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2009 SC Open: Results
Two-time state champion Timur Aliyev won this year's SC Open, scoring 4.0 in the event hosted by the Greenville Chess Club at the Hyatt Regency in Greenville, South Carolina on June 26-28.
SC Open Chief TD Bob Jones and SC Open Champ Timur Aliyev
Open Section
Aliyev, Timur (2263) 4.0
Lamby, Philipp (2247) 3.5
Pohl, Klaus A (2214) 3.5
Harris, Neal D (2213) 3.5
Gray, Donny (2145) 3.5 (U2200 class prize rolled up)
U2000 Class Prize
Rankin, Tim (1901) 3.0
Chu, Cheng (1793) 3.0
U1800 Section
Morton, Ian Gregor (1665) 4.0
Zhang, Derek T (1500) 4.0
Moore, Kenzie L (1759) 3.5
Taylor, William L (1682) 3.5
U1600 Class Prize
Biernacki, Joseph (1315) 3.5
U1400 Section
Lee, Daniel Junh (1257) 4.5
Sun, Qianli (1205) 4.0
Robinson, Keith O (1376) 3.5
U1200 Class Prizes
Biernacki, Mark Wa (1128) 3.0
Miller, Robert (1077) 3.0
Staley, Timothy P (1066) 3.0
Four City Tour by Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov
To promote the 2009 South Carolina Open, one of the top Grandmasters in the United States, GM Gregory Kaidanov, toured four cities in South Carolina giving a series of exhibitions. Precision Tune Auto Care sponsored the tour. The GM's played a total of 89 games, winning 83, drawing 6, and losing none: GM Kaidanov 86.0 - South Carolina 3.0. The city-by-city results are as follows:
Monday 6/22/09 GREENWOOD, SC: Results
GM Kaidanov won 12 simul games, 8 simul blitz games, and one blind blitz game for a total score of 21 in his exhibition at the Greenwood Mall on June 22.
Tuesday 6/23/09 COLUMBIA, SC: Results
GM Kaidanov won 18 simul games (drew 5), won 4 simul blitz games, and one blind blitz game for a total score of 25.5 in his exhibition at the Harbison Blvd Barnes & Noble bookstore. Ron Collins, Philipp Lamby (2008 state champion), Timur Aliyev (2007 and 2006 state champion), Keith Eubanks (2004 state champion), and James Hill (1990 state champion) obtained the five draws.
Wednesday 6/24/09 CHARLESTON, SC: Results
GM Kaidanov won 14 simul games (drew 1), won 4 simul blitz games and one blind blitz game for a total score of 19.5 in his exhibition at the Charleston Chess Club. Josh Nissenboim obtained the lone draw. This is the third year in a row that Nissenboim has obtained a draw in a GM simul, having extracted draws from GM Ftacnik in 2007 & 2008.
Thursday 6/25/09 GREENVILLE, SC: Results
GM Kaidanov won 7 simul games, 12 simul blitz games and one blind blitz game for a total score of 20.0 in his exhibition at the Brew & Ewe coffee shop in Greenville.
Daniel Dodds, Michael Lauria, Rade Musulin, Kenzie Moore
Palmetto High School Invitational: Results
The 2009 Palmetto High School Invitational Chess Tournament was held on the Clemson University campus May 30-31. The four highest rated high school players in the state were invited to participate in a double quad (each player plays each other twice switching colors). Daniel Dodds (1833) of Columbia, Michael Lauria (1818) of Clemson, Kenzie Moore (1764) of Clemson, and Rade Musulin (1722) of Hilton Head participated in the event. Michael Lauria went undefeated, scoring 4.5 points (3 wins and 3 draws) and repeated as the 2009 Palmetto High School Invitational Chess Champion. The final standings are as follows:
Michael Lauria (4.5 points)
Rade Musulin (3.5 points)
Kenzie Moore (2.5 points)
Daniel Dodds (1.5 points)
As you can see from their ratings, the players were evenly matched. This was reflected in how tight the standings were until the final two rounds. First board games will be posted soon.
Alex Thibodeau Wins Merriwether Scholastic Open
Alex Thibodeau
Ninth Grader, Alex Thibodeau, of Strom Thurmond High School, won all
five games to take First Place overall at the Merriwether Mavericks
Scholastic chess tournament on Saturday, May 9 in North Augusta. Alex
had to upset Georgia Elementary Champion, Noah Quesnel of River Ridge
Elementary, who placed second overall, and First Place - Elementary with
4.0 points. Hannah "Tori" Whatley of Merriwether Middle School took
First Place Middle School with 3.0 points.
Agape Christian Academy and Beaufort Academy tied for First Team with
5.5 points each.
High School
1st Place Individual; Alex Thibodeau from Strom Thurmond High School,
Johnston, S.C.
Middle School
1st Place Individual; Tori Whatley from Merriwether Middle School, North
Augusta, S.C.
Elementary School
1st Place Individual; Noah Quesnel from River Ridge Elementary, Evans,
Georgia
2nd Place Individual; Gregory Baucom From Merriwether Elementary, North
Augusta, S.C.
3rd Place Individual; Jaelen White from Agape Christian Academy,
Seabrook, S.C.
David Whatley sponsored and promoted the event. David Grimaud and Mike
Games were Tournament Directors. The SCCA would like to thank Maureen
and Geoff Grimaud for their assistance, and Merriwether Middle School
Principal, Bobby Turner, for his support of the event. Merriwether has
an excellent cafeteria and media center for playing both a chess
tournament and skittles.
Donny Gray Wins 2nd Annual Lee Hyder Memorial
Expert Donny Gray (GA, 2114), cleared first place at the 2nd Lee Hyder Memorial tournament with his last round draw against Expert Patrick McCartney (NC, 2042), giving him 4.5 points out of a possible 5.0. Gray, who decided to bypass the Georgia State Championship to play in the Aiken tournament, was brilliant on his way back to becoming a Master, a title he last held in 1996.
Class A participant Steven Willard (GA, 1975), put together a 36 move masterpiece against Greenville favorite, Expert Wayne Christensen (SC, 2106), to tie for second with Expert and Aiken favorite Kevin Kane (SC, 2021), each with 4.0 points.
The Aiken County Chess Club (ACCC) sponsored the event which was held at the Tri-Development Center of Aiken County, an organization that provides services to children and adults with disabilities. The facility was excellent, with one large room to play quality tournament games in peace, and an adjoining, but private room in which to carry on conversation, to review games, and to play skittles. The tournament was directed by ACCC officer and SCCA secretary Bill Taylor. ACCC officer Gerald Battaglia was Assistant TD.
Donny Gray
At 29 participants, the total prize fund was $1,300. First place finishers in class are listed below.
U2000 with 3.0 points:
Charles Reeve (SC, 1985)
David Causey (SC, 1925)
Dan Quigley (GA, 1812)
U1700 with 3.0 points:
Russell Thurmond (SC, 1601)
Steve Boshears (SC, 1659)
Robert Mahan (VA, 1438)
U1400 with 2.5 points:
Keith Robinson (GA, 1355)
Rolfe Memorial Upset Prize:
Scholastic player Chris Labrecque (SC, 1009) for his win over Bruno
Huguet (SC, 1267)
The event is in memory of the late Dr. M. Lee Hyder, who tirelessly promoted chess in South Carolina for more than forty years.
Dr. Hyder earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California (Berkley) in 1962. He then took a position at the Atomic Energy Commission's Savannah River Laboratories near Aiken, South Carolina, where he worked as a research chemist until retirement. He was a pillar of South Carolina's chess community. He won the state championship six times: 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1974, and 1978. Dr. Hyder edited the SCCA's newsletter from 1968-1975, 1981-1983, and 1990-1995. He organized many tournaments and was instrumental in bringing the quarter-final match for the World Championship between Korchnoi and Mecking to Augusta in 1974. He became the first and (so far) only South Carolina resident to be elected to the USCF Policy Board, as national secretary. He also served as a trustee of the US Chess Trust for over a decade. He passed away on November 3, 2003.
2009 Border Battle: Lamby Wins!!!
Ron Simpson v. Phillip Lamby
South Carolina Chess Champion Philipp Lamby won the second annual Border Battle against North Carolina Chess Champion Ron Simpson. The four game match between the neighboring state champions was played in Asheboro, North Carolina April 18-19. Lamby obtained convincing wins in the first and third games to seal the match. Simpson obtained his lone win in the final game, thus losing the match 2.5 to 1.5.
This is the second annual Border Battle. Last year South Carolina's champion Timur Aliyev defeated North Carolina's Chris Mabe in the inaugural battle.
Click here to replay the games, three with annotations by Chris Mabe.
The High School champions of the two states also squared off in a
four round G90 contest: David High (NC, 1864) vs. Daniel Dodds (SC,
1827). David High won the match 2.5 to 1.5.
Along with the two matches between champions, a four round G90 NC vs. SC
Team Match was also played. The North Carolina team cruised to
victory 29.5 to 18.5. While the North Carolina team may have
dominated the team competition, our champion won the crown jewel of the
event for the second year in a row. Go Carolina! Uh, I guess that should
be, Go South Carolina!