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Welcome to the UMC Chess Club Web Page!

The UMC Chess Club welcomes anyone in the Columbia, Missouri community to participate in our activities. The club was formed in April 1996 by Yves Tan, in response to community interest. It is an official University of Missouri Organization and US Chess Federation affiliate. Our activities include:

Anyone is welcome at these events. There is a wide range of skill levels in Columbia, from beginners to chess masters, and it is our goal to meet the needs of all. Membership is open to members of the Columbia community in addition to students, faculty and staff.

Chess Club members (dues: $5/semester) receive a spiffy membership card and may play in club tournaments. To become a member, please contact an officer or the club advisor. Voting members must meet UMC eligibility requirements.

Because the club is a U.S. Chess Federation affiliate club members may purchase individual USCF memberships through the club. Club members should contact Charlie Ward regarding joining the USCF or renewing your membership. A small discount on USCF membership is available due to the club being a USCF affiliate.


Schedule of Club Activities

The UMC Chess Club meets every Monday night at 7pm. During the school year the meetings will be in the MU Memorial Union, room S203 (second floor, south side), 516 S. Hitt Street, Columbia. Between mid-May and mid-August, and during semester breaks or university holidays when the university meeting rooms are closed, club members meet informally at 7pm on Mondays at Lakota's Coffee, 24 S. Ninth Street in downtown Columbia (on evenings when Lakota's is open).

Speed Chess Tournaments -- Speed chess tournaments are held each month, with the exception of no tournament in December. Time limits are G/5. Each round consists of two games between paired opponents, one as White, one as Black. Normally 5 rounds are played.

Here are the winners in the monthly club speed chess tournaments:

During the 2005 Winter semester:

January 31: First place Konstantin Korolyak; second place Igor Verbitsky.
March 7: First place Igor Verbitsky; second place Konstantin Koroliak and Neil Fox (tie).
April 4: First place Igor Verbitsky; second place Rentsi Dashzeveg, Jag Erkembayar, Nathan Swinger (tie).
May 2: First place Jag Erkembayar; second place Yadamsuren Ish.

During the 2005 Fall semester:

August 29: First place Nathan Swinger; 2nd place Igor Verbitsky, Konstantin Koroliak, Mikhail Zernov (tie).
September 26: First place Ed Irish; 2nd place Nathan Swinger.
October 31: First place Mikhail Zernov; 2nd place Konstantin Koroliak.

Club Ladder -- Club members can compete with each other on our chess ladder. Games can be played at any time and place agreeable to the opponents, but typically they are played at the Monday night club meetings. The default time limit for these games is Game/60 minutes per player.

Club Tournaments -- These tournaments are played at the Monday night club meetings, one round per week. They are not USCF rated. Two sections of the fall tournament were played during October 2005, one for experienced players and one for new players. Both tournaments were 3 rounds with a time control of Game/75. Prizes in the form of credits toward purchase of chess equipment or books were awarded.

In the experienced player tournament, Konstantin Koroliak took first place with a perfect score of 3-0 and Tyler Cook won the prize for highest score in the lower-rated half by tiebreak over Arjun Khurana. In the new player tournament, Bill Hardwick and Srikanth Kavirayani tied for first place with two victories each, with Bill taking first place and Srikanth second place, based on tiebreak.

Other less formal tournaments that can be completed in a simgle club meeting will also be scheduled at future meetings.

Club Championship Tournament -- This 4-round tournament with a Game/75 time control will be played during February and March, 2006.

In last year's championship tournament Roberto D'Agosta won the club championship title with a perfect 4-0 score, receiving a trophy and the "middle third" cash prize towards chess books or equipment. Konstantin Koroliak won the "top third" prize with a 3-1 score. Four players tied for the "lower third" prize with scores of 2-2; James Belarde won the prize in a round-robin playoff for the prize.

Club Match vs. UMR-Rolla -- In the last two school years a team match versus the UMR-Rolla chess club was played. We hope to be able to schedule another of these matches during the 2005-2006 school year.

Club Simuls -- A simultaneous exhibition versus all comers is scheduled for the November 7, 2005 club meeting, given by USCF senior master and club member Neil Fox.

During the Spring 2005 semester Neil gave a simultaneous exhibition versus 17 club members on April 18. Despite graciously playing Black on alternate boards as well as being rusty due to a lack of recent competition, Neil won twelve games, lost two and drew three. The two players winning against Neil were Nathan Swinger and Mike Perkowski.

Club-Sponsored USCF Tournaments -- The club will be sponsoring sponsored several one-day USCF-rated open tournaments in Columbia during the 2005-2006 school year. This will give club members experience in playing against USCF-rated players from a wider area than just the Columbia community. USCF and Missouri Chess Association memberships are required for participants and can be purchased at the events.

The Back-to-School Open was played on August 20, the first weekend of the Fall semester. Nathan Swinger of the UMC Chess club shared first place with Tom Gaul of Siuox Falls, Iowa with a perfect score of 3-0. Click here to view the cross table from the tournament. There were 20 players.

The Trick-or-Treat Open was played on October 29, the first weekend of the Fall semester. Nathan Swinger again shared first place with a perfect score of 3-0, this time with King Christian of Jefferson City, MO. Click here to view the cross table from the tournament. There were 21 players.

Tournaments scheduled during the remainder of the 2005-2006 school year are the Paul Morphy Open on February 18, 2006 and the annual Mizzou Quads on April 1, 2006.

Tournaments earlier in 2005 were:

The Lincoln Birthday Open was on February 12, 2005: There were 18 players; the winner of the tournament was Nathaniel Fast of Jefferson City with a perfect score of 3-0. Nathan Swinger tied for second with a score of 2.5-0.5. Click here to view the cross table from the tournament.

The Mizzou Quads were on April 2, 2005: There were 16 players. Nathan Swinger and James Belarde were the winners of Quads B and D, respectively, while Ed Irish tied for first place in Quad A and Charlie Ward tied for first place in Quad C. Click here to view the cross table from the tournament.

The Columbia June Open on June 11, 2005. There were 29 players. Click here to view the cross table from the tournament.


Other Tournament Results by Club Members

Nathan Swinger won the Missouri Class B champion title at the Missouri Class Championships in Columbia on June 25-26, 2005, with a score of 4.5-0.5. Also at this tournament Arjun Khurana won the Missouri Class F champion title with a score of 4-1. Other club members competing in this event were Steve Brietzke, Rentsi Dashzeveg, Charlie Ward, Kyle Sillin, Tim Campbell and Ted Peterson.


Future Missouri Chess Events

For information on tournaments scheduled in the next 3-4 months, visit the Missouri Chess Association Web site; otherwise see the Tournament Life section of the U.S. Chess Federation's Chess Life magazine.

For tournaments further in the future as well as tournaments in Illinois within reasonable driving distance from St. Louis, browse Wayde Stallmann's USCF Tournament Clearing House calendar for Missouri.


Mailing List

Our electronic mailing list MUCHESS-L is used mostly for announcements of interest to local chessplayers. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listserv@lists.missouri.edu. Leave the Subject line blank. In the body of the message, type:

SUBSCRIBE MUCHESS-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname

You should receive a confirmation message within a few minutes.

If you are already subcribed to MUCHESS-L and would like to UNsubscribe, send the one-line message UNSUBSCRIBE MUCHESS-L to the same address. (SIGNOFF MUCHESS-L also works.)


Chess Links


For more information, contact:
Kyle Sillin, President 2005-2006, (573) 808-2250
Igor Verbitsky, Faculty Advisor, (573) 882-1451


Send comments or suggestions on this page to Charles Ward