientist with SPAWAR, who had immigrated in 1992 from Vietnam.  He played in only one tournament in 1993, but did well enough to garner a 2051 provisional rating.  By his play in this, only his second USCF tournament, his rating should hold over 2000.  We look forward to his participation in future Charleston tournaments.  Many thanks go out to our fellow clubmember and Orbis, Inc. employee, Bill Mummert, who arranged access to his company’s classroom and was a gracious host of the event.

Click here for the USCF crosstable

Our third weekly USCF-rated Swiss has begun with round one just finished 9/15/10.  There is plenty of room for more players so join us for some rated chess with a time control of Game 60.  Any rounds missed will be recorded as a 1/2 point bye so its not too late to enter (entry is just $2 per game played) and still vie for the 1st and 2nd prizes.  We also offer an upset prize and a new special prize for anyone finishing with a 5-0 score.  The new prize carries over if no one achieves 5-0, so it accumulates with each tournament until someone achieves the “magic” score.  Check out the lastest standings and past standings by clicking “Weekly Swiss Results” at the right of the home page.

 EF: $20     USCF membership required   

Free EF for players rated 2200 and over ($15 deducted from prize)   

Registration: 9:15- 9:45AM   

Rounds: 10:00AM, 1:00PM, 3:30PM   

10 – players sections   

Prizes: $90 1st, $40 2nd, $10 3rd   

Director reserves the right to adjust the number of players in the bottom section based on attendance.   

For questions, contact Josh Nissenboim (joshnissenboim@gmail.com)   

For pre-registration, include Name, USCF ID#, bye requests (Any prepayments by check can be made out to “Charleston Chess Club”.)   

The 71st S.C. Championships, originally scheduled for Oct. 1-3, 2010, at the Plaza Inn in Columbia, SC, has been changed to the new date of Nov. 5-7, 2010, and now will be located at the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbia (site of the past two Columbia Open’s).  Due to problems with the original hotel, the only alternative was to go with the Hilton Garden Inn on a new date that the hotel was available.  Be aware that Nov. 6 is a home game for the U. of South Carolina football team, so plan to book early for any hotels you choose.  The site is an outstanding venue for chess, though the hotel rates won’t be as low as the Plaza Inn had offered.   Note that the TLA in Chess Life September issue still has the old info for the date and site, so disregard that info.