The annual meeting will be held April 2nd with election of officers and report on the club standing.  We urge all members to attend and any old or new members to renew or join in order to vote.  We will discuss the upcoming club championship beginning on April 9th, so your input is encouraged.  See you there!

Hard to believe that two meetings were missed due to ice storms!  Well, Spring is near and daylight savings time has begun.  With that, our club ladder continues with rated games each Wednesday night, so join us for some competitive chess.  As a reminder, our annual club championship will begin on the second Wednesday in April, so get your game in shape so that a possible trophy might find its way to your mantle this year!

With the impending threat of bridge closures, we have decided to not chance a meeting tonight, but will, hopefully, be back to our normally scheduled meeting next week.

Expert Donny Gray of St. Simons, Georgia

Expert Donny Gray of St. Simons, Georgia, won his third Snowstorm Special in four years after going 4-1 in the annual event this past weekend.  The 40th Snowstorm Special was held at the Holiday Inn Express-Summerville, on February 8-9, 2014, and attracted 18 players from South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.  Expert Patrick McCartney of Charlotte, N.C., finished 2nd with a 3.5-1.5 score.  Check out the following link for the USCF crosstable of the event:

40th Snowstorm Special

Other prize winners were Elijah Neumann and John von der Lieth who tied for the Under 2000 prize and Ken Fickling who won the Under 1600 prize.  In the Under 1401 section,  James Williams of Virginia won 1st place with a 5-0 score, with Eric Hill (NC), Zach Darga (SC), and Gregg Passmore(SC), tying for 2nd place.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Are you ready for some local chess?  The 40th Snowstorm Special and the 9th Patrick D. Hart Memorial Scholastic is this weekend, Feb. 8-9th for the Snowstorm and Feb. 8th for the PHM Scholastic.  Last chance to register at the lower pre-entry rate is this Wednesday night at our regular meeting.   Each tournament TLA can be found in the  January issue of Chess Life.  Details can be found at the state website.  Just click on the following link:

SCCA Calendar

See you there!

We’ll meet next Wednesday at our regularly scheduled time.   Remember to bring your entry fee for  those that are registering for the Snowstorm Special or the Pat Hart Memorial Scholastic on the following weekend.

For those that have missed recent meetings, please note that there has been a change in our annual dues.  With an announced business meeting on December 18th, 2013, a vote was made to raise the annual dues to $25, payable each year in January.  For those that have current memberships expiring in 2014, they are still valid and we will work with you to pro-rate your renewal or else wait until January, 2015, to renew.  This change has been recorded in our Bylaws which can be accessed on this site.

The Club Ladder is still going strong with exciting games and upsets!  You can still join since the final talley for prizes won’t be until August, 2014.  You must be a current member and, for a $10 fee, can play many rated games during the year.

Also, we have some equipment and books for sale at great prices, so bring a few extra dollars and add to your library or equipment stash.

See you there!

There will be no meetings of the Charleston Chess Club on Wednesday, Nov. 27, Dec. 25, and Jan. 1, due to the holidays.  There will be a very important business meeting on Dec. 18 for a vote on an amendment change that will be published at the club and by email to all members.  Be sure to pick up a copy of the change at the meetings or keep a watch out for an email concerning this important issue.

CCC members who attended this year’s annual S.C. Championships in Columbia did not leave “empty handed”!  CCC’s own Elijah Neumann scored 4-1 in the Under 1800 section and tied with Joe Rochester of Greenville, winning the 1st place trophy on tiebreaks.  Congratulations to Eli for bringing home the “cash and hardware”!  Also winning cash prizes were club members Zach Darga, who won the U1200 prize outright, and Nathen Ritterson, who shared the U1000 prize.  Yours truly helped organize and direct the tournament while playing three games and taking two 1/2 point byes.  Winning two out of three games played, I managed to tie for the U2000 prize!  Miracles do happen!  My only loss was to the eventual winner and state champion, IM Alexander Matros.  I felt very fortunate to win two games against a talented young scholastic player, Kapish Potula,  and pretty WFM, Natasha Fairley!  Check out the below link for the USCF rated crosstable:

74th SC championships crosstable

The CCC Ladder will continue on Wednesday night this week.  Don’t forget to bring your set, board, and clock, but we do have some sets, bags, and boards for sale for those that need one.   Triple-weighted sets and boards, together, are just $10.  Add a new bag for $15 more and you’ll be ready for tournament play!