Pawn Sacrifice (see trailer) is coming to theatres September 25.

In a gripping true story set during the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire. Also starring Liev Schreiber and Peter Sarsgaard, Pawn Sacrifice chronicles Fischer’s terrifying struggles with genius and madness, and the rise and fall of a kid from Brooklyn who captured the imagination of the world.

At Annex Chess Club, we’re marking the movie release with our Bobby Fischer Celebration Swiss. Running from August 17 to September 21 – just before the release – this regular club tournament is in three sections by CFC rating: Crown, Under-1900, and Under-1500.

Prizes

Thanks to Elevation Pictures and the House of Staunton, we have some great tournament prizes for this event!

The winner of the tournament (Crown section) will receive a beautiful luxury set that is a replica of the pieces used in the 1972 World Champonship.

Winners and runners up in all three sections will also receive double passes to the advance screening of the film at the Varsity theatre on Wednesday September 23, at 7:30 pm.

Please be aware that the advance screening will be oversold so ticket-holders must arrive an hour to 45 mintues in advance of the screening time to be admitted with the chance of getting a good seat.

Round One – August 17

In Round One action, the Crown section sees a number of draws. (Quite an achievement for the “David” in those David-versus-Goliath matchups!) As a result, Jon Yu with the only decisive game in the round is now in sole possession of first place with 1.0/1.

In U1900, Marcus Wilker, Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy, and George Supol are in a three-way tie for the lead with 1.0/1.

And in U1500, there’s a seven-way tie for first, with Rahul Gangolli scoring an upset win to join the other six leaders at 1.0/1.

Round Two – August 24

Famous for his unprecedented (and unduplicated) domination of the game in his era, Bobby Fischer won the 1963–64 US Chess Championship with a perfect score of 11/11. We’re only two rounds into our tournament but only three players still have perfect scores.

In the Crown section, there’s a four-tie for first as Jon Yu takes a bye, while Aahil Noorali, Dave Southam, and Michael Humphreys win their games to join him at 1.5/2.

In the U1900 section, George Supol, with a win over Marcus Wilker, has a perfect 2.0/2 score and sole possession of the lead. Hooshang Abbarin, with a win over Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy, is half a point behind with 1.5/2.

In the U1500 section, there’s a two-way tie for first as Michael Saltat and Richard Morrison have perfect 2.0/2 scores. Another five players are half a point behind with 1.5/2, including Mysha Gilani, one of the few female players in the tournament, and Justin Tanasijczuk, one of four unrated players playing their first ever CFC-rated tournament.

Games From Round Two

Here’s the game from the top board in the U1900 section. (Players are encouraged to submit .pgn files for their games for inclusion on the website!)

Round Three – August 31

In the Crown section, the games on the top two boards end in draws, resulting in a six-way tie for first. Michael Humphreys, Aahil Noorali, Dave Southam, Jon Yu, Sergey Malakhovets, and Joseph Bellissimo all have 2.0/3. It will be an exciting final two rounds to see who can take this event!

In the U1900 section, the battle between the top two players also ended in a draw. So George Supol remains in the lead with 2.5/3, while Hooshang Abbarin trails by half a point along with Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy and Max England at 2.0/3.

In the U1500, Michael Saltat takes a bye, while Mysha Gilani wins her game against Richard Morrison. First place in the section is split with two more players as Rahul Gangolli and Mark Gelowitz win their games to join the lead group at 2.5/3.

* Please note that we’ll be closed for Labour Day on Monday September 7. Rounds 4 and 5 are on September 14 and 21.

Round Four – September 14

With the grand prize beautiful luxury chess set on display at the front desk – and with many new students registered for their adult and childrens’ classes – the tournament round starts at 7:30.

In the Crown section, the big leader group is down to two as Michael Humphreys and David Southam win their games to rise to 3.0/4, while Jon Yu and Joseph Bellissimo draw.

In U1900 action, the three-way tie for second has become a three-way tie for first, as Hooshang Abbarin, Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy, and Max England all win their games to rise to 3.0/4. Ab-Barin’s game against Arkadiy Ugodnikov is included just below.

And in U1500, the four-way tie is down to a two-way tie, as Mysha Gilani and Michael Saltat win their games, moving up to 3.5/4 (the best scores in the tournament).

All three sections are going down to the wire, with ties for the lead going into the final round.

Games from Round Four

Round Five – September 21

In the Crown section, the two leaders win their final games to finish neck and neck at 4.0/5, and it comes down to tie breaks, with Michael Humphreys having played more games with black.

In U1900, the winner is Max England, defeating Hooshang Ab-Barin to rise to 4.0/5, while Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy is held to a draw by George Supol.

And in U1500, Mysha Gilani wins her game against Michael Saltat to take clear first with 4.5/5.

See complete final results below, ranked by points and then by better tie-break.

Congratulations to our winners, Michael Humphreys, Max England, and Mysha Gilani. Thanks to over 50 participants for helping celebrate Bobby Fischer, and thanks to our sponsors, Elevation Pictures and House of Staunton! Don’t miss Pawn Sacrifice, previewing on Wednesday (if you won tickets) and coming to theatres Friday.

A new tournament, which will be our 5th Anniversary Swiss, starts next Monday September 28 at 7:30 pm. Come help us celebrate five wonderful years of downtown Toronto chess at Annex Chess Club! Please arrive before 7:00 pm to register. New players are welcome to join!

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Results after Round Five

SwissSys Standings. ACC Bobby Fischer Celebration Swiss: Crown

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Michael Humphreys	131628	2373	D3	W16	D2	W4	W6	4.0
2	David Southam	102535	2228	D16	W3	D1	W5	W10	4.0
3	Nameer Issani	154796	2044	D1	L2	D8	W9	D5	2.5
4	Aahil Noorali	155015	1797	D5	W9	D7	L1	D8	2.5
5	Sergey Malakhovets	158413	2098	D4	H—	W12	L2	D3	2.5
6	Joseph Bellissimo	147544	2224	H—	H—	W14	D7	L1	2.5
7	Jonathan Yu	126131	2243	W9	H—	D4	D6	U—	2.5
8	Daniel Zotkin	146857	2038	H—	H—	D3	D12	D4	2.5
9	Armand Jess Mendoza	156958	1947	L7	L4	W16	L3	B—	2.0
10	Alex T. Ferreira	127516	2108	H—	H—	U—	W15	L2	2.0
11	Hooshang Ab-barin	152910	1660	H—	H—	U—	W16	U—	2.0
12	Brett Campbell	101324	2216	H—	H—	L5	D8	D13	2.0
13	Jacob Stein	108627	1882	H—	H—	U—	U—	D12	1.5
14	Bill Evans	103309	2131	H—	H—	L6	U—	U—	1.0
15	Miroslav Stefanovic	154500	1977	H—	H—	U—	L10	U—	1.0
16	Arkadiy Ugodnikov	146626	1847	D2	L1	L9	L11	U—	0.5

SwissSys Standings. ACC Bobby Fischer Celebration Swiss: U1900

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Max England	155135	1636	H—	H—	W5	W3	W4	4.0
2	Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy	153938	1635	W10	L4	W6	W9	D3	3.5
3	George Supol	152286	1431	B—	W13	D4	L1	D2	3.0
4	Hooshang Ab-barin	152910	1660	H—	W2	D3	B—	L1	3.0
5	Mark A. Patton	104721	1472	L13	W7	L1	B—	D9	2.5
6	Daniele Pirri	132983	1505	H—	H—	L2	W14	D7	2.5
7	Ulli Diemer	153538	1575	D11	L5	D12	W10	D6	2.5
8	Tigran Ghazarian	155438	1517	H—	H—	U—	U—	W11	2.0
9	Jean-Marc David	151900	1347	H—	D10	H—	L2	D5	2.0
10	Joshua Allen	105802	1443	L2	D9	B—	L7	U—	1.5
11	Michael Sutton	151225	1792	D7	H—	H—	U—	L8	1.5
12	Claudio Sottile	148499	1490	H—	H—	D7	U—	U—	1.5
13	Marcus Wilker	102713	1641	W5	L3	U—	U—	U—	1.0
14	Matthias Schuett		unr.	H—	H—	U—	L6	U—	1.0

SwissSys Standings. ACC Bobby Fischer Celebration Swiss: U1500

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot
1	Mysha Gilani	155004	1247	W4	D2	W10	W9	W3	4.5
2	Mark A. Gelowitz	126627	1389	W11	D1	W5	H—	W4	4.0
3	Michael Saltat	158633	1227	W16	W25	H—	W10	L1	3.5
4	Benjamin Thalman		unr.	L1	W7	W11	W8	L2	3.0
5	Justin Tanasijczuk		unr.	H—	W17	L2	W11	D8	3.0
6	Ryan Guo	154346	1131	H—	H—	U—	W17	W10	3.0
7	Christopher Field	108098	1250	L9	L4	W24	W24	W12	3.0
8	Milan Cvetkovic	150817	1303	W24	L10	W20	L4	D5	2.5
9	Rahul Gangolli	156023	921	W7	H—	W19	L1	U—	2.5
10	Richard Morrison	135889	1407	W15	W8	L1	L3	L6	2.0
11	Nick Jafari	160405	1056	L2	W18	L4	L5	W21	2.0
12	Martin Pitt-Bradley	158457	927	H—	H—	W16	U—	L7	2.0
13	Jeff Pancer	107543	1117	H—	H—	U—	L18	W24	2.0
14	Bruce MacInnis	149569	1294	W23	H—	H—	U—	U—	2.0
15	Eli Teram	107314	1142	L10	L16	H—	H—	W22	2.0
16	Todd Westcott		unr.	L3	W15	L12	H—	U—	1.5
17	Paul Panayotou		unr.	H—	L5	W18	L6	U—	1.5
18	Howard Halim	153419	1108	D25	L11	L17	W13	U—	1.5
19	Adam Goldfarb	153496	1328	H—	H—	L9	U—	U—	1.0
20	Keira Cuthbert		unr.	H—	H—	L8	U—	U—	1.0
21	Brendan Grady	158392	1405	H—	H—	U—	U—	L11	1.0
22	Alex Moisseev	160217	785	H—	H—	U—	U—	L15	1.0
23	Larissa Souchko	145490	939	L14	H—	H—	U—	U—	1.0
24	Henry XianRui Zhang	156492	1001	L8	H—	L7	L7	L13	0.5
25	James Mourgelas	108540	1396	D18	L3	U—	U—	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)

Pawn Sacrifice: in theatres September 25