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ACC Roasted Chestnuts Swiss Tournament – starting November 19

As another Santa Claus parade comes to town, Torontonians may remember the downtown street vendors who used to sell hot, freshly roasted chestnuts – as well as popcorn and cotton candy – in winters past. With their chestnut fires burning, the vendors’ familiar red carts were a welcome sight when the weather was cold.

While chestnut vendors have been harder to find on the city’s sidewalks for the past few years, Annex Chess Club is carrying on the tradition by bringing Toronto “chess nuts” in from the cold every Monday night!

Our last club tournament of 2012 remembers the warm winter treat of yesteryear. The ACC Roasted Chestnuts Swiss is divided into three sections, by playing strength – Premier (over 1900), Reserve A (under 1900), and Reserve B (under 1500). It’s a five-rounder, and it runs to December 17. The top section is FIDE-rated.

The tournament winner is Geordie Derraugh, with Ulli Diemer and Jim Mourgelas taking the U1900 and U1500 prizes.

Round reports follow. Check final standings, below.

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Round One – November 19

A strong top section saw five masters, two experts, and three A-class players vying for the crown. After one round there’s a four-way tie for first, including Dave Southam, who has won the last two club tournaments at ACC, and Michael Humphreys, who is the reigning club champion. Liam Henry and Geordie Derraugh round out the leading group.

The topsy-turvy middle section saw an amazing number of upsets. Kuhan Jeyapragasan (1592) beat Greg Beal (1771), Yanfeng Zhao (1425) beat Jack Maguire (1627), and Abdolreza Radpey (1434) beat Daniel Sirkovich (1617). Bill Thornton (1493) also did well to draw Arkadiy Ugodnikov (1754). In fact, Ulli Diemer was the only pairing-favourite in the section who managed to get his full point.

In the bottom section, there’s a five-way tie for first place: Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy, Jim Mourgelas, Jean-Marc David, and Milan Cvetkovic were pairing favourites, while Stone Hu (738) upset Eli Teram (1254) to join the leaders.

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Round Two – November 26

Chess Lecture by Rhys Goldstein “All in One Endgame”

Before the round, we were treated to a lecture by Rhys Goldstein, who used to be an active player at the club, but is currently busy at home with a new baby. The lecture featured a single, highly rich endgame position from one of his own games.

As Rhys put it, “Analyzing this position, we will encounter a blockade, a pawn race, a skewer, a fork, and a perpetual check. We will see common endgame tactics, like hanging pieces on the sixth rank with a pawn on the seventh. We will see common endgame principles, like placing one’s pawns on the opposite color as one’s bishop. We will witness how saving time can be all-important in some cases, while in other cases one must lose a move to win the game. All of this in one endgame!”

If you didn’t pick up his lecture notes, they’re available here.

The round began more or less on time at 7:30 pm; we are continuing a renewed attempt to have games start on time.

After beginning the round with a lecture about a minor-piece endgame, it was interesting that the final game of the night, on Board 1, featured a minor-piece endgame. In the end, Michael Humphreys lost to Liam Henry. Liam is joined at the top with a perfect 2.0/2 by Geordie Derraugh, who beat fellow arbiter, Alex Ferreira (Luckily there was no dispute in Geordie and Alex’s game!).

In the middle section, Kuhan Jeyapragasan is alone in first with 2.0/2. And in the bottom section, it’s Jim Mourgelas who is alone in first with 2.0/2. Can these leaders keep their lead through three more rounds? Only time will tell…

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Round Three – December 3

After taking out Club Champion Michael Humphreys in Round Two, Liam Henry went down to Geordie Derraugh in Round Three. So it’s Geordie now leading the section, perfect with 3.0/3. There is close competition among our top players!

In the middle section, Kuhan Jeyapragasan lost to Arkadiy Ugodnikov, and Ulli Diemer also won; Arkadiy and Ulli are now co-leaders with 2.5/3.

Finally, in the bottom section, Jim Mourgelas is holding his lead, still perfect at 3.0/3.

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Round Four – December 10

Chess Lecture by Omar Shaw “Modes of Thinking – Part One”

Before the round, we were treated to a lecture by Omar Shaw: “Modes of Thinking – Part One.” The lecture was well received, with Omar praised as “an engaging speaker,” and his lecture as “very informative.”

The lecture focussed on the thinking process that leads to the solutions in several chess problems. Omar showed concretely and from personal experience how in-depth study of one position can allow a player to solve other problems more quickly: he concluded that whenever hard work is put into chess study, the time is never wasted. The most effective thinking process, he taught, is to look at a position and see “the idea,” rather than starting automatically to calculate variations – or, as he put it, “going nuts on moves.”

If you didn’t pick up his lecture notes, they’re available here.

In the bottom section, Jim Mourgelas took a bye, allowing Chris Field to catch him. The two are now tied for first with 3.5/4.

In the middle section, Arkadiy took a bye, and Ulli Diemer won again! He’s now in sole possession of first place at 3.5/4.

And in the top section, Geordie Derraugh beat Tyler Longo. At 4.0/4, Geordie stands a point and a half ahead of the pack going into the last round!

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Round Five – December 17

In the top section, with a draw against David Southam, Geordie Derraugh not only wins the tournament with 4.5/5, but earns his National Master title. Congratulations, Geordie!

In the middle section, Ulli Diemer beat Abdolreza Radpey to take first place with 4.5/5, and qualifies to play in the top section of the upcoming Polar Bear Swiss. Congratulations, Ulli! Tied for second place in the middle section are two youngsters, Atharva Washimkar and 7-year-old Wunderkind, Harmony Zhu, with 3.5/5.

Finally, in the bottom section, Jim Mourgelas beat Chris Field in the final round to take first place wit 4.5/5. Congratulations, Jim!

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Standings after Round Five

SwissSys Standings. Roasted Chestnuts: Crown

#	Name	ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Geordie Derraugh	132393	2221	W8	W13	W4	W11	D2	4.5
2	David Southam	102535	2233	W7	H—	L5	W6	D1	3.0
3	Wajdy Shebetah	148432	2155	H—	H—	H—	D9	W7	3.0
4	Liam Henry	127769	2263	W9	W10	L1	D5	U—	2.5
5	Pavel Peev	122223	2213	L10	W8	W2	D4	U—	2.5
6	Daniel Zotkin	146857	1865	H—	H—	H—	L2	B—	2.5
7	Hayk Oganesyan	152587	1873	L2	L9	W8	W12	L3	2.0
8	Pi Nasir	148197	1825	L1	L5	L7	B—	W9	2.0
9	Daniel Wiebe	132137	2097	L4	W7	H—	D3	L8	2.0
10	Michael Humphreys	131628	2270	W5	L4	H—	H—	U—	2.0
11	Tyler Longo	135360	2065	H—	H—	W12	L1	U—	2.0
12	Pepin Manalo	112277	1897	H—	H—	L11	L7	U—	1.0
13	Alex T. Ferreira	127516	2081	H—	L1	H—	U—	U—	1.0

SwissSys Standings. Roasted Chestnuts: U1900

#	Name	ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	Ulli Diemer	153538	1611	W6	H—	W13	W7	W4	4.5
2	Harmony Zhu	151635	1472	H—	H—	D3	W15	W9	3.5
3	Atharva Washimkar	153285	1356	H—	H—	D2	W14	W13	3.5
4	Abdolreza Radpey	149018	1434	W8	L7	W10	W13	L1	3.0
5	Arkadiy Ugodnikov	146626	1754	D14	W16	W7	H—	U—	3.0
6	George Supol	152286	1418	L1	W17	D15	L11	W16	2.5
7	Kuhan Jeyapragasan	147906	1592	W15	W4	L5	L1	U—	2.0
8	Daniel Sirkovich	145096	1617	L4	L15	W17	L9	W18	2.0
9	Mohammad Zaki Uddin	152024	1647	H—	H—	U—	W8	L2	2.0
10	Manuela Renteria	152627	1682	H—	H—	L4	H—	H—	2.0
11	Nicholas O'Bumsawin	151261	1735	H—	H—	U—	W6	U—	2.0
12	Yanfeng Zhao	154318	1465	W17	H—	H—	U—	U—	2.0
13	Jamie Murphy	153736	1662	H—	W14	L1	L4	L3	1.5
14	Bill Thornton	131181	1493	D5	L13	W16	L3	L17	1.5
15	Greg Beal	101490	1771	L7	W8	D6	L2	U—	1.5
16	Josep Sobrepere	152976	1538	H—	L5	L14	W17	L6	1.5
17	Jack Maguire	144604	1627	L12	L6	L8	L16	W14	1.0
18	Hooshang Ab-barin	152910	1669	H—	H—	U—	U—	L8	1.0

SwissSys Standings. Roasted Chestnuts: U1500

#	Name	ID	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total
1	James Mourgelas	108540	1318	W12	W4	W5	H—	W2	4.5
2	Christopher Field	108098	1221	H—	W13	W14	W7	L1	3.5
3	Raymond Lin	150193	958	L4	W12	W16	D6	W10	3.5
4	Jean-Marc David	151900	1287	W3	L1	W13	W14	L5	3.0
5	Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy	153938	1328	W10	D6	L1	H—	W4	3.0
6	Milan Cvetkovic	150817	1257	W18	D5	L7	D3	W11	3.0
7	Nick Harding	154309	1195	H—	W9	W6	L2	H—	3.0
8	Arhant Washimkar	153286	1146	H—	H—	W10	U—	W12	3.0
9	Jeremy Wichrowski		unr.	H—	L7	W18	L10	W14	2.5
10	Ian Prittie	153588	1195	L5	W18	L8	W9	L3	2.0
11	Vlad Nitu	154215	1146	H—	H—	U—	W13	L6	2.0
12	Teresa Lee	154501	1010	L1	L3	H—	W18	L8	1.5
13	Stone Hu	153507	738	W15	L2	L4	L11	D18	1.5
14	Larissa Souchko	145490	1084	H—	W15	L2	L4	L9	1.5
15	Eli Teram	107314	1254	L13	L14	H—	H—	U—	1.0
16	Jeffrey Zhu	150847	1204	H—	H—	L3	U—	U—	1.0
17	Shabnam Abbarin		1390	H—	H—	U—	U—	U—	1.0
18	Dennis Li	153129	952	L6	L10	L9	L12	D13	0.5

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The chestnut vendors have not completely disappeared from the city. Here’s a photo essay, featuring “George,” who was selling chestnuts in High Park last November.