Annex Chess Club Championship 2014 – January 13 to February 24
Two new trophies (one for each of the Championship and Reserve sections) were donated to ACC by inbusys inc., a keen supporter of the Club for the last three years.
Each trophy will have engraved on it the name of the respective winning Club member and his/her winning score – back to our Club’s first Championship in 2011.

Round One – January 13
With a flurry of last-day email and on-site registrations, we get 50 players paired and ready to go at 7:30 pm. The only casualty is a newcomer, Julian Pulgarin, who somehow gets left out of the player list and has to take a full-point bye. We’re sorry, Julian!
Round One of a Swiss always sees some of the biggest rating mismatches of the tournament as the players in the top half of the section get what should be an easy game, while those in the bottom half face perhaps their most challenging opponent of the tournament. The outcome, however, is never a foregone conclusion, even with a big rating difference. Tonight sees some tough games and quite a few upsets.
In the Reserve section, there are just two surprise results as Teresa Lee defeats Jean-Marc David – a 565-rating-point upset! – and Daniele Pirri defeats Adrian Chin.
But in the Championship section, there is a whole string of upsets, as no less than four underdogs leave the club with something to celebrate: Omar Shah, playing with industrial noise-eliminating earmuffs, defeats Dave Southam; Hugh Siddeley, with an extra tempo after a transpositional trick in an Accelerated Dragon, defeats Andrew Boik (from Alberta); Daniel Wiebe beats Wajdy Shebetah (the recent winner of our New Year’s Blitz); and finally Erik Malmsten takes a full point from Alex Michelashvili.
The top two players in the section, Digeng Du and Michael Humphreys, escape the slaughter on the top boards unscathed, as do Jonathan Yu and Bill Evans, but the field is blown wide open. Digeng and Michael are the two favourites from the outset, but Omar, Hugh, and Dan have shown that anything can happen in this event. It’s certainly interesting to see three players over 2200 playing a full-point Swiss Gambit.
Round One Game of the Week
In this week’s game of the week, Teresa Lee pulls off a big upset win over Jean-Marc David. Her bold bishop sacrifice (13. Bh6) initially looks fishy, but the consequent attack soon turns deadly.
Round Two – January 20
Another dozen players join the tournament in Round Two, bringing us up to 62 players.
In the Championship section, Digeng Du, Michael Humphreys, Bill Evans, and Daniel Wiebe are in the lead with 2.0/2. (Dan is on a tear! After beating Wajdy Shebetah in Round One, he upsets Jonathan Yu in Round Two to stay in the leader group.)
Just half a point behind the four leaders are a trio of new joiners who win their Round Two games after taking a bye in Round One: Pepin Manalo, Pavel Peev, and Hayk Oganesyan.
Among other new joiners this round, Olof Bergenstam – welcome back from Sweden, Olof! – is happy to get a game with international celebrity, Harmony Zhu. Harmony gets a draw against an opponent rated 150 points higher than her, and Olof gets a signed scoresheet he’s going to save.

In the Reserve section, the leader group consists of six players with a perfect 2.0/2 through two rounds: Hooshang Abbarin, Ulli Diemer, Mark Patton, Manuela Renteria, Mark Gelowitz, and Julian Pulgarin. It’s a tight group at the top, with another half a dozen players just half a point behind.
Round Two Game of the Week
In the Round Two game of the week, Hugh Siddeley looks to have defending Club Champion FM Michael Humphreys on the run, but it’s Michael who comes out on top after a rook sacrifice on h3.
Round Three – January 27
And then there were two …
At the halfway mark, the leader group in the Championship section is down to two. Digeng Du and Michael Humphreys are the only remaining players with a perfect 3.0/3. Round Four should see a showdown between the two leaders.
Behind Digeng and Michael, Pepin Manalo follows closely with 2.5/3. And behind him, there are seven players with 2.0/3, including the Swiss gambiteers, Wajdy Shebetah and David Southam, who were upset in Round One and are now chasing the leaders from a point back.
The spotlight tonight, however, is on the game between Jonathan Yu (2147) and Wunderkind Harmony Zhu (1830) as a CBC reporter, doing a story on Harmony, films the start of their game. Despite the media scrutiny, Jonathan holds Harmony to a draw, and both players now have 1.5/3 going into Round Four.
Another distinguished visitor to the club tonight is Sarah Gillet from the Habourfront Centre. (Hope you enjoyed your visit, Sarah!) Look for Annex Chess Club and our friends, the Chess Institute, to announce a chess event at Harbourfront soon. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, down in the Reserve section, the leader group is pared down to three. Hooshang Abbarin, Ulli Diemer, and Julian Pulgarin still have a perfect 3.0/3.

Behind Hooshang, Ulli, and Julian, Marcus Wilker and Michael Sharpe are tied for fourth at 2.5/3, followed by ten players with 2.0.
Round Three Games of the Week
The featured games this week include Olof Bergenstam’s struggle with Dave Southam’s Stonewall – Olof goes the distance against Dave, but in the end, with White in time trouble, Southam wins the pawn-up rook ending. Pepin Manalo has also submitted his game against Hayk Oganesyan. The endgame, he thought, was especially instructive. (Pepin wins a pawn-down ending with rook and knight against White’s rook and bishop.) After posting the game, as annotated by Pepin, I received from Hayk a couple of analytical objections, which I’ve now included as well. I don’t know whether that makes the assessments balanced or just confusing … Readers will have to judge for themselves.
Round Four – February 3
In the Championship section, the top board sees a showdown between the top two, still-perfect players, Michael Humphreys and Digeng Du. At the end of the night, Michael is smiling: through four rounds, he’s still perfect at 4.0/4, and he’s taken care of probably his most serious opposition on his way to a threepeat as ACC Champion!
Pepin Manalo, with a win against Zehn Nasir, is in second, just half a point behind at 3.5/4. Tied for third are a couple of players with 3.0, Digeng Du and Wajdy Shebetah.

In the Reserves, the big game on the top board sees Hooshang Abbarin take out Ulli Diemer.
Meanwhile, newcomer Julian Pulgarin defeats Marcus Wilker to join Hooshang at 4.0/4. Julian played seven rated games back in 2005, earning a provisional rating of 1052, but he’s obviously gotten a bit stronger now – I predict he’ll give Hooshang a run for his money next week!
Julian’s got some moves off the chess board as well:
In third place, Michael Sharpe, with a win over Mark Patton, has 3.5/4.
Round Four Games of the Week
Tyler took a moment behind the desk to do some analysis of Bob’s game, playing a Pirc against Manish. We also have the game, Dave Southam vs Bill Evans, which ended in a draw – thanks to Omar for entering Dave and Bill’s game!
Round Five – February 10
Each section has a dominating leader with a perfect record.
In the Championship section, Michael Humphreys now sits at 5.0/5 after fending off yet another challenger, Pepin Manalo. Michael heads into the final round a full point – or more – ahead of his closest rivals, most of whom he’s already played (L1 is peppered liberally through the top 6 players’ results).
Michael has won the Club Championship two years in a row, both times with 5.5/6. Can he make it a perfect 6.0/6 this year?
In the Reserve section, Julian Pulgarin’s win streak comes to a close as he finally loses a game at ACC – but not until he plays on the top board of the Reserve section. Hooshang Abbarin, after his win against Julian, is a full point ahead of the crowd with a perfect 5.0/5.
Will both trophies be engraved with 6.0/6 this year?
The final round will be played in two weeks time, after a week off for Family Day.
NOTE: The club will be CLOSED Monday February 17 – and many ACCers will be playing in the 2014 Reading Week Open at Hart House, Saturday to Monday, February 15 to 17.
Round Six – February 25
In the Championship section, leader Michael Humphreys faces one final challenger – Wajdy Shebetah. Wajdy let’s us know he’s going to be late and arrives with less than 45 minutes left on his clock. “It’s not really a disadvantage,” Michael says afterwards. “Wajdy never uses all his time.” Whether or not time is a factor, Michael is victorious. We are thus proud to announce our 2014 Club Champion, getting his name engraved on the trophy for the third year in a row, this time with a perfect 6.0/6, is … Michael Humphreys! Congratulations, Michael!
Behind Michael are four players with 4.0/6. On tie break, the silver goes to Daniel Wiebe. And the bronze goes to Hugh Siddeley. Congratulation, Hugh and Dan.
Meanwhile, in the Reserves, top board is Hooshang Abbarin, with 5.0/5, defending his title against the wily Jack Maguire who is a full point back at 4.0/5. Unfortunately for Jack, even after a win against Hooshang – thus tying him for first at 5.0/6 – it’s Hooshang who has the best tie break. Jack takes silver, and Michael Sharpe takes bronze. Congratulations to all three Reserve winners, and especially to Hooshang Abbarin, whose name will be engraved on the trophy this year!
See complete standings below.
[Note that the standings table is sorted properly within each point group using our 4 successive tie-break systems: 1. Modifided Median-Buchholz (the sum of opponents’ total scores, with bottom score, top score, or both, discarded, depending on whether the tied players’ final scores are plus, minus, or equal); 2. Solkoff (simply the sum of opponents’ total scores); 3. Cumulative Score (the sum of the player’s own cumulative scores from each round); and 4. Performance of Opposition (the average performance rating of the player’s opposition)]
Final Results after all six rounds
SwissSys Standings. Club Championship 2014: Championship
# | Name | CFC# | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael Humphreys | 131628 | 2293 | W9 | W3 | W2 | W4 | W6 | W7 | 6.0 |
2 | Daniel Wiebe | 132137 | 1919 | W7 | W20 | L1 | H— | D5 | W10 | 4.0 |
3 | Hugh Siddeley | 120619 | 1933 | W12 | L1 | H— | D10 | W20 | W13 | 4.0 |
4 | Digeng Du | 107986 | 2295 | W11 | W8 | W13 | L1 | W16 | U— | 4.0 |
5 | David Southam | 102535 | 2244 | L8 | W14 | W15 | D13 | D2 | W6 | 4.0 |
6 | Pepin Manalo | 112277 | 1783 | H— | W18 | W10 | W17 | L1 | L5 | 3.5 |
7 | Wajdy Shebetah | 148432 | 2215 | L2 | W25 | W8 | W19 | H— | L1 | 3.5 |
8 | Omaray M. Shah | 121329 | 1950 | W5 | L4 | L7 | D14 | W26 | D11 | 3.0 |
9 | Nicholas Vettese | 154199 | 1956 | L1 | L12 | W25 | D11 | W15 | D14 | 3.0 |
10 | Hayk Oganesyan | 152587 | 1963 | H— | W24 | L6 | D3 | W19 | L2 | 3.0 |
11 | Miroslav Stefanovic | 154500 | 2003 | L4 | H— | D18 | D9 | W25 | D8 | 3.0 |
12 | Andrew Boik | 131279 | 2231 | L3 | W9 | H— | H— | U— | W18 | 3.0 |
13 | Bill Evans | 103309 | 2046 | W24 | W26 | L4 | D5 | L22 | L3 | 2.5 |
14 | Alexandre Michelashvili | 149568 | 2020 | L19 | L5 | W24 | D8 | D18 | D9 | 2.5 |
15 | Olof Bergenstam | 153937 | 1984 | H— | D16 | L5 | D18 | L9 | W26 | 2.5 |
16 | Harmony Zhu | 151635 | 1830 | H— | D15 | D20 | X27 | L4 | U— | 2.5 |
17 | Zehn Nasir | 148198 | 2125 | D18 | H— | W26 | L6 | H— | U— | 2.5 |
18 | Daniel Zotkin | 146857 | 1895 | D17 | L6 | D11 | D15 | D14 | L12 | 2.0 |
19 | Erik Malmsten | 100196 | 1884 | W14 | L21 | W27 | L7 | L10 | U— | 2.0 |
20 | Jonathan Yu | 126131 | 2147 | W25 | L2 | D16 | H— | L3 | U— | 2.0 |
21 | Pavel Peev | 122223 | 2219 | H— | W19 | H— | U— | U— | U— | 2.0 |
22 | Jonathan Farine | 148113 | 1952 | H— | H— | U— | U— | W13 | U— | 2.0 |
23 | Alex T. Ferreira | 127516 | 2049 | H— | H— | U— | U— | U— | W25 | 2.0 |
24 | Arkadiy Ugodnikov | 146626 | 1885 | L13 | L10 | L14 | B— | H— | U— | 1.5 |
25 | Chris Udrea | 155000 | 1904 | L20 | L7 | L9 | W26 | L11 | L23 | 1.0 |
26 | Josep Sobrepere | 152976 | 1794 | B— | L13 | L17 | L25 | L8 | L15 | 1.0 |
27 | Allan Munro | 140841 | 2071 | H— | H— | L19 | F16 | U— | U— | 1.0 |
SwissSys Standings. Club Championship 2014: Reserves
# | Name | CFC# | Rating | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hooshang Ab-barin | 152910 | 1735 | W40 | W26 | W10 | W5 | W7 | L2 | 5.0 |
2 | Jack Maguire | 144604 | 1609 | W23 | L10 | W15 | W29 | W5 | W1 | 5.0 |
3 | Michael D. Sharpe | 100280 | 1537 | W21 | H— | W31 | W6 | H— | X7 | 5.0 |
4 | Marcus Wilker | 102713 | 1609 | W22 | D27 | W16 | L7 | W10 | W13 | 4.5 |
5 | Ulli Diemer | 153538 | 1659 | W24 | W17 | W9 | L1 | L2 | W15 | 4.0 |
6 | Mark A. Patton | 104721 | 1619 | W11 | W30 | L7 | L3 | W29 | W16 | 4.0 |
7 | Julian Pulgarin | 140527 | 1052 | B— | W8 | W6 | W4 | L1 | F3 | 4.0 |
8 | Robert J. Armstrong | 100034 | 1516 | W14 | L7 | L23 | W21 | W12 | W11 | 4.0 |
9 | Manuela Renteria | 152627 | 1546 | W28 | W15 | L5 | D10 | D11 | X18 | 4.0 |
10 | Mark A. Gelowitz | 126627 | 1346 | W42 | W2 | L1 | D9 | L4 | W23 | 3.5 |
11 | George Supol | 152286 | 1282 | L6 | W25 | W19 | W17 | D9 | L8 | 3.5 |
12 | Teresa Lee | 154501 | 907 | W20 | L31 | W26 | H— | L8 | W24 | 3.5 |
13 | Sebastian Lamprea | 8092215 | 1301 | H— | L29 | W14 | W38 | W20 | L4 | 3.5 |
14 | Alex Geddie | 155388 | 993 | L8 | D40 | L13 | W42 | W36 | W20 | 3.5 |
15 | Daniele Pirri | 132983 | 1268 | W18 | L9 | L2 | W37 | W30 | L5 | 3.0 |
16 | Milan Cvetkovic | 150817 | 1310 | H— | W39 | L4 | D22 | W17 | L6 | 3.0 |
17 | Abdolreza Radpey | 149018 | 1354 | W36 | L5 | W41 | L11 | L16 | W28 | 3.0 |
18 | Adrian Chin | 155527 | 1614 | L15 | W28 | H— | W23 | H— | F9 | 3.0 |
19 | Joshua Allen | 105802 | 1710 | H— | H— | L11 | W36 | U— | U— | 3.0 |
20 | Jean-Marc David | 151900 | 1472 | L12 | W21 | D22 | W24 | L13 | L14 | 2.5 |
21 | Manish Pamwar | 156524 | 1025 | L3 | L20 | W43 | L8 | W25 | D22 | 2.5 |
22 | Dennis Li | 153129 | 1136 | L4 | W43 | D20 | D16 | L26 | D21 | 2.5 |
23 | Raymond Lin | 150193 | 1187 | L2 | W42 | W8 | L18 | H— | L10 | 2.5 |
24 | Richard Morrison | 135889 | 1292 | L5 | W37 | D36 | L20 | W38 | L12 | 2.5 |
25 | Tigran Ghazarian | 155438 | 815 | L30 | L11 | W28 | H— | L21 | W38 | 2.5 |
26 | Bill Thornton | 131181 | 1442 | W37 | L1 | L12 | H— | W22 | U— | 2.5 |
27 | Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy | 153938 | 1315 | W43 | D4 | L32 | H— | H— | U— | 2.5 |
28 | Nick Mourtos | 156384 | 1035 | L9 | L18 | L25 | W40 | W42 | L17 | 2.0 |
29 | Eli Teram | 107314 | 1315 | H— | W13 | H— | L2 | L6 | U— | 2.0 |
30 | Ian Prittie | 153588 | 1398 | W25 | L6 | H— | H— | L15 | U— | 2.0 |
31 | Jiaxin Liu | 149747 | 1627 | H— | W12 | L3 | H— | U— | U— | 2.0 |
32 | Nicholas O'Bumsawin | 151261 | 1743 | H— | H— | W27 | U— | U— | U— | 2.0 |
33 | John Heisey | 156203 | 1235 | H— | H— | U— | U— | U— | W39 | 2.0 |
34 | Jian Gajardo Rashid | 154802 | unr. | H— | H— | U— | U— | U— | W40 | 2.0 |
35 | Kaizen Liu | 152053 | 1053 | H— | H— | U— | U— | U— | W37 | 2.0 |
36 | Howard Halim | 153419 | 797 | L17 | W38 | D24 | L19 | L14 | U— | 1.5 |
37 | Rahul Gangolli | 156023 | 879 | L26 | L24 | X42 | L15 | D40 | L35 | 1.5 |
38 | Larissa Souchko | 145490 | 1029 | H— | L36 | W40 | L13 | L24 | L25 | 1.5 |
39 | Arno Lowi | 155277 | 682 | H— | L16 | H— | H— | U— | L33 | 1.5 |
40 | Alexander Hillel | 153393 | 1310 | L1 | D14 | L38 | L28 | D37 | L34 | 1.0 |
41 | Jeffrey Wang Zhu | 154492 | 893 | H— | H— | L17 | U— | U— | U— | 1.0 |
42 | Rahman Durdyklychev | unr. | L10 | L23 | F37 | L14 | L28 | U— | 0.0 | |
43 | Seif Tawfik | unr. | L27 | L22 | L21 | U— | U— | U— | 0.0 |
Please enter me in club championship
OK, Bill. You’re in!
Count me in as well. Miroslav
Wikipedia could be wrong, of course, but the first tie-break according to FIDE rules in any Swiss tournament is seemingly the head-to-head results.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie-breaking_in_Swiss-system_tournaments
Moreover, the 2nd tie-break indicated therein is one’s TPR, and unless I’m mistaken, my TPR exceeded that of Hooshang’s.
I also would win the Sonneborn-Berger tie-break, which rather begs the question what tie-break method the ACC employs? It would seemingly not be sanctioned by FIDE (not that the Reserves section is FIDE rated).
Our tie-break systems: http://annexchessclub.com/club/#regulartournaments
Why a tie-break system contrary to both FIDE and CFC (710 a)recommendations? Both FIDE and CFC recommend “direct encounter” as the 1st and best tie-break. And is our Crown Section still FIDE rated?
No, the top section is not currently FIDE-rated. With Alex’s departure, we lost a nationally certified arbiter. Tyler should earn his certification soon, and we’ll return to having a FIDE-rated crown section.