At Saturday’s annual general meeting of the Greater Toronto Chess League (GTCL), report after report recognized the emergence this year of the Annex Chess Club (ACC) as a remarkable positive development in the Toronto chess scene.
Accordingly, this year’s GTCL awards were presented to my friend Yakos Spiliotopoulos (ACC club manager) and to me Marcus Wilker (ACC communications director) for our work in getting this fantastic downtown chess club up and running so successfully.
In turn, Yakos and I would like to thank all our club members and all those who have supported Toronto chess through our club. Your help is much appreciated. Quite obviously, we couldn’t have done this without all of you!
Our second annual (Steve Fairbairn won the last one) ACC Fall Swiss is all wrapped up, and Michael Humphreys has won the Premier section with a perfect 5.0/5! Greg Beal and Dan Geambasu are the Reserve A and B winners.
A new club tournament, the Holiday Swiss, starts at 7:30 pm next Monday, December 12. Pre-register now!
Check complete final results from the Fall Swiss on the cross-tables, below.
Final Results through Round 5:
Premier (>1900)
#
Name
ID
Rating
Rd 1
Rd 2
Rd 3
Rd 4
Rd 5
Total
1
Michael Humphreys
131628
2299
W4
W5
W2
W6
W8
5.0
2
David Southam
102535
2154
W11
W7
L1
W5
W4
4.0
3
Robert Bzikot
132541
1949
H—
L10
H—
W13
W9
3.0
4
Pavel Peev
122223
2146
L1
W13
D7
W10
L2
2.5
5
Rolando Renteria
152626
2289
W13
L1
H—
L2
W6
2.5
6
Juliaan Posaratnanathan
146059
1878
H—
W11
W10
L1
L5
2.5
7
Wajdy Shebetah
148432
2086
H—
L2
D4
H—
W10
2.5
8
Alex T. Ferreira
127516
2025
H—
H—
H—
W12
L1
2.5
9
Manuela Renteria
152627
1743
H—
H—
H—
H—
L3
2.0
10
Hugh Siddeley
120619
1982
H—
W3
L6
L4
L7
1.5
11
Carlos Romero Alfonso
153128
2360
L2
L6
L13
H—
W12
1.5
12
Venci Ivanov
153031
1862
H—
H—
H—
L8
L11
1.5
13
Bruce McKendry
111714
1903
L5
L4
W11
L3
U—
1.0
Reserve A (>1500)
#
Name
ID
Rating
Rd 1
Rd 2
Rd 3
Rd 4
Rd 5
Total
1
Greg Beal
101490
1708
W9
W4
W3
W10
L2
4.0
2
Nicholas O'Bumsawin
151261
1781
H—
D7
D9
W3
W1
3.5
3
Edmond Jodhi
150171
1693
W15
W10
L1
L2
W9
3.0
4
Marcus Wilker
102713
1679
W12
L1
L8
W15
W10
3.0
5
Zehn Nasir
148198
1843
H—
H—
H—
H—
W7
3.0
6
Arkadiy Ugodnikov
146626
1814
L10
L13
W12
D9
W11
2.5
7
Yakos Spiliotopoulos
151471
1689
H—
D2
W14
H—
L5
2.5
8
Erik Malmsten
100196
1852
H—
H—
W4
H—
U—
2.5
9
Josep Sobrepere
152976
1475
L1
W12
D2
D6
L3
2.0
10
Jack Maguire
144604
1528
W6
L3
W15
L1
L4
2.0
11
Adie Todd
125156
1667
H—
H—
H—
H—
L6
2.0
12
Mohammad Zaki Uddin
152024
1826
L4
L9
L6
H—
W15
1.5
13
Alex T. Ferreira
127516
2025
H—
W6
U—
U—
U—
1.5
14
Daniel Zotkin
146857
1673
H—
H—
L7
U—
U—
1.0
15
Bazil Whitehead
153156
unr.
L3
H—
L10
L4
L12
0.5
Reserve B (U1500)
#
Name
ID
Rating
Rd 1
Rd 2
Rd 3
Rd 4
Rd 5
Total
1
Dan Geambasu
134119
1395
W9
W2
W7
W8
W6
5.0
2
Bill Thornton
131181
1290
W13
L1
W3
W7
W8
4.0
3
Milan Cvetkovic
150817
1190
L11
W4
L2
W10
W7
3.0
4
Adam Palmer
153127
1060
L5
L3
W10
W13
W12
3.0
5
Christopher Field
108098
1298
W4
L7
W11
W9
U—
3.0
6
Larissa Souchko
145490
1157
H—
L13
W15
W12
L1
2.5
7
George Supol
152286
1363
W15
W5
L1
L2
L3
2.0
8
Alexandre Johnson
109239
1449
W16
H—
H—
L1
L2
2.0
9
Jean-Marc David
151900
1116
L1
W15
W13
L5
U—
2.0
10
Hooshang Abbarin
152910
1470
H—
H—
L4
L3
W15
2.0
11
Francis He
153130
713
W3
H—
L5
U—
U—
1.5
12
Jason Waugh
152118
938
H—
H—
H—
L6
L4
1.5
13
Raymond Lin
150193
951
L2
W6
L9
L4
U—
1.0
14
Alan Yulun He
141522
1016
U—
U—
U—
W15
U—
1.0
15
Dennis Li
153129
1077
L7
L9
L6
L14
L10
0.0
16
Jennifer Ugodnikov
151196
1155
L8
U—
U—
U—
U—
0.0
Round 1 (November 7)
Week one of a Swiss always sees mismatched games, but it’s exciting to see the underdog win some of them. In the top (Premier) section, Dave Southam beat a 2300, but Carlos Romero Alfonso’s 2360 rating is provisional – based on only two games. In the bottom (Reserve B) section, young Francis He defeated Milan Cvetkovic. Finally, there were two big upsets in the middle (Reserve A) section: Marcus Wilker beat top seed Mohammad Zaki Uddin, and the wily Jack Maguire miniatured Arkadiy Ugodnikov!
And check out the upset of the week – Jack Maguire, known for his straight-for-the-jugular opening play, takes down one of our club’s giants in 17 moves!
White: Maguire, Jack (1528)
Black: Ugodnikov, Arkadiy (1814)
ACC Fall Swiss (1)
2011.11.07
Toronto, ON
D01 Veresov Attack
Round 2 (November 14)
After two rounds, all three sections have two-way ties for the lead. In the Premier section, it’s Michael Humphreys (with a win over Rolado Renteria) and David Southam (with a win over Wajdy Shebetah). In Reserve A, it’s Edmond Jodhi and Greg Beal. And in Reserve B, it’s Dan Geambasu and George Supol. All three pairs of co-leaders are due to face off in Round 3.
Take a copy of Mohammad Zaki Uddin’s November 14 chess talk, “Saving a Lost Game”.
Here are a few selected second-round battles:
White: Renteria, Rolando (2289)
Black: Humphreys, Michael (2299)
ACC Fall Swiss (2)
2011.11.14
Toronto, ON
B12 Caro Kann: Fantasy
White: Shebetah, Wajdy (2086)
Black: Southam, Dave (2154)
2011.11.14 ACC Fall Swiss (2)
Toronto, ON
C11 French Defence: Two Knights
White: Siddeley, Hugh (1982)
Black: Bzikot, Robert (1949)
ACC Fall Swiss (2)
2011.11.14
Toronto, ON
B33 Sicilian: Sveshnikov
Round 3 (November 21)
After three rounds, a clear leader has emerged in each of the three sections. In Reserve A, Greg Beal is in clear first, after defeating Edmond Jodhi. In Reserve B, it’s Dan Geambasu, with a win against George Supol. And in the Premier section, Michael Humphreys has the top spot, after beating David Southam.
Here’s the game from board 1:
White: Humphreys, Michael (2298)
Black: Southam, David (2154)
ACC Fall Swiss (3)
2011.11.21
Toronto, ON
A41 Modern Defence
Round 4 (November 28)
The leaders are undefeated! In Reserve A, Greg Beal is running away with the tournament. Going into the last round, he is in clear first – and out of reach, at a point and a half ahead of the competition! In Reserve B, Dan Geambasu is perfect and a full point ahead. And in the Premier section, Michael Humphreys is still perfect, a point ahead of his closest rival, David Southam.
Round 5 starts at 7:30 pm on Monday December 5. Remember, it’s never too late to join an ongoing club tournament. The Holiday Swiss starts the following Monday December 12.
Check full Round 4 results on the cross-tables, below.
Here are a couple selected games:
White: Southam, David (2154)
Black: Renteria, Rolando (2289)
ACC Fall Swiss (4)
2011.11.28
Toronto, ON
E94 King’s Indian: Orthodox
White: Siddely, Hugh (1982)
Black: Peev, Pavel (2146)
ACC Fall Swiss (4)
2011.11.28
Toronto, ON
B52 Sicillian: Rossolimo
Round 5 (December 5)
In Reserve A, going into the last round, Greg Beal had already clinched the section, leading by a point and a half. After a last-round loss to Nick O’Bumsawin, he still wins clear first with 4.0/5. Nick finishes second, with 3.5/5.
In Reserve B, Dan Geambasu remained perfect, finishing with 5.0/5. Bill Thornton came second, with 4.0/5.
And in the Premier section, Michael Humphreys finished with a fifth win. (Alex Ferreira, making a third cameo appearance in the tournament, was his unlucky opponent this time.) Michael’s perfect result leaves him a point ahead of David Southam, who finished in clear second, with 4.0/5.
Here are Michael’s and Dave’s last-round games:
White: Ferreira, Alex (2025)
Black: Humphreys, Michael (2298)
2011.12.05 ACC Fall Swiss (5)
Toronto, ON
A45 Trompowski
White: Peev, Pavel (2146)
Black: Southam, David (2154)
2011.12.05 ACC Fall Swiss (5)
Toronto, ON
C06 French: Tarrasch
Besides winning the tournament, Michael also gave our weekly chess lecture. Michael’s lecture (Coffee’s for Closers, Part One?) was on the King’s Indian Defence, Orthodox variation. He showed an array of plans for both sides, and explained the tempo battles that are involved in the execution of plans in closed positions. We saw these positional struggles in action in the illustrative game, Mikhahil Tal v. Bobby Fischer (from the 1959 World Championship Candidates Tournament) – and we saw why Black needs his dark-squared bishop in these closed King’s Indian positions, even though it’s his bad bishop!
Here’s the illustrative game from Michael’s lecture:
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%
ACC Late Summer Swiss – final results (August 22 )
In the Premier section, David Filipovich defeated Hugh Siddeley in the last round to finish tied with Rolando Renteria for first place, with 4.0/5 – and David had the better tie-break. In Reserve A, Zehn Nasir drew Marcus Wilker finish in clear first, with 4.0/5. And in Reserve B, Chris Wehrfritz finished like a champion with a perfect 5.0/5!
Round one of a Swiss tends to have lopsided games, with underdogs battling heavy favourites. Sometimes one or two of the underdogs comes out on top. In the Premier (over 1900) section, Mark Dutton, visiting the club from BC (he was in town as Chief Arbiter at the Canadian Open), was happy to draw Tyler Longo. But the biggest upset was by Jack Maguire, winner of the Reserve B (under 1600) section in the last tournament. He has not only moved up to Reserve A, but won his first game against Michael Sutton (1748)!
Round 2 (July 25)
After the second round, the leader packs have started to thin. In the Premier section, there’s a three-way tie for first: Rolando Renteria, David Filipovich, and Pavel Peev all have 1.5/2. In both reserve sections, there are two-way ties for the lead: Adie Todd and Marcus Wilker each have 2.0/2 in Reserve A; while Dan Geambasu and Chris Wehrfritz have perfect scores in Reserve B.
Round 3 (August 8 )
After the third round, there are clear leaders in the top and bottom sections, and a tight race in the middle section: Rolando Renteria has pulled in to sole possession of first place in the Premier section with 2.5/3, while Zehn Nasir, Adie Todd, and Marcus Wilker each have 2.5/3 in Reserve A. In Reserve B, Chris Wehrfritz is tearing it up with a perfect 3.0/3!
Round 4 (August 15 )
One more round to go! In the Premier section, David Filipovich defeated Rhys Goldstein, and is now tied for first with Rolando Renteria, who took a bye – both have 3.0/4. In Reserve A, Zehn Nasir defeated Adie Todd to take sole first. And in Reserve B, Chris Wehrfritz is continuing his streak: he now has a perfect 4.0/4!