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!
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.
Hi, I am just wondering whether or not you update the ratings throughout the tournament. For example, I will have a new rating this Wednesday (fact), but would my new rating apply to the tournament or would my rating before the tournament apply?
Thanks.
Thanks for your question, William. We update CFC ratings the week the tournament starts, but then we keep those ratings throughout the event for pairing purposes. For rating purposes, I believe CFC rates tournaments in order according to when they finish.
E.g., if you start an Annex club tournament at 2100, then mid-tournament you play in a weekend Swiss and your rating goes up to 2150, CFC will rate the whole Annex tournament (even the rounds that came before the weekend Swiss) using 2150 as your rating.
FIDE might do something different, actually basing calculations on the date of each round, but I believe CFC lumps the whole tournament together as if it happened on the date of the final round.
I played at a weekend tournament BEFORE the Monday the ACC tournament started. But the weekend tournament was also before the next update. Is my rating going to be updated in the ACC tournament in this case?
Not for us then, for pairing purposes. But the updated rating will be used by CFC when they rate the Annex tournament.
Hi, this is Eric Pei. I noticed an error with the results and I would like to confirm that I won my game against Harry Chen. Thank you in advance.
Thanks, Eric. I’ll fix that before the round next week.
Hi, I have a little question. On the first round Nameer (whose rating is lower than mine) got to play 1st seed. Speaking of that, why did he get to play 1st seed and I got to play 2nd seed?
The rating update before the round didn’t work, so I paired with old ratings. Then I did the rating update after, and re-paired manually.
Nameer’s rating was lower than mine regardless of what case lol
As of the previous update, at the beginning of our August Swiss, he was 2145; you were 2117.
Oh I see, I didn’t know that the rating update was so behind. lol
Lol my play wasn’t that precise as noted above since I pointed out many errors in my play lol
OK, I’ll amend the description.
Also there’s always a dumb problem with the software I use to put my games in. The rating of the white player automatically becomes the rating of the black player when the game saves. My actual rating is 2085 lol
OK.
Hi, this is Eric Pei. I will not be coming for the 5th round nor will I be participating in the next tournament. Please do not pair me against an opponent. Thanks in advance
Eric
Thanks, Eric. Got it.
FYI, the normal process is to email info@annexchessclub.com for bye requests or withdrawals – and don’t worry, we won’t automatically register you for a new tournament.
Thank you