Summer vacation’s over, and Toronto players are back to the grind!

Back to the Grind

Chess is not an easy game; playing is hard work! Our current club tournament is the ACC “Back to the Grind” Swiss. It runs on five Monday nights – September 19 to October 24 – 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 – September 19

The Crown section sees the most upsets in Round One, as the top two seeds are defeated: William Li (2126) beats number two, Jonathan Yu (2223); and Nameer Issani (2092) topples top seed and club champion, FM Michael Humphreys (2332). A little further down the pairings chart, new club member Sergey Noritsyn “crushes” Miroslav Stefanovic (in Miroslav’s words). Bharath Ramesh, making a special appearance in the Crown section after finishing first in U1900 last tournament, also joins the lead group with a TD bye.

In U1900, the largest section of the tournament, favourites are victorious on almost all boards, except that Jean-Marc David (1377) manages to defeat a possibly rusty Kevin Gaffney (1590), returning after a break.

The U1400 section has suddenly become quite small and sees only three games in Round One. (We may have to adjust section cut-offs.) All three favourites are victorious, as Mark Patton, Larissa Souchko, and Eli Teram head into Round Two with a full point.

Games of the Week

In this week’s first featured game, William Li sacs the exchange in his game against Jonathan Yu and continues aggressively to win it back and then win the game, upsetting the number-two seed.

In the second featured game, Dave Southam stems the tide of toppling top seeds in his characteristically solid style by grinding out the full point against Sergey Malakhovets – it’s an instructive endgame.

Round Two – September 26

In the Crown section, the leader group is down to two after Dave Southam finds himself down material and is lucky to get a draw against Nameer Issani. Meanwhile Jelvis Calvelo defeats Sergey Noritsyn and William Li defeats Bharath Ramesh to enter Round 3 with perfect 2.0/2 scores.

In U1900, Kamran Amirirad and Arkadiy Udodnikov stay in the leader group with Round-Two wins and are joined by Mysha Gilani (1467) as she upsets Brian Hanratty (1688) after he blunders in a won position. All three head into Rd. 3 with 2.0/2.

In U1400, Eli Teram takes a bye, allowing Yue Ran Ma and Alex Moisseev to catch up to him at 1.5/2.

Games of the Week

Two featured games this week from the top section show the stronger player as black getting an advantage out of the opening and converting it to a win.

Round Three – October 3

Through three rounds, William Li leads the crown section. Mysha Gilani and Kamran Amirirad lead the U1900 section. And Alex Moisseev leads the U1400.

Game of the Week

On the top board, there’s another exciting William Li game as Li plays aggressively through complications to defeat Jelvis Calvelo.

Off Week – October 10

The club is closed for Thanksgiving.

Round Four – October 17

Through four rounds, William Li leads the Crown section with 3.5/4. Kamran Amirirad leads the U1900 with a perfect score of 4.0/4. And Eli Teram leads the U1400 with 3.0/4. One more round to go!

Game of the Week

On the top board, William Li gets a draw against David Southam.

Round Five – October 24

Last round! FM Michael Humphreys, with a win over William Li, takes first place in the Crown section with 4.0/5, beating Dave Southam on tiebreak (greater number of wins).

In U1900, Kamran Amirirad scores a default win over Glen Giffen to finish in clear first with a perfect 5.0/5. Can’t get better than that!

Finally, in the small and closely fought U1400, Eli Teram loses to Larissa Soushko in the last round, but still holds onto first place with 3.0/5, beating George Supol on tiebreak (greater number of games with black).

Congratulations, Michael, Kamran, and Eli!

Upcoming …

Next week, don’t miss the Hallowe’en Rapid – 6 rounds in one night at 9′ + 3″. And don’t forget to wear a costume! The round starts at 7:30 pm. New players are welcome. Please register by 7:00 pm to make sure you’re paired.

Then, the following week (November 7) there’s a new regular club tournament, the ACC Sub-Zero Swiss!

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Final Ranking cross-tables after Round 5

ACC Back to the Grind Swiss Crown

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Humphreys Michael	2332	CAN	10w0	9b1	14w1	6b1	3w1	4
2	Southam David	2212	CAN	7w1	10b½	5w1	3b½	4w1	4
3	Li William	2126	CAN	15w1	14b1	4b1	2w½	1b0	3.5
4	Calvelo Jelvis	2199	CAN	9w1	5b1	3w0	7b1	2b0	3
5	Noritsyn Sergey	2034	CAN	12w1	4w0	2b0	14b1	11w1	3
6	Zotkin Daniel	2171	CAN	-½	11b1	10w1	1w0	0	2.5
7	Malakhovets Sergey	2043	CAN	2b0	13w1	8b½	4w0	-1	2.5
8	England Max	2008	CAN	-½	-½	7w½	11b1	0	2.5
9	Mendoza Armand Jess	1986	CAN	4b0	1w0	11w0	-1	-1	2
10	Issani Nameer	2092	CAN	1b1	2w½	6b0	0	0	1.5
11	Liu Zhanhe (lambert)	1958	CAN	-½	6w0	9b1	8w0	5b0	1.5
12	Stefanovic Miroslav	2174	CAN	5b0	-½	-½	0	0	1
13	Sivapathasundaram Manojh	1883	CAN	-½	7b0	-½	0	0	1
14	Ramesh Bharath	1632	CAN	-1	3w0	1b0	5w0	0	1
15	Yu Jonathan	2223	CAN	3b0	-½	0	0	0	0.5

Check full details on the chess-results server.

ACC Back to the Grind Swiss U1900

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Amirirad Kamran	1764	CAN	12w1	4b1	2w1	7b1	10w+	5
2	Ugodnikov Arkadiy	1713	CAN	6b1	8w1	1b0	5w1	4b½	3.5
3	Gilani Mysha	1467	CAN	11b1	21w1	16b1	0	0	3
4	Armstrong Robert J.	1611	CAN	17w1	1w0	8b½	9b1	2w½	3
5	Chen Harry (siqi)	1496	CAN	13w0	24b+	22b1	2b0	11w1	3
6	Belcadi Salim	1627	CAN	2w0	20b1	9w0	11b½	19w1	2.5
7	Vigneswaramoorthy Vinorth	1647	CAN	20b1	-½	13w1	1w0	0	2.5
8	David Jean-Marc	1377	CAN	19w1	2b0	4w½	-½	9b½	2.5
9	Patton Mark A.	1317	CAN	-½	22w½	6b1	4w0	8w½	2.5
10	Giffen Glenn	1508	CAN	-½	14w1	-½	-½	1b-	2.5
11	Zhang Henry Xianrui	1357	CAN	3w0	19b½	24b1	6w½	5b0	2
12	Gelowitz Mark A.	1502	CAN	1b0	-½	14b0	-½	24w1	2
13	Pei Eric	1235	CAN	5b1	16w½	7b0	-½	0	2
14	Sutton Michael	1733	CAN	-½	10b0	12w1	-½	0	2
15	Sharpe Michael D.	1677	CAN	-½	-½	0	23b1	0	2
16	Wilker Marcus	1621	CAN	25w1	13b½	3w0	-½	0	2
17	Supol George	1347	CAN	4b0	-½	19w1	-½	0	2
18	Fines John	0	CAN	-½	-½	0	0	22b1	2
19	Gaffney Kevin	1590	CAN	8b0	11w½	17b0	22w1	6b0	1.5
20	Goldfarb Adam	1391	CAN	7w0	6w0	-½	24b1	0	1.5
21	Hanratty Brian	1688	CAN	24w1	3b0	0	0	0	1
22	Ab-Barin Hooshang	1613	CAN	-½	9b½	5w0	19b0	18w0	1
23	Allen Joshua	1414	CAN	-½	-½	0	15w0	0	1
24	Jevtic Dragan	1388	CAN	21b0	5w-	11w0	20w0	12b0	0
25	Morrison Richard	1380	CAN	16b0	0	0	0	0	0

Check full details on the chess-results server.

ACC Back to the Grind Swiss U1400

Rk.	Name	Rtg	FED	1.Rd	2.Rd	3.Rd	4.Rd	5.Rd	Pts.
1	Teram Eli	1093	CAN	3w1	-½	-½	6b1	5b0	3
2	Supol George	1347	CAN	-½	-½	0	8w1	3b1	3
3	Kalmanson Evgeny	1016	CAN	1b0	6w½	8b1	5w1	2w0	2.5
4	Moiseev Alex	699	CAN	-½	8w1	-1	0	0	2.5
5	Souchko Larissa	1106	CAN	8b1	7w0	6b0	3b0	1w1	2
6	Geddie Alex	1078	CAN	9w0	3b½	5w1	1w0	8b0	1.5
7	Ma Yue Ran	1189	CAN	-½	5b1	0	0	0	1.5
8	Noritsyn Ivan	1016	CAN	5w0	4b0	3w0	2b0	6w1	1
9	Patton Mark A.	1317	CAN	6b1	0	0	0	0	1

Check full details on the chess-results server.