Annex Chess Club

Toronto weather can whip up quickly. Winter snow squalls cause low visibility on the highways and bring big accumulations overnight. But then all that snow can vanish just as quickly!

The ACC Snow Squall Swiss is our first tournament of the new year. A 5-round Swiss in three sections, it starts January 5 and will be all wrapped up on Groundhog Day, February 2.

Round 1 – January 5

Round One sees 34 players in action, battling in three sections, with a number of upsets recorded at the end of the night. In the Crown section, Sergey Malakhovets (1937) beats Alex Ferreira (2044). In U1900, young Tigran Ghazarian (1500) takes down Nicholas Wu (1632) while Daniel Pirri (1525) defeats veteran Bob Armstrong (1641). And in U1500, Howard Halim (1066) pulls off a win against Richard Morrison (1332).

We are also pleased to welcome to our club two new players, Michael Finkelstein and Marc Flores. And both are victorious on their first outing! Welcome and congratulations, Michael and Marc!

Round 2 – January 12

Winners from the last round play winners, and the leading group starts to dwindle. In the Crown section, the few, the proud, include just two players, Michael Humphreys and Sergey Malakhovets, both with 2.0/2.

In U1900, it’s down to Kamran Amirirad and Marc Flores, both with 2.0/2.

And in U1500, the leader group includes the usual suspects, Jean-Marc David, Mark Gelowitz, and Milan Cvetkovic.

Round 3 – January 19

With a win over Sergey Malakhovets, Michael Humphreys emerges as the sole leader in the Crown section with a perfect 3-0 record. Wajdy Shebetah, victorious over Daniel Wiebe, is in second place with 2.5/3.

In U1900, co-leaders Kamran Amirirad and Marc Flores draw their game, while Michael Sutton, with a win over Greg Beal, catches up to the lead group – all three now with 2.5/3. A tight race is heating up in this section!

In U1500, Mark Gelowitz takes sole possession of first place with a win over Jean-Marc David, as Raymond Lin takes out Milan Cvetkovic.

Round 4 – January 26

Crown section leader Michael Humphreys takes a bye in Round 4. Still, with 3.5/4, Humphreys remains ahead of Wajdy Shebetah, Sergey Malakhovets, and Ismail Ibrahim, all with 3.0/4.

In U1900, co-leaders Kamran Amirirad and Marc Flores are both victorious, while Michael Sutton falls to young Tigran Ghazarian. Amirirad and Flores have 3.5/4 going into the last round.

In U1500, Mark Gelowitz wins again! Ahead by a full point in his section, Gelowitz is the only player in the tournament with a perfect 4.0/4 record. Can he make it 5.0/5 with another win in Round Five?

See complete results below.

Round Five is Monday February 2 at 7:30 pm – and by then we should know whether spring is just around the corner or whether we have six more weeks of winter to look forward to!

New players are welcome. Arrive before 7:00 pm to register.

When this one’s over, don’t miss our 2015 Annex Chess Club Championship: two sections, six rounds, starting February 9!

Results after Round Four

SwissSys Standings. Snow Squall Swiss: Crown

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Total
1	Michael Humphreys	131628	2362	W4	W8	W2	H—	3.5
2	Sergey Malakhovets	158413	1937	W9	W11	L1	W6	3.0
3	Wajdy Shebetah	148432	1983	H—	W9	W10	H—	3.0
4	Ismail Ibrahim	105228	2000	L1	W17	W12	W7	3.0
5	Robert Bzikot	132541	2055	D14	L6	W15	W10	2.5
6	Jacob Stein	108627	1800	D12	W5	D7	L2	2.0
7	Barry Nash	120160	2059	H—	W14	D6	L4	2.0
8	David Southam	102535	2184	W17	L1	H—	H—	2.0
9	Alex T. Ferreira	127516	2044	L2	L3	W17	W11	2.0
10	Daniel Wiebe	132137	2035	H—	W16	L3	L5	1.5
11	Armand Jess Mendoza	156958	1986	D16	L2	W14	L9	1.5
12	Miroslav Stefanovic	154500	2002	D6	D13	L4	H—	1.5
13	Bill Evans	103309	2077	H—	D12	H—	U—	1.5
14	Arkadiy Ugodnikov	146626	1955	D5	L7	L11	W17	1.5
15	Ian Mahoney	149124	1808	H—	H—	L5	U—	1.0
16	Jonathan Yu	126131	2223	D11	L10	U—	U—	0.5
17	Daniel Zotkin	146857	1976	L8	L4	L9	L14	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Snow Squall Swiss: U1900

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Total
1	Kamran Amirirad	158329	1463	W14	W16	D2	W7	3.5
2	Marc Flores		unr.	W5	W6	D1	W4	3.5
3	Tigran Ghazarian	155438	1500	W15	D4	D5	W6	3.0
4	Michael Sutton	151225	1808	W11	D3	W8	L2	2.5
5	Hooshang Ab-barin	152910	1602	L2	W14	D3	W13	2.5
6	Daniele Pirri	132983	1525	W13	L2	W11	L3	2.0
7	Michael D. Sharpe	100280	1556	H—	H—	W10	L1	2.0
8	Greg Beal	101490	1701	H—	D12	L4	W14	2.0
9	Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy	153938	1604	H—	H—	U—	W11	2.0
10	Jack Maguire	144604	1590	H—	D13	L7	W15	2.0
11	Mark A. Patton	104721	1578	L4	W15	L6	L9	1.0
12	Joshua Harmon	158489	unr.	H—	D8	U—	U—	1.0
13	Robert J. Armstrong	100034	1641	L6	D10	H—	L5	1.0
14	Ulli Diemer	153538	1603	L1	L5	B—	L8	1.0
15	Nicholas Wu	154991	1632	L3	L11	W16	L10	1.0
16	Heimo C. Haikala	107606	1788	H—	L1	L15	U—	0.5

SwissSys Standings. Snow Squall Swiss: U1500

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Total
1	Mark A. Gelowitz	126627	1363	W9	W3	W2	W8	4.0
2	Jean-Marc David	151900	1397	W15	W11	L1	W6	3.0
3	Brendan Grady	158392	1222	W5	L1	H—	W11	2.5
4	Dylan Xiong	152060	1140	H—	H—	D12	W5	2.5
5	Henry XianRui Zhang	156492	785	L3	W13	W9	L4	2.0
6	Raymond Lin	150193	1311	H—	H—	W8	L2	2.0
7	Rahul Gangolli	156023	1053	H—	H—	W14	U—	2.0
8	Milan Cvetkovic	150817	1261	W12	W14	L6	L1	2.0
9	Derek Chen	156690	1078	L1	W10	L5	W14	2.0
10	Alex Geddie	155388	1141	L14	L9	W15	W12	2.0
11	Howard Halim	153419	1066	W13	L2	H—	L3	1.5
12	Larissa Souchko	145490	1004	L8	W15	D4	L10	1.5
13	Richard Morrison	135889	1332	L11	L5	H—	W15	1.5
14	Michael Finkelstein		unr.	W10	L8	L7	L9	1.0
15	Teresa Lee	154501	1091	L2	L12	L10	L13	0.0