Annex Chess Club

ACC Championship and Reserve trophies

It’s that time of year again! Our 2015 Club Championship kicks off this Monday, February 9, at 7:30 pm. (Arrive by 7:00 to register.)

The Annex Chess Club Championship is in two sections, Championship and Reserve. The Reserve (U1800) section is for players with a maximum CFC rating of 1799, and the Championship section has a minimum rating of 1700. The six-round Swiss tournament runs February 9 to March 23. All games are CFC-rated, and the Championship section is also FIDE-rated. (There’s no round on Family Day, February 16, but don’t miss the Hart House Reading Week Open, February 14-16!)

Entry is not limited to club members (players may drop in to play a single round, or buy a six-week tournament membership) but only full-year club members are eligible to become Club Champion or Reserve winner. These winners will have their names engraved on beautiful permanent trophies, generously donated to the club by inbusys, I.T. Support Specialists for demanding SMB environments.

Round 1 – February 9

It’s an interesting first round in the Championship section as two of the frontrunners, Michael Humphreys and Jonathan Yu, are held to a draw in their games by lower-rated opponents. Atop the lead group, Joseph Bellissimo gains the full point (see game below) as do Dave Southam, Ismail Ibrahim, Robert Bzikot, and Sergey Malakhovets.

Meanwhile, 26 players in the Under-1800 section are vying for the Reserve title. After one round, there’s a 10-way tie for first.

Games from Round 1

[Event "ACC Championship"] [Site "Toronto"] [Date "2015.02.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Rhys Goldstein"] [Black "Joseph Bellissimo"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Rhys Goldstein"] [WhiteElo "2026"] [BlackElo "2218"] [ECO "E40"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Qc2 {Better is 7.cxd5, after which only the recapture 7…Nxd5 should be met with 8.Qc2.} O-O 8. cxd5 exd5 9. f3 {White reconsiders 9.Bd3 in light of 9…c4, since the ideal retreat square c2 is blocked. 9.f3 is intended to keep the Black pieces at a safe distance while White slowly develops the kingside pieces.} Nc6 10. Kf2 Qb6 11. Rb1 Qc7 {Black’s Qd8-b6-c7 maneuver lures White’s rook onto b1 where a future …Bf5 will come with tempo.} 12. Ne2 Ne7 13. Qd2 Nf5 14. Ng3 c4 15. Be2 Re8 16. Nxf5 Bxf5 17. Rb2 Re7 18. Bd1 Rae8 19. Qe1 Qd7 20. Bc2 Bxc2 21. Rxc2 Qf5 22. Re2 Ne4+ 23. Kg1 Ng5 {Better was 23…Nd6, with possibilities of switching to the queenside or increasing pressure in the center with 24…Qd3 and 25…Nf5.} 24. Qf2 Qg6 25. h3 Ne6 26. Rc2 Nc7 27. Kh2 Nb5 28. a4 Nd6 {The Black knight makes 4 moves in a row, only to reach a square it could have obtained on move 23. But the long knight journey has provoked White’s a-pawn to advance one square, and this ends up winning Black the game!} 29. Re1 b5 30. Ba3 bxa4 31. Rce2 Re6 32. Qg3 Qxg3+ 33. Kxg3 Nf5+ {? There is nothing left for Black on the kingside. Better was 33…Nb5 to focus on the queenside instead. Now White finally equalizes.} 34. Kf2 g6 35. e4 dxe4 36. fxe4 {Glad to have resolved all kingside difficulties, White becomes overconfident and plays for a win. More prudent was 36.Rxe4 forcing an exchange of at least one pair of rooks.} Nd6 37. Bxd6 Rxd6 38. e5 Rb6 39. Kf3 {Turning down 39.Ra1 with a fairly easy draw. White is still optimistic that the passed d-pawn and centralized king offer winning chances. In fact Black’s chances are better.} Rb3 40. Re3 a3 41. Ra1 Re6 {! An exclamation mark for boldness. Black commits both rooks to supporting the a-pawn.} 42. d5 Ra6 43. Ke4 Rb2 44. d6 Kf8 45. Kd5 a2 46. Rf3 Ke8 47. Rff1 Rab6 48. Rf4 Rd2+ 49. Rd4 Rxg2 50. Kxc4 {Better was 50.Rxc4 with the appreciable threat of 51.Rc8+, though Black can prevent this with 50…Rd2+.} Rb1 51. Rd1 Rxd1 52. Rxd1 Rb2 53. Ra1 Kd7 {With White’s rook stuck in the corner, Black is now completely winning.} 54. Kc5 {54.Kd5 is met with 54…Rd2+ 55.Ke4 f6 winning the center pawns. Alternatively, 54.Kd3 heading to the kingside loses as in the variations given.} (54. Kd3 g5 55. Ke3 h5 56. Kf3 g4+ 57. Kg3 (57. hxg4 h4 58. g5 h3 59. Kg3 h2 ) gxh3 58. Kxh3 f6 59. exf6 Kxd6 60. Kh4 (60. Re1 Rf2 ) Ke6 61. Kxh5 Kxf6 62. Kg4 Ke5 63. Kf3 Kd5 64. Ke3 Kc4 ) g5 55. Rf1 {Desperation, but otherwise Black simply obtains a passed h-pawn and wins.} Rb1 56. Rxf7+ Ke6 57. Re7+ Kf5 58. d7 {58.Rxa7 a1=Q 59.Rxa1 Rxa1 is hopeless as White’s pawns are easily stopped.} a1=Q 59. d8=Q Qxc3+ {With mate next move. A very well played endgame by Black.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Round 2 – February 23

See complete results below.

New players are welcome to join in Round 3 on Monday March 2. Games start at 7:30 pm. Arrive by 7:00 pm to register.

Results after Round Two

SwissSys Standings. ACC Club Championship : Crown

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1	Joseph Bellissimo	147544	2218	W20	W7	2.0
2	David Southam	102535	2190	W11	W6	2.0
3	Michael Humphreys	131628	2383	D9	W8	1.5
4	Jonathan Yu	126131	2206	D10	W18	1.5
5	Hugh Siddeley	120619	2110	H—	W19	1.5
6	Ismail Ibrahim	105228	2045	W21	L2	1.0
7	Sergey Malakhovets	158413	2102	W16	L1	1.0
8	Robert Bzikot	132541	2041	W17	L3	1.0
9	Daniel Wiebe	132137	2039	D3	D13	1.0
10	Miroslav Stefanovic	154500	1995	D4	D12	1.0
11	Alex T. Ferreira	127516	1982	L2	W21	1.0
12	Bill Evans	103309	2047	H—	D10	1.0
13	Jacob Stein	108627	1951	H—	D9	1.0
14	Barry Nash	120160	2042	D18	H—	1.0
15	Tyler Longo	135360	2025	H—	H—	1.0
16	Armand Jess Mendoza	156958	1970	L7	W20	1.0
17	Tigran Ghazarian	155438	1609	L8	B—	1.0
18	Daniel Zotkin	146857	1921	D14	L4	0.5
19	Erwin Casareno	146639	2005	H—	L5	0.5
20	Rhys Goldstein	110906	2026	L1	L16	0.0
21	Arkadiy Ugodnikov	146626	1936	L6	L11	0.0

SwissSys Standings. ACC Club Championship : U1800

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1	Max England	155135	1588	W25	W13	2.0
2	Robert J. Armstrong	100034	1582	W26	W11	2.0
3	Kamran Amirirad	158329	1581	W22	W12	2.0
4	Hooshang Ab-barin	152910	1689	W14	D6	1.5
5	Richard Essery	135206	1656	W23	D7	1.5
6	Ulli Diemer	153538	1576	W15	D4	1.5
7	Mark A. Patton	104721	1557	W27	D5	1.5
8	Mark A. Gelowitz	126627	1455	H—	W20	1.5
9	Brendan Grady	158392	1234	H—	W18	1.5
10	Daniele Pirri	132983	1548	H—	W19	1.5
11	Richard Morrison	135889	1286	W16	L2	1.0
12	Greg Beal	101490	1702	W17	L3	1.0
13	Bill Thornton	131181	1557	W24	L1	1.0
14	Jean-Marc David	151900	1393	L4	W26	1.0
15	Christopher Field	108098	1086	L6	W25	1.0
16	Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy	153938	1615	L11	W21	1.0
17	George Supol	152286	1419	L12	W27	1.0
18	Jack Maguire	144604	1590	D19	L9	0.5
19	Milan Cvetkovic	150817	1244	D18	L10	0.5
20	Rahul Gangolli	156023	1047	H—	L8	0.5
21	Martin Pitt-Bradley	158457	887	H—	L16	0.5
22	Howard Halim	153419	1088	L3	H—	0.5
23	Raymond Lin	150193	1313	L5	H—	0.5
24	Michael Finkelstein	158620	880	L13	H—	0.5
25	Alex Geddie	155388	1093	L1	L15	0.0
26	Derek Chen	156690	1089	L2	L14	0.0
27	Larissa Souchko	145490	1009	L7	L17	0.0

Legend

W = win (e.g., W9 means a win against player 9 – worth 1 point)
L = loss (0 pt)
D = draw (½ pt)
H = ½-pt bye (requested in advance or assigned on registration, max 2 per player, not in final round)
B = 1-pt bye (“forced bye” – e.g., odd number of players)
U = 0-pt bye (e.g., when max ½-pt byes previously awarded, or in final round)
F = forfeit loss (0 pt)
X = forfeit win (1 pt)