It’s that time of year again! Our 2015 Club Championship kicked off on Monday, February 9, with games starting at 7:30 pm.
The Annex Chess Club Championship is in two sections, Championship and Reserve. The Reserve (U1800) section is for players with a maximum CFC rating of 1799, and the Championship section has a minimum rating of 1700. The six-round Swiss tournament runs February 9 to March 23. All games are CFC-rated, and the Championship section is also FIDE-rated. (There’s no round on Family Day, February 16, but don’t miss the Hart House Reading Week Open, February 14-16!)
Entry is not limited to club members (players may drop in to play a single round, or buy a six-week tournament membership) but only full-year club members are eligible to become Club Champion or Reserve winner. These winners will have their names engraved on beautiful permanent trophies, generously donated to the club by inbusys, I.T. Support Specialists for demanding SMB environments.
Round 1 – February 9
It’s an interesting first round in the Championship section as two of the frontrunners, Michael Humphreys and Jonathan Yu, are held to a draw in their games by lower-rated opponents. Atop the lead group, Joseph Bellissimo gains the full point (see game below) as do Dave Southam, Ismail Ibrahim, Robert Bzikot, and Sergey Malakhovets.
Meanwhile, 26 players in the Under-1800 section are vying for the Reserve title. After one round, there’s a 10-way tie for first.
Games from Round 1
Round 2 – February 23
After two rounds, there’s a two-way tie for first in the Championship section. Young Joseph Bellissimo and veteran Dave Southam both have 2.0/2. Humphreys, Yu, and Siddeley are half a point behind with 1.5/2.
In the Reserve section, England, Armstrong, and Amirirad are in a three-way tie for the lead with 2.0/2, but no less than seven players are just a half point behind. There are four more rounds to separate out this lead pack!
Round 3 – March 2
With a draw on board one between Dave Southam and Joseph Bellissimo, defending champion Michael Humphreys joins the lead group with 2.5/3 by defeating Hugh Siddeley. Ibrahim, Yu, Ferreira, and Evans are half a point behind with 2.0/3.
In the Reserve section, Max England defeats Bob Armstrong on the top board and Amirirad loses to Essery. England is now alone in first with 3.0/3, the only perfect score in the tournament! Essery, Diemer, and Abbarin trail by half a point with 2.5/3.
These are still close races. Three rounds to go!
Round 4 – March 9
A draw on the top board leaves Joseph Bellissimo and Michael Humphreys tied for the lead at 3.0/4. Now, with the head-to-head match out of the way, they must battle each other indirectly by their results against other players. Taking advantage of the point split on Board One, Alex Ferreira and Jonathan Yu score victories to join the lead group.
Meanwhile, in the reserves, Max England makes it a perfect 4.0/4 with a win against Ulli Diemer. Arnstrong, Abbarin, Essery, Vigneswaramoorthy, Amirirad and Beal are in a six-way tie for second, a full point back at 3.0/4.
Round 5 – March 16
Michael Humphreys defeats Alex Ferreira while Joseph Bellissimo wins his game against Daniel Wiebe, so both front-runners remain tied for the lead at 4.0/5. Jonathan Yu, who takes a bye in the penultimate round, stays just half a point out at 3.5/5.
In the Reserves, leader Max England finally meets his match in top-rated Greg Beal, who now joins England at 4.0/5. The lead group going into the final round also includes Hooshang Abbarin with a win over Bob Armstrong and Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy with a win over Richard Essery. So it’s a four-way tie with just one round to go!
See complete results on the standings chart below.
A couple interesting notes about this round:
- One is that all the games are decisive; there are no draws. This is somewhat strange for the fifth round of a Swiss when opponents should be closely matched.
- Second (for all the Annex Chess Club historians!) is the latest in a long, hitherto one-sided rivalry between Ulli Diemer and Jack Maguire, Maguire having had an unbroken string of victories as white by employing the dreaded Blackmar-Diemer Gambit against its namesake, Diemer. But here is the game that finally breaks the string:
Games from Round 5
Round 6 – March 23
Before the ultimate round, Rhys Goldstein gives a chess talk, “A lecture on losing,” starting at 6:45 pm. Lecture notes are now available.
At 7:30 the games begin!
At the end of the night, when the dust settles, it comes down to tie breaks to determine the winners. Greg Beal wins the Reserve section (on tie break over Hooshang Abbarin: Beal had more wins), and Michael Humphreys wins the 2015 Club Championship (on tie break over Joseph Bellissimo: Humphreys played more games as black). Congratulations, Michael Humphreys (once again!) and Greg Beal!


Final Results after Round Six
SwissSys Standings. ACC Club Championship : Crown
# | Name | CFC ID | Rating | Post | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael Humphreys | 131628 | 2383 | 2376 | D14 | W11 | W13 | D2 | W6 | D4 | 4.5 |
2 | Joseph Bellissimo | 147544 | 2218 | 2230 | W9 | W18 | D4 | D1 | W14 | D6 | 4.5 |
3 | Armand Jess Mendoza | 156958 | 1970 | 2002 | L18 | W9 | L10 | W17 | B— | W13 | 4.0 |
4 | David Southam | 102535 | 2190 | 2207 | W6 | W5 | D2 | L7 | W13 | D1 | 4.0 |
5 | Ismail Ibrahim | 105228 | 2045 | 2067 | W17 | L4 | W20 | L13 | W9 | W10 | 4.0 |
6 | Alex T. Ferreira | 127516 | 1982 | 2033 | L4 | W17 | W15 | W10 | L1 | D2 | 3.5 |
7 | Jonathan Yu | 126131 | 2206 | 2212 | D12 | W8 | H— | W4 | H— | U— | 3.5 |
8 | Daniel Zotkin | 146857 | 1921 | 1961 | D15 | L7 | L9 | W20 | W19 | W14 | 3.5 |
9 | Rhys Goldstein | 110906 | 2026 | 2030 | L2 | L3 | W8 | W19 | L5 | W18 | 3.0 |
10 | Bill Evans | 103309 | 2047 | 2041 | H— | D12 | W3 | L6 | W18 | L5 | 3.0 |
11 | Robert Bzikot | 132541 | 2041 | 2037 | W20 | L1 | H— | L14 | W15 | D12 | 3.0 |
12 | Miroslav Stefanovic | 154500 | 1995 | 2010 | D7 | D10 | H— | D15 | H— | D11 | 3.0 |
13 | Hugh Siddeley | 120619 | 2110 | 2094 | H— | W19 | L1 | W5 | L4 | L3 | 2.5 |
14 | Daniel Wiebe | 132137 | 2039 | 2036 | D1 | D16 | D18 | W11 | L2 | L8 | 2.5 |
15 | Barry Nash | 120160 | 2042 | 2002 | D8 | H— | L6 | D12 | L11 | W20 | 2.5 |
16 | Jacob Stein | 108627 | 1951 | 1964 | H— | D14 | D19 | D18 | H— | U— | 2.5 |
17 | Arkadiy Ugodnikov | 146626 | 1936 | 1901 | L5 | L6 | B— | L3 | W20 | U— | 2.0 |
18 | Sergey Malakhovets | 158413 | 2102 | 2054 | W3 | L2 | D14 | D16 | L10 | L9 | 2.0 |
19 | Erwin Casareno | 146639 | 2005 | 1956 | H— | L13 | D16 | L9 | L8 | B— | 2.0 |
20 | Tigran Ghazarian | 155438 | 1609 | 1593 | L11 | B— | L5 | L8 | L17 | L15 | 1.0 |
SwissSys Standings. ACC Club Championship : U1800
# | Name | CFC ID | Rating | Post | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Greg Beal | 101490 | 1702 | 1712 | W16 | L4 | W10 | W22 | W6 | W5 | 5.0 |
2 | Hooshang Ab-barin | 152910 | 1689 | 1723 | W18 | D9 | W3 | D12 | W8 | W6 | 5.0 |
3 | Daniele Pirri | 132983 | 1548 | 1588 | H— | W14 | L2 | W10 | W4 | W9 | 4.5 |
4 | Kamran Amirirad | 158329 | 1581 | 1590 | W20 | W1 | L12 | W11 | L3 | W15 | 4.0 |
5 | Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy | 153938 | 1615 | 1610 | L11 | W23 | W18 | W24 | W12 | L1 | 4.0 |
6 | Max England | 155135 | 1588 | 1613 | W30 | W29 | W8 | W9 | L1 | L2 | 4.0 |
7 | Joshua Allen | 105802 | 1464 | 1506 | H— | H— | U— | W26 | W11 | W12 | 4.0 |
8 | Robert J. Armstrong | 100034 | 1582 | 1586 | W28 | W11 | L6 | W16 | L2 | W13 | 4.0 |
9 | Ulli Diemer | 153538 | 1576 | 1582 | W22 | D2 | W13 | L6 | W19 | L3 | 3.5 |
10 | Brendan Grady | 158392 | 1234 | 1290 | H— | W19 | L1 | L3 | W27 | W14 | 3.5 |
11 | Richard Morrison | 135889 | 1286 | 1346 | W5 | L8 | W29 | L4 | L7 | W22 | 3.0 |
12 | Richard Essery | 135206 | 1656 | 1628 | W25 | D13 | W4 | D2 | L5 | L7 | 3.0 |
13 | Mark A. Patton | 104721 | 1557 | 1530 | W17 | D12 | L9 | D14 | W18 | L8 | 3.0 |
14 | Milan Cvetkovic | 150817 | 1244 | 1278 | D19 | L3 | W23 | D13 | W24 | L10 | 3.0 |
15 | Guillermo Mansilla | 154509 | 1473 | 1450 | H— | H— | L22 | W28 | W16 | L4 | 3.0 |
16 | George Supol | 152286 | 1419 | 1401 | L1 | W17 | W26 | L8 | L15 | W20 | 3.0 |
17 | Larissa Souchko | 145490 | 1009 | 1033 | L13 | L16 | H— | H— | W31 | W27 | 3.0 |
18 | Jean-Marc David | 151900 | 1393 | 1381 | L2 | W28 | L5 | W25 | L13 | D21 | 2.5 |
19 | Jack Maguire | 144604 | 1590 | 1535 | D14 | L10 | W31 | W27 | L9 | U— | 2.5 |
20 | Howard Halim | 153419 | 1088 | 1073 | L4 | H— | L27 | B— | W22 | L16 | 2.5 |
21 | Ryan Liu | 151979 | 1189 | 1209 | H— | H— | U— | U— | W28 | D18 | 2.5 |
22 | Christopher Field | 108098 | 1086 | 1105 | L9 | W30 | W15 | L1 | L20 | L11 | 2.0 |
23 | Martin Pitt-Bradley | 158457 | 887 | 907 | H— | L5 | L14 | H— | W30 | U— | 2.0 |
24 | Mark A. Gelowitz | 126627 | 1455 | 1424 | H— | W31 | H— | L5 | L14 | U— | 2.0 |
25 | Raymond Lin | 150193 | 1313 | 1302 | L12 | H— | H— | L18 | W26 | U— | 2.0 |
26 | Henry XianRui Zhang | 156492 | 1018 | 1027 | H— | H— | L16 | L7 | L25 | W28 | 2.0 |
27 | Michael Finkelstein | 158620 | 880 | 889 | L29 | H— | W20 | L19 | L10 | L17 | 1.5 |
28 | Derek Chen | 156690 | 1089 | 1065 | L8 | L18 | W30 | L15 | L21 | L26 | 1.0 |
29 | Bill Thornton | 131181 | 1557 | 1517 | W27 | L6 | L11 | U— | U— | U— | 1.0 |
30 | Alex Geddie | 155388 | 1093 | 1048 | L6 | L22 | L28 | W31 | L23 | U— | 1.0 |
31 | Rahul Gangolli | 156023 | 1047 | 1011 | H— | L24 | L19 | L30 | L17 | U— | 0.5 |
Legend
W = win (e.g., W9 means a win against player 9 – worth 1 point)
L = loss (0 pt)
D = draw (½ pt)
H = ½-pt bye (requested in advance or assigned on registration, max 2 per player, not in final round)
B = 1-pt bye (“forced bye” – e.g., odd number of players)
U = 0-pt bye (e.g., when max ½-pt byes previously awarded, or in final round)
F = forfeit loss (0 pt)
X = forfeit win (1 pt)
The cutoff for the crown section for this tournament was 1700, so it’s not a big stretch, but I chose to allow someone to play up to avoid giving out forced byes in the first round, and Tigran was the first person >1600 who was willing.