Beautiful weather, a strong blitz tournament, a great team of volunteers, and all kinds of players, old and young, made for a great event. Thanks to all who attended.
Kids and families loved getting into the game at Chessfest, at the same time as our top national players clashed in one of the strongest blitz tournaments this city has ever seen. It was truly inspiring to see chess so enjoyed at all levels of the game.
Hal Bond, Canada’s FIDE representative, loved the way Chessfest celebrated “chess as a family activity.” He praised the event for “helping chess advance a little deeper into the consciousness of the general public.”
Hans Jung, the blindfold master, described the event as “a terrific time” and “the best combined birthday and Father’s Day present” he’s ever had.
Chessfest at Harbourfront Centre is returning this year on Saturday-Sunday June 20-21, 2015. See the Chessfest page for details.
The 2013 Hart House Holidays Open is Friday December 20 to Sunday December 22 in the beautiful Great Hall at Hart House. There’s no better place to play chess in Toronto!
Our October club chess tournament spans Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en – and, as players of one of the world’s oldest games, we are not too proud to recognize the modest 33rd anniversary of a certain ghost-gobbling maze game released in North America in October 1980.
Divided in three by CFC rating, players are competing in “Crown,” “Under-1900,” and “Under-1500″ sections. All sections are CFC-rated.
Round 1 starts at 7:30 pm on Monday October 7. Then there’s a week off on Thanksgiving Monday – don’t miss the Toronto Thanksgiving Open October 12 to 14 at the Macedonian Community Centre – and the final four rounds are Mondays October 21 through November 11.
Good luck to all competitors!
Round One – October 7
Round One sees 46 players join, with the largest number – 20 players – in the U1500 section. It’s great to see some ex-casual players, like Sean Korzeniewski, and ex-kids’ club players, like Kaizen Liu, playing in the main event! One side effect is a somewhat depleted casual section, which means we need to do more recruiting: let’s get some posters out!
The Crown section has some tough fights, including Hugh Siddeley taking down master Jonathan Yu from the white side of a French Defence Classical Variation. In the U1900 section, wunderkind Harmony Zhu crushes Marcus Wilker from the black side of a Queen’s Gambit Semi-Slav. Theirs are the games of the week (see below). Finally, in the U1500 section, last tournament’s winner, Jean-Marc David, has a topsy-turvy game against Teresa Lee, but comes out on top.
Hugh SiddeleyHarmony Zhu
Round One Games of the Week
Round Two – October 21
There are many close battles in Round Two, with more than half the games in the top section ending in draws! Michael Humphreys wins his game and takes an early lead with 2.0/2, but six players are just half a point behind at 1.5/2.
Post mortem – Michael lends a hand as Wajdy and Rodrigo look over their game
In the middle section, two young female players are tied for the lead: Harmony Zhu and Jiaxin Liu each have 2.0/2. Shown below are Harmony with her parents at the 2012 World Youth Championship, and Jiaxin playing at the 2012 Canadian Closed.
Jiaxin LiuHarmony Zhu
Finally, in the bottom section, three players are tied for the lead: Mark Gelowitz, Bradley Yee, and our friendly club greeter, Richard Morrison, each have 2.0/2.
Round Two Game of the Week
Round Three – October 28
In the Crown section, Michael Humphreys wins again (this time against David Southam) to stay in first with 3.0/3, while Rodrigo Oliveira, beating Pavel Peev, is now the only player half a point behind at 2.5/3.
In the middle section, it’s a showdown between the two girls leading the section. Harmony Zhu, victorious over Jiaxin Liu, is now alone in first with 3.0/3; she is followed by Arkadiy Ugodnikov and Nicholas Vettese, both at 2.5/3.
Finally, in the U1500 section, Bradley Yee (with a win over Richard Morrison) and Mark Gelowitz (with a win over Max England) are tied for the lead with 3.0/3. Jean-Marc David trails by half a point, at 2.5/3.
Round Four – November 4
In the Crown section, Michael Humphreys gets an easy round as a computer error leads to his being mis-paired with Rodrigo (who requested a bye) and arbiter Tyler Longo is unable to re-pair him. Michael now leads with a perfect 4.0/4. Rodrigo, with the bye, is half a point behind at 3.5/4, and Alexandre Michelashvili and Allan Munro, both winners this round, are a full point behind at 3.0/4. Rodrigo has a chance for first, but only if he beats Michael on board one in the final round!
In the U1900 section, Arkadiy Ugodnikov finally puts a stop to young Harmony Zhu’s win streak. Arkadiy is now tied for the lead with Nicholas Vettese at 3.5/4, so he’ll have to take on another youngster in the final round! Harmony trails the two leaders by half a point at 3.0/4.
In the U1500 section, Jean-Marc David takes out Bradley Yee, one of the co-leaders in the section, and he now joins Mark Gelowitz for the lead at 3.5/4 (Mark Gelowitz took a bye). Mark and Jean-Marc are due to face off in the final round!
Round Five – November 11
The final round takes place on the evening of Remembrance Day. In the Crown section, Michael Humphreys beats Rodrigo Oliveira to win the tournament with a perfect 5.0/5. Our 2013 Club Champion is in fine form! Alexandre Michelashvili and Allan Munro, with a draw, tie for second at 3.5/5.
Michael Humphreys wins
with 5.0/5
In the U1900 section, Arkadiy Ugodnikov does it again! Taking out another youngster, Nicholas Vettese, in the final round, Arkadiy finishes with 4.5/5. (Chalk one up for us old guys!) All the other games in the section (perhaps inspired by the World Championship!) end in draws – Harmony and Nicholas finish tied for second with 3.5/5.
In the U1500 section, Mark Gelowitz beats Jean-Marc David in the final round to finish first with 4.5/5. Bradley Yee and Richard Morrison both win their final-round games to finish tied for second with 4.0/5.
Complete results are on the standings table below.
A new club tournament starts next week. Round One of the ACC “Scarf Weather” Swiss is Monday November 18 at 7:30 pm. New players are welcome; register on site before 7:00 pm.