The Columbia Open

This year marks the sixth installment of the Columbia Open dating back to 1995. The fifth Columbia Open, held in August 2010, saw NM Klaus Pohl in top form scoring 4.5/5.0. Klaus also won the 1998 Columbia Open. Prior winners also include NM Timur Aliyev, who won the 2006 and 2010 Columbia Open, and Donny Gray, winner of the 1995 Columbia Open. Past tournaments have included chess players from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, California and Maryland. In 2009, a group from the Columbia Chess club decided to make the Columbia Open an annual event. We hope to enlist over 100 players for the 2011 Columbia Open.

Historic Results

2010 Columbia Open
2009 Columbia Open
2006 Columbia Open
1999 Columbia Open
1995 Columbia Open

Previous Winners

KlausPohl 2010 and 1999 Champion NM Klaus Pohl
"It feels like 1980 again!"

After his mesmerizing 2010 performance at the Columbia Open, Klaus remarked that it felt like 1980 again commenting on his playing form from 30 years ago.

Anyone who has attended a chess tournament in the southeast in the last 20 years is certain to have met National Master Klaus Pohl. Since the US Chess Federation began keeping records in 1991, Klaus has participated in a mind-blowing 520 USCF events! During this time, Klaus also achieved a peak rating of 2392 and has also cracked the 2400 barrier in his career prior to 1991. There is no doubt Klaus is one of the most successful and perhaps most active chess player in South Carolina history. Klaus has won numerous South Carolina state championships and so it is only fitting that he also have two Columbia Open titles under his belt as well.

Current Columbia Open Champion and 2006 Champion, NM Timur Aliyev

"Chess is My First Love"

National Chess sensation Timur Aliyev won his second Columbia Open championship in 2009 adding to his 2006 title as well. His stunning 5.0 performance in a section that featured four National Masters earned him a rating breaking the 2300 barrier. Since that time, Timur has also earned an IM norm. Timur is no stranger to success racking up a few state championship titles and a Chess960 tournament title.

Timur attended a chess school in Baku, Azerbaijan at the age of 6 and was coached by the first coach of Garry Kasparov. Timur also met Kasparov as a young boy and got his autograph! Timur went on to train at a different chess school two years later that produced many world class Grandmasters and at the age of 12 he became a "candidate master" (2100 rating).

Timur went to post secondary school in Israel and played board 1 for his university team from 1998 to 2003. Timur's career highlights include wins over GM Zviad Izoria (rated over 2700 at the time!) and WGM Rusudan Goletiani. He also has claimed some impressive draws versus GM Charbonneau (former Canadian Champion) WGM Anna Zanonskih, GM Julio Becerra and others. Timur considers one of the greatest highlights of his chess career to be the border battle match between himself and his good friend NM Chris Mabe of North Carolina. Timur won the match 2.5-1.5 and you can read about that match by following this link to the article on the USCF site.

1995 Champion Donny Gray

Donny has been one of the strongest players in the southeast for the last 20 years. His consistency in winning and his methodical endgame play has made him the strong rated expert he is today. Donny has earned a lifetime peak rating of 2241. Donny finished 4.0/5 in the 1995 Columbia Open to earn him top honors. Donny Gray also won the 2009 Lee Hyder Memorial with an impressive 4.5/5 performance. The Lee Hyder Memorial is an annual event held by the Aiken Chess Club.