Muggy weather, heat alerts, local peaches and corn in the supermarket, the Perseid meteor shower: it must be August!

Named in honour of Caesar Augustus in 8 BCE, August was formerly called Sextilis (the sixth month of a year that started in March). In Toronto, aka “the 6ix,” August is the month when many of us celebrate an end-of-summer ritual called the CNE, the largest annual fair in Canada and a Toronto tradition since 1879.

Celebrating August

Celebrating all things August, our current club tournament is the ACC August Swiss. It runs on five Monday nights – August 8 to September 12 – in three sections: Crown, U1900, U1400. (Check the club page for more on how our regular tournaments work.)

Rounds in the club tournament start at 7:30 pm each Monday, and new players are welcome to join in any round – or even to drop in for just one round – but please register by 7:00 pm to make sure you’re paired.

Round One – August 8

In the Crown section, William Li (2117) manages a draw against top-seed Michael Humphreys (2336). Armand Mendoza and Miroslav Stefanovic enter Round 2 with a full point.

In U1900 the favourites take 6/8, underdogs 2/8, as Ramesh Bharath (1399) defeats Harry Chen (1507) and Salim Belcadi (1423) defeats Glenn Giffen (1557). With no draws, an 8-player leader group goes into Round 2 with 1.0/1.

In U1400, unrated newcomer Josh Calderon from the Philippines defeats Eli Teram (1119) – but it shouldn’t be considered an upset; apparently, Calderon is in the wrong section. Five players enter Round 2 tied for first.

Game of the Week

Miroslav Stefanovic wins an exciting game against Sergey Malakhovets in the Crown section from the black side of a Sicilian Reversed.

Round Two – August 15

Miroslav Stefanovic-Armand Mendoza is a draw on Board 1, while Dave Southam and William Li win their games to catch the leaders at 1.5/2, so it’s a four-way tie going into Round 3.

In U1900, Hooshang Ab-Barin, Salim Belcadi, and Bharath Ramesh win their games, so they’re in a three-way tie at 2.0/2.

In U1400, Eric Pei wins again to take sole possession of first place at 2.0/2.

Round Three – August 22

In the Crown section, Dave Southam defeats Miroslav Stefanovic while Armand Mendoza defeats William Li, and the leader group is down to a two-way tie for first at 2.5/3.

In U1900, Salim Belcadi defeats Hooshang Ab-Barin while Bharath Ramesh wins his game against Kamran Amirirad, and it’s also down to a two-way tie for first at 3.0/3.

In U1400, Eric Pei wins yet again, this time against Yue Ran Ma, to hold clear first at 3.0/3.

Game of the Week

Here’s Eric Pei’s miniature on the top board of the U1400 section. Pei plays 3.c3 against Yue Ren Ma’s Sicilian and nine moves later sacs a B on h7 to launch a mating attack!

Round Four – August 29

Draws on the top boards leave ties for the lead. In the Crown section, Armand Mendoza – Dave Southam is a draw, leaving Mendoza and Southam tied for the lead at 3.0/4.

And in U1900, Bharath Ramesh – Salim Belcadi is a draw, leaving Belcadi and Ramesh tied for the lead at 3.5/4.

In U1400, Yun Hong Li defeats Eric Pei and overtakes him for the lead at 3.5/4 as Pei falls to 3.0/4.

Next week, we’re off for Labour Day, and then the final round is September 12.

Off week – September 5

ACC is CLOSED on September 5, Labour Day.

Round Five – September 12

Last round. A topsy-turvy tournament in a small Crown section still ends with the top two seeds battling on Board 1 in the last round. Dave Southam plays a Colle, allowing Michael Humphreys to get an edge in the opening. Claiming he didn’t find the right plan and sacked the wrong piece, Humphreys still gets the full point in the end.

Armand Mendoza might have blundered, but one way or another Daniel Zotkin wins quickly to tie Humphreys at 3.5/4.

Tied on points, tied on head-to-head (a draw in Rd 2), tied on number of wins (two each), Michael Humphreys finally takes the tournament over Daniel Zotkin on the third tie break: greater number of games with black. Congratulations, Michael!

In U1900, leaders Bharath Ramesh and Salim Belcadi both win their final-round games to finish with 4.5/5 – a perfect result except for a draw against each other!

Again it comes down to the third tie break, but Bharath Ramesh takes the section. Rated 1399 coming into the tournament, Ramesh would have qualified for U1400 but instead wins U1900. Congratulations, Bharath!

In U1400 Eric Pei comes from behind to take the section as a win over Larissa Souchko gives him 4.0/5, while Roger Guo plays spoiler, holding leader Yun Hong Li at 3.5. Congratulations, Eric!

See full final results on the standings tables below.

The tournament has now been rated – check the CFC site.

A new tournament starts next week. New players are always welcome! Games start at 7:30 pm, but please register by 7:00 to make sure you’re paired.

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Final ranking cross-tables after Round 5

ACC August Swiss Crown

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Humphreys Michael	2336	CAN	6w½	2b½	9w1	7b½	4b1	3.5
2	Zotkin Daniel	2154	CAN	-½	1w½	10b1	6b½	3w1	3.5
3	Mendoza Armand Jess	1863	CAN	10b1	7b½	6w1	4w½	2b0	3
4	Southam David	2215	CAN	-½	12b1	7w1	3b½	1w0	3
5	Malakhovets Sergey	2045	CAN	7w0	6b0	12w1	9b1	-1	3
6	Li William	2117	CAN	1b½	5w1	3b0	2w½	9b½	2.5
7	Stefanovic Miroslav	2184	CAN	5b1	3w½	4b0	1w½	0	2
8	Yu Jonathan	2222	CAN	-½	-½	0	12b1	0	2
9	England Max	1982	CAN	-½	-½	1b0	5w0	6w½	1.5
10	Cliff Scott	1885	CAN	3w0	-½	2w0	-1	0	1.5
11	Calvelo Jelvis	2156	CAN	-½	-½	0	0	0	1
12	Calderon Andrei Joshua	1850	CAN	-½	4w0	5b0	8w0	0	0.5

Check latest results on the chess-results server.

ACC August Swiss U1900

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Ramesh Bharath	1399	CAN	15b1	11w1	7b1	2w½	6b1	4.5
2	Belcadi Salim	1423	CAN	16w1	13b1	3w1	1b½	5w1	4.5
3	Ab-Barin Hooshang	1605	CAN	10b1	4w1	2b0	11w1	8b0	3
4	Nadj Pal	1690	CAN	20w1	3b0	9w1	5b0	13w1	3
5	Vigneswaramoorthy Vinorth	1631	CAN	9w1	7w½	6b½	4w1	2b0	3
6	Ugodnikov Arkadiy	1722	CAN	17b1	-½	5w½	12b1	1w0	3
7	Amirirad Kamran	1785	CAN	14w1	5b½	1w0	16b½	11w1	3
8	Armstrong Robert J.	1586	CAN	-½	-½	0	20b1	3w1	3
9	Gelowitz Mark A.	1502	CAN	5b0	17w1	4b0	-½	18w1	2.5
10	Goldfarb Adam	1384	CAN	3w0	-½	-½	-½	17b1	2.5
11	Hanratty Brian	1680	CAN	12w1	1b0	20w1	3b0	7b0	2
12	Diemer Ulli	1638	CAN	11b0	18w1	19b1	6w0	0	2
13	David Jean-Marc	1373	CAN	-½	2w0	14b1	-½	4b0	2
14	Abbarin Shabnam	1491	CAN	7b0	16b½	13w0	-½	20w1	2
15	Chen Harry (siqi)	1507	CAN	1w0	20b0	17w½	-½	16b1	2
16	Giffen Glenn	1557	CAN	2b0	14w½	18b½	7w½	15w0	1.5
17	Patton Mark A.	1335	CAN	6w0	9b0	15b½	-1	10w0	1.5
18	Zhang Henry Xianrui	1315	CAN	-½	12b0	16w½	-½	9b0	1.5
19	Allen Joshua	1421	CAN	-½	-½	12w0	-½	0	1.5
20	Jevtic Dragan	1395	CAN	4b0	15w1	11b0	8w0	14b0	1

Check latest results on the chess-results server.

ACC August Swiss U1400

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Pei Eric	1137	CAN	6w1	9b1	2w1	3b0	5w1	4
2	Ma Yue Ran	1139	CAN	8w1	3b½	1b0	12w1	9b1	3.5
3	Li Yun Hong (kevin)	1097	CAN	5b1	2w½	12b1	1w1	4w0	3.5
4	Guo Roger	1183	CAN	-½	10w1	-½	0	3b1	3
5	Souchko Larissa	1111	CAN	3w0	13b1	-½	-½	1b0	2
6	Supol George	1369	CAN	1b0	-½	8w1	-½	0	2
7	Geddie Alex	1059	CAN	-½	-½	0	0	12b1	2
8	Kalmanson Evgeny	1055	CAN	2b0	12w0	6b0	9w1	10b½	1.5
9	Moiseev Alex	697	CAN	-1	1w0	-½	8b0	2w0	1.5
10	Guo Haotong Hazel	1291	CAN	-½	4b0	-½	0	8w½	1.5
11	Calderon Andrei Joshua	0	CAN	12b1	0	0	0	0	1
12	Teram Eli	1119	CAN	11w0	8b1	3w0	2b0	7w0	1
13	Pancer Jeff	1087	CAN	-½	5w0	0	0	0	0.5

Check latest results on the chess-results server.