Columbia University Chess Club

Chess Club back in action!

The chess club kicked off the 2016-2017 school year with its first meeting on September 14th. New faces as well as returning members filled the West Ramp Lounge in Lerner to capacity with chess enthousiasm. The attendance kept pace leading up to a lecture given by FM Kyron Griffith on September 28th. Kyron presented intriguing endgame concepts and puzzles while engaging the active audience. Kyron drew his inspiration for the lecture from Mark Dvoretsky, a longtime chess trainer known for his endgame prowess, who passed away this month.

Final Four of College Chess

Over the weekend of April 2-3 Columbia competed in the Final Four of College Chess, a prestigious tournament consisting of the top four teams from the Pan American Chess Championships. The event was held at the historic Marshall Chess Club in New York, NY, and Columbia competed against teams from Webster University, Texas Tech University and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Inter-Ivy League Champions!

Columbia defended their title of Inter-Ivy League Champions on February 27th.

Columbia @ Pan Ams 2015: Tie for 1st!

From December 26th to 30th 2015 the Columbia Chess Team played in the annual Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship in which all the top chess teams from colleges in North America face off. Columbia went into the tournament seeded 11th out of 42 teams and ended up tying for first and placing fourth on tiebreaks, making it the first time Columbia has placed first in this tournament since 1984. With this result Columbia qualifies to play in the Final Four playoff against the other three teams to determine the official national champion. Additionally, the B team finished first in its division and Kyron Griffith won the prize for best performance on board two.

Lecture and Simul with GM Irina Krush!

On May 2nd seven-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion Grandmaster Irina Krush gave a lecture and a simultaneous exhibition for members of the Columbia chess community!

Columbia @ USATE 2015: 5-1 and Top Tri-State College

Columbia University's team at the US Amateur East tournament was one of 12 teams that finished with a 5-1 score. Given the stiff competition in such a large tournament, the team was happy to win the Top Tri-State College award.

Columbia hosts Lenderman-Dlugy match: 11.5-8.5

Columbia University hosted a 20-game blitz match between GM Alex Lenderman and GM Maxim Dlugy on Feb. 11, 2015. Lenderman won 11.5-8.5, starting the match with an exciting win and maintaining his edge throughout the match. With a time control of 3/2, the audience was on the edge of their seats throughout the event!

Match images

Columbia defends Inter-Ivy League Championship

For the 5th year running, Columbia University hosted the Annual Inter-Ivy League Championship. The Columbia A team won all their matches to take home first, while the B team finished clear second with 2.5/4. Congratulations to the Ivy League Champions Victor Shen, Kyron Griffith, Eigen Wang, and Alex Fabbri! Check out our feature on BWOG. The official results are also available on the USCF site.

Tournament pictures

Lecture & Simul with GM Alex Stripunsky

The Columbia University Chess Club hosted a lecture and simul with GM Alex Stripunsky, one of the top players in the country. The strong representatives of our club managed to capture a few wins, and we had a great time learning from and playing against the visiting GM!

Simul pictures

Columbia wins Inter-Ivy League Championship

Columbia won the 4th Annual Inter-Ivy League Championship. Both Columbia A and B teams scored perfectly, with the A team winning the playoff. Congratulations to the Ivy League Champions Victor Shen, Kyron Griffith, Andrew Ryba, Eigen Wang, and Shaoxiang Wang! Check out the main article on this memorable tournament on the USCF website, as well as the short one featured on BWOG. The official results are also available here.

Tournament pictures

Columbia competes in the 2013 PanAm Championship

This year Columbia was able to send two teams to the PanAm Championships held in Lubbock, Texas. While we didn't quite make the top four, we weren't too far behind! Full results of the tournament are available on the official website.

Columbia wins Match with Imperial College London

In a colossal match with Imperial College London, Columbia dominated the competition 9-2. Congratulations to our heroic competitors on a great performance!

Columbia Chess Festival Begins!

Columbia was honored to welcome 3-time US Chess Champion Grandmaster Joel Benjamin to campus. He lectured about some of his best games to the club and then gave a simultaneous exhibition. In the end, of the 17 games played, Joel won 15 and drew two to Expert and club Vice-President Jennie Liu and National Master and club Treasurer Eigen Wang. If there was any lesson to be learned from the event, it was that being on the executive board makes you play chess better!

Columbia Hosts 3rd Annual Ivy League Championship

The individual results are on the USCF site. In addition, there is an article covering the event.

Chess Club Website Redesigned

Thanks to Mikey! Here is the old website, stored in the illustrious archives.

Columbia Ties for First in Inter Ivy-League Chess Championship

Columbia and Penn tied for first in the Inter Ivy-League Chess Championship this year. The team results are below.

Columbia University Hosts First Ivy League Chess Tournament

Columbia University successfully organized and hosted the first inter-Ivy tournament. While the team from UPenn claimed first, you can catch more details of the event right here.

Columbia University Accepts Harvard's Challenge!

In a blast from the past, Columbia University clearly isn't afraid of any challengers. Check out this 1893 letter in which Columbia acknowledges its participation in what was a much earlier inter-Ivy matchup.