Toronto Universities Chess Match 2025

Published on by harthousechess

June 8th 2025 – Hart House

The Hart House Chess Club (University of Toronto), York University Chess Club, McMaster University Chess Club, and Toronto Metropolitan University Chess Club played an inter-university match between the clubs on June 8th, 2025. The tournament featured the perennial chess teams and chess universities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Region including the reigning Canadian University Champions from the University of Toronto. The tournament was a Team Match across 6 boards with players playing a double-round robin against 3 other players from opposing schools. The time control was 15 mins + 10 seconds increment with all games broadcast live electronically on Lichess with games available here. 

This was the first inter-university tournament featuring only Toronto region universities in recent memory going back 20+ years. The last time a region-based University tournament was held in Toronto dates back to 2015 when the University of Toronto last hosted the Canadian Universities Team Chess Championship (CUCC). 

Before the first move was played, the University of Toronto was the clear favorite based on rating. Carrying a team consisting of 2 players from the Canadian Universities Team Chess Championship team (Nicholas Vettese and Fengxi Mao) who were supported by a strong master-level team. They did not disappoint with a remarkable 36-0 score across all games (not dropping even a draw). 

This also meant that the team consisting of IM Nicholas Vettese, NM Max England, NM Fengxi Mao, Nicolai Woltery, Ethan Moon, and Bingfei Wang swept the podium for individual prizes. The final photo was all University of Toronto students taking home all the hardware. 

From left to right: Nicholas Vettese, Max England, Fengxi Mao, Ethan Moon, Nicolay Woltery, Bingfei Wang

Even though the scoreline was dominant, there were select games where U of T had to pull through and even at times get lucky. For instance, IM Vettese pulled the flag in a -3 position against York University seed 1 Shon Lazarev in Round 4 (game is available here). Ethan Moon also won possibly the tournament’s longest match against TMU’s Rustam Alimirzoev with the game available here. 

Outside of their losses to U of T, McMaster was clear second scoring team wins against York and TMU respectively. The outcome of the matches between TMU and York were decided up until the final round. With TMU pulling the wins against York and a decisive 81-move draw being held between their top seeds Shon Lazarev and Thai Pham Quoc. 

Many thanks to the organizers from the U of T, TMU, York, and McMaster for coordinating their respective teams, logistics, and tournament format. The tournament director was Victor Zheng, assisted by Deepanshi Matai. 

The overall sentiment of the event was that it was a success with many folks enjoying the format, the logistics, and the opportunity to compete and represent their schools. The camaraderie presented during a team event is unlike anything one can expect from an individual competition. In the closing messages it was noted that the University of  Toronto’s Hart House Chess Club would host the 2026 Canadian University Chess Championships with the hope that we’d see many similar faces at the event. 

Some photos from the event: 

Original Details below

The Hart House Chess Club (University of Toronto), York University Chess Club, McMaster University Chess Club, and Toronto Metropolitan University Chess Club have agreed to an inter-university match between the clubs on June 8th, 2025. The tournament features the perennial chess teams and chess universities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Region. The tournament is a Team Match across 6 boards, and players will play only against players from opposing schools. Each player plays a double-round robin against 3 other players from opposing schools. 

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

  • WHERE: Debates Room, Hart House, University of Toronto.
    • Analysis/Spectators: Committees Room
  • WHEN: Sunday, June 8th 2025
  • SCHEDULE:
    • Rounds: 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, lunch 2 pm, 3 pm , 4 pm
    • Closing Ceremony: 5 PM
  • FORMAT: 3 Double-Round Round-Robin tournament, split across 6 boards.  Each player is sorted into a starting ranking from 1-6. Board 1 players will play against opposing board 1 players.
  • TIME CONTROL: Rapid: 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move 1. 
  • RATING: All sections will be CFC Active Rated and FIDE Rapid Rated.
  • DGT Boards: All games will be broadcast live on DGT boards.
  • Organizers: Hart House Chess Club, YorkU Chess Club, TMU Chess Club, McMaster Chess Club
  • Tournament Staff: FA Victor Zheng, NA Deepanshi Matai

Prizes

  • Plaques for top player per board and the team winner
    • Each win counts as 1 point for the team 
    • Each draw counts as ½ point for the team 
    • Each loss counts as 0 points for the team
  • Overall team winner: team with the most points 

Tiebreaks

  • Team Tiebreaks are based on:
    • Team Head to Head (direct encounter) 
    • Sum of all Individual points 
    • Sum of individual Sonneborn-Berger (sum of total scores of opponents + half of those they drew)
    • Drawing of Lots
  • Individual Tiebreaks are based on:
    • Sonneborn-Berger  

Registration

  • For University of Toronto
    • By top FIDE Rapid and CFC Active ratings 
    • Entry fees are free for U of T eligible players (students/faculty/staff of the HHCC). 
    • Please email hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca before May 25th as lineups will be finalized shortly thereafter. 
  • For York University
    • By top FIDE Rapid and CFC Active ratings before cutoff date (likely Wednesday May 28th, 2025). 
    • Entry fees are free for YorkU eligible players (students/faculty/staff)
    • Registration link will be provided through internal communications with the club
    • Contact: ChessBlitz YorkU (York University Chess Club): chessblitzyorku@gmail.com 
  • For McMaster:
  • For TMU:
    • Check the TMU Chess Discord
    • Contact Mehar on Discord, username dagoat24

Pairings/Standings

Available here

DGT Games

Available on lichess.org here