Columbia Chess Club Newsletter 11/10/25

Brandmair

Nov 10, 2025, 4:25 AM | 0

Columbia Chess Club Newsletter

Tunnelvision XXXVIII THIS WEEKEND! (Register)
In This Issue:

Edsel Peña Wins 2025 SC Senior Championship!
This Week's Club Events
Weekly Results Corner
Want an Icon?
From the Discord
Some Chess Content
On the Horizon Schedule

View the Club Calendar >

2025 SC Senior Championship Results!

Dr. Edsel Peña captured the 2025 South Carolina Senior Chess Championship with an impressive 4½/5 score, tying for the overall tournament prize with National Master Mark Hoshor of North Carolina. A professor and Chair of the Department of Statistics at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Peña is not only a world-renowned statistician and educator, but also a lifelong chess enthusiast — having previously been South Carolina State Blitz Champion in 2011 and State Co-Champion in 2012. We’re proud to celebrate his continued excellence both on and off the board!

Congratulations also to Sheldon Sewell, who secured the top spot for the SC U1600 Sr. Champion, collecting 380- and 680-point upsets along the way!

Results:
1st Place (tie): NM Mark Hoshor; Edsel Pena (SC Senior Champion) (4.5/5.0)
3rd Place (tie): NM Mike Sailer; NM Kevin Cotreau (4.0/5.0)
U1600 1st: Sheldon Sewell (3.0)
U1600 2nd: Billy Willis (2.5)

Youtube Archive Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

This Week's Club Events

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.

6:30 p.m. Paul Copeland v. Sean Miller Match. Come watch in person, play in quads alongside Paul and Sean's match, or follow the action on our Twitch stream.

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. Blitz I; 4 Rounds of 5+0 Blitz.
7 p.m. Classical Month, Week 2. One round of G/60+30, join any week

6:30 p.m. NM Sam Copeland Lecture
With the 2025 SC Championships recently concluded, NM Sam Copeland is here with a fresh scoop on the exciting match-ups and tense battles on his way to his share of first place and tiebreaks against the best SC has to offer.
Sam will also stay after his lecture for a blindfold exhibition for those interested!

Tunnelvision XXXVIII is this weekend with $1000 in guaranteed prizes and sections suitable for all players! Come be a part of SC's premier monthly tournament!

Weekly Results Corner

Kid's Night:

We had 25 students compete in this week’s Kids Night Tournament hosted by Coach James! While the games were underway, Coaches Brandon and Sean gave free lessons in the lobby to help our newest players learn the ropes.

In the Top Section, Vivaan Biswal took home the medal.

In the Bottom Section, Kai Mukunoki and Ezra Grice shared 1st & 2nd, with Ezra clinching the medal on a blitz tiebreak.

A big shoutout to Maya McFadden, who earned a free US Chess membership as our top unrated player!

Kid's N i ght Rating Report

Quad Night:

Congratulations to Arnav Signh, Sean Miller, and James Brandmair for winning their quads this evening!

Quad Night Rating Report

Thursday Main Meeting:

We had 10 teams compete in our Hand & Brain event, which ended in a four-way tie for first place between Tyler & Isaiah, Sean & Arnav, Erik & Vivaan, and Vishweshwar & Brandon after four exciting rounds!

Round one of Classical Month saw 21 players battle it out across the boards.

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.

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From the Discord

Join our Discord to be part of our community chat.

Some Chess Content

Erik finding a gem while on his ChessTempo grind. Answer at the end of the newsletter.

Answer at the end of the newsletter . . .

On the Horizon

Tuesday, November 11, 2025:

Friday, November 14, 2025:

Saturday, November 15, 2025:

Saturday, December 6, 2025:

See Club Calendar for Full List of Upcoming Events

Puzzle Answer:

Columbia Chess Club Newsletter 11/10/25

Columbia Chess Club Newsletter

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