The 2024 Canadian University Chess Championship hosted by Queen’s University Chess Club was held from January 26th to January 28th, 2024. 

The Hart House Chess Club, representing the University of Toronto, sent a school record and CUCC record of 6 teams (3 in each section) to compete in the event. 16 teams participated in the Championship and 30 teams in the Reserve, making the event one of the largest CUCCs in history. 

The top team for U of T (U of T A) was led by IM Nicholas Vettese, WIM Yunshan Li, and NMs Fengxi Mao and Henry Zhang. 

U of T B was led by FM Eilia Zomorrodian, Ethan Moon, Matthew Shih, and WFM Cindy Qiao. 

U of T C, the final team in the top section, had Victor Zheng, Riyaan Lakhani, Yixiao Wang, and Kole Robertson representing the Club. 

The second seed in the tournament was UWaterloo’s A team, which consisted of FM Ian Zhao, FM Richard Chen, CM William Li, Benito Surya, and Harry Zhao. 

The tournament was kick-started with an exciting knock-out bughouse tournament dominated by U of T teams. Cindy Qiao and Eilia Zomorrodian’s team ended up playing IM Nicholas Vettese and Henry Zhang’s team in the final round. 

Five rounds of 90 mins + 30 seconds increments were played over two days, as per CUCC tradition. Teams arrived in Kingston on Friday night for the opening ceremony and bughouse, before the festivities began. 

Many of the University of Toronto’s players played excellent games, however unfortunately the teams came up short. U of T A and B scored 3/5 to finish tied for 3rd, and U of T C scored 2.5 / 5 to finish tied for 7th. The 2024 Canadian University Champions were McGill University after scoring 4 / 5 to tie with Waterloo but having the winning direct encounter.

Notable individual performances from U of T were Matthew Shih who finished top Board 3 in the Championship and Liam McNally who finished top Board 3 in the Reserve. Victor Zheng, current Secretary of the Club, scored the sole NM norm from U of T’s delegation, going undefeated. 

On Sunday morning, the CUCC Presidents met and discussed ratifying a new process and framework for CUCC. The representatives also voted on CUCC 2025, which was ultimately won by a partnership between Montreal schools McGill and University of Montreal. 

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The tournament organization was led by Queen’s University Chess President Dennis Tran.

Chief Arbiter was Tanner McNamara, former Secretary of the Hart House Chess Club. 

CM Koosha Jaferian from U of Twas the official commentator of the event. 

U of T’s delegation was organized by Victor Zheng, Secretary of the Hart House Chess Club. 

Jason Le, the official photographer from Toronto Metropolitan University, took photos. All photos are credited to him. 

Final standings and results are available here. 

All games from the top two pairings of the Championship and the top pairing of the Reserve can be found here.

Photos of the U of T player contingent is available here. 

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See you at CUCC 2025 in Montreal!