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…
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!
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.
The 2023 Hart House Reading Week Open is in just two days! A record-breaking number of players are attending this year’s tournament! For tournament details, see the original post.
All spots are now sold out. Our capacity is near the 225 mark and we do not plan on adding extra spots for this tournament. We are working on securing extra space at Hart House for future tournaments.
Equipment: Chess sets and clocks will be supplied for all rounds.
Team Prize: Team Prize details will be announced during Round 1.
Onsite registration: Due to capacity, no onsite registration is allowed.
Playing up: the current registration page reflect all players and their intended sections after playing up as of the CFC update on Feb. 15. Otherwise, players will be paired into a section based on their CFC rating for the tournament.
Spectators: Spectators and students are encouraged to come to watch the tournament!
Tournament Website: standings, pairings, photos, and more will be posted after the event.
Merchandise: HHCC merchandise will be available to purchase via our booth outside the Great Hall. More information can be found here.
CFC Ratings: All players are required to be CFC members for the tournament. We highly encourage all players to pay and renew their memberships online through the CFC website.
On March 3rd, 2023, 20 players joined the Hart House Chess Club for its 2023 Fischer Random Championship. With lightning striking and snow falling, a phenomenon very rarely seen, travelling to Hart House was treacherous and only a handful travelled from outside the University to the event. The event consisted of 6 single rounds of chess with a built in “study time” to prepare for each position. This was unlike any other event in Canada and we hoped to showcase the interesting games that arise from this incredible chess variant. Conveniently, this year’s Fischer Random Championship occurred on March, 3rd, 2023, 6 days before the birthday of Bobby Fischer himself on March 9th, 1943.
Fischer Random Chess or Chess 960 is a variant of chess, which employs the same board and pieces as standard chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the players’ home ranks is randomized. Certain restrictions apply on the randomization, preserving the dynamic nature of the game by retaining bishops of opposite colors for each player and the right to castle for both sides. The result is 960 unique possible starting positions.
In this tournament, the same starting position was used for all games of the same round of the tournament, but for every new round of the tournament, there was be a new starting position.
This year’s event started with top-seed IM Advait Patel missing because of the weather. Thus, WIM Yunshan Li and IM Nicholas Vettese entered as the top seeds. The resulting 6 rounds proved competitive, with IM Nicholas Vettese and Matthew Shih both tying for first at 5/6. However, in the ensuing playoff, IM Nicholas Vettese defeated Matthew 2-0 for first place overall. Jim Zhao took home clear third.
Young prodigy from South Korea, unrated Isaak Huh, finished tied third with WIM Yunshan Li and Yixiao Wang, who both tied for top-woman. Isaak was the only player able to take off a win against Nicholas throughout the entire event.
Top U1600 was won by Joshua Bakradze and Michael Ashcroft.
There was another strong showing by UofT’s unrated players, as almost 50% of the field was yet again unrated.
Thank you for attending this year’s event and we hope to see you out here at Hart House again!
SPECIAL PRIZES: All participants will be entered into a door prize for a HHCC t-shirt and toque.
MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 68 players
ORGANIZER: Hart House Chess Club
NOTE: chess sets and boards provided
Positions will be released via random assignment from one of the 959 different positions (we will not use the original position) at the start of each round. Players will be given 3 minutes of “study time” before the round.
On Friday, February 10th at 7:00PM, Grandmaster Razvan Preotu made a visit to the Hart House Chess Club to conduct a 15 board simul against U of T students and community members. We would like to thank GM Preotu and HHCC member Joshua Bakradze for helping in organize the event.
Members participated in the simul for FREE. Sign-up was first-come-first-serve and opened at 4:00 PM during Casual Play. Members of the public were asked to make a small donation in support of the club’s fundraising efforts.
Bio: GM Preotu, rated 2478, became Canada’s second youngest Canadian born Grandmaster in 2016 after achieving his norms at the 2014 World Open, 2014 SPICE Cup, and 2016 World Open. He achieved the minimum 2500 FIDE rating just before attending university at The University of Texas at Dallas to pursue an undergraduate degree in computer science on a chess scholarship. He is returning to Toronto after finishing a Master’s degree in Computer Science at the same university.
To learn more about Razvan Preotu, view his Wikipedia page and FIDE page.
Grandmaster Razvan Preotu at the Hart House Chess Club on Fri. Feb. 11th, 2023. He scored 14 wins and 1 loss. Moves on the board! Razvan vs 15 students and U of T community members!
