Starting on April 1, 2019, our latest club tournament is the April Fools Swiss.
ACC April Fools Swiss is a five-round CFC-rated tournament in three sections, Crown, U1800, and U1400. Time control is 90 min/side with a 30-s increment. The round starts at 7:30 pm on Monday nights April 1 to May 6. New players can register on site each round by 7 pm. Email registration or bye requests before 6 pm.
Round One – April 1
There are 38 players facing off in Round One on April Fools’ Day.
Round Two – April 8
A few new players join our ship of fools. When the games are done, it’s Michael Bitton in the lead in the Crown with 2.0/2. In U1800 it’s a three-way tie between Arkadiy Ugodnikov, Lorne Schwartz, and Bob Armstrong with 2.0/2. And in U1400, it’s Richard Guo and Roger Zuo tied with 2.0/2.
Round Three – April 15
See full results below.
Off-week – April 22
The club is closed for Easter Monday.
Round Four – April 29
New players are welcome to join in Rd 4. Sign up before 6 pm by email, or before 7:00 on site. Games start at 7:30 pm.
Monday nights, 7:15-8:15pm, 459 Bloor Street West, March 18 to May 6
$168 for 7 weeks – all materials provided
Have you thought about getting into tournament chess? Here’s a new course that gets you ready to do just that!
Taught by professional chess instructor, Cameron Robertson, this 7-week course covers all the basic elements of tournament chess and gives you the tools to continue to learn on your own.
Week 1 – Starting Line
– Notation Review
– Tournament Play + Clock Play – Expectations
– Setting goals
– Understanding Classes of Openings
Material: Starting Opening List
Week 2 – Openings
– Basics – review for both white and black – first several moves for each of French, Italian, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Queen’s Gambit, King’s Gambit
– Concept of variations
– Developing a style over time
Material: Opening List Continued
After week 2 we will have the Tools to continue to explore openings on our own.
Week 3 – Middle Game: Position
– Continuing from Openings to understanding Position
– Strengths and Weaknesses in Position
– Defence and Attack
Material: Positions Worksheet
Week 4 – Middle Game: Tactics
– Understanding Tactics – Tools of Attack
– Calculating Thoroughly – Examining all the Possibilities
Material: Tactics Compilation 1
After week 4 we will have positional vision and understand how to use tactics to our advantage.
Week 5 – End Game: Strategies
– Understanding the Endgame
– Toolbox for Endgame
Material: Endgame Tactics
Week 6 – End Game: Bringing it Together
– How the Middle Game transitions into the Endgame
– Setting yourself up for a strong End Game
Material: Tactics Compilation 2
After Week 6 you should feel comfortable in all stages of a chess game.
Week 7 – Analysis and Regimen
– Computer Analysis (chess engines)
– Online play and time control (avoid blitz)
– Setting goals (reinforce)
– Further Notation
– Setting yourself up for Success – Tactics, Practice and Theory
Material: Tactics Compilation 3 and Games List
After the Program you will be prepared for tournament play and have all the tools to further your chess game.
Come to Annex Chess Club on Monday night to register on site. See you there!
It’s time for another edition of our annual Club Championship! (Check out the club championship tag for past editions!)
The format for the Club Championship is a little different than our regular Swisses: six rounds and just two sections, Championship and Reserve.
The Championship section sees the top players at our club vie for the title of 2019 Club Champion! Sergey Noritsyn is the defending champion. The minimum rating to enter the section is 1700.
The Reserve section sees players rated under 1800 compete for the title of 2019 Reserve Champion. Last year it was Michael Saltat.
All are welcome!
All are welcome to join us for the event, but only full-year members are eligible to win the Club Champion and Reserve Champion titles. Winners’ names will be engraved on permanent trophies at the club.
Rounds are at 7:30 pm on six Monday evenings, starting February 11 and running to March 25 (no round on Family Day, February 18). Registered players may request a bye by email before 6:00 pm. New players are asked to please register on site by 7:00 to make sure that you’re paired for the night’s round.
Round One – February 11
The tournament gets under way with 9 players in the Championship section and 28 in the Reserves. We’re off next week for Family Day, but new players are welcome to join in Round Two.
CLOSED – February 18
We’re closed for Family Day, so it’s an off-week for the tournament, but don’t miss the Hart House Reading Week Open!
Round Two – February 25
After two rounds, Josh Guo leads the Championship with a perfect 2.0/2. Dave Southam, Sergey Malakhovets, Shawn Talsma, and Michael Bitton are just a half point behind with 1.5/2. In the Reserve section, there’s still a big tie with five players tied for the lead at 2.0/2.
Here’s a game from the top section.
Round Three – March 4
After three rounds, there’s a tie for the lead in the Championship section as Josh Guo and Sergey Malkhovets each have 2.5/3. In the Reserves, only two players are still perfect as Lucy Gao and Colton Belanger share the lead at 3.0/3.
Round Four – March 11
After four rounds, Josh Guo is alone again in first with 3.5/4 in the Championship section. With two rounds to go, can anyone catch him? In the Reserves, Colton Belanger is still perfect with 4.0/4. Can he make it a perfect 6.0/6?
Round Five – March 18
Josh Guo is still in the lead with 4.5/5 going into the last round. It looks like a new Club Champion will be crowned this year!
In the Reserves, Colton Belanger is held to a draw, but still leads with 4.5/5.
One more round to go…
Round Six – March 25
The final round! When the dust settles, it’s Matthew Furrow taking clear first in the Reserve section with 5.0/6. Congratulations, Matthew!
And our new club champion is Josh Guo, with 5.5/6. Congratulations, Josh!
Celebrating new beginnings in a new year, our latest installment of the 5-round club Swiss launches January 7, 2019.
ACC New Beginnings Swiss is a five-round CFC-rated tournament in three sections, Crown, U1800, and U1400. Time control is 90 min/side with a 30-s increment. The round starts at 7:30 pm on Monday nights January 7 to February 4. New players can register on site each round by 7 pm. Email registration or bye requests before 6 pm.
Round One – January 7
Just 30 players face off in Round One as a new year starts at Annex Chess Club.
It’s a stormy beginning on many of the boards, and there are one or two upsets in each section – in the Crown section, Hooshang Ab-Barin (1762) defeats Sergey Malakhovets (2128); in U1800, Colton Belanger (1447) defeats Victor Stroganov (1587) and Peter Lambert (1471) defeats Dragan Jevtic (1625); and in U1400 Richard Guo (1078) defeats Margarita Lillico (1274), and Carina D’Souza (933) defeats Mark Patton (1228).
Round Two – January 14
New players join in the second round, and the tournament grows to 40 players.
Now leading in U1400 is Roger Zuo with 2.0/2. In U1800, it’s Sihao Chen with 2.0/2. And in the Crown, with 2.0/2, it’s Dave Southam!
Round Three – January 21
In U1800, Sihao Chen is unseated, leaving a three-way tie for the lead at 2.5/3 with Bharath Ramesh, Matthew Furrow, and Robert Wagner sharing first position. In the Crown, David Southam holds his lead with 3.0/3. And in U1400, it’s still Roger Zuo with 3.0/3.
Round Four – January 28
While the winter storm keeps many players away, there are still a few who won’t let anything stand in the way of their weekly chess game.
When the games finish, Dave Southam has a commanding lead with 4.0/4 – a full point and a half ahead of his closest rivals! In U1800, it’s now a four-way tie as Sihao Chen and Lorne Schwartz join the leader group. And in U1400, Rose Tuong defeats Roger Zuo, but Roger still holds the lead with 3.0/4.
Round Five – February 4
In the Crown, Dave Southam takes the night off and cruises to a win with 4.0/5. In U1800, Lorne Schwartz wins his last-round game and takes the section with 4.0/5. And in U1400, Richard Guo and Rose Tuong tie for the lead with 3.5/5.
In lieu of our regular slow-chess tournament, on our last club night of the year, December 17, the 2018 Holiday Rapid is a one-night six-round tournament – in one big section, at a time control of 9 min each with a 3-sec increment.
Cost: FREE for ACC members, $15 for non-members ($10 for juniors). Add $12 for CFC ($6 for juniors) if you’re not a CFC member.
If you don’t get enough chess this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Hart House, join us for a final night of chess for 2018 on Monday!
Please note: our new location – downstairs at 459A Bloor W (at Major)
(Also please note, we’ll be CLOSED on Dec 24 and 31.)
Congratulations, Erik Malmsten (first place), and Richard Guo (U1400). U1800 was a four-way tie. Thanks to all, and wish everyone a wonderful holiday!
