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2018 Toronto Blitz Chess Championship – June 10

May 14, 2018 king Leave a comment

The 2018 Toronto Blitz Championship is Sunday June 10 – part of Harbourfront Centre Chessfest

Round 3 games on the top boards (photo: John Upper)

Last Year’s Winners

Mark Plotkin and Artiom Samsonkin were 2017 Toronto Blitz Champions (photo: John Upper)

FIDE-Rated

The tournament is rated by CFC and FIDE.

Details

Style: 7 double-round Swiss, FIDE and CFC-rated
Time Control: 3 minutes each, plus 2 seconds per move
Registration: https://guestli.st/563637
Entry Fees: $50 before June 4 / $60 after or on site
Junior/Senior: Less $10 for 18 & under or 60+ (as of June 1)
Membership: Up-to-date CFC membership required
Chief Arbiter: Alex Ferreira

FIRST PRIZE: $1000 Guaranteed
(Remaining prizes based on entries)

Equipment: Chess sets and clocks are provided
Organizer: Annex Chess Club

News

2018 GTCL Cup – Toronto Rapid Team Chess Championship – June 18

May 12, 2018 king Leave a comment

GTCL Cup Team entry form – 2018

Results

ACC Smash Crash Swiss

April 30, 2018 king Leave a comment

As summer comes to Toronto, we have fond memories of summer street chess from the past. The spot in the 1970s and 80s used to be beside Sam the Record Man on Yonge, and one of the celebrities from those days was Josef Smolij. His favourite opening was the “Smash-Crash Gambit.” So our current club tournament is named Smash Crash in his honour.

ACC Smash Crash Swiss is a five-round CFC-rated tournament in two sections, Top and U1400. (We usually have three sections, but many of our top players are currently participating in the concurrent Toronto Closed Chess Championship.) Time control is 90 min/side with a 30-s increment. The round starts at 7:30 pm on Monday nights April 30 to Jun 4. Register on site each round by 7 pm. Email registration or bye requests before 6pm.

Round One – April 30

Round One players include a four-player contingent from Ryerson Chess Club, and Ryerson’s Tony Yueh (1390) scores an upset victory over Bharath Ramesh (1638) to join the U1800 lead group at 1.0/1.

In U1400 action, father-son team Valery Stroganov and Victor Stroganov are both victorious, joining the 5-way tie for first with 1.0/1.

Round Two – May 7

The leader group in the Top Section is down to four players as Arkadiy Ugodnikov, Dragan Jevtic, Salim Belcadi, and Erdem Daldal all win their games.

In U1400, only two players are still perfect. Dennis Tran and Valery Stroganov have 2.0/2.

Round Three – May 14

In U1400, Dennis Tran wins the playoff on Board 1 to take sole possession of the lead at 3.0/3. Six players trail him at 2.0/3.

See full results below.

Off week – May 21

The tournament is taking a break for the Victoria Day long weekend – but don’t miss the 2018 Ontario Open.

Round Four – May 28

Join us in Round Four! New players are always welcome. Please email before 6:00, or register on site before 7:00 pm to sign up. You need both CFC and club membership, but both can be purchased from us, and we have a variety of club membership options available. If you’re already signed up, but you can’t make it, again please email before 6:00 pm to let us know so we don’t put you in the pairings.

Ranking cross-tables after Round 3

ACC Smash Crash Swiss – Top section

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	Pts.
1	Jevtic Dragan	1442	CAN	5b1	16w1	8b1	3
2	Belcadi Salim	1388	CAN	19b1	12w1	4w1	3
3	Liao Run Ming	1671	CAN	-½	-1	13b1	2.5
4	Ugodnikov Arkadiy	1720	CAN	24b1	14w1	2b0	2
5	Saltat Michael	1656	CAN	1w0	24b1	20w1	2
6	Belanger Colton	1113	CAN	11w0	23b1	15w1	2
7	McSherry Peter	1831	CAN	-½	22b1	-½	2
8	Daldal Erdem	1764	CAN	-1	11b1	1w0	2
9	Bitton Michael	0	CAN	-½	-½	16b1	2
10	Hanratty Brian	1683	CAN	-½	-½	24w1	2
11	Kwan Toy Chack	1556	CAN	6b1	8w0	14b½	1.5
12	Ab-Barin Hooshang	1598	CAN	-½	2b0	22w1	1.5
13	Guo Haotong Hazel	1569	CAN	17b1	-½	3w0	1.5
14	Wagner Robert	1544	CAN	23w1	4b0	11w½	1.5
15	Ramesh Bharath	1638	CAN	18b0	17w1	6b0	1
16	Schwartz Lorne	1564	CAN	21w1	1b0	9w0	1
17	Kalmanson Evgeny	1368	CAN	13w0	15b0	23w1	1
18	Yueh Tony	1390	CAN	15w1	0	0	1
19	Armstrong Robert J.	1605	CAN	2w0	21b½	-½	1
20	Supol George	1343	CAN	-½	-½	5b0	1
21	Stefanovich-Thomson Alexis	1285	CAN	16b0	19w½	-½	1
22	Stroganov Victor	1319	CAN	-½	7w0	12b0	0.5
23	Chen Sihao	1597	CAN	14b0	6w0	17b0	0
24	Dixon Javier	1517	CAN	4w0	5w0	10b0	0

Updated results are also available on the Chess-Results server.

ACC Smash Crash Swiss – U1400 section

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	Pts.
1	Tran Dennis	1265	CAN	15b1	2w1	4b1	3
2	Bar-Natan Itai	1285	CAN	14w1	1b0	8w1	2
3	Tuchow Ryan	1168	CAN	6w0	15b1	13w1	2
4	Stroganov Valery	1064	CAN	9b1	13w1	1w0	2
5	Moiseev Alex	1119	CAN	13b½	11w1	6b½	2
6	Noritsyn Ivan	955	CAN	3b1	-½	5w½	2
7	Lambert Peter	1160	CAN	-½	-½	12b1	2
8	Kamnitzer Benjamin	965	CAN	10b0	9w1	2b0	1
9	Kalniev Stefan	1166	CAN	4w0	8b0	15w1	1
10	Stroganov Victor	1319	CAN	8w1	0	0	1
11	Spahic Matthew	1296	CAN	-½	5b0	-½	1
12	Patton Mark A.	1228	CAN	-½	-½	7w0	1
13	Souchko Larissa	954	CAN	5w½	4b0	3b0	0.5
14	Pancer Jeff	1062	CAN	2b0	0	0	0
15	Wadhwa Rymn	1040	CAN	1w0	3w0	9b0	0

Updated results are also available on the Chess-Results server.

The feature image is from a photograph of Joe “Kill as you Go!” Smolij by Norman A Bolduc. Click the link to see the original and more of his work.

News

2018 Ontario Open – registration is open!

March 31, 2018 king 5 Comments

Registration is now open for the Ontario Open, May 19-21, in Toronto.

Advance registration discounts are available till May 14, 2018.

Tickets: https://guestli.st/506136

See the event page for more details.

News

Representing ACC in Germany

March 30, 2018 king Leave a comment

Daniel Wiebe is in Germany, representing ACC in the Grenke Chess Open.

Here’s his report:

March 29-30 – Rounds 1-3

It’s been an insanely busy schedule. This is probably the most impressive tournament I’ve ever played in. There’s almost 1500 players in total and over 700 in my section (the top section) alone.

I had a rough start, losing to an FM from a winning position in a time scramble, then I slept right through the second round. But things are looking up. I managed to draw a lost position against a player elo 2160.

Looking forward to tomorrow when Magnus, Caruana, Anand, Hou Yifan, Aronian, MVL and the rest will be joining us. I believe Caruana plays Carlsen Tomorrow which will be an interesting prelude to their world championship match.

March 31 – Rounds 4-5

Hi guys!

So far, between watching the chess elite up close and getting to browse an insane amount of chess books, this tournament is a chess player’s playground. Now if only I could remember how to play….

I battled two players with FIDE ratings of just over 2100 today, drawing the first and losing to the second. Unfortunately I made one-move blunders in both games, which I’m blaming on sleep deprivation. Hopefully after a good night’s rest I’ll start finding more interesting ways to blunder.

[White "Matthias Schwab"] [Black "Daniel Wiebe"] [Event "Grenke chess Open"] [Site "Karlsruhe Germany"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Round "4"] [WhiteElo "2116"] [BlackElo "1959"] [ECO "D85"] [Date "2018.03.31"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Be3 c5 8. Rc1 O-O 9. Qd2 Nc6 $2 {A natural move that drops a pawn. But black gets good compensation with control of the c4 square, the bishop pair, and finally, not allowing white to castle. This would almost give black full equality if it wasn’t for the fact that white’s extra pawn is a central, protected passer.} 10. d5 Na5 11. Bxc5 Qc7 12. Bd4 e5 13. Be3 Nc4 14. Bxc4 Qxc4 15. f3 f5 16. Qe2 Qa4 17. Qc2 Qa5 18. Ne2 fxe4 19. fxe4 Bd7 20. Qd2 Rac8 21. c4 Qa4 22. Qc2 Qa5+ 23. Qd2 (23. Bd2 Qc5 {is very dangerous for white.} ) (23. Qc3 Qxa2 24. c5 (24. Ra1 ) Bb5 25. Qd2 Qa3 $13 ) Qa4 24. Qc2 Qa5+ 25. Qd2 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

April 1-2 – Rounds 6-9

Hi guys! Here’s the finish to the tournament.

Days 4 and 5 were interesting. I finally managed to win an extremely messy game in round 6 against a player rated around 1860. I then lost in round 7. On day 5 I managed a solid win against Cristiano Quaranta rated around 2160 FIDE. It was probably my most consistent game of the tournament and I’ve posted it here. Because of the win I was in the running for the U2000 prize but lost the critical last round game.

[Event "Grenke Open"] [Site "Karlsruhe, Germany"] [Date "2018.04.02"] [Round "8"] [White "Cristiano Quaranta"] [Black "Daniel Wiebe"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2160"] [BlackElo "1959"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2018.04.02"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e4 {This little trick of not allowing black to exchange knights on c3 after pawn e4 usually gives white an opening edge. Here though white has wasted a tempo on pawn e3 already, and every tempo in the Gruenfeld is crucial. I believe, with correct play, black equalizes easily because of this, although I misplayed my position at the key moment where I could have done so.} Nb6 8. O-O Bg4 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Nbd2 e5 11. Nxe5 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Nxe5 $2 (12... Nxd4 $142 13. Bxd4 Qxd4 14. Ndf3 Qd6 15. Rfd1 Qe7 16. Nd3 Rad8 17. Rac1 Rfe8 {And black is slightly better because of his bishop.}) 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Nf3 Bg7 15. a4 Nd7 {Now white gets his rooks centralized and blacks position is a bit uncomfortable to play.} 16. Rfd1 Qe7 17. Bg5 Qe6 18. Rac1 Ne5 19. Nd4 Qb6 20. Nb5 Nc6 { Re-routing the knight to e4 to either gain a useful square or trade off white’s strong knight.} 21. Bf4 Rac8 22. Nc3 $2 {I have no idea whiy Rd7 wasn’t played, which would’ve been tricky to deal with.} Nd4 23. Qc4 c5 24. Nd5 Qe6 25. Re1 b6 26. Bg3 Kh8 27. f3 Rfd8 {At this point both of us had around 15 minutes left to reach 40 moves. I think I started to play faster and more confidently then my opponent here for 2 reasons. I had the realization I should play the position as if I was playing a rapid game as rapid is generally my strongest time control. I tend to focus really well when I feel I only have 15 minutes for the whole game. The second was that I at least have a plan of trying to push my queenside pawns whereas my opponent starts playing for tricks and planlessly.} 28. Bh4 Re8 29. Ne3 Qd7 30. Rcd1 Qb7 {to try and push my a and b pawns. My opponent prevents this but gets his queen trapped in the process.} 31. Qd5 Qc7 32. Nc4 Re6 33. Bg3 Qe7 34. Nd6 Rf8 (34... Rd8 $4 35. Nxf7+) 35. Rd2 $2 Be5 36. Nc4 {A blunder in time trouble} Bxg3 37. hxg3 Rd8 38. Rxd4 cxd4 39. Qb5 Qc5 40. Qxc5 bxc5 41. b3 Rb8 42. Nd2 c4 43. Nxc4 Rxb3 44. Rd1 d3 45. Kf2 Ra6 46. Ne5 Kg7 47. Nxd3 Rxa4 48. g4 Rd4 {The pin foces white to trade into a rook vs knight endgame where blacks rook and passed pawn would easily win.} 49. Ke2 (49. Ke3 Rdxd3+ 50. Rxd3 Rxd3+ 51. Kxd3 Kf6 52. f4 g5 53. g3 Ke6 54. Kd4 a5 55. Kc4 a4 56. Kb4 Kd6 57. Kxa4 Kc5 {This endgame is a bit harder to calculate but would have won as well.}) 49... a5 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Other then that, I couldn’t help but buy a few books from the fantastic selection they had. I had a cool experience just standing in the store area browsing through a book for a little while before looking up to see Levon Aronian (World number 4 for those unfamiliar) standing next to me doing the same thing. Shows that chess books are still very relevant in the digital age.

Overall it was a very busy, but still very inpiring tournament experience that I recommend highly for any Europe travellers. But do give yourselves at least a few extra days to fully recover from jet lag first.

I hope you all enjoyed the posts and I look forward to reporting on any future international tournaments!

Annex Chess Club | Toronto

2018 Toronto Blitz Chess Championship – June 10

Last Year’s Winners

FIDE-Rated

Details

2018 GTCL Cup – Toronto Rapid Team Chess Championship – June 18

ACC Smash Crash Swiss

Round One – April 30

Round Two – May 7

Round Three – May 14

Off week – May 21

Round Four – May 28

Ranking cross-tables after Round 3

ACC Smash Crash Swiss – Top section

ACC Smash Crash Swiss – U1400 section

2018 Ontario Open – registration is open!

Representing ACC in Germany

March 29-30 – Rounds 1-3

March 31 – Rounds 4-5

April 1-2 – Rounds 6-9

Chess for everyone