Women’s Simultaneous Exhibition

Published on by harthousechess

On March 10th, 2023, the Hart House Chess Club hosted a simultaneous exhibition featuring the 3 strongest female chess players at U of T at the time. The tournament occurred 2 days after International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2023 and highlighted the incredible strength of women’s chess at U of T. The simul was open to all, with female chess players and young girls highly encouraged to play. Beginners and unrated players were also encouraged to participate.

We were very happy to see 20 players take part in the sold-out simul in the East Common Room. As the first ever women’s simul held at Hart House in our 127 year history, we were very happy to see such enthusiastic interest in playing in this event. The tandem simul meant that the simul players rotated after every move, making it an even tougher challenge than ever before. The final result was 18-2, with only Nathaniel Yong and Denys Melnychuk taking wins.

See below for a brief gallery from the event. Congratulations to all the players and thank you for the simul participants!

See below for the original event post.

FORMAT AND EVENT DETAILS

  • WHEN: Friday, March 10th, 7pm.
  • WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – East Common Room
  • WHAT: Simultaneous exhibition featuring the 3 strongest women’s chess players at U of T.
  • WHO: WIM Yunshan Li, WFM Cindy Qiao, Isabelle Wang
  • FORMAT: The simul will be a 3-person simul, with simul players alternating moves between all boards. The exhibitors will play with white pieces from move one. No clocks will be used. Two “passes” allowed.
  • ENTRY FEE: FREE for members, by donation for all public/non-members.
  • REGISTRATION: In-person starting at 4:00 pm in the Reading Room during Casual Play. Women can email us at hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca to reserve their spot.
  • SPECIAL PRIZES: HHCC t-shirt for last board and any wins.
  • RATING CAP: 2000 CFC
  • MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 20 players
  • ORGANIZER: Hart House Chess Club
  • NOTE: chess sets and boards provided

Player bios

WIM Yunshan li

Women’s International Master Yunshan Li is a 2nd year Psychology & Anthropology student. She plays for the U of T’s Varsity Chess Team and most recently competed for the Hart House Chess Club at the 2023 PanAms in Seattle, 2023 Kasparov Chess Foundation Cup Team, 2023 Canadian University Chess Championships in Ottawa, and the 2023 Greater Toronto Chess League hosted at Hart House. She also recently competed at the 2023 Hart House Reading Week Open, finished tied 3rd in the Crown section.

Yunshan’s current CFC rating is 2407.

WFM Cindy Qiao

Women’s FIDE Master Cindy Qiao is a 2nd year Computer Science student. She plays on U of T’s Varsity Chess Team and obtained her WFM title. She has competed in the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad in India. This year, Cindy has competed for the Hart House Chess Club at the 2023 PanAms in Seattle, 2023 Canadian University Chess Championships in Ottawa, and the 2023 Kasparov Chess Foundation Cup Team. Cindy also recently finished tied 5th at the 2023 Hart House Reading Week U2200.

Cindy’s current CFC rating is 2073.

Isabelle Wang

Isabelle Wang is a 2nd year Life Science student. Isabelle most recently competed in the 2023 Canadian University Chess Championships scoring a perfect 5/5. She also played at the 2023 Reading Week Open and went 5/6 for second place in U1900. In Canada, she has played a total of 11 rated CFC games and recorded wins in 10/11 of the games. Isabelle has played competitive chess in China, most notably finishing 10th at the 2019 National Junior Chess Championship Female First Division.

Isabelle’s current CFC rating is 1925.

Photo credits: Alayna Jang, Michael Hsu