Adie Todd’s chess course is back by popular demand!
We’re launching a new Spring Session of our Adult Introductory Chess Course, taught by Adie Todd. The course is now offered in two levels:
The Beginner course starts at the very beginning of the game, covering such topics as how the pieces move, how to check and checkmate, the relative value of the pieces, an introduction to strategy and tactics, and basic endgames.
The Intermediate course is designed for those who have either graduated from the Beginner course or who already have a basic knowledge of the game. The Intermediate class will cover such topics as tactical themes (skewers, double checks, discovered attacks, zugzwang), opening, middlegame, and endgame strategy, pawn structures, and famous games. We will also play in-class games and analyze them together.
The course runs on Thursday nights for seven weeks, at a cost of $85. The first class is scheduled for next Thursday, April 19.
Spring is here! Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages… And specially from every shires ende of Toronto, to the Annex they wende – to play in the ACC Spring Swiss!
Round 5 (April 30)
In the top section, leaders Pavel Peev and Rob Bikot both withdrew, allowing Wajdy Shebetah to surge into first with 3.5/5, defeating ACC super-volunteer Adrian Valencia for the win. Congratulations, Wajdy – ACC Spring Swiss champion!
In the U1900 section, leader Olof Bergenstam had to miss the last round, and with Omid Nemati and Adie Todd drawing – and with Bill Thornton scoring a full point with huge upset win over Nick O’Bumsawin – it ended in a big four-way tie at 3.5/5. Omid Nemati emerged with the best tie-break to win the section. Congratulations, Omid!
In the U1500 section, George Supol held his lead with another win, finishing first in fine style with an undefeated record of 4.5/5. Congratulations, George!
There’s a new tournament this coming Monday May 7, the “Patio Weather” Swiss, starting at 7:30 pm. Please contact us if you would like to join the tournament (current CFC membership is required, and can be purchased at the club). Arrive by 7:00 pm to register on site. Let us know, too, if you’ve already registered and can’t make it this Monday. Email info@annexchessclub.com
Final Results
SwissSys Standings. Annex Spring Swiss: Top
#
Name
ID
Rtng
Rd 1
Rd 2
Rd 3
Rd 4
Rd 5
Tot
1
Wajdy Shebetah
148432
2071
H—
W9
D2
H—
W8
3.5
2
Pavel Peev
122223
2082
W12
D7
D1
W3
U—
3.0
3
Edy Dell'Ambrogio
1983
D8
D6
W11
L2
W12
3.0
4
Robert Bzikot
132541
1930
H—
H—
W8
W5
U—
3.0
5
Daniel Wiebe
132137
1909
D6
D8
H—
L4
W13
2.5
6
Melissa Greeff
2067
D5
D3
H—
W13
U—
2.5
7
Alex T. Ferreira
127516
2042
W11
D2
H—
H—
U—
2.5
8
Adrian David Valencia
153521
2075
D3
D5
L4
W11
L1
2.0
9
Sahir Abbas
1870
H—
L1
W14
U—
D11
2.0
10
Andrew Pastor
127521
1931
H—
H—
U—
U—
W14
2.0
11
Carlos Romero Alfonso
153128
1916
L7
W14
L3
L8
D9
1.5
12
Hugh Siddeley
120619
2026
L2
H—
D13
H—
L3
1.5
13
Bruce McKendry
111714
1885
H—
H—
D12
L6
L5
1.5
14
Pepin Manalo
112277
1857
H—
L11
L9
H—
L10
1.0
SwissSys Standings. Annex Spring Swiss: U1900
#
Name
ID
Rtng
Rd 1
Rd 2
Rd 3
Rd 4
Rd 5
Tot
1
Omid Nemati
130676
1762
W5
L2
W10
W8
D4
3.5
2
Olof Bergenstam
unr.
W10
W1
D8
W7
U—
3.5
3
Bill Thornton
131181
1500
W9
H—
L7
W11
W16
3.5
4
Adie Todd
125156
1701
H—
H—
W5
W12
D1
3.5
5
Hayk Oganesyan
152587
1622
L1
W9
L4
W15
W7
3.0
6
Chris Wehrfritz
151679
1596
H—
H—
U—
W10
W9
3.0
7
Ulli Diemer
1668
H—
W17
W3
L2
L5
2.5
8
Michael Sutton
151225
1644
W15
W13
D2
L1
U—
2.5
9
Hooshang Abbarin
152910
1477
L3
L5
W18
W13
L6
2.0
10
Marcus Wilker
102713
1642
L2
W15
L1
L6
W14
2.0
11
Michael D. Sharpe
100280
1602
H—
H—
W13
L3
U—
2.0
12
Yakos Spiliotopoulos
151471
1693
H—
W14
H—
L4
U—
2.0
13
Arkadiy Ugodnikov
146626
1830
H—
L8
L11
L9
W15
1.5
14
Jack Maguire
144604
1528
D17
L12
L15
B—
L10
1.5
15
Josep Sobrepere
152976
1506
L8
L10
W14
L5
L13
1.0
16
Nicholas O'Bumsawin
151261
1799
H—
H—
U—
U—
L3
1.0
17
Mohammad Zaki Uddin
152024
1702
D14
L7
U—
U—
U—
0.5
18
Milan Cvetkovic
150817
1255
U—
U—
L9
U—
U—
0.0
SwissSys Standings. Annex Spring Swiss: U1500
#
Name
ID
Rtng
Rd 1
Rd 2
Rd 3
Rd 4
Rd 5
Tot
1
George Supol
152286
1327
W6
D4
W10
W2
W5
4.5
2
Shabnam Abbarin
151181
1302
W15
W3
W4
L1
D13
3.5
3
Nicole Birarov
150335
1179
W5
L2
W12
H—
W4
3.5
4
Abdolreza Radpey
149018
1480
W8
D1
L2
W10
L3
2.5
5
James Mourgelas
108540
1445
L3
D11
W6
W7
L1
2.5
6
Larissa Souchko
145490
1054
L1
D14
L5
D11
W10
2.0
7
Christopher Field
108098
1280
L10
W8
W11
L5
U—
2.0
8
Milan Cvetkovic
150817
1247
L4
L7
B—
W15
U—
2.0
9
Ian Prittie
1039
H—
H—
U—
U—
W16
2.0
10
Dennis Li
954
W7
D12
L1
L4
L6
1.5
11
Raymond Lin
150193
918
D12
D5
L7
D6
U—
1.5
12
Stefan Catona
129405
1180
D11
D10
L3
H—
U—
1.5
13
Jacques Katz
unr.
H—
H—
U—
U—
D2
1.5
14
Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy
unr.
H—
D6
H—
U—
U—
1.5
15
Dave Rutt
153519
992
L2
H—
H—
L8
U—
1.0
16
Francis He
153130
925
H—
H—
U—
U—
L9
1.0
17
Anton Zverev
150115
1342
H—
H—
U—
U—
U—
1.0
Round 1 (March 26)
Thirty players (one more than the fabled nyne and twenty) joined the tournament in Round 1. The top of each section played the bottom (as per the Swiss pairing system), and naturally the favourites won most of the games.
However, there were a couple of upset wins by a couple of youngsters in the bottom section: Dennis Li defeated Chris Field, and Nicole Birarov took down Jim Mourgelas. (Actually, it was a good night for the Birarovs – Nicole’s father, Vlad Birarov, also won his game in the Toronto Closed.)
Round 2 (April 2)
Several new players joined the tournament this round. After two rounds of play, our intrepid interim tournament director Alex Ferreira is tied for the lead in the top section, with 1.5/2 – and this, while running two tournaments (the Spring Swiss and the Toronto Closed)!
In the middle section, newcomer Olof Bergenstam is undefeated, and tied for the lead with Michael Sutton – both have perfect 2.0/2 scores.
And in the under-1500 section, Shabnam Abbarin is now in clear first as the only player with a perfect score. George Supol, Abdolreza Radpey, and Dennis Li are half a point behind her with 1.5/2.
Round 3 (April 16)
In the top section, TD Alex Ferreira gave himself a bye, while Wajdy Shebetah and Pavel Peev drew, which allowed two more players, Edy Dell'Ambrogio and Rob Bzikot, to join the leader group. The section now has a five-way tie for the lead, at 2.0/3!
In the middle section, Olof Bergenstam drew Michael Sutton. With Ulli Diemer winning his game, there is now a three-way tie for the lead there, at 2.5/3.
Finally, in the bottom section, Shabnam Abbarin remains in sole possession of the lead, perfect through three rounds with 3.0/3. Only half a point behind her, with two wins and a draw, is George Supol. The two are due to meet in Round 4.
Round 4 (April 23)
In the top section, it’s down to a two-way tie between Pavel Peev and Rob Bzikot. Pavel and Rob will face each other in the last round; there can be only one ACC Spring Swiss champion!
In the U1900 section, Olof Bergenstam defeated Ulli Diemer to take sole first (since Michael Sutton also lost his game to Omid Nemati). This is Olof’s first tournament at ACC (and indeed in Canada, as he’s here from Sweden) so he’s off to a great start at the club! Adie Todd is half a point behind the lead, and has yet to face Olof, so she’s due to be his last-round opponent.
In the U1500 group, George Supol has taken the lead, with a win over Shabnam Abbarin. George is alone in first, going into the last round, but Shabnam remains just half a point behind.
New International Players
We are pleased to welcome to the club a couple of international players, whose travels in sondry londes have brought them to Toronto: Edy Dell’Ambrogio is from Switzerland, and WGM Melissa Greeff is from South Africa.
WGM Melissa Greeff (RSA)
Edy Dell'Ambrogio (SUI)
Cherry Blossoms
One of Toronto’s rites of spring is a pilgrimage to see the beautiful cherry trees in High Park. The trees usually blossom in late April, but came into bloom earlier this year with the warm spring weather. Check cherry blossom walk details, and High Park forum updates.
On October 31, we squeezed a mini-AGM into our normal chess lecture slot. ACC Executive members Ted Winick, Hugh Siddeley, Marcus Wilker, and Adie Todd (Yakos Spiliotopoulos was busy teaching) briefly reported on our respective areas of responsibility (finances, tournaments, communications, and membership) and introduced the issues we are addressing as we move into year two. We are inviting member feedback on our initiatives and on the state of our club generally. In order to make the AGM as short and sweet as it was, and to accommodate as many members as possible, we are hoping to hear back from you through our survey.
Survey forms were available at the club, and could be returned until the end of November.
Final Survey results
16 surveys completed by November 28
1. Support for strict 7:30 tournament start time: 9/13 = 69% (+ 3 indifferent)
2. Interest in playing at ACC two days per week: 8/15 = 53%
2b. Suggestions for second day, if interested:
Tuesday: 2/6 = 33%
Wednesday: 3/6 = 50%
Thursday: 3/6 = 50%
Saturday: 1/6 = 17%
3. Support for outsourcing and publishing all ACC games: 5/13 = 38% (+ 2 indifferent)
4. Support for rigid minimum ratings in sections: 7/13 = 54% (+ 1 indifferent)
5. Satisfaction with current time controls: 12/15 = 80%
5b. Other suggestions for time controls:
40/2 SD/1: 1/4 = 25%
increment for all: 2/4 = 50%
faster – e.g., SD/1 +30s: 1/4 = 25%
6. Importance of lectures, out of 10: 91/15 = 6.1/10
6b. Interest in giving lectures: 8/15 = 53%
7. Frequency of checking the website:
daily: 4/15 = 27%
few times a week: 3/15 = 20%
weekly: 6/15 = 40%
rarely: 2/15 = 13%
8a. Favourite content on the website:
results: 4/11 = 36%
news: 3/11 = 27%
all aspects generally: 3/11 = 27%
events: 3/11 = 27%
visuals: 1/11 = 9%
lecture notes: 1/11 = 9%
selected games: 1/11 = 9%
frequent updates: 1/11 = 9%
8b. Least favourite content on the website:
club: 1/2 = 50%
none: 1/2 = 50%
9. Interest in submitting articles for the website: 9/14 = 64%
10. Interest in volunteering with the club: 6/14 = 43% (+ 1 possible)
11a. Other compliments:
atmosphere, community feeling, friendly people: 6/9 = 75%
The Annex Chess Club’s instructional chess programme is designed for all ages (from teenagers right through to seniors) and all levels of chess ability – from general courses, starting at beginner level, right through to special advanced courses, for tournament players up to master level.
Full details of our Adult Chess Classed have now moved to a permanent page.