It’s time to get in shape for the season!

The Spring Training Swiss, a 5-round regular club tournament, runs on Monday nights, April 4 to May 2, with games starting at 7:30 pm.

Since quite a few of our top players are participating in the Toronto Closed Chess Championship on Monday nights in April and May, this concurrent club event will be pared down to just two sections, Crown (minimum 1600) and Under-1700, to accommodate a smaller number of players.

Round One – April 4

The tournament gets started with some of the new players in the Crown section scoring first-round upsets. Young Max England (1840), fresh from taking the Club Championship Reserve section, defeats William Li (2122), while another strong young player, Tigran Ghazarian (1754), who won the U1800 section in the previous event, defeats Armand Jess Mendoza (1917).

There are a number of upsets in the U1700 section as well. Adam Goldfarb (1333) defeats Bob Armstrong (1571), Gregory Szucs (1312) defeats Paul Muskat (1519), and Salim Belcadi (701) defeats Eli Teram (1123).

Round Two – April 11

Both sections are now down to two-way ties!

In the Crown section, Tigran Ghazarian and Zhong Zhao have perfect 2.0/2 scores.

In the U1700 section, it’s Ulli Diemer and Adam Goldfarb with perfect 2.0/2 records.

Leaders will face off in Round 3!

Round Three – April 18

A draw on the top board between Tigran Ghazarian and Zhong Zhao allows Alex Ferreiera, with a win over William Li, to join the leaders at 2.5/3.

Meanwhile, in U1700 action, Ulli Diemer takes his third win in a row to lead the section with 3.0/3, while Adam Goldfarb and Mark Patton trail by just half a point at 2.5/3.

Round Four – April 25

Zhong Zhao defeats Armand Jess Mendoza to hold onto first with 3.5/4, while Arkadiy Ugodnikov plays spoiler and knocks out Tigran Ghazarian. Alex Ferreira, shown with a TD bye, has actually withdrawn from the tournament; Daniel Wiebe, however, with a win over William Li is within reach of first at 3.0/4.

In the U1700 group, Ulli Diemer scores yet another victory, this time over Adam Goldfarb, to maintain a perfect 4.0/4 record. His closest competitors, Glenn Giffen, Mark Patton, and Salim Belcadi, are now a full point behind at 3.0/4.

Round Five – May 2

Daniel Wiebe takes the tournament with a final-round win over Tigran Ghazarian. Once again, Arkadiy Ugodnikov plays spoiler by knocking first-place Zhong Zhao down to second place.

Meanwhile, Ulli Diemer takes the U1700 handily with a perfect 5.0/5 record. Newcomer Glenn Giffen, who joined only in Round 3, takes second with a 3-for-3 performance in rounds played.

See complete results below.

A new club tournament starts next week. New players are welcome! Please register before 7:00 pm to make sure you’re paired for the first round.

Final Ranking crosstables after Round 5

ACC Spring Training Swiss: Crown section

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Wiebe Daniel	2096	CAN	11w1	2b0	6w1	8b1	5b1	4
2	Zhao Zhong	1671	CAN	-1	1w1	5w½	7b1	4b0	3.5
3	Ferreira Alex T.	2127	CAN	4w1	6b½	8w1	-1	0	3.5
4	Ugodnikov Arkadiy	1903	CAN	3b0	7b0	9w½	5w1	2w1	2.5
5	Ghazarian Tigran	1754	CAN	7w1	12b+	2b½	4b0	1w0	2.5
6	England Max	1840	CAN	8w1	3w½	1b0	11b1	0	2.5
7	Mendoza Armand Jess	1917	CAN	5b0	4w1	11b1	2w0	9b0	2
8	Li William	2122	CAN	6b0	9w1	3b0	1w0	11w1	2
9	Stein Jacob	1905	CAN	10w0	8b0	4b½	-½	7w1	2
10	Stefanovic Miroslav	2199	CAN	9b1	-½	0	0	0	1.5
11	Amirirad Kamran	1784	CAN	1b0	-1	7w0	6w0	8b0	1
12	Marshall Fernando	1991	CAN	-½	5w-	0	0	0	0.5

See full details at Chess-Results.com

ACC Spring Training Swiss: U1700 section

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Diemer Ulli	1585	CAN	4b1	11w1	8b1	9w1	7w1	5
2	Giffen Glenn	0	CAN	-½	-½	15b1	11w1	5b1	4
3	Gelowitz Mark A.	1391	CAN	21w1	-½	7w0	17b1	11b1	3.5
4	Jevtic Dragan	1381	CAN	1w0	22b1	6b0	10w1	16w1	3
5	Belcadi Salim	701	CAN	22w1	7b0	10w1	13b1	2w0	3
6	Armstrong Robert J.	1571	CAN	9w0	14b1	4w1	7b½	8w½	3
7	Patton Mark A.	1417	CAN	-½	5w1	3b1	6w½	1b0	3
8	Chen Harry (siqi)	1483	CAN	12b1	-½	1w0	18b+	6b½	3
9	Goldfarb Adam	1333	CAN	6b1	15w1	-½	1b0	0	2.5
10	Muskat Paul	1519	CAN	11b0	12w1	5b0	4b0	22w1	2
11	Szucs Gregory	1312	CAN	10w1	1b0	19w1	2b0	3w0	2
12	Souchko Larissa	1146	CAN	8w0	10b0	13w0	22b1	20w1	2
13	Tobin Jacob	897	CAN	-½	-½	12b1	5w0	0	2
14	Halim Howard	1249	CAN	15b0	6w0	-½	19b1	0	1.5
15	Morrison Richard	1490	CAN	14w1	9b0	2w0	-½	0	1.5
16	Supol George	1398	CAN	-½	17w½	-½	0	4b0	1.5
17	Allen Joshua	1401	CAN	-½	16b½	-½	3w0	0	1.5
18	Finkelstein Michael	1165	CAN	-½	-½	-½	8w-	0	1.5
19	Tobin Larry	714	CAN	-½	-½	11b0	14w0	0	1
20	Hanratty Brian	1442	CAN	-½	-½	0	0	12b0	1
21	Pancer Jeff	1092	CAN	3b0	-½	-½	0	0	1
22	Teram Eli	1123	CAN	5b0	4w0	-½	12w0	10b0	0.5

See full details at Chess-Results.com

Physical fitness is a big part of chess, especially at the top levels. Shown in the feature image are current world champion, Magnus Carlsen, and former World Champion, Viswanathan Anand.