Announcements
Columbia Chess Club Newsletter 10/27/25

Columbia Chess Club Newsletter 10/27/25

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Columbia Chess Club Newsletter

PSCL THIS WEEKEND! (Register)
In This Issue:
  • New Time Trouble Tournament Series Announced!
  • This Week's Club Events
  • Weekly Results Corner
  • Thank You Dr. Igor Roninson!
  • Want an Icon?
  • From the Discord
  • Some Chess Content
  • On the Horizon Schedule
View the Club Calendar >
New Time Trouble Tournament Series Announced!
Hearing the call for more blitz and rapid weekend events, the Columbia Chess Club is proud to announce the Time Trouble Rapid & Blitz Tournament Series! The first installment will be on December 6, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. as a 6-Round Double Swiss BLITZ G/3+2!

Time Trouble is a recurring tournament on scheduled Saturday afternoons from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Time Trouble is formatted on an alternating schedule as either a Rapid G/10+5, 5-Round Swiss or a Blitz G/3+2, 6-Round Double Swiss, depending on the scheduled Saturday. $400 Prize Pool b/30.

A portion of the proceeds of the inaugural "Time Trouble" tournament series will be donated to the student-founded Checkmating Alzheimer's project. This initiative enhances cognitive function in seniors through chess, establishing clubs in local communities. The project is co-founded by Caton Tsao and Allen Hong—both top junior chess players in South Carolina. By promoting chess, the project aims to reduce the risk of the disease that affects nearly 7 million Americans. The Columbia Chess Club supports this initiative, aligning with its mission to promote chess for cognitive health and community engagement.
Time Trouble Details & Registration
This Week's Club Events
HALLOWEEN WEEK - Join us this week for some spooky good chess! Players are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to club — whether you’re a wizard, vampire, or chess piece come to life. 🧙‍♂️♟️🦇
5:15 p.m. Developmental Class (Sign Up) [K-8]
6:15 p.m. Developmental Class (Sign Up) [HS-Adult]
Developmental classes are suited for new players and players rated under 1000.
4:45 p.m. Kid's Night
Suited for K-12 players who are new or rated under 1000, we offer a rated tournament with a medal to the winner, an unrated tournament for new players with a USCF membership to the winner, and free casual play.
Kid's Night Registration
6:30 p.m.: Quad Night! G/25+10. Quads place you in a group of four players as closely rated to you as possible, with three rounds to determine the winner. $20 Entry fee can win $40 ($45 for a perfect score). You must be registered by 6:20 p.m. to participate, so don't wait until it's too late!
Quad Night Registration
6:00 p.m.: Cheers & Chess! Come join us for a drink at Hazelwood Brewing and a game chess! Open to all skills levels. We love playing blitz and rapid as well as teaching newcomers to the game.
6:00 p.m.: Adults-Only Class (Sign Up).
7:00 p.m.: Advanced Class (Sign Up)
Main Meeting
  • 5 p.m. Casual Play
  • 6 p.m. Dual Action Classical: 3-Round G/25;+10, dual rated classical night.
Register Online
This school year's second Palmetto Scholastic Chess League (PSCL) is this Saturday. K-12 competition in Elementary, Middle, and High School sections. Win individual awards and take home trophies for your school!
Register Online
Weekly Results Corner
Kid's Night: 
We had 21 students at Kids Night, where Coach Brandon directed the tournament! Coaches Tyler and Sean helped guide our future masters as they took their first steps in chess. 🧩
In the top section, Rio Saha earned the medal 🥇, and in the lower section, Jonathan Newton took home the medal 🏅. Great job to all our young competitors!

Kid's Night Rating Report
Quad Night:  Congratulations to Thomas Kemp Jr. for winning his quad this evening and congratulations to Brian Chiozzi for his 1019-point upset!

Quad Night Rating Report
Thursday Main Meeting:
We had 20 players compete in the Blitz Tournament! 🏆 Chace Nguyen and Jason Cheng both went undefeated, sharing 1st & 2nd place with perfect scores. Sharing 3rd–5th place were Aarush Panda, Arnav Singh, and Erik Murrah.
Notable Upsets:
Chace Nguyen – two 200+ point upset wins
Jason Cheng – 350 & 270+ point upset wins
Erik Murrah – 170 point upset
Austin Stinecipher – 340+ point upset
Charlotte Jordan – 300+ point upset
Rio Saha – 200+ point upset

Blitz Rating Report
 
In the Classical Event, 32 players battled it out over four rounds.
🏅 Sean Miller won the Top Section with 3.5 points, followed by Paul Copeland in 2nd with 3 points.
Arnav Singh and Erik Murrah shared 3rd–4th with 2.5 points each.
In the Lower Section, Carson Norton took 1st place with a perfect 4–0 score!
Edward Gize, Vivaan Biswal, and Oliver Su shared 2nd–4th with 2 points each.
Special mention to Erik Murrah for scoring a 282-point upset in the final round!
Thank You to Dr. Igor Roninson
A very special thank you to Dr. Igor Roninson of USC's College of Pharmacy for his generous donation of antique and rare chess books. Many of the books were collected while growing up in the Soviet Union and are authored in several different languages including Romanian, German, and Russian!
Want an Icon?
Get your icon before you join our event so we have time to add it to our system. The Columbia Chess Club's next generation of streaming setup is live, and you can create your own personal icon to have displayed during our events. Follow the link to submit us your photo.
Upload Your Club Icon
From the Discord
Join our Discord to be part of our community chat.
Some Chess Content
Larry finds a puzzle he likes:
Answer at the end of the newsletter . . .
On the Horizon
Saturday, November 1, 2025:
Friday-Sunday, November 7-9, 2025:
Tuesday, November 11, 2025:
Friday, November 14, 2025:
Saturday, November 15, 2025:
See Club Calendar for Full List of Upcoming Events
Answer to Larry's puzzle: a prototypical example of Boden's mate. Qxc6+ bxc6 Ba6#!

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