The State Championship: Back In The Ring (For Real This Time)

Three weeks after writing Back In The Ring, I found myself lacing up the metaphorical gloves again — this time for the 2025 South Carolina State Championship, hosted right here at the Columbia Chess Club.

What unfolded was the strongest championship in state history:

• Average rating of the top 10 players: 2200

• 74-player cap reached a week early

• $6,000 prize fund — the largest ever awarded in South Carolina

Add in a room buzzing with titled players, volunteers, and spectators, and you had a weekend that felt equal parts competition and celebration.

A Historic Weekend for South Carolina Chess

Congratulations to IM Alexander Matros, who staged a remarkable comeback to reclaim the state title. Entering the final round, he was a point behind, tied with five others. Two draws on the top boards triggered a three-way blitz playoff between Matros, NM Sam Copeland, and WFM Bahar Hallayeva — a thrilling finish that saw Matros take the crown.

Meanwhile, Columbia Chess Club’s own Kanha Kummari posted the event’s only perfect score, going 5-0 in the U1600 section.

Team honors rounded out the weekend:

• 🏆 Championship Club Title: Columbia Chess Club (14 pts) over Greenville (13.5)

• 🏆 U1600 Club Title: Columbia Chess Club (17 pts) for a clean sweep

• ⚡ Blitz Champion: FM Kelvin Sanchez (5/6 plus a perfect 3/3 in tiebreaks)

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend possible — especially Chief TD Ian Neack, Chief Assistant TD Thomas Thorla, and our tireless volunteers who turned logistics into art.

Training Camp… Sort Of

After my Back In The Ring post, I set ambitious goals: the “50 Day Tactics Challenge Part 2,” “50 Day Endgame Challenge,” and Rowson’s Seven Deadly Chess Sins.

Confession time: I finished none of them.

But progress doesn’t always follow a syllabus.

• My sleep improved (slightly).

• My diet became more conscious.

• I played 44 online games in September — winning 60%.

• I revisited my FM Midas Ratsma repertoire, worked through tactics courses like Common Chess Patterns and Tactics Time, and reread sections of Silman’s Endgame Course.

• I even took a week off work for a self-made chess camp with my friend Coach Sean Miller — mornings of study, afternoons of endgame sparring, and philosophical chess talk in between.

Did I feel “ready”? Not exactly. But I felt present — and that’s progress.

Round 1 – Settling In

My first opponent was a PhD student from USC. His rating said 700s; his play said “don’t underestimate me.”

I treated it like any other serious game. By move 12, I could feel the initiative. His Caro-Kann setup ceded a pawn and never reclaimed it. From there I traded down methodically and converted an endgame where my bishop pair and passed pawns marched to glory. A few accurate moves later, he was out of tricks and out of time.

Start 1-0. Confidence restored… for now.

Round 2 – The Tough One

I’ve done well against Neil before, but not this time. I had a decent position early — knights posted, center secured — but misjudged a tactical exchange on move 20. From there my structure collapsed, and so did my clock. By the time his Nh6 fork landed, I could only sigh and resign.

Frustrated, I took a long walk outside. One loss doesn’t define a tournament — unless you let it.

Round 3 – The Slip

Another Caro-Kann, another fight. I thought I had everything under control until my kingside fantasy backfired. On move 22, I hallucinated a tactic that simply lost a piece. Sometimes chess is merciful; sometimes it’s math.

Still, the night wasn’t lost — the State Blitz Championship followed.

Saturday Night Blitz – A Highlight in Miniature

Round 1 paired me against NM Aaron Wang, and somehow my Bird Opening took flight. We danced through a tense middlegame into a drawn-looking knight vs bishop endgame — until the clock pressure flipped the script.

A few precise maneuvers later, I was queening first. Aaron smiled and allowed the checkmate. I won’t lie — that win was the adrenaline shot I’d been missing.

I finished 3/6 overall. Hardly a trophy run, but that first game alone was worth the entry fee.
Blitz Report 📄

Round 4 – Dutch Courage

Kanha Kummari’s younger brother sat across from me — and Kanha had just told me, “Play the Dutch, he won’t know what to do.”

He was right. By move 11 I had my ideal reverse-Bird structure. On move 16, Krithik blundered a piece, and I cleaned up clinically. Sometimes knowing your opponent’s prep really is half the battle.

Round 5 – Running Out of Steam

Paired against another adult — a relief after a string of juniors — I felt calm. Then I misplayed a tactical intermezzo, dropped a pawn, and slowly got squeezed.

There’s no sugarcoating it: I blundered, tried to create counterplay, and when it didn’t appear, I resigned. Exhaustion had joined the pairing list.

What I Learned in Five Rounds (and Six Blitz Games)

• You can’t shortcut preparation, but you can show up with purpose.

• Confidence doesn’t come from streaks — it comes from recovering after losses.

• Even small habits — sleep, water, walking — ripple into results.

• Community matters more than any single rating number.

I didn’t win the championship. But I did win something subtler: the feeling that I belong in these rings again.

Here’s to the next round, the next Tunnelvision, and the next lesson.