The Hart House Chess Club is pleased to host its Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship Qualifiers from September 14-15, 2024 to select players to represent the Club at the 2025 Pan-Ams hosted by the Charlotte Chess Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA from January 2nd – 5th, 2025.
The annual Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championship is the pinnacle of international collegiate chess. Dubbed the “World Series of College Chess”, the Club has fundraised and fielded teams in the tournament every year since 1965. The storied championship pits the best collegiate chess teams against one another from the North and South Americas. The Hart House Chess Club, representing the University of Toronto, has won the championship 6 times, the most from any non-American school. The qualifier is only open to UofT students, and winners will receive financial support from the Club.
Format and Details
- WHEN: Saturday, September 14th – Sunday, September 15th, 2024
- WHERE: Hart House Debates Room Room, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3
- FORMAT: 5-round unrated, Swiss Tournament
- ROUND TIMES:
- Check-in: 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
- Round 1: 9:30 AM, September 14th
- Round 2: 12:45 PM, September 14th
- Round 3: 4:00 PM, September 14th
- Round 4: 9:30 AM, September 15th
- Round 5: 12:45 PM, September 15th
- Tiebreaks (if needed): 4:00 PM, September 15th
- TIME CONTROL: 60 mins + 30 secs/move increment from move 1 for all sections
- BYES: 0-point byes are in effect. Players are expected to play all rounds. Forced byes will be awarded 1 point.
- RATINGS: Ratings will be used for seeding/pairing purposes, but the tournament itself will not be Chess Federation of Canada rated.
- EQUIPMENT: HHCC will supply all chess equipment.
- DRAWS: Players are not allowed to agree on a draw before 40 moves are made.
- ELIGIBILITY: Current students enrolled in a degree-granting program at the University of Toronto
- CONTACT: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca
- CHECK IN: Players are required to check in by 9:30 am to be paired for Round 1.
- REGISTRATION: Registration is available online or in-person at the Hart House Hub with a valid proof of student enrollment.
- ELIGIBILITY:
- To participate in the Pan-Ams Qualifier, one must be enrolled in a degree-granting program and enrolled in at least 6 credit hours of classes.
- You must also be a student member of the Hart House Chess Club. The membership cost for 2024-2025 is $15 for all U of T students for the year, $10 for one semester. Memberships will include a t-shirt.
- To participate in the Pan-Am tournament itself, you must be available to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina from Wednesday, January 1st to January 5th, 2025 and you must meet the following requirements:
- A $250 fee must be paid to Hart House within a week after the qualifying tournament
- Participants will be required to attend a tutorial on Safety Abroad as per U of T policy
- Participants will be responsible for and required to have valid passports, travel visas if applicable, and travel health insurance
- Participants must complete travel forms provided within outlined timelines
- Participants are responsible for getting a verification of enrollment signed by their Registrar’s office.
- For further information, please consult the Collegiate Eligibility Rules here.
Selection of Players
The tournament will select 7 players (of a total 8) based on final standings to represent the Hart House Chess Club and the University of Toronto at this year’s Pan-Ams. A mandatory fee of $250 for all participants is required and paid before the end of September, however, the Club will cover the rest of the fundraising costs. Players should only play in the tournament if they intend to play in the Pan-Ams.
Note that one spot has been reserved per Section 7.3.1 of the Charter for Yunshan Li who is competing for Canada in the Canadian Olympiad in Budapest during the Qualifiers.
Contact and Additional Links
For additional details about the event, please visit: https://www.charlottechesscenter.org/events/collegiate
For any questions, please contact the Executive at hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca
Pre-Registered Players
| Player Name | CFC ID | CFC Rating | FIDE ID | FIDE Rating |
| Nicholas Vettese | 154199 | 2492 | 2620090 | 2341 |
| Fengxi Mao | 166033 | 2369 | 2632586 | 2115 |
| Samuel Zhang | 171147 | 2322 | 30942993 | 2141 |
| Eilia Zomorrodian | 169238 | 2294 | 12551805 | 2145 |
| Henry Zhang | 153836 | 2222 | 2620162 | 2133 |
| Nicolai Woltery | N/A | – | 436887 | 2075 |
| Victor Zheng | 150532 | 2192 | 2620189 | 1892 |
| Cindy Qiao | 155864 | 2147 | 2620243 | 1894 |
| Bingfei Wang | 172444 | 1957 | 8618585 | 1792 |
| Yun Hong Li | 162472 | 1897 | 2631083 | 1796 |
| Yukuan Zou | 178153 | 1669 | 2658615 | 1598 |
| Chol Elijah Akol | 179537 | 1576 | 2635763 | 1594 |
| Punnawit Payapvattanavong | N/A | N/A | 6206590 | 1589 |
| Eli Schyngera | 164976 | 1564 | 2635763 | 1652 |
| Jayden Henry Tan | 179333 | 1525 | 2663660 | 1640 |
| Zi Sheng Wang | 183836 | 1512 | 2668050 | Unrated |
| Timothy Vo | 183733 | 1516 | N/A | – |
| Evan Andersen | 175925 | 1480 | 2642948 | 1579 |
| Qing Yuan Zheng | 169160 | 1235 | N/A | – |
| Coby Cheung | 174460 | 985 | N/A | – |
| Ishan Kapoor | N/A | Unrated | N/A | – |
| Osman Okmen | N/A | Unrated | N/A | – |
| Muneem Khan | N/A | Unrated | N/A | – |
| Ahnaf Chowdhury | N/A | Unrated | N/A | – |
| Sebastian Skjensvold | N/A | Unrated | N/A | – |
| Chris Nguyen | N/A | Unrated | N/A | – |
Hart House Chess Club 