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From pow wows to Caribana, summer in Toronto is full of drumming and dancing.

At Annex Chess Club, there will be no regalia in sight, and no steel band in earshot. But we will make our moves to a rhythm that is inside us as much as it is outside. We will enter a state of concentration and focus for a performance that demands training and technique, rigour and endurance, continual creativity, and perfect timing.

The Drum and Dance Swiss is a five-round regular club tournament, divided in three sections by CFC rating – Crown (minimum 1800), Reserve A (under-1900; minimum 1400), and Reserve B (under-1500). Tournament games are CFC-rated.

Rounds are every Monday night, July 7 to August 11, except August 4, Caribana weekend.

Round 1 – July 7

The tournament starts with 42 players. Round One of a Swiss sees underdogs battle favourites as the top half of each section is paired against the bottom half.

In the Crown section, three games are taken by the favourites, two are drawn, and veteran Arkadiy Ugodnikov scores an upset victory over young Daniel Zotkin.

In the U1900 section the underdogs score fifty percent, as Mark Patton, Daniel Pirri, and Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy all defeat higher-rated opponents, three favourites win their games, and there is one draw.

Finally, in U1500, the favourites dominate, taking five of eight games. There is one draw, and underdogs Jeffrey Zhu and Qi Zhou each score a full point.

Round 2 – July 14

Round Two pits first-round winners against winners; only a few finish with 2.0/2. Atop the Crown section are Rodrigo Oliveira, defeating Daniel Wiebe, and Bill Evans, defeating Dave Southam.

In the U1900 section, Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy is in a groove, as he follows up a win against Ulli Diemer in Round 1 with a win against Marcus Wilker in Round 2. Vigneswaramoorthy is in good company atop the section, joined by veterans Bill Thornton and Hooshang Abbarin.

In U1500, unrated Qi Zhou has 2.0/2, with a Round-2 victory over Mark Gelowitz, as does Adam Goldfarb, with a win over Jean-Marc David.

Round 3 – July 21

Round Three sees the leaders go head to head, aiming for sole possession of first place.

Before the round, club arbiter Tyler Longo announces the success of two of our young players at the 2014 Canadian Youth Chess Championship in Montreal. Nicholas Vettese came 2nd among Canadians under 10, and Cindy Qiao came 3rd among Canadian girls under 12. Congratulations, Nicholas and Cindy!

Tyler also mentions the absence of many of our players who are currently competing in the 2014 Canadian Open Championship, also in Montreal. Club Champion Michael Humphreys, in particular, has done well in the top section; he’s undefeated against a GM, two IMs (one of whom he beat), and an FM. Initially seeded 41st out of 43 players, his 2.5/4 score puts him in 12th place. Good luck, Humphreys!

When the games begin, the top section sees Rodrigo Oliveira and Bill Evans face off on board one. At the end of the night Oliveira comes out on top, and he now leads the tournament through three rounds with 3.0/3 in the Crown section.

In U1900 play, leaders Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy and Bill Thornton face off on the top board, while Jack Maguire (back from parental duties at CYCC) faces the third leader Hooshang Abbarin on board two. Vigneswaramoorthy wins his second game in a row from the black side of a King’s Indian, while Maguire takes out Abbarin. Vigneswaramoorthy now leads the section with a perfect 3.0/3 and has already knocked out three top seeds, but he’ll have to face two more challengers before it’s over. Maguire, for one, just a half point behind at 2.5/3, does not plan to let him off easy next week (see comments below).

In U1500, there’s still no clear leader, as Tigran Ghazarian and Dennis Li, from the 1.5 group, win their Round-3 games (with Li knocking Adam Goldfarb out of the top point group) while Qi Zhou, with a bye this week, stays level with Ghazarian and Li at 2.5/3. The trio of leaders will have two more rounds to sort it out, but with another five players just a half point behind it’s anyone’s guess what the final standings will be.

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Games from Round 3

Here’s the game from top board in the Crown section: Rodrigo Oliveira’s win from the black side of a QGD.

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Round 4 – July 28

Before the round, Tyler Longo announces the Harbourfront Centre Chessfest, August 10, and the Labour Day Open, August 30 to September 1. When the round starts at 7:30, players include the Washimkar brothers returning to the club. Welcome back, Atharva and Arhant!

In the Crown section, top board sees the undefeated leader Rodrigo Oliveira, with 3.0/3, face a challenger from the 2.5-point group, Miroslav Stefanovic. In the end, Oliveira takes a full point – see game below – and now leads with 4.0/4. Oliveira has one more round to play, but with only one player with 3.0/4, whom he has already beaten, nobody can catch him.

In U1900, it’s Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy, with 3.0/3, facing challenger Jack Maguire. Maguire, known for his daring gambit play, essays the Portuguese variation of the Scandinavian Defence (1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4+ – allowing 4. f3 and 5. c4 to hold the pawn), which Vigneswaramoorthy answers by giving the pawn back with 4. Nf3, and succeeds in holding Maguire to a draw – see game below. Holding sole possession of the lead with 3.5/4, Vigneswaramoorthy may yet be overtaken by one of the players with 3.0/4, Maguire included. But if he wins in Round 5, Vigneswaramoorthy will undoubtedly be the lowest-rated player ever to take the middle section at Annex Chess Club.

Finally, U1500 play sees Tigran Ghazarian defeat Dennis Li to take sole possession of first place with 3.5/4. Ghazarian, who was this year’s Canadian Chess Challenge grade 1 champion, is the youngest player in the tournament.

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Games from Round 4

Here are the games from top board in the Crown section (Oliveira wins against Stefanovic’s Slav) and top board in U1900 (Vigneswaramoorthy is “up to the Portuguese challenge” – see comments).

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Round 5 – August 11

In the Crown section, Rodrigo Oliveira defeats Jonathan Yu to win the tournamaent with a perfect 5.0/5 record. Congratualtions, Rodrigo!

In the U1900, Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy finally has his winning streak ended when he runs up against Hooshang Abbarin. Abbarin spoils Vigneswaramoorthy’s hopes, and hands the section to Jack Maguire, who wins first place with a 4.0/5 record after a final-round win over Daniel Pirri. Congratulations, Jack!

Finally, in U1500, young Tigran Ghazarian holds his lead, defeating Qi Zhou to take first place with 4.5/5. Congratulations, Tigran!

The next tournament starts on Monday, August 18, at 7:30 pm. Players, please arrive before 7:00 pm unless you’ve pre-registered.

Section winners, Ghazarian and Maguire, may each play up in the next higher section. And the Crown section will now be FIDE-rated.

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Final Results after Round Five

SwissSys Standings. Drum and Dance: Crown

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Rodrigo Oliveira	152923	2086	W17	W10	W3	W5	W4	5.0
2	Armand Jess Mendoza	156958	1861	D14	L4	W12	W8	W3	3.5
3	Bill Evans	103309	2024	W18	W6	L1	W7	L2	3.0
4	Jonathan Yu	126131	2072	H—	W2	H—	W9	L1	3.0
5	Miroslav Stefanovic	154500	1970	H—	W14	W15	L1	D6	3.0
6	David Southam	102535	2201	D9	L3	W14	W10	D5	3.0
7	Arkadiy Ugodnikov	146626	1947	W8	H—	H—	L3	X13	3.0
8	Daniel Zotkin	146857	2200	L7	H—	W17	L2	W15	2.5
9	Nicholas Vettese	154199	1949	D6	H—	W13	L4	L14	2.0
10	Daniel Wiebe	132137	2032	W12	L1	H—	L6	D16	2.0
11	Wajdy Shebetah	148432	2030	H—	H—	U—	W15	U—	2.0
12	Hanyuan Ye	144844	1749	L10	U—	L2	W14	W17	2.0
13	Jianqiu Chen	157842	2058	F15	W18	L9	W17	F7	2.0
14	Hugh Siddeley	120619	2073	D2	L5	L6	L12	W9	1.5
15	Josep Sobrepere	152976	1807	X13	H—	L5	L11	L8	1.5
16	Alex T. Ferreira	127516	2048	H—	H—	U—	U—	D10	1.5
17	Chris Udrea	155000	1926	L1	W19	L8	L13	L12	1.0
18	Greg Beal	101490	1710	L3	L13	H—	H—	U—	1.0
19	Tyler Longo	135360	2031	H—	L17	H—	U—	U—	1.0

SwissSys Standings. Drum and Dance: U1900

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Jack Maguire	144604	1579	W7	H—	W2	D3	W8	4.0
2	Hooshang Ab-barin	152910	1647	W11	W8	L1	W4	W3	4.0
3	Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy	153938	1413	W17	W19	W9	D1	L2	3.5
4	Mark A. Patton	104721	1545	W13	L9	W15	L2	W10	3.0
5	Atharva Washimkar	153285	1765	H—	H—	U—	W17	W7	3.0
6	Arhant Washimkar	153286	1435	H—	H—	U—	W20	W9	3.0
7	Richard Morrison	135889	1382	L1	B—	W17	W9	L5	3.0
8	Daniele Pirri	132983	1422	W18	L2	H—	W10	L1	2.5
9	Bill Thornton	131181	1698	W10	W4	L3	L7	L6	2.0
10	Marc Ben-Avraham	145628	1444	L9	D13	W16	L8	L4	1.5
11	George Supol	152286	1417	L2	L17	W19	H—	U—	1.5
12	Arkadiy Ugodnikov	146626	1947	H—	H—	U—	U—	D14	1.5
13	Daniel Sirkovich	145096	1779	L4	D10	H—	H—	U—	1.5
14	Antonios Valkanas		unr.	H—	H—	U—	U—	D12	1.5
15	Benito Surya	153755	1675	H—	H—	L4	H—	U—	1.5
16	Claudio Sottile	148499	1488	D19	L18	L10	B—	U—	1.5
17	Ulli Diemer	153538	1606	L3	W11	L7	L5	U—	1.0
18	Adie Todd	125156	1663	L8	W16	U—	U—	U—	1.0
19	Marcus Wilker	102713	1723	D16	L3	L11	H—	U—	1.0
20	Vlad Nitu	154215	1759	H—	H—	U—	L6	U—	1.0

SwissSys Standings. Drum and Dance: U1500

#	Name	CFC ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Tigran Ghazarian	155438	1156	W22	H—	W12	W9	W4	4.5
2	Mark A. Gelowitz	126627	1442	W11	L4	W19	W7	W9	4.0
3	Adam Goldfarb	153496	1320	W21	W13	L9	H—	W10	3.5
4	Qi Zhou		unr.	W16	W2	H—	H—	L1	3.0
5	Jeffrey Wang Zhu	154705	609	W15	H—	H—	W6	U—	3.0
6	Howard Halim	153419	1083	W7	L12	W8	L5	W14	3.0
7	Kevin Corlis		unr.	L6	W11	X15	L2	W17	3.0
8	Zaynah Bhanji	155866	843	D10	H—	L6	W18	W12	3.0
9	Dennis Li	153129	1200	H—	W10	W3	L1	L2	2.5
10	Raymond Lin	150193	1218	D8	L9	W14	W15	L3	2.5
11	Larissa Souchko	145490	1008	L2	L7	B—	X19	U—	2.0
12	Eli Teram	107314	1238	H—	W6	L1	H—	L8	2.0
13	Jean-Marc David	151900	1351	W14	L3	H—	U—	U—	1.5
14	Areez Bhanji	156144	877	L13	H—	L10	W22	L6	1.5
15	Alex Geddie	155388	1142	L5	W20	F7	L10	U—	1.0
16	Rahul Gangolli	156023	1060	L4	H—	H—	U—	U—	1.0
17	Kaizen Liu	152053	1047	H—	H—	U—	U—	L7	1.0
18	Vicknan Harichandrabose		unr.	H—	H—	U—	L8	U—	1.0
19	Denis Ceastov	156165	626	H—	H—	L2	F11	U—	1.0
20	Richard Morrison	135889	1382	H—	L15	U—	U—	U—	0.5
21	Luka Svirac	158025	850	L3	H—	U—	U—	U—	0.5
22	Rahman Durdyklychev	156700	806	L1	U—	U—	L14	U—	0.0

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Dance to the rhythm in Toronto

 

 

“When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation,
you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally.”

~ Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings, 1645