Kid's Night: We had 12 players competing in Kids Night with Coach James, while Coach Brandon kept a full lobby inspired!
 Unrated Section – Alana Wilkerson went undefeated and earned a membership to US Chess. B Section – Max Young took home the medal.
A Section – Vivaan Biswal claimed the medal.
Kid's Night Rating Report
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Thursday Main Meeting: We had 12 players in our Blitz Tournament where NM Mike Sailer took 1st place with a perfect score! Sharing 2nd and 3rd were Sean Miller and Thomas Kemp Jr. with 3 points each.
Blitz Rating Report
Our month-long Classical Event brought out 26 competitors. In the Top Section, Tyler Murrah finished in 1st with 3.5 points, followed by Arnav Singh in 2nd with 3 points, and Sean Miller in 3rd with 2.5 points. A standout result was Jason Cheng drawing against an opponent rated 326 points higher!
In the Bottom Section, Rio Saha claimed 1st with 3 points. Abhyudaya Raj and Logan Santos shared 2nd and 3rd with 2 points each.
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Thank You to the Poulos Family for Donating in Memory of Peter Poulos
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We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Lynne Poulos and the entire Poulos family for their kind contribution of 250 books, along with a collection of rare antique chess sets and clocks, honoring the memory of Peter Poulos, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Peter, a dedicated chess enthusiast and avid collector hailing from Connecticut, had been an active member of the Aiken, South Carolina chess community for the last ten years. Their generous gift will undoubtedly enrich our chess community and keep Peter's spirit alive through the game he loved.
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Thank You to NM Kevin Cotreau for his Donation of Antique Posters
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| The club thanks NM Kevin Cotreau for his donation of antique FIDE posters. Look for their appearance in the lounge hallway this week! |
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This month we had 91 players compete in classical games in 6 events at the club. Sheldon Sewell gained the most with 164 points after pulling two 400 point upsets at Tunnelvision. Sheldon has been coming regularly to Tunnelvisions through the summer and steadily moving up. The second most points gained was by Logan Santos who gained 162 in the month with two solid showings at the quads this month. Benjamin Webb had the 3rd most points gained with 143 after an astounding performance at Tunnelvision in which he upset a NM to tie for 1st place in the top section. Other honorable mentions to those who gained 100+ points include: Salim Maniyar, Rio Saha, Jodie Bishop Jr, and Isaac Tone. We had three players compete in their first classical game this month with Jonathan Lohman having the best break out performance with a rating of 1134 after winning the U1000 section at Tunnelvision.
We had 112 rapid players compete in 10 events this month. The biggest gainer was Nolan Shieh with 156 after a 200 point and 400 point upset at Tunnelvision. Sheldon Sewell had the 2nd most with his two 400 point upsets to gain 147 points. Isaac Tone gained the 3rd most with 145 with another 400 point upset at Tunnelvision. Honorable mentions to others with 100 point gains include: Thomas Kemp Jr., Logan Santos, Benjamin Webb, Vivaan Biswal, Goutham Adireddygari, Devyn Kemp and Lydia Nimmoch. We also had 8 players compete in their first rapid event this month with Kobie Wilkerson having the best breakout performance after beating a 1300+ player to get a rating of 1384.
We had 22 players compete in blitz this month at the club. The biggest gain was by Edward Gize who gained 80 points after bagging his first blitz win. Paul Copeland had the second most at 33 after going 3/4 and only losing to a National Master. Rio Saha had the 3rd most with 29 points after a solid 2/4 performance in the 1st blitz event of the month. We had one player compete in his first blitz event. Jonathan Newton earned a rating of 436.
Paul Copeland
2025 Club Champion & Number Nerd |
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Let Columbia Chess Club Donate to your Club!
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With the Palmetto Scholastic Chess League (PSCL) set to kick off with a tournament on September 20, 2025, we want to donate chess equipment to our local scholastic clubs! If you are looking to start a club at your school, or if your existing club needs boards or pieces, just email us at info@columbiachess.org! More details on PSCL: https://columbiachess.org/palmetto-scholastic-chess
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2025-2026 Scholastic Chess Magazine
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| The Columbia Chess Club has published the 2025-2026 Scholastic Chess Magazine to help orient players and schools with the upcoming scholastic chess season. Please use this as a resource to orient potential players, coaches, and school administrators to competitive scholastic chess! |
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2025-2026 Scholastic Season
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The Scholastic Season for the next school year is now set—get ready!
The Columbia Chess Club has officially been approved by the South Carolina Chess Association to host the 2026 South Carolina Scholastic Chess Championship at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center! |
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| 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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Hall of S.C. State Champions
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To promote this year's State Chess Championship being held at the Columbia Chess Club on Oct. 3-5, 2025 with a $6000 prize pool, we are highlighting state champions in chronological order each week. For more details about the state championship, visit www.scchampionship.com.
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Dr. Spencer Relmond Mathews Jr.
(1939-2024)
1969 South Carolina Chess Champion
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Born in Virginia Beach on August 24, 1939, Spencer Mathews attended Princess Anne High School where he was a Junior Chess Champion for Virginia. While attending the University of Virginia, he also won a game against Bobby Fischer during a simultaneous exhibition held by the Richmond Chess Club on March 29, 1964. He eventually obtained a PhD from the University of Virginia and thereafter began a teaching career in Psychology at Converse College (now Converse University) in Spartanburg, SC. Dr. Mathews devoted 37 years of his life to teaching experimental and developmental psychology, serving as department chair from 1972 to 1998, and also as Converse’s Athletic Director from 1983 to 1991. Beyond his contributions to Converse, Dr. Mathews served the South Carolina Psychological Association as Secretary and President for 1 year each, and was a valued member of the Spartanburg Regional Hospital Institutional Review Board. In 1997, during a sabbatical at UCLA with the Lovaas team for Behavioral Early Intervention for Children with Autism, Dr. Mathews gained expertise that he brought back to South Carolina. He developed a course at Converse to train intervention therapists and worked with approximately 20 children and their families in the upstate region between 1998 and 2007.
Dr. Mathews's chess legacy spanned many decades in South Carolina. After finishing as runner-up in 1968, Dr. Mathews won the SC State Chess Championship held at the YWCA in Columbia, SC on Nov. 7-9, 1969. There, he scored a last-round win against defending champion Lee Hyder (the game can be found on p. 6 of 1969 Vol. 4 No. 1 of SCCA News). Dr. Mathews was active in the SC chess scene, winning many local tournaments, serving as SCCA Treasurer in 1968-1969, and actively playing and organizing competitive chess events for over 50 years. Significantly, he organized the Spartanburg Chess Club where he was champion multiple years, and also organized the 1989 and 1990 US Women's Championship at Converse. He was also a friend of the Clemson Chess Club and gave a simultaneous exhibition at Clemson in the old Student Union.
Outside of chess, Dr. Mathews found joy on the water as an accomplished sailor, racing and volunteering with sailing clubs on Lake Norman in North Carolina and Lake Hartwell in Georgia. He served as Commodore and long-time Membership Chairman of the Western Carolina Sailing Club on Lake Hartwell. An avid tennis player, he was also once City Doubles Tennis Champ in Spartanburg. Dr. Mathews passed away on December 10, 2024 at the age of 85.
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| Answer at the end of the Newsletter |
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| Join our Discord to be part of our community chat. |
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Free Ways to Support the Club
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| The Columbia Chess Club is an affiliate of major chess retailers, like House of Staunton and others, and using our affiliate links can earn us a commission that helps us continue our efforts to enrich and grow the chess community in South Carolina! We also sell our own line of parody scorebooks, if you're looking to buy a notation book. You could also follow us on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media--the Club earns partnership revenue from streaming services, so your viewership helps the club too. Consider also leaving us a Google business review! |
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| Thank you for all the support! Only 8 tables remain available for sponsorship. If you would like to sponsor a table, you can do so on our website. |
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| Saturday, September 13, 2025: |
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| Saturday, September 20, 2025: |
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| Friday-Sunday, October 3-5, 2025: |
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| Some Chess Content answer: |
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