Chess Clubs in South Carolina

The South Carolina Chess Association was founded in 1926 at the Columbia YMCA, disbanded in the Depression era, and was re-founded in 1948 — it's been running the state's chess ever since as its USCF-affiliated governing body. The Columbia Chess Club carries on that lineage today, meeting weekly and running the Tunnelvision series with guaranteed monthly prizes, while the Charleston Chess Club and Greenville Chess Club give the coast and upstate their own regular meeting spots. The South Carolina State Championship has been contested since 1926 and is still maintained as an ongoing project of the Columbia Chess Club, with the late National Master Klaus Pohl's 13 titles between 1980 and 2015 the standout record — the event now carries his name as the Klaus Pohl Memorial. Spartanburg's Converse College hosted the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 1989 and 1990, a rare case of a major national event landing in the state.

• The Columbia Chess Club's monthly Tunnelvision series pays out $1,000 in guaranteed prizes every event.
• The South Carolina State Championship, contested since 1926, is the state's marquee over-the-board event and now honors 13-time champion Klaus Pohl.
• Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia each have an active weekly club night, so much of the state is within reach of regular in-person play.