Author: harthousechess

On Friday, November 4th, the Hart House Chess Club welcomed GM Daniel Naroditsky, IM Eric Rosen, and WGM Nemo Zhou to a quick meet-and-greet with HHCC members and the Toronto community.

Participants were able to play blitz games, sign autographs, and take selfies with the chess celebrities. Today’s visit marked another successful event the HHCC participated in with esteemed guests this year: lending GM Garry Kasparov chess boards during Collision 2022, hosting a simul with GM Evgeny Bareev, hosting a simul with IM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, hosting FM James Canty III, and lending chess sets/clocks used by Gothamchess (IM Levy Rozman), GM Fabiano Caruana for the CGC.

Come check out our signed boards that will be displayed and raffled during the Hart House Rapid Championship next Saturday.

Join the Hart House Chess Club on Friday, November 25th from 7:20 pm – 9:30 pm as it hosts the first in-person duck chess tournament in Canada! Official flyer

• WHEN: Friday, November 25th, 7:20 pm – 9:30 pm. Rule explanations at 7:10 pm, Rd #1 starts at 7:20 P.M.
• WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – Reading Room.
• WHAT: 6-round Blitz Event (Swiss), using a 5 + 3 time control.
• RATED: Unrated
• ENTRY FEE: Free for members, $5 for non-members. You must register online or onsite (if space permits) before 7. Free entry for IMs/WIMs/GMs/WGMs
• PRIZE FUND: $25 gift card for 1st place
• MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 60 players
• NOTE: chess sets, boards, and ducks provided

Registration:

• Register online or onsite (if space permits).

Duck Chess Rules

In addition to the standard rules of chess, the following rules apply.

1. After making a regular move, a player must move the duck to any empty square on the board. This square must be different than the original square.
2. The duck acts as a blocker by preventing any move through or onto the square occupied by the duck (though knights may jump over it). The duck cannot be captured.
3. The game is won by capturing the opponent’s king.

Contact:

Any questions can be sent to: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

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Event Report: On Friday, November 26th, the Hart House Chess Club hosted the first ever Duck Chess Tournament in Canada, and possibly the world! 27 registrants played in this chess variant involving small, yellow ducks. Duck Chess is a relatively new variant of chess that requires a duck to be moved after playing a move. This duck acts as a barrier, preventing players from playing moves through the duck. Although there were some questions early on, along with some surprise wins, players seemed to embrace the challenge. Kole Robertson came out on top, with a perfect 6/6 score. Some players told us that they had prepped for days and had looked into how to best play this interesting variant. The biggest upset was Nathaniel Yong, a second-year CS student, soundly beating IM Advait Patel, a rating difference of over 1000! The highest rated duck chess match of the night was played between IM Patel, FIDE 2451 and IM Nicholas Vettese, FIDE 2310, with Patel coming out on top.

This event finished off the HHCC’s Fall 2022 programming of in-house tournaments during Casual Chess Fridays. The last event of the HHCC’s calendar is the 2022 Hart House Holidays Open, scheduled for December 9th – 11th.

HHCC Executive Victor Zheng, alongside the HHCC Board, directed and arbitered the tournament.

Final Standings

Rank	Name	Rtg	Pts
1	Robertson Kole	1926	6
2	Yong Nathaniel	1200	5
3	Zhao Jim	2300	5
4	Melnychuk Denys	566	4
5	McDowel Curtis	1800	4
6	Patel Advait	2450	4
7	Eryilmaz Emre	1546	4
8	Kim Sunny	0	4
9	Li Ande	1780	4
10	Vettese Nicholas	2400	3½
11	Zheng Victor	2139	3
12	S Vedant	2186	3
13	Chung Yein	0	3
14	McGowan Joseph	933	3
15	A Yahya	0	3
16	Shahsavan Faraz	2200	2
17	Kris Jiang	566	2
18	H Nathan	0	2
19	B Joshua	2104	2
20	Murray Sarah	0	2
21	Yu Jonathan	2222	1
22	Shi Olivia	1600	1
23	Khari Abdullah	0	1
24	G Mike	0	1
25	A Dev	1000	1
26	Aguer Peter	0	0
27	J Lucas	0	0

Event Recap

On October 28th, 2022, the Hart House Chess Club at the University of Toronto hosted its first blitz tournament of the Fall semester. The Fall Blitz Tournament attracted a sold-out crowd of 60 players (mostly students), with over 10 titled players. Notable student chess players included IM Advait Patel, IM Nicholas Vettese, CM Koosha Jaferian, FM Eilia Zomorrodian, FM Tanraj Sohal, NM Chris Knox, NM Jim Zhao, WFM Cindy Qiao, and the entire PanAms Team. NM Daniel Abrahams and NM Paul Gelis rounded out an elite field. In addition, 16 unrated players competed, showcasing the vast appeal of chess to all levels. The event encapsulated the current demand and interest in both the Chess Club and chess in general in 2022. It is hard to believe that just over 10 years ago, this Club was going through one of its darkest ages with low turnout and without a proper meeting room or time. So far this semester, the Club has hosted GM Evgeny Bareev, selected varsity chess players in the PanAm Qualifiers, hosted the HHCC Bughouse Championship, welcomed IM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux and FM James Canty III, and is currently preparing for the HHCC Rapid Championship and 2022 Holidays Open. Congrats to all the winners! We hope to see everyone back at the Club in the near future!

Gallery

Final Results

Rank	Name	Rating	Points	Median-Buchholz	Better Buchholz	Prize
1	Patel Advait	2442	11	31	41	1st
2	Vettese Nicholas	2418	10	34.5	45.5	2nd – 3rd
3	Zhao Jim	2330	10	29	39	2nd – 3rd
4	Qiao Cindy	2080	9.5	27.5	36.5	Top Woman
5	Zomorrodian Eilia	2259	9.5	26.5	36.5
6	Abrahams Daniel	2215	9.5	25.5	34
7	Moon Ethan	1905	8.5	34.5	44.5
8	Gelis Paul	2251	8.5	27	38
9	Jaferian Koosha	2351	8	31.5	42.5
10	Sohal Tanraj	2342	7.5	30.5	41.5
11	Shih Matthew	2165	7.5	29.5	39.5
12	Knox Christopher	2333	7	32	42
13	Chan Edward	1761	7	28.5	38
14	Lam Eric	1186	7	28	38	Top U1400 – tie
15	Chen Aaron	1069	7	27.5	35	Top U1400 – tie
16	Mahtani Nitin	1986	7	27	37
17	Yong Nathaniel	0	7	26.5	36.5	Top Unrated – tie
18	Melnychuk Denis	0	7	26	33.5	Top Unrated – tie
19	Yu Mingzhou	0	7	24.5	33	Top Unrated – tie
20	Robertson Kole	1926	7	22.5	30.5
21	Vu Henry	1376	7	22	29.5	Top U1400 – tie
22	Malmstein Erik	1982	7	21.5	32.5
23	Li Andrew	1786	7	21	30
24	Nguyen Quang	1702	6.5	22.5	31.5
25	Prieto Julian	0	6.5	17	23
26	Jindal Keshav	1543	6	28	37.5
27	Shafkat Ali	1531	6	26.5	33.5
28	Sunardi Jason	1505	6	25	35
29	Jafarli Atilay	1239	6	25	32.5
30	Ossine Nicholas	1607	6	24	33.5
31	Guo Anni	1959	6	22.5	32
32	Eilender George	0	6	20.5	28
33	Arzoumanian Andreas	0	5.5	27.5	37.5
34	Charles Christopher	1266	5.5	25.5	34
35	Ma Derek	2207	5	28	36
36	Faria-Lopes Rafael	0	5	24	33.5
37	Chol Akol	0	5	23.5	30.5
38	Bakradze Joshua	0	5	23	32.5
39	Wang Daniel	0	5	16.5	23.5
40	Miao David	0	4.5	24.5	31.5
41	Gulec Andrew	0	4.5	22.5	29.5
42	Cheung Joshua	0	4.5	18.5	28
43	Lu Rick	0	4.5	16	24.5
44	Lim Justin	1127	4	24	32
45	Doumet Mario	1031	4	23	32
46	Hamade Karim	0	4	22.5	29.5
47	Basile Alex	0	4	19	27.5
48	Zhang George	0	4	17	23
49	Unrau Ryan	0	3.5	20	26
50	Nishikawa Boomba	0	3	22.5	29.5
51	Fitzgerald Benjamin	0	3	20	29.5
52	Wu Kevin	0	2	20	26.5
53	McNally Liam	0	2	19	26
54	Lee Junsyoung Edward	0	2	18.5	25.5
55	Chan Edmund	1200	1	18	29
56	Feghali Cedric	0	1	17	23
57	Dai Wenzhi	2156	0	17	23
58	Mendes Aaron	2145	0	17	23
59	Escobar Jillian	0	0	17	23
60	Saqur Raeid	1460	0	14	20

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ORIGINAL POST

Join us for HHCC’s Fall Blitz Tournament. Open to all, this 6 round, double-round swiss event encourages students and community members of all levels to get back to in-person chess. Students and community members are welcome and encouraged to come!

Official flyer can be found here.

• WHEN: Friday, October 28th, 7pm – 9:30 pm. Rd #1 starts at 7:00 P.M.
• WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – Reading Room.
• WHAT: 6-round double-round Blitz Event (Swiss), using a 5 minute time control.
• RATED: Unrated
• ENTRY FEE: $10 for members, $20 for non-members, free for titled players until Oct 17. Pay online via registration page or onsite before 7.
• PRIZE FUND (est. based on 35 entries): $200 as follows: 1st place – $75; 2nd place – $50; 3rd place – $25; Top Woman – $25; Top U1400 – $25.
• SPECIAL PRIZES: All participants will be entered into a door prize for 3 HHCC t-shirts.
• MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 60 players
• NOTE: chess sets and boards provided, proceeds will help with the Club’s fundraising efforts, including the HHCC’s PanAm Team’s trip to Seattle, Washington in Janruary.

Registration:

• Register online via this link or onsite (if space permits).
• Email us at hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca if you are a titled player

Contact:

Any questions can be sent to: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

On Saturday, November 12th, 2022, the Hart House Chess Club crowned it’s 2022 Rapid Champion, FM Mike Ivanov. Former Club Secretary and President, Mike went undefeated, recording a 5.5/6 score, and bagged the $225 prize along with it. The tournament consisted of 54 players split into 2 sections, OPEN and U1400. Held at the East Common Room, the time control was 15 mins + 10 seconds increment, a time control that made rounds quick and games eventful. Numerous games ended in in complex endgames with imbalances, making spectating exciting and entertaining to watch.

OPEN section final results

U1400 section final results

Prize winners

Congratulations to the tournament winners! Please check your emails for instructions for claiming your prize.

Section	Prize	Winners	Amount
Open 1st	$225.00	Mike Ivanov	$225
Open Tied 2nd-3rd	$250.00	Jura Ochkoos Victor Plotkin Cindy Qiao Yunshan Li	$62.50
Top Woman	$60.00	Cindy Qiao Yunshan Li	$30
Top U1800	$60.00	Jacob Taylor	$60
Top U2200	$60.00	Ethan Moon	$60
U1400 1st	$125.00	Henry Vu	$125.00
U1400 Tied 2nd-3rd	$125.00	Slava Lukinykh Evan Xi Boomba Nishika Avaan Choudhury	$31.25
Top Unrated	$50.00	Denys Melnychuk	$50.00
Top Woman	$50.00	Alexa Roque	$50.00
Total Prize $	$1,005.00

Gallery

Pre-event information below…

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Join us for our Hart House Chess Club Rapid Championship and Raffle fundraising tournament!

Open to all, this 2-section tournament offers a fun and competitive way to play chess while supporting the Club’s fundraising efforts. In addition to improving club equipment, this year’s fundraising will go towards hosting the Ivy League Challenge, sending teams to tournaments abroad (PanAms and CUCC) and special social events involving titled players.

All community members, non-participants included, are encouraged to participate in the Raffle to help support the fundraising efforts. Official flyer

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RAFFLE INFORMATION:

For rapid tournament players: $5 for one ticket, $10 for 3 tickets. Non-rapid players: $10 for one ticket, $20 for 3 tickets. Tickets may be purchased onsite or online. The draw will be hosted live at 4:00 PM before the start of Round 6. All raffle participants will receive a Hart House Chess Club pen.

Raffle prizes will include:

1. Hart House Chess Club t-shirt (x2)
2. Signed HHCC GM Hikaru Nakamura t-shirt (x2)
3. Signed chess board by GM Garry Kasparov (x2)
4. Entry into one of the Holidays Open or Reading Week Open (x2)

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RAPID TOURNAMENT INFORMATION:

• WHEN: Saturday, November 12th, 10 am – 5 pm. Rd #1 starts at 10:00 A.M.
• WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – East Common Room.
• WHAT: 6-round Rapid Event (Swiss), using a 15 minute + 10 sec/move increment time control.
• RATINGS: CFC Quick Rated. CFC classical ratings will be used for Rd #1 pairings and final prizes. All players are required to have a valid CFC membership to play in this tournament. Players can either pay the fee online or bring cash onsite. HHCC students with a CFC membership can represent the Club at the CUCC and GTCL.
• ENTRY FEE: OPEN SECTION: $30 for members, $40 for non-members. U1400 SECTION: $25 for members, $35 for non-members. RAFFLE TICKETS: $5 for one ticket, $10 for 3 tickets.
• TITLED PLAYERS: free for WIM / IM / WGM / GM. $10 discount for WFM / FM. Email us for information.
• REGISTRATION: Pay online by November 10th 11:59 PM. Or in-person on Fridays during casual play. Onsite registration before 9:30 AM.
• PRIZE FUND ($1200 est. based on 70 entries): OPEN SECTION: 1st place – $250 + Championship Title; 2nd place – $175; 3rd place – $125; Top U2200 – $75; Top U1800 – $75, Top Woman: $75. U1400 SECTION: 1st place – $150; 2nd place – $100; 3rd place – $75; Top Woman – $50; Top Unrated – $50.
• MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 80 players
• NOTE: chess sets and boards provided
• ARBITER: National Arbiter Alex Ferreira
• UNRATED PLAYERS: If your online rating is sufficiently high enough, then you can register for the OPEN section (send us an email to confirm). You would then be eligible to compete for 1st-3rd prizes in the OPEN section. Unrated players in U1400 can only compete for the unrated prize.

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ROUND TIMES:

• Round 1 at 10:00 a.m.
• Round 2 at 11:00 a.m.
• Round 3 at 12:00 noon
• Lunch Break
• Round 4 at 02:00 p.m.
• Round 5 at 03:00 p.m.
• Round 6 / Raffle draw at 04:00 p.m.

PRE-REGISTERED: 

OPEN – 27 pre-registrants

Number	Name	CFC Rating	CFC ID	Section	CFC membership
1	FM Victor Plotkin	2414	142063	OPEN
2	WIM Yunshan Li	2401	175249	OPEN
3	FM Mike Ivanov	2378	140557	OPEN
4	FM Tanraj Sohal	2342	135830	OPEN	Expired
5	Jim Zhao	2330	146770	OPEN	Expired
6	FM Eilia Zomorrodian	2259	169238	OPEN	Expired
7	Leon Perelman	2223	146258	OPEN
8	WFM Cindy Qiao	2080	155864	OPEN
9	Sahir Abbas	1870	153534	OPEN
10	Valentyn Trofimov-Malyshkin	1866	175627	OPEN
11	Ande Li	1786	172084	OPEN
12	Elon Wang	1805	166791	OPEN	Expired
13	Daniel Sirkovich	1773	145096	OPEN
14	Samuel Ulrich	1758	177446	OPEN
15	Bradley Tseng	1543	164369	OPEN
16	Heye Gao	1616	166066	OPEN
17	Daniel Zhang	1598	163312	OPEN
18	Nicholas Ossine	1570	173090	OPEN
19	Jacob Taylor	1568	169037	OPEN
20	Shafkat Ali	1532	149142	OPEN
21	Eric Wan	1467	175276	OPEN	Expired
22	Justin Huang	1273	166068	OPEN
23	Ivan Huang	1239	164614	OPEN
24	Phillip Robinson	unr		OPEN
25	Riyaan Lakhani	unr		OPEN
26	Yukuan Zou	unr		OPEN
27	Nick Pestov	unr	175177	OPEN

U1400 – 23 pre-registrants

Number	Name	CFC Rating	CFC ID	Section	CFC Membership
1	Henry Vu	1376	159501	U1400	Expired
2	Kaiy Cao	1292	175029	U1400
3	Tony Lau	1233	130817	U1400	Expired
4	Slava Lukinykh	1168	174578	U1400
5	Grace Miao	1171	177399	U1400
6	Avaan Choudhury	1134	174450	U1400
7	Joshua Bakradze	1132	177444	U1400
8	Alexa Roque	1128	172868	U1400
9	Edmund Smyk	984	146332	U1400
10	Evan Xi	976	166066	U1400
11	Denis Shen	852	172778	U1400
12	Tina Hui	882	176179	U1400
13	Fedir Trofimov-Malyshikin	823	175772	U1400
14	Sylvio Tam	unr	178021	U1400
15	Nico Scaini	unr		U1400
16	Marten Ling	unr		U1400
17	Allan Liu	unr		U1400
18	Nap Hei Joshua Cheung	unr		U1400
19	Boomba Nishikawa	unr		U1400
20	Liam McNally	unr		U1400
21	Oleh Sych	unr	178066	U1400
22	Maxime Duguay	unr		U1400
23	Denys Melnychuk	unr	178133	U1400

CONTACT:

Any questions can be sent to: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

The Greater Toronto Chess League Cup is back in-person after a hiatus during COVID-19. This year’s tournament is hosted by  Annex Chess Club. The Greater Toronto Chess League runs chess matches between clubs in the Toronto region.

Matches are four-on-four, featuring some of the strongest players in each GTA club. This year’s GTCL Cup is a 5-round Swiss tournament with a time control of 15 minutes per player, plus a 5-second-per-move increment from move 1 team. Each team consists of 4 players with the option of including one alternate. The event is CFC quick-rated and, CFC membership is required. Games will be played on Monday, December 5th, 7-11 PM and prizes will be given to the winners of the following two categories:

Championship Teams

Hart House Chess Club may enter one or more club teams in the Championship category. Team registration is open to any four players (plus one alternate, optionally) who represent our club. There is no rating cap in the Championship category. The winning team will win the 2022 GTCL Cup for their club, and players will receive individual trophies from the GTCL.

U1800 Teams

This category is open to any four Hart House Chess Club players (plus one alternate) who want to play together on a team, subject to a rating cap: the average rating of the top four players must be under 1800. This ensures parity among the various U1800 teams. The best team in this category will receive individual trophies from the GTCL.

Format: 5-round Swiss (team vs. team) in a single section – Championship and U1800 teams play together.

Round Times: Round 1 starts at 7:00 pm sharp; subsequent rounds to begin every 45 minutes; event expected to be over by 11:00 pm. Players are expected to arrive by 6:30 pm to check-in.

Time Control: 15 minutes plus a 5 second increment after every move.

Location: Annex Chess Club, 918 Bathurst St, Toronto

This year, as of November 4th, the Hart House Chess Club will cover 50% of costs for 3 teams for a total of up to 12 players.

Entry Fee: 50% discounted entry of $5 for Hart House Chess Club members. Up to 12 players will be subsidized, plus a waitlist for dropouts. Depending on fundraising, and space allowing, HHCC will aim to cover as many interested players as possible.

Eligibility: All Hart House Chess Club members are eligible to represent our club at the 2022 GTCL Cup (a student membership is free). Our alumni are also welcome to play.

Registration: If you want to represent Hart House Chess Club in the tournament, please fill out this form. We will then contact you via email for payment information. We are happy to accommodate people who want to play alongside their friends (e.g. as a team of four/five)!

Deadline for Registration: Saturday, December 3rd

Contact: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

Other Info: Registrants must be current CFC members or bring payment prior to playing – https://chess.ca/membership-fees.

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5th IVY LEAGUE CHALLENGE (2023) – TOURNAMENT RULES

Rating/Move Recording:

The tournament is FIDE Rated. The tournament is also Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) rated. Players are required to record their moves throughout the game.

Tournament Organization:

• Tanner McNamara (Tournament Director): tanner.mcnamara@mail.utoronto.ca
• Victor Zheng (Assistant Tournament Director): victork.zheng@mail.utoronto.ca

Arbiter:

• Alex Ferreira (Chief Arbiter): alex.ferreira@utoronto.ca

Time Control:

Each player will have 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment from move 1.

Tournament System:

5-round round-robin system

Team Composition and Line-ups:

Teams are composed of 4 players and up to 2 additional alternates.

Board order must be submitted to the Tournament Director (Tanner McNamara) via e-mail, tanner.mcnamara@mail.utoronto.ca, by no later than Thursday, March 22^nd, 8:00 PM. Teammates must play in descending rating order, except that 50-point transpositions are allowed. Board order must remain the same throughout the event. When alternates play they must do so starting on the lowest boards. Any regular member sits out when an alternate plays; other team members move up accordingly.

Lineups for each round must be submitted 1 hour before the announced official round start times. Lineups can be submitted: a) in person at the Playing Hall, b) via email to Victor Zheng (victork.zheng@mail.utoronto.ca) and Tanner McNamara (tanner.mcnamara@mail.utoronto.ca).

Team Captains:

All teams must designate a captain. The role of the captain is:

• To turn in their team line-up to the TD at least one hour before the round begins.
• To report the result of the match to the TD and sign it.

Team Scores, Game Points:

Each team gets two match points if the combined scores of the four players in a Round is 2.5 or greater, one match point if the combined score is 2, and zero match points if the combined score is 1.5 or less.

Byes, defaults, lateness, and so forth are treated as in individual tournaments. Players are required to arrive at their board within 30 minutes after their clock is pressed on move 1, otherwise they forfeit their game.

Tie Breaks:

Tie-breaks are used to award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd only. If two or more teams are tied for first, the team which wins in the tie-breakers is the sole winner of the Ivy League Challenge.

When team match points are equal, the following order of tie-break systems will be used:

1. Head to head
2. Individual Game Points
3. Greater number of match wins
4. Greater number of individual wins
5. Two blitz games between one randomly selected player from each team. If the result is 1-1 after the blitz games, the players will play another game where white gets 6 minutes and black 5 (colours determined randomly). If the game is a draw, Black’s team wins.

Prizes:

• Team Prize: 1st, 2nd, 3rd (Plaques)
• Individual Prizes: Top Individual Boards 1-4 (Plaques) / Best Game of the Tournament (Hoodies)

Electronic Devices:

Any electronic device that could be used to transmit or receive information related to chess or to calculate potential moves, such as smart phones, tablets, computers and Apple or Android watches, is not allowed in the tournament playing area (the tournament director and TD’s support staff are excluded). Further, no such devices can be in the immediate possession of a player, regardless of the player’s location, during a game that is in progress. Violation of this rule by a player will result in the player’s immediate forfeit of a game in progress.

Appeals:

The Appeals Committee shall comprise of Tanner McNamara (TD), Victor Zheng (Assistant TD) and Ben Hahn (Alumni Chair). A protest against the decision of an Arbiter must be submitted in writing to the Appeals Committee, within 30 min after the end of the respective game. A protest fee of 60 CAD shall be payable to the organizer which is refundable if the protest is upheld. The Appeals Committee may also decide to refund the fee if it considers the appeal was not frivolous. The decision of the Appeals Committee is final, binding and takes effect immediately.

Tournament Schedule:

Please see the Event Post for the tournament schedule.

Information:

harthousechess.com

Organized by: