On Friday, June 2nd, 2023, Grandmaster Gergely Szabo visited the Hart House Chess Club to conduct a lecture on Calculation. The event consisted of an hour long lecture hosted in the Debates Room of Hart House. Extra chairs were brought in as the number of participants reached over 40! The lecture was quite captivating as many questions were asked. Participants thought that the lecture was delivered very professionally and everyone of all skill levels learned something from it.
Thank you to GM Szabo for stopping by, Hart House for their continued support, and the participants who came out!
See the original event post below…
Join the Hart House Chess Club on Friday, June 2nd from 6 pm – 7 pm in the Hart House Debates Room for a Master Lecture hosted by Grandmaster Gergely Szabo. The lecture will be on the topic of Calculation. Students and members can join for free, non-members are asked to provide a small donation to the Club onsite. We hope to see you there!
Bio: Grandmaster Gergely Szabo is a FIDE Trainer from Romania and has coached Canadian teams at the World stage, including the 2018 Canadian Women’s Olympiad Team, as the Head Coach of the Canadian delegation at the 2015 World Youth Chess Championship in Greece, and as the Trainer and Captain of Team Canada at the 2014 U16 Olympiad, which won 5th place. As a player, GM Szabo has won several strong tournaments, including the Memorial “Victor Ciocâltea” GM group, Bucharest in 2009 and again in 2011. He is a co-founder of the JtM Chess Academy, the provider of the National Training Program for Canadian Youths, as sanctioned by the CFC.
On March 18th, 67-players competed in Hart House Chess Club’s annual junior tournament. It was the first junior event held at Hart House and UofT since the 2019 event, and what a great sight it was! The tournament consisted of 3-sections, U900, U1300, and Open and was sold out from early on. This year’s tournament, like initially envisioned, featured free game analysis from UofT’s Varsity Chess Team. It allowed players to review and learn from their games with some of UofT’s top players.
The tournament was a 4-round, 45 minute plus 15 second increment, CFC-rated event, with snacks, coffee, and a great playing environment thanks to the historic and beautiful Debates Room. Around 30 players, 50% of the field, attended the event as their first ever CFC-rated event, which is a great sign for the future of chess in Toronto. With only 4 rounds, those vying for first all needed to stay sharp and not make any mistakes.
IM Nicholas Vettese providing game analysis
Victor Zheng, Tournament Director
Pulling out first place in U900 Section (28 players) was Ethan Guo with 4/4. Luba Shtepa edged out Gabriel Bai on tiebreaks for second with 3.5/4 and also the top-female prize. This section featured the most unrated players , with 75% of the field (21 players), playing in their first ever tournament!
In the U1300 Section (29 players), Brandon Ling placed first with another perfect score of 4/4. Bhargav Ram Gummadi placed clear second with 3.5/4, which meant that a boatload of players would be tied at 3/4. Andrew Song beat out 6 other players on tiebreakers to claim 3rd place at this year’s tournament. Top-female in this section was Isabelle Guan with 3/4.
In the Open Section (10 players), Max England pulled out to an early lead and never looked away, finishing 3.5/4 for first. Nolan Wu beat out highest seed Isaak Huh (2274 CFC) with 3/4 to finish in 2nd. Kailey Liu finished as top-female.
Bryan Liang and Lucas Zhang
Quentin Ma vs Bhargav Ram Bummadi
The Donald Burwash Room, the analysis room, was busy throughout! Our top players had a really fun time analysing and talking with students about their games. It was a great learning opportunity, and we’ve compiled a set of thoughts on the event from our players.
I found it quite enjoyable analyzing the games from the junior players—some games reminded me of the way I used to play as a kid, and others made me fascinated to see the ideas they came up with. The players were all quite involved in the analysis and I hope they were able to take something away from it. From analyzing their games, I realized I still had more to learn from the players in terms of their excitement to show off and learn from their own games.
WFM Cindy Qiao
Matthew Shih, UofT’s Varsity Chess TeamTanner McNamara (Club President) and WFM Cindy Qiao
I had doubts whether it would be worth it to analyze kids’ chess games for the whole day but those faded quickly. It was refreshing teaching and just talking to young chess players who still had so much youthful passion and energy. While there’s only so much you can teach in one game, I’d always ask: “so what did you learn from this game?”. It might not amount to much, but just maybe, that tiny bit of knowledge will help them win someday.
The whole team had so much fun analyzing and giving advice! Some teammates said they did it for the pizza but we all know deep down it was for the kids.
Derek Ma (UofT student and Varsity Chess Team 2022-2023)
Kailey LiuJacob FischerIsaak Huh
It was a nice experience analyzing other players’ games. I had the chance to see many positions from openings I may or may not have been so familiar with. However as an intermediate-strength player, I definitely lacked confidence when it came to less tactical and more positional positions. From this event, I came to realize how difficult it is to teach chess.
Eric Wan (UofT student and game analyzer)
Eric Wan (UofT student and CUCC player), analyzes games
Ethan Moon, UofT student and CUCC player, helps analyzes games.
WIM Yunshan Li helps analyze games with players at Hart House
The trophies
The Club would like to thank an extensive list of people who helped with the execution and operation of this year’s event possible. Firstly, a big thank-you goes to the Club’s Executive and visionaries for the event: Tanner McNamara (lead game analyst) and Victor Zheng (Tournament Director and Arbiter). Their work, alongside Crystal Cao (treasurer) and Bowen Zhang (fundraiser) helped add to the Club’s extensive list of successful events this year. As students, their commitment and dedication to the Club’s efforts while maintaining their academic journeys cannot be understated. They are unpaid, get little sleep, and push themselves and the Club to newer limits every day. We would like to thank them for their contributions.
As a student club, there are many unpaid student volunteers who take time out of their busy academic studies to create spaces for chess to grow. Their contribution was an invaluable asset to this event, and in particular, we would like to thank the following student analyzers: Derek Ma, Yunshan Li, Matthew Shih, Nicholas Vettese, Cindy Qiao, EthanMoon, and Eric Wan.
On the side of Hart House, the Club would like to thank its supporters at the Hart House HUB, Events, Communications, and Finances Departments for supporting the Club’s efforts this year. As the 2022-2023 year rounds to an end, their help and coordination are looked upon gratefully.
Finally, we would like to thank student photographer Michael Hsu, who provided yet another array of amazing event photos. For Michael’s work, see the links below.
It’s been a great pleasure for our club to organize its first Junior Tournament in over three years. We are grateful for our many supporters,and, more than anyone else, we wish to thank all the participants and their parents for taking part in our tournament and supporting the official chess club of the students of UofT. The sold-out event is only a good sign for the state of chess in Toronto and at UofT. We hope you will join us for our first Youth Chess Championship next month. Until then!
The “Ivy League Challenge” was an invitational Team Chess Tournament which took place at Hart House at the University of Toronto from March 24th to March 26th, 2023.
The tournament was organized for a 5th time (3rd time in-person) and the University of Toronto was the host. The teams playing in the tournament were: University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, Harvard University, University of Chicago, and Princeton University.
The “Ivy League Challenge” is one of the strongest University Team Competitions in North America. The rules for the “2023 Ivy League Challenge” can be accessed here. All rounds were held at the Hart House East Common Room and all games were broadcast live on the Hart House Chess Club website. A blitz tournament, the Ivy League Blitz, open to both players and non-players, happened after Round 2 on Friday, March 24th with a 3-way tie for first split between GM Andrew Tang, CM Koosha Jaferian, and FM Eilia Zomorrodian.
A full event report is published here, written by UofT B player Ethan Moon.
First Place: University of Chicago Second Place: Princeton University Third Place: University of Waterloo
Board 1: GM Awonder Liang Board 2: IM Daniel Gurevich Board 3: FM Wesley Wang Board 4: CM William Li
Top Game: Round 2, FM Aydin Turgut (Princeton) vs FM Wesley Wang (Harvard) (game)
The schedule for the tournament was as follows.
Thursday March 23rd – Arrival Day
Teams arrive to Toronto.
Friday, March 24th – Hart House East Common Room
Opening Ceremony: 9:45 AM
Round 1: 10:00 AM
Round 2: 3:30 PM
Ivy League Blitz: 8:00 PM or as soon as round 2 finishes (free entry and free pizza)
Saturday, March 25th– Hart House East Common Room
Round 3: 10:00 AM
Round 4: 3:30 PM
Sunday, March 26th – Hart House East Common Room
Round 5: 9:30 AM
Closing Ceremony: 2:00 PM
Teams
The 2023 Ivy League Challenge featured the following teams. In total, there were: 3 GMs, 3 IMs, 1 WIM, 1 WFM, 9 FMs, and 2 CMs.
Chicago: GM Awonder Liang, GM Praveen Balakrishnan, FM Kapil Chandran, Kole Moses Princeton: GM Andrew Tang, IM Daniel Gurevich, FM Aydin Turgut, Sam Massick, Kyle Li Harvard: FM Christopher Shen, FM Akira Nakada, FM Wesley Wang, James Toliver Waterloo: IM Yuanchen Zhang, FM Ian Zhao, FM Richard Chen, CM William Li UofT A: WIM Yunshan Li, IM Nicholas Vettese, Wenzhi Dai, Derek Ma, WFM Cindy Qiao UofT B: IM Mark Plotkin, FM Mike Ivanov, CM Koosha Jaferian, FM Eilia Zomorrodian, Matthew Shih, Ethan Moon, Victor Zheng
Note: UofT-B replaces Yale University
Links
View the pairings and standings on chess-results: view the results
Matthew is a third-year PhD student in Musicology who currently teaches intermediate lessons at the Hart House Chess Club. He played in his first rated tournament at the age of eight and traveled extensively across the United States to compete in tournaments over the next decade. During this time, Matthew diversified his involvement in the chess scene, serving as a U.S. Chess Federation Tournament Director and Certified Chess Coach.
Matthew took a long break from all chess-related activities while he pursued his undergraduate education, but he is thrilled to have found a new chess home in Toronto at the HHCC. He represented UofT at the 2023 Pan-Ams and is looking forward to becoming more involved in the HHCC community through teaching.
The 3rd Ivy League Challenge was hosted from March 5th – 6th, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of the tournament were never documented other than via the Discord server that was used.
Event Recap by Tanner McNamara, then Events Coordinator.
On March 31st, 2023, a special lecture by International Master Nicholas Vettese was held at the Hart House Bickersteth Room, where Nicholas lectured on the most important ideas in the well-known book on positional play, How To Reassess Your Chess. At the time, Nicholas was one of Canada’s youngest International Masters and in his first-year at UofT. He had recently conducted an interview with the University, which was found here.
This event was open to all members of the Hart House Chess Club. The lecture will be an hour, including a Q and A session.
Our Alumni Chair updates the Executive on the 2023-24 Executive. Next year’s executive is settled.
Secretary – Victor Zheng Treasurer – Eric Wan Fundraiser – Yi-Lun Huang Events – Bowen Zhang Communications – Grace Miao and Yixiao Wang
Thank you,
HHCC Communications
Update for March 29, 2023:
Our Alumni Chair has asked us to forward the attached Memorandum and draft Ballot regarding the 2023-2024 Executive Board Elections.
The Election will be held this Friday, March 31st, in the Reading Room, and there will be speeches and a chance to meet all of the candidates at 7 pm. Thereafter, voting will commence at 7 pm for eligible student members of the Club
Please carefully read the short outline below if you wish to exercise your right to vote or to become a part of the HHCC Executive Boad!
Annual Club Elections
Interested in being a part of the executive team of the coolest Hart House Student Club? Our annual election process begins this month!
The following six are our executive positions.
The Secretary is responsible for calling meetings of the Executive, maintaining records (minutes) of all such meetings, refereeing all votes taken by the Executive, ensuring communication of all relevant Club information among Executive members, managing the schedule of weekly club meetings/events for rotations and ensuring executive commitment, maintaining an inventory of club equipment, organizing an annual General Assembly of the Club members, liaising with the Hart House staff via the Club’s Programme Advisor, and acting as the Club’s representative where necessary.
The Events-Coordinator is responsible for informing the Executive about the specifics of the Pan-Ams, the Pan-Ams Qualifier and the Canadian University Chess Championship, communicating with tournament organizers and all other relevant parties, overseeing the assembly of the Team, working with the Programme Advisor to organize accommodation, registration, and transportation for the Team, and dealing with all other concerns pertaining to these three events. The Events Co-ordinator is also charged with administering the special events hosted by the Club, such as the Master Lectures, the Casual Chess Tournaments, the Chess Lessons and the Simultaneous Chess Exhibitions.
The two Communications Representatives maintain a directory of email addresses for all Club members and interested parties, inform Club members of upcoming events, promotes the Club to prospective members, advertise Club events when required, and maintain the Club’s website and social media accounts.
The Treasurer is responsible for keeping an account of the Club’s revenues and expenditures, informing the Executive of any deviation from established budgets, and devising the annual budget with the input and approval of the Executive. The Treasurer is also responsible for keeping track of the chess materials borrowed by members as part of the Club’s lending library.
The Fundraising Representative acts closely with the Treasurer to determine the extent and nature of the Club’s financial needs, and organizes corresponding fundraising initiatives with the assistance of other Executive members.
Eligibility
All student club members, have the right to vote and to be candidates for an executive position, provided that they have been Hart House Chess Club members for at least one month by March 31st, 2023.
Club members interested in Executive positions are asked to email bfohahn@gmail.comexpressing interest, the position(s) interested in, and a short bio/background by 5 pm March 24. They are asked to include [HHCC Elections] as the subject of the email.
If there are two or more candidates for a position, a vote will be held to determine the successful candidate on March 31 at 7 pm. A person can be candidate for more than one Executive position. The voting is done by secret ballot.
The electoral process will be administered by the club’s Alumni Chair, Ben Hahn. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Hahn at bfohahn@gmail.com, indicating [HHCC Elections] as the subject of your e-mail.
Hart House Chess Club is an open and inclusive environment. As a positive space we welcome and encourage members of all sexes, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, languages, abilities, religions and creeds to participate in the student government of the club, either as members of the executive or as volunteers!
Thank you for attending! Results are posted here. Those who scored 2.5 or above have qualified to the CYCC. Those who won bursaries have been contacted by email. Good luck to all competing in Calgary this year! See our event report for more.
The Hart House Chess Club is hosting its Hart House Youth Chess Championship on Saturday, April 29th, 2023. The event is a celebration of youth chess, a gathering of Toronto’s future chess stars, and serves as an opportunity for students to visit the University of Toronto. The event also serves as a qualifier for the 2023 Canadian Youth Chess Championship (CYCC) in Calgary, Alberta.
The 2023 CYCC is from Wednesday July 19th to Saturday July 22nd, 2023. The Canadian Open Chess Championship is held afterwards from Saturday July 22nd to Sunday July 30th, 2023. Details here.
Overall first place in each section, plus top-female, will win an entry to the 2023 CYCC (~$250 value).
Where: Debates, Music, Committees, Bickersteth, and Burwash Rooms, Hart House, University of Toronto. 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3 When: Saturday, April 29th, 2023 Rounds: 9:30 am, 10:45 am, 12:00 pm, (lunch), 2:00 pm, 3:15 pm Award Ceremony: 5:00 pm or ASAP after round 5. Style: 5 Round Rapid (swiss) in 6 age sections: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18. Time Control: 25 minutes plus 5 seconds increment per move from move 1, for all sections. Byes: 0 point byes allowed. Players must play all games to qualify for the CYCC. Entry Fee: $35 for online registrations before midnight March 31st. $45 for registrations before noon April 28th. No onsite registrations. Capacity is ~160. Free entries for FMs. Prizes: Trophies for top-3 in each section, 1st overall and top-woman in each section is awarded entry to CYCC ($3000 in bursaries). Organizer: Hart House Chess Club with Alex Ferreira as arbiter E-mail: hhtournaments@gmail.com CFC: CFC Active Rated. Registrants do not need CFC memberships. Equipment: Chess sets and clocks supplied.
Sections
6 Sections – by Age
Sections
Sections
Under 8 (Born on or after Jan 1st 2015)
Open
Under 10 (Born on or after Jan 1st 2013)
Open
Under 12 (Born on or after Jan 1st 2011)
Open
Under 14 (Born on or after Jan 1st 2009)
Open
Under 16 (Born on or after Jan 1st 2007)
Open
Under 18 (Born on or after Jan 1st 2005)
Open
Registration:REGISTRATION FULL as of April 22
All players must have been born on or after year 2005. Tournament is for juniors 18 and under. See sections above.
Online registration (FULL) is recommended and available until April 28th at 12 noon. Telephone and in-person registration also available through the Hart House Hub.
FEES:
$35 by March 31st at 11:59 PM
$45 by April 28th at 12 noon
Withdrawals: Full refunds minus $10 admin fee until April 28th at 12 noon.
Girls: please indicate “Girls” or female in the “Section” question to be eligible for the top-girl prize.
Please check your emails in case we require verification of Date of Birth.
Qualifier for the 2023 Canadian Youth Chess Championship (CYCC)
This tournament counts as a qualifier for the 2023 CYCC. Participants must score at least 50% to qualify for the CYCC in Calgary scheduled for July 19th – 22nd, 2023. Only those who meet CFC residency or citizenship are eligible to play in the CYCC.
CYCC top finishers in each age group will be awarded with travel bursary and officially represent Canada at the World Youth & Cadet Chess Championships.
World Cadet (U8/U10/U12) Chess Championship – 2023 (Date TBD), Egypt
World Youth (U14/U16/U18) Chess Championship – Nov 12-25, 2023, Montesilvano, Italy
Entry fees to the CYCC:
$225 before 10 pm, May 1, 2023 $250 before 10 pm, June 1, 2023
Bursary winners’ entries to the CYCC are covered (no need to register yourself). Details on the 2023 CYCC are here. If the first place winner does not attend the CYCC, the player next in line will be invited to play at the tournament.
PLAY UP RULES
If a player wants to play in an age category older than the one they qualify for, they can do so.
BUT: if they qualify in a certain age category to play at the CYCC, that is the only age category that the player can play in the CYCC.
if one player who is 12 years old wishes to play in the U16 section of the HHYCC, if they qualify for the CYCC, the only age category that the player can enter at the CYCC is the U16 section.
Tiebreaks
a) Ties other than 1st Place: computer tie breaks in the following order:
direct encounter (only valid if all the tied players have met each other)
individual cumulative score
cumulative score of opponents
b) Tie break for 1st Place (to determine funding for the CYCC and trophy)
Playoff between the two players or the top two by computer tiebreak if three or more players tie for first
Two game match, time control 5 minutes with a 2 second increment.
If still tied after the two game playoff: single game Armageddon at a time control of 5 mins for white and 4 minutes for black. Player with better computer tiebreaks gets choice of black or white.
Parents
Parents are allowed to stay and take photos in the first 5 minutes of each round. No flash, and please turn off sound. Please be quiet and DO NOT talk to any of the players. Parents must leave the tournament hall after the first 5 minutes of each round and doors will be closed. Players will be escorted to the exit of the tournament hall after their game is finished to be pickup by their parent(s). Analysis rooms and skittles rooms will be made available.
If you have questions about the tournament, please send us an email at: hhtournaments@gmail.com or see us at the tournament desk!
Parking information is available here. Landmark Project construction is underway and parking is very limited.
UNRATED PLAYERS
Please create a CFC (Chess Federation of Canada) ID on CFC’s online system and input that CFC ID in our registration form. This process is free and saves a lot of administrative work for you and us. Unrated players can also review our New to Tournament Guide.
Pairings and Standings
All pairings and standings for every section on chess results.
Pre-Registered
CFC Regular Ratings used for pairings. If a player does not have a CFC Regular Rating, then CFC Active Ratings will be used. Pre-registered as of April 28.
Note: if your CFC-ID is listed as NA, please create one and send it to us at hhtournaments@gmail.com
From January 10th to February 28th, 2023, Hart House Chess Club hosted the Greater Toronto Chess League Team Chess Championship at Hart House at the University of Toronto. The championship was free to enter and featured 12 teams from across the Greater Toronto Area. The winning team was the Hart House Students team, followed by Bing Chilling, Hart House 20th Century Juniors, and Chess Stars.
The format was modified from the traditional 9-round, 10 team format. With 12 teams, 2 pools of 6 were created for the 5 “pool play” weeks. Then, the top 2 teams would go to section Gold to be crowned the winner of the Championship over a playoff “pool format” for the final 3 weeks. The Silver and Bronze section playoffs were also held to provide each team with 8 matches.. Games were played on Tuesday nights starting at 7:10 pm using a 90+30 time control.
Hart House Chess Club had 3 teams represented,: Students, Alumni, and 20th Century Juniors. The Students team consisted of all U of T students and a couple high-school substitutes, the Alumni team consisted of majority recently graduated U of T students in the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s, and the 20th Century Juniors Team consisted of those who played for the Club in the 70s and 80s. We were very happy to see such amazing variety and representation from all of our alumni and students. It was the first time that Hart House held this version of the Toronto Team Championships, and it was fitting that one of our teams came out on top!
Congratulations to the Hart House Students team on an amazing tournament and making the Club proud! In particular, congratulations to IM Nicholas Vettese, WIM Yunshan Li, Derek Ma, and Wenzhi Dai for playing the bulk of the matches. The other players who contributed to the team’s success were Ande Li, Anna Gavrileva, and Joshua Bakradze.
The 2nd place team, Bing Chilling, also consisted of Hart House regulars and current/past students. The team was led by IM Mark Plotkin (alumni) and William Li (UWaterloo). Eric Ning, Ethan Moon (student), and WFM Cindy Qiao (student) rounded out their team.
Another congratulations goes to the Hart House 20th Century Juniors team for finishing 3rd, consisting of IM David Cummings, Michael Dougherty, David Filipovich, Ian Loadman, Andrei Moffat, and David Macleod.
Chess Stars finished fourth, led by NM Roman Gavrilin, IM Michael Barron, Michael Kimelman, and Ilia Bluvshtein.
Finally, Hart House Alumni rounded out the top-5, finishing first overall in the Silver Cup. They were led by: IM Peter Vavrak, Daniel Abrahams, Leon Perelman, and Ben Hahn. This meant that teams from the Hart House Chess Club placed 1st, 3rd, and 5th out of 12 teams!
Hart House Students engraved as the 2023 GTCL Champions!
Results and Games
Those interested in viewing the games can do so on lichess.org, view the games.
Annex Chess Club vs HH AlumniFinal Round at the 2023 GTCL Team CCChess Stars vs Annex Chess ClubThe winning team: Derek Ma, IM Nicholas Vettese, WIM Yunshan Li, Wenzhi DaiScenes from the final dayScenes from Round 1Hart House Students vs 20th Century Juniors in Round 1. Round 3 actionRound 2 actionHart House Winter Weekly Swiss happened concurrentlyStudents vs Mississauga CCAlumni vs Bing Chilling20th Century Juniors vs Chess Stars and Bing Chilling vs Students in Round 7. The organizers with the winning team. All are students at U of T. Students vs Bing Chilling, arguably the deciding match of the tournament.
This version of the GTCL Team CC was organized by the Club for the first time thanks to efforts led by the Victor Zheng and Tanner McNamara on the HHCC Executive Board. Alex Ferreira was the pairings arbiter and provided support. Michael Barron, GTCL President, also provided additional organizational support. Until next time!
From February 18th to 20th, 2023, a record-breaking 226 players spent their Family Day weekend at the Hart House Reading Week Open. The tournament was the first since the COVID-19 pandemic postponed events in 2021 and 2022 and this featured a very strong Crown section highlighted by Grandmaster Razvan Preotu and multi-time winner International Master Nikolay Noritsyn. The tournament was sold-out early, with 226 players reached 1 week prior to the registration deadline, perhaps an indication of the growth of chess during the pandemic. The tournament also boasted the largest student showing in recent memory, alongside another ~25+ unrated players playing in their first tournament.
Similar to the 2022 Holidays Open, the tournament used an online registration system that allowed for payments to be made prior to Round 1 and which enabled an on-time start. Registrations were accepted via in-person, telephone, online, and cheque methods, making the tournament registration system the most efficient than ever before. The tournament boasted a prize fund of $9,250 and games were solely played in the Great Hall of the “castle”, Hart House, at the University of Toronto.
Like pre-pandemic, the tournament was divided into 6 sections based on ratings, however with a few added exceptions from pre-pandemic years. Firstly, Crown would require either 2200 CFC or a 2000 FIDE to compete and U1600 would be rated FIDE alongside the other top sections. In addition, the Club’s Executive learned how to operate DGT boards and thus operated them for the duration of the tournament to allow anyone in the world to view games live as they were played. Finally, student photographers were invited for all rounds to help document the interesting, serious, and funny moments of the tournament.
Board 1, Round 6 between IM Noritsyn and GM Preotu (Photo: Alayna Jang)
In the Crown Section (25 players), thanks to the increased restrictions to the Crown section, a large number of strong Masters competed in the event. 1 Grandmaster, 6 International Masters, 1 Woman International Master, 4 FIDE Masters, and 4 Candidate Masters entered the field of 25. Other than Noritsyn, the other IMs were alumnus IM Mark Plotkin and IM David Cummings, current U of T student IM Nicholas Vettese, Ukrainian IM Alexander Reprintsev, and Canadian IM Eric Lawson. Former U of T Varsity Team player FM Mike Ivanov and current U of T student WIM Yunshan Li rounded out the top-9 seeds. Interestingly, UWaterloo’s Club president FM Richard Chen and UWaterloo student CM William Li also competed in the Crown section. CM Max Chen, the winner of the recent 2022 Holidays Open, was seeded 15th and went up against IM Eric Lawson in Round 1.
FM Dukic placed 2nd with 5/6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
IM Noritsyn placed 1st with 5.5/6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
WIM Li placed tied 3rd with 4/6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
The rounds featured lots of very competitive chess and resulted in many very close matches alongside some surprising upsets. GM Preotu, after defeating FM Dukic in round 1, faced Kyle Morrison, who pulled off the big upset. IM Noritsyn played numerous rounds of exceptional chess, beating CM Rusonik, CM Jaferian, WIM Li, and the GM slayer Morrison to enter round 6 with 4.5/5 and in clear 1st. WIM Li, apart from the loss to IM Noritsyn, performed remarkably to enter Round 6 in clear second with 4/5 after important wins over Sergey Noritsyn (IM Noritsyn’s younger brother and U of T student), and IM Plotkin.
FM Chen placed tied 3rd with 4/6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
GM Preotu with 3.5/6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
IM Plotkin placed 3rd with 4/6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
GM Preotu did, however, recover from his loss, to enter Round 6 in a massive tie for 3rd and which set himself up for a 1-vs-2 clash in Round 6 featuring GM Preotu vs IM Noritsyn. IM Noritsyn, with white, played absolutely brilliant chess yet again and came out on top with the win and the $1500 first place prize. His 5.5/6 result earned him a performance rating of 2687 – GM level stuff! With WIM Li’s loss to FM Dukic, Dukic came out clear 2nd with 4.5/5. A 5 way tie for 3rd was split between IM Plotkin, IM Cummings, WIM Li, FM Chen, and CM Jaferian.
CM Jaferian placed tied 3rd with 4/6 (Photo: Victoria Lee)
IM Cummings placed tied-3rd with 4/6 (Photo: Victoria Lee)
IM Plotkin vs Sergey Noritsyn and FM Chen vs IM Lawson. Rd 6 (Photo: Alayna Jang)
The Under 2200 Section (38 players) was also stronger than usual thanks to the play-up rules, resulting in a large number of 2100s competing for the $700 first place prize. Matthew Shih and Eddie Xu came out on top after Shih pulled off a gutsy win over fellow U of T Varsity Team player Wenzhi Dai in Round 6 on board 1 while Xu pulled off the victory over alumnus Leon Perelman. U of T students and alumni were notable in the section, with Shih, Dai, Perelman, Cindy Qiao, and Ethan Moon in the top-8 all having some affiliation as a student.
Round 6 U2200 board 1 and 2, Shih vs Dai and Perelman vs Xu (Photo: Alayna Jang)
Round 6 U1900 board 1, Wang vs Melnychuk
In the Under 1900Section Hart House Chess Club members Denys Melnychuk and Yixiao (Isabelle) Wang had undefeated starts before their matchup in Round 6. Isabelle sat at 5/5 and undefeated in all her rated CFC-games going into her match against Denys (4.5/5), where she would suffer her first ever CFC-rated defeat. Notably, the only unrated player in the section, U of T student Chol Elijah Akol started out strong, however, tapered off at the end. Another notable result was that Halldor P. Palsson and Omar Shar, notable chess organizers, competed and placed top-7. Denys Melnychuk (5.5/6) would finish 1st, Isabelle Wang, Halldor Palsson, and Saarthak Malakar tied for 2nd-4th with 5/6.
In the Under 1600 Section (38 players), Anthony Pham finished 5.5/6 for clear first, followed closely by a 3-way tie for 2nd-4th between Michael Ashcroft, Andrew Leliveld, and U of T student Payam Fakoorziba at 4.5/6. U of T student Daniel Wang and HHCC member Anna Gavrileva tied for 5th at 4/6.
Round 6 U1600 Board 1, Anthony Pham vs Kailey Liu
Good game! (Photo: Alayna Jang)
In the Under 1300 Section (50 players), Jerry Gerberstarted off 5/5 before losing to overall winner Oscar Liu (5.5/6) in the final round. Gerber tied for 2nd with Andrew Sithu and Isabelle Guan. A large number of women and 12 unrated players played in this section.
Finally, in the Under 1000 Section (27 players), another large showing of 12 unrated players made up almost 50% of the field! Perhaps this was a result of increased chess attention thanks to recent successes of chess online and in the media. Gabriel Saimovici was the overall winner with 5/6, Evan Xi and Dennis Shen split 2nd-3rd at 4.5/6.
Round 6 U1000 board 1 between Ethan Jia and Gabriel Saimovici (Photo: Alayna Jang)
Round 6 U1300 top boards with Jerry Gerber, Zeyu Liu (Photo: Alayna Jang)
This year, the Team Prize was contested again, consisting of 4 players representing at least 3 different sections. The total score of each player was added together to form the cumulative team score. 17 teams of 4 entered their names and after 5 rounds, only 2 teams remained in contention. Tied at 17 points apiece going into Round 6 were the teams consisting of WIM Yunshan Li, Wenzhi Dai, Cindy Qiao, and Yixiao (Isabelle) Wang alongside the eventually winning team consisting of IM Nikolay Noritsyn, Leon Perelman, Matthew Shih, and Denys Melnychuk. Perhaps the best team showing in history, Noritsyn (5.5/6 in Crown), Shih (5/6 in U2200), and Melnychuk (5.5/6 in U1900) finished in first place in their respective sections. Combined with Perelman’s 4/6 in U2200, the team won a total of 20 out of 24 possible team points!
Leon Perelman, team prize. (Photo: Alayna Jang)
Matthew Shih, U2200 1st and team prize (Photo: Alayna Jang)
Denys Melnychuk, U1900 1st and team prize (Photo: Alayna Jang)
This year, games were broadcasted live on DGT LiveChess, and games on boards 1-8 for all rounds are available here to download. Surprisingly, this is the first time that the Reading Week Open has utilized DGT live broadcasting technology.
Hart House Chess Club would like to express its thanks to certain individuals for their work in making this event possible. Time and again, Alex Ferreira, the former student, advisor, mentor, Tournament Director, and Chief Arbiter has propelled the Reading Week Open through it all since the late 2000s. His hard work, motivation, and dedication to chess are celebrated in Canadian chess. The Club would also like to congratulate Alex on his well-deserved FIDE Arbiter title which should be soon approved this year.
Alex Ferreira, Tournament Director (Photo: Michael Hsu)
Tanner McNamara, President (Photo: Bowen Zhang)
We would like to thank the work of the Hart House Chess Club’s Executive Board, led by President and Secretary Tanner McNamara. Tanner has been at U of T and has been a part of the Executive for over 5 years, and is soon to finish his PHD. His long hours volunteering and organizing this event and the Executive do not go unnoticed. We would also like to thank Crystal Cao, the Club’s Treasurer for making the finances operate as smooth as possible while still balancing schoolwork, lab work, research work, teaching assistant work, and much more. Next, a big thank you goes to Ahmed Khalf, a second-year CS student who dedicated time designing posters, helping with set-up and take-down, all of which are immeasurable. Thank you to Bowen Zhang for playing the important role of taking up scores and taking photos for select rounds. And also a thank-you goes to Ande Li, a high-school student who volunteered his weekend helping with recording results and setting up/cleaning up. Finally, the lead organizer, Victor Zheng played an important role in responding to emails, interacting with Hart House staff, creating event webpages, creating event flyers, updating registration lists, coordinating room designs, organizing volunteers for photography, coordinating DGT boards, and setting-up/taking down DGT and chess sets.
In addition to these volunteers, we would like to thank the Hart House staff for their continued and dedicated support of our chess events and tournaments. The Hart House Information Hub with Jamie, Mauro, Naesha, Andrew, and student staff provided important registration assistance throughout the entire lead-up of the event. The Meetings and Events office with Madeline and Meghan, as well as the Communications Department with Cayce, Accounting Office with Stan, and Staging Personnel provided a coordinated effort to make this tournament a success. We wish to acknowledge their assistance.
Let the games begin! Round 2 at the Reading Week Open! (Photo: Victoria Lee)
The Club would like to express its gratitude to the Annex Chess Club and its team of organizers for lending chess sets and clocks to enable us to host the first-ever Reading Week Open with chess sets and equipment for all.
A huge shoutout goes to Victoria College’s VicXposure camera club and it’s student photographers who contributed to the largest chess photo album in Hart House chess recent memory. All rounds except Round 5 were covered by a student photographer, providing both an opportunity and testing ground for students, and the resulting amazing photos. As customary, we were able to take individual, high-quality photos of almost every player and important matchup. Those photos are linked at the bottom of this post.
I see you! (Photo: Michael Hsu)
Finally, the most-important and deserved “thank-you” goes to the 226 participants who came out during Family Day Weekend to play in the tournament, and the friends, family, supporters, and chess enthusiasts who came out to the tournament as spectators. It is with your support that the Club’s initiatives and vibrancy as a hub for chess has continued for over 127 years. We are very thankful for your participation and look forward to welcoming you back to Hart House for our many upcoming events later this year. Until next time…
Hart House Chess Club 