harthousechess

2025 UToronto vs UWaterloo Invitational Match

Published on February 20, 2025April 16, 2025 by harthousechess

March 29–30, 2025 — The Hart House Chess Club proudly represented the University of Toronto in a thrilling intercollegiate chess showdown against the University of Waterloo’s Chess Club. Played across 18 boards, the competition showcased a wide spectrum of talent—from rising amateur players to International Masters.

Manuel Drehwald vs Rachel Spanglet on Board 18. Photo by Derek Ma

After two days of intense play, the University of Toronto emerged victorious with a narrow edge, scoring 236.5 points to Waterloo’s 195.5 points.

Tournament Format

The event followed a two-day team format:

Day 1 featured blitz and rapid rounds. Players were divided into three pools of six, with pools competing in a double-round Scheveningen-style blitz tournament (12 games total), followed by 2 rapid games.
Day 2 concluded with 4 additional rapid games per player.

Meals were also part of the experience—Hart House catering on Day 1 and pizza on Day 2 fueled the competitors throughout the weekend.

Individual RESULTS

University of Toronto

Blitz Top Performer: Manuel Drehwald — 11/12 points
Top Rapid Performers: Max England, Nicholas Vettese, Mark Li, and Bingfei Wang — 5/6 points each

University of Waterloo

Top Blitz Performer: Christopher Xiang — 8/12 points
Top Rapid Performers: William Ratelband and Cody Ruan — 5/6 points each

Max England vs Olivier Lalonde on Board 1. Photo by Derek Ma

See below for the original event post and details. Photos of the event are available here.

The Hart House Chess Club (University of Toronto) and University of Waterloo Chess Club have agreed to an inter-university match between the clubs from March 29th – March 30th, 2025. As two leading university hubs for chess in Ontario, this match will see two schools battle it out for school pride and glory. The tournament is a Team Match with Scheveningen pairings, and players will play only against players from opposing schools. There will be 18 players per team, and three pools per team. The tournament is a Team Rapid and Blitz, with each point counting towards the overall team score.

Tournament Overview

WHERE: Music Room, Hart House, University of Toronto.
WHEN: March 29th – March 30th
SCHEDULE: 6 Double-Round Blitz Round-Robin tournament, split in 3 sections. Followed by a 6 Single-Round Rapid Tournament.
TIME CONTROL: Blitz: 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move 1. Rapid: 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move 1.
RATING: All sections will be CFC Active Rated. Blitz will be FIDE Blitz Rated. Rapid will be FIDE Rapid Rated.
DGT Boards: All games will be broadcast live on DGT boards. Game delay of 60 seconds for blitz, 3 minutes for rapid.
Organizers: Victor Zheng (Toronto), Josh Zabor – (Waterloo)
Arbiters: Victor Zheng, Tanner McNamara, Michael Corrie
Media: Stella Ting, Derek Ma

Blitz Tournament

Team tournament of 6 double rounds starting at 12 noon, Saturday March 29th

Time Control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment
Round Times: Round 1 at 12 noon, subsequent rounds every 15 minutes with event ending around 3 pm.
Sections: Each school will have a Team A, Team B, and Team C each with 6 players.
- Team A will play all players of Team A in blitz.

Rapid Tournament

Team tournament of 6 rounds starting at 4 pm, Saturday March 30th

Time Control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment
Round Times: Saturday 4 pm and 5 pm. Sunday 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm.
Sections: Each school will have a Team A, Team B, and Team C each with 6 players.
- Team A will play all players of Team A in rapid.
Pizza will be provided on Sunday afternoon after Round 2.

Tournament System:

Scheveningen System – Pairings will be announced by noon March 28th.

Prizes:

Team Plaque for overall team winner. A Rapid win counts as 2 points and a Blitz win as 1 point. If team are tied in points after the Rapid, a single-game tiebreaker blitz will be played from a player nominated from each school, until a decisive result is achieved.
Individual Prizes: $100 + Plaque for 1st for the top-player in each section for each tournament.

Live Broadcast

The top-12 games will be broadcast live on DGT boards available for blitz and rapid.

PAIRINGS

Pairings and team standings for the tournament are available here. Drawing of lots were held alongside team representatives on March 26th to determine pairings and starting rank orders. Results, pairings, and crosstables are available on chess-results.

Players

University of Toronto

Name	CFC ID	CFC Rating	CFC Membership	FIDE ID	Team	Starting Position (by drawing of lots)
Max England	155135	2422	Valid	2622602	A	5
Nicholas Vettese	154199	2361	Valid	2620090	A	1
Fengxi Mao	166033	2340	Valid	2632586	A	3
Samuel Zhang	171147	2333	Valid	30942993	A	4
Henry Zhang	153836	2158	Valid	2620162	A	6
Cindy Qiao	155864	2122	Valid	2620243	A	2
Jack Klein	192526	2065	Valid	30978467	B	3
Bingfei Wang	172444	2043	Valid	8618585	B	4
Christopher Yu	167321	1884	Expired	329105180	B	2
Peter Yong Qiu	162493	1800	Valid	2637316	B	5
Yukuan Zou	178153	1786	Valid	2658615	B	6
Jinglai He	166992	1757	Valid	2637286	B	1
Manuel Drehwald	193444	1730	Valid	12934330	C	3
Joshua Bakradze	177444	1698	Valid	2648415	C	6
Sharif Hafez	190315	1464	Valid	2670143	C	4
Eric Lam	154275	1383	Valid	0	C	5
Samuel Zheng	169160	1034	Valid	0	C	1
Mark Li	191589	0	Valid	0	C	2

University of Waterloo

Name	CFC ID	CFC Rating	CFC Membership	FIDE ID	Team	Starting Position (by drawing of lots)
Olivier Lalonde	175462	2266	Expired	0	A	1
Momin Fayzan	186418	2168	Expired	0	A	3
Brendan Tan	157922	2150	Expired	2650401	A	6
Dorian Kang	155339	2101	Expired	2619156	A	4
Sanjay Ramesh	162979	2045	Expired	2631270	A	5
Savio Joseph Benher	161296	2032	Valid	2629453	A	2
(Tom) Minh Thong Nguyen	169333	1949	Valid	12405124	B	5
Sriram Kumar	172280	1948	Expired	30904730	B	4
William Ratelband	158224	1908	Valid	2630729	B	3
Malhar Singh	158060	1899	Valid	2628686	B	1
Nicholas Lyn	177402	1740	Expired	0	B	6
Christopher Xiang	160540	1697	Valid	2629534	B	2
Matthew Sekirin	175166	1818	Expired	2647273	C	5
Lily Zhou	151749	1688	Expired	2616343	C	3
Omkar Baraskar	184408	1682	Expired	33446660	C	4
Rachel Spanglet	175008	1678	Valid	0	C	6
Ziqi Zhou	175042	1656	Valid	2660768	C	1
Cody Ruan	157560	1478	Expired	0	C	2

Contact: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

Find the 2024 event report here.

University of Toronto Wins the 2025 Canadian University Chess Championship

Published on January 29, 2025October 26, 2025 by harthousechess

The University of Toronto has won the the 2025 Canadian University Chess Championship (CUCC)! Team A with IM Nicholas Vettese, FM Sergey Noritsyn, FM Max Rusonik, Fengxi Mao, and Samuel Zhang finished with a perfect 5-0 match points to win the tournament hosted at the Université de Montréal.

The Hart House Chess Club representing the University of Toronto, sent 4 teams to the tournament with numerous players also winning individual prizes. The hosts were the Université de Montréal Chess Club and McGill Chess Club.

Chess Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr1091853.aspx?lan=1
DGT Games: https://lichess.org/broadcast/canadian-university-chess-championship-2025–crown/round-5/rpTvT5SU

In addition, CUCC 2026 will be hosted at Hart House of the University of Toronto from January 16 – 18, 2026.

IM Mark Plotkin vs IM Nicholas Vettese Match

Published on January 18, 2025January 31, 2025 by harthousechess

The Hart House Chess Club is excited to host an electrifying chess showdown between International Masters Mark Plotkin and Nicholas Vettese. Join us for this spectacular event where two of Canada’s top chess talents will compete across multiple formats.

Who is IM Nicholas Vettese:

IM Nicholas Vettese at Hart House in 2024

Nicholas Vettese is a current student at the University of Toronto who began playing chess at the tender age of six, in Grade 1. This was by way of an elementary school lunchtime program that his mother discovered. Excelling rapidly, he became the top-rated player on the Canadian Under-10 list and at the age of 10, he became the youngest-ever Canadian National Master. In 2021, he won the North American Youth Chess Championship, which crowns the best U18 chess players in North America and subsequently achieved his International Master title. He has played for the Hart House Chess Club’s PanAmerican Intercollegiate and Canadian University Championship teams.

Who is IM Mark Plotkin:

Mark Plotkin is a distinguished Canadian chess player and coach, holding the FIDE title of International Master. Mark’s journey in the world of chess began with the aid of his father, Victor Plotkin, a strong FIDE Master and captain of several Canadian Olympiad teams. His early exposure to the game laid the foundation for a notable career that would see him rise to prominence in the chess community. Mark pursued higher education at the University of Toronto, getting a degree in Political Science and Journalism, where he not only sharpened his academic skills but also joined the Hart House Chess Club and contributed to the university team’s victory in the Canadian University Chess Championship.

Why should you watch the match

The match pits the two of the strongest University of Toronto students of the past 10 years against one another to see who is the strongest of all. There is a lot on the line as the two battle to see who is truly the master of all formats (Classical, Rapid, and Blitz).

Event Details

Dates:
Thursday, January 30th, 2025 – Saturday, February 1st, 2025

Organizer:
Hart House Chess Club

Location:
Hart House, University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3

Rated:

FIDE rated in Standard, Rapid, and Blitz
CFC rated in all formats

Spectators:
Spectators are welcome for all portions of the match. Please note that all electronic devices must be turned off. The organizers reserve the right to revoke spectator access at any time.

Livestream

A live broadcast for rounds will be available on our YouTube page, https://www.youtube.com/@harthousechessclub

DGT Boards
All games will be broadcasted and will feature a delay on lichess.org at the follow link.

Classical chess: 15-minute delay
Rapid chess: 2-minute delay
Blitz chess: 30-second delay

Points System:

10 points for a Classical match win
5 points for a Rapid match win
2 points for a Blitz match win

Each format totals 40 points, with a combined total of 120 points available. The player with the most points at the end will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the prize fund will be split equally.

Prize Fund:
$500, distributed based on the percentage of wins.

Schedule and Format

Classical

Time Control: 60 minutes + 30-second increment from move 1

Thursday evening: 1 game (7:05 PM, South Sitting Room)
Friday: 3 games (10 AM, 2 PM, 6 PM, Bickersteth Room)

Rapid

Time Control: 15 minutes + 5-second increment from move 1

Saturday Morning: 8 games starting at 10 AM
- Rounds begin approximately 10 minutes after the previous game concludes.
- Lunch break at 1 PM

Blitz

Time Control: 3 minutes + 2-second increment from move 1

Saturday Evening: 20 games starting at 5:30 PM
- Games are scheduled approximately every 12 minutes, with short breaks after every set of 5 games.

Detailed Schedule

Thursday, January 30th, 2025 – South Sitting Room

7:05 PM: Classical Game 1

Friday, January 31st, 2025 – Bickersteth Room

10:00 AM: Classical Game 2
2:00 PM: Classical Game 3
6:00 PM: Classical Game 4

Saturday, February 1st, 2025 – South Sitting Room

Rapid Schedule:

10:00 AM: Game 1
10:50 AM (approx): Game 2
11:40 AM (approx): Game 3
12:30 PM (approx): Game 4
1:00 PM: Lunch Break
2:00 PM (approx): Game 5
2:50 PM (approx): Game 6
3:40 PM (approx): Game 7
4:30 PM (approx): Game 8

Blitz Schedule:

5:30 PM: Game 1
Games follow approximately every 12 minutes, with breaks after every set of 5 games.

Join Us

Experience the thrill of competitive chess in a dynamic atmosphere at Hart House. Witness masterful strategies unfold live and cheer on your favorite IM as they vie for victory. Spectators are welcome to watch online or in-person!

Contact: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca for questions.

2025 Toronto Rapid Chess Championship

Published on January 5, 2025April 30, 2025 by harthousechess

The 2025 Toronto Rapid Chess Championship was held at Hart House on April 27th with 118 participants. The winners were IM Mark Plotkin in the Crown section, Justin Yuan in U1800, and Fred Chun in U1400. Photos by Jay Bhadreshwara.

Photos from the Canadian Chess Federation Newsletter (John Upper) are available here.
Photos from the Club’s photographer Jay Bhadreshwara are available here.

The Hart House Chess Club is proud to host the 2025 Toronto Rapid Championship at Hart House on Sunday, April 27th, 2025. The tournament is a 7-round Swiss Tournament with a time-control of 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move increment.

The Hart House Chess Club successfully hosted the 2024 Toronto Rapid on April 20th, 2024 with 140 participants. We are looking forward to hosting the tournament again and welcoming back the community to Hart House.

Tournament Details

When: Sunday, April 27th, 2025, 10 am – 4 pm
Format: 7-round CFC-rated, FIDE-rated, Swiss Tournament
Location: 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3 Music Room, Burwash Room, Debates Room (analysis/parents)
Time Control: 10 mins + 5 secs/move increment
Capacity: 125 players
Rounds: 10:00 am, 10:45 am, 11:30 am, lunch, 1:00 pm, 1:45 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:15 pm
Sections: Crown, U1800, U1400 (rated CFC Quick in all sections, FIDE rated top-two sections)
Equipment: HHCC will supply all chess equipment
Prizes: $3200 based on 120 fully paid entries. Trophies to winning player in each section.
Entry Fees: $40 by April 1st at 11:59 pm, $45 afterwards, free entry for IM/WIM by April 1st at 11:59 pm. $20 discount for HHCC members
Registration: online registration or in-person at the Hart House Information Hub by Friday, April 25th at 11:59 pm. No onsite registration.
Arbiters: FA Victor Zheng, NA Deepanshi Matai
Organizers: Hart House Chess Club – Victor Zheng, Deepanshi Matai, Cindy Qiao, Bingfei Wang

Announcements

April 16: Please note the following road closures in the morning of the event for the 2025 BumRun race happening on the University of Toronto campus.

Detailed Schedule

Round 1: 10 am (no check-in required)

Round 2: 10:45 am

Round 3: 11:30 am

Lunch: no food provided, options available here

Round 4: 1 pm

Round 5: 1:45 pm

Round 6: 2:30 pm

Round 7: 3:15 pm

Trophy Ceremony: 4 pm

Additional Information

Byes: Up to one 1/2 point bye for rounds 1-6 can be requested by emailing us by Fri. April 25th at 11:59pm.
Endorsement: Tournament is endorsed by the Greater Toronto Chess League (GTCL)
CFC Memberships: Registrants must be current CFC members. All memberships should be paid and renewed online at https://chess.ca/membership-fees. Full year $48 for adults, $32 for juniors ($12 for adults, $6 for juniors for single-tournament). Foreign players $8.
Unrated Players: Review our New To Tournament Guide for expectations before playing in your first tournament.
Photography: By signing up, you permit HHCC the ability to take and use photos from the tournament on its social media. If you would not like your photo used, please email us at hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca.
CFC Active or CFC Regular: this tournament will use CFC Active/FIDE Rapid for section eligibility. Up to TDs discretion.
Foreign Ratings: all participants must disclose all foreign ratings at time of registration or via email.
Accessibility and Visitor Information: Hart House is a accessible building and conveniently located. For further details, visit Visitor Information and Accessibility.
Food and Restaurants: Hart House is located in Downtown Toronto, just minutes from most major restaurants and eateries, including Tim-Hortons, McDonald’s, and Starbucks. In addition, sit-down restaurants are located throughout the area on Bloor, College, Spadina, Bay and Yonge Streets. All are within 15 minutes of walking distance.

Venue

Hart House, University of Toronto, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto ON, M5S 3H3

The tournament will be hosted at the historic, neo-gothic building, Hart House, at the University of Toronto. Hart House is regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful student centers and is a visual icon of the University of Toronto. The grand interior of Hart House is designed with high arched ceilings that vary from room to room.

Since 2008, the venue has hosted two of the largest annual Toronto chess events, the Hart House Holidays and Hart House Reading Week Open.

Contact

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

Pre-Registered, Standings, Pairings

Chess Results updated April 26

Pre-Registered list below updated April 26

Starting Rank	Player’s Name	CFC ID	CFC Rating	CFC Membership	FIDE ID	Section	Byes	Notes
1	Mark Plotkin	141086	2520	Valid	2611651	Crown
2	Max England	155135	2407	Valid	2622602	Crown
3	Nicholas Vettese	154199	2360	Valid	2620090	Crown
4	Christopher Knox	136503	2358	Expired	2607549	Crown
5	Max Chen	155238	2273	Valid	2622440	Crown
6	Michael Dougherty	100294	2230	Valid	2601559	Crown
7	Michael Barron	134840	2191	Valid	2605120	Crown
8	Younan Ishow	162160	2153	Expired	7601727	Crown
9	Brendan Tan	157922	2064	Valid	2650401	Crown
10	Kola Venkat Karthikeya Reddy	176220	2055	Valid	2643278	Crown
11	Shon Lazarev	167627	2014	Valid	2636999	Crown
12	Nihad Mammadov	189770	2008	Valid	13456210	Crown
13	Wajdy Shebetah	148432	2003	Expired	11500131	Crown
14	Julian Pan	171946	1976	Valid	2654555	Crown
15	Heye Gao	166066	1975	Valid	2638223	Crown
16	Brendan Cater	161454	1974	Valid	2632535	Crown
17	Riyaan Lakhani	177989	1955	Valid	2648270	Crown
18	Shabd Dembla	175704	1937	Valid	33403899	Crown
19	Yurii Husti	N/A	1900	Required	14180880	Crown		FIDE Rapid used
20	Levi Lim	168079	1884	Valid	2634325	Crown
21	John Upper	101925	1875	Valid	2606437	Crown	Round 4
22	Quentin Ma	177463	1858	Valid	2655756	Crown
23	Sarvesh Saravanan	185027	1857	Valid	88105040	Crown
24	Mervyn Sit Yee	103744	1854	Valid	2658577	Crown
25	Haneul Park	183754	1846	Valid	4907485	Crown
26	Slava Lukinykh	174578	1840	Valid	2648130	Crown
27	Austin LIn	173895	1825	Valid	2640783	Crown
28	Dhruv Murali	166162	1778	Valid	329218174	Crown
29	Usman Minhas	167900	1768	Valid	2634180	U1800
30	Kola Venkata Saket Reddy	176221	1764	Valid	2643260	U1800
31	Elon Wang	166791	1751	Expired	2635020	Crown
32	Khai Le	180765	1735	Valid	2664950	U1800
33	Diganth Anish	174427	1731	Valid	2648105	U1800
34	Joseph Nguyen	143214	1730	Valid	2648458	U1800
35	Justin Yuan	176166	1726	Valid	2645947	U1800
36	Shafkat Ali	149142	1724	Valid	2613441	U1800
37	Viktor Zivojinovic	186939	1718	Valid	2661390	U1800
38	Oscar Cheung	171229	1706	Valid	2653079	U1800
39	Yifu Cai	188986	1700	Valid	8633959	U1800
40	Sasha Ioffine	177593	1698	Valid	2653141	U1800
41	Omkar Baraskar	184408	1673	Valid	33446660	U1800
42	Jeffrey Ye	189074	1663	Valid	0	U1800
43	Lawrence Ju	151370	1662	Valid	0	U1800
44	Bhavik Chhatralia	172737	1659	Valid	2640317	U1800
45	Aaryan Kovuru	177787	1658	Valid	2650762	U1800
46	Artham Bhoutika	178192	1631	Valid	2667991	U1800
47	Hanna Wehbeh	194553	1629	Valid	1667564	U1800		FIDE Rapid used
48	Andrew Yang	173795	1626	Valid	2640953	U1800
49	Jaime Xiang	178788	1623	Expired	2648407	U1800
50	Warren Feng	188536	1621	Expired	0	U1800
51	Tom Leschinski	182035	1605	Valid	2653150	U1800
52	Gabriel Saimovici	175468	1591	Valid	2649055	U1800
53	Pranav Emani	178827	1587	Valid	2653664	U1800
54	Koby Savage	175293	1580	Valid	0	U1800
55	Heidi Gay	175381	1579	Valid	2656825	U1800
56	Joseph Dawood	178070	1578	Expired	2656671	U1800
57	Dylan Shanmugadhasan	169045	1571	Valid	2635127	U1800
58	Nayal Raza	184243	1567	Valid	2662850	U1800
59	Jacob Jones	137940	1563	Valid	2652447	U1800
60	James Mourgelas	108540	1559	Valid	2613816	U1800
61	Jayden Lee	188907	1558	Valid	2672529	U1800
62	Shannon Zhao	179928	1557	Valid	2659654	U1800
63	Ken Kurkowski	104537	1555	Valid	2613719	U1800
64	Shashwath Raaghav Krishnamurthi	174534	1546	Valid	2668084	U1800
65	Christopher Charles	125496	1546	Valid	2668009	U1800
66	Su Bo Ruei (Marcus)	184338	1540	Valid	6005535	U1800
67	Adhrit Chattopadhyay	187196	1529	Valid	2670097	U1800
68	Zhibo Zhang	177508	1525	Valid	0	U1800
69	Frankie Huang	187398	1518	Valid	2671778	U1800
70	Nathan Wang	180140	1505	Valid	2663635	U1800
71	Nilaanujan Gowrishankar	179931	1499	Valid	0	U1800
72	Jesus Molina	191770	1491	Valid	0	U1800
73	Frank Helwig	105788	1486	Valid	2642344	U1800
74	KAPILAASH KAMALAKANNAN	194481	1474	Valid	25955217	U1800		FIDE Rapid used
75	Luke Ma	179464	1471	Valid	2655748	U1800
76	John, Nguyen	180674	1456	Valid	2665026	U1800
77	Max Ling	184952	1444	Valid	2658216	U1800
78	Todd Westcott	160473	1438	Valid	0	U1800
79	Hassan Sattar	185178	1438	Valid	0	U1800
80	Youssef ishow	176145	1437	Expired	2646927	U1800
81	Maisen Li	183963	1425	Valid	2662426	U1800
82	David Love	155014	1416	Valid	2661977	U1800
83	Joshua Lagatta	184236	1413	Valid	2663848	U1800
84	Calvin DeVries	167257	1408	Valid	2662744	U1800
85	Alex Velazquez	156934	1407	Expired	0	U1800
86	Alyna Paul	185425	1405	Valid	2673150	U1800
87	Bosen Li	183962	1403	Valid	2662418	U1800
88	Griffin Helmka	188303	1391	Expired	0	U1400
89	Vikram Rawal	169690	1380	Valid	0	U1400
90	Jordan Cobb-Donahue	176384	1375	Valid	2646870	U1400
91	Etienne Ma	179465	1372	Valid	2655730	U1400
92	Andre Kuzin	167955	1371	Valid	2655721	U1400
93	Bhuvnesh Sharma	176794	1354	Valid	2658364	U1400
94	Prasanna Shankar Prabhu	190272	1354	Valid	2671492	U1400
95	JINGCHEN WU	175342	1340	Valid	2654253	U1400
96	David D’Elia	183729	1287	Valid	0	U1400
97	Leo Huang	187910	1280	NA	2671786	U1400
98	Savyan Aggarwal	192718	1273	Expired	0	U1400
99	Fred Chun	162497	1262	Valid	0	U1400
100	Lev Gawrielman	189963	1230	Valid	0	U1400
101	Saptangshu Mukherjee	190628	1096	NA	0	U1400
102	Nicholas Barnsdale	161687	1064	Valid	2649993	U1400
103	Stephen Kuzin	167624	1063	Valid	0	U1400
104	Khang Le	193345	1031	NA	0	U1400
105	Hussein Bani Khaled	193476	0	Valid		U1800
106	Yusuf Lam	N/A	0	Required		U1400
107	Utkarsh Mali	177851	0	Required		U1400
108	Vasilii Pustovoit	193930	0	Required		U1400
109	Dimitrios Tzouropoulos	N/A	0	Required		U1400
110	Daniel Murray	194088	0	Valid		U1400
111	Richard Fung	N/A	0	Required		U1400
112	Marco Yepez	194238	0	Valid		U1400
113	Zach Yu	188131	0	Valid		U1400
114	Luka Stevanovic	186663	0	Valid	2662140	U1400
115	Osama Haleemah	194592	0	New		U1400
116	Michael Gabriel Smith	N/A	0	Required		U1400
117	Barrett Buhler	193578	0	Valid	0	U1800
118	Alexandr (Sasha) Iankovski	N/A	0	Required		U1800
119	Owen Chow	194710	0	Valid		U1400
120	Shokhruz Alamkulov	193119		Valid		U1400

A blitz and rapid event at Hart House in 2023.

For more details of the 2024 Toronto Rapid Chess Championship event, see here.

2025 Winter Welcome Back Pizza Party & Blitz Championship

Published on January 4, 2025January 11, 2025 by harthousechess

Welcome back to a new year of chess at Hart House! The Hart House Chess Club is kicking off the new year with a Welcome-Back Pizza Party and the annual HHCC Blitz Championship on Friday, January 10th, 2025.

At 6 pm, come to Hart House to indulge in pizza, talk to Executives, ask questions, and learn about our offerings this semester. In addition, all guests are encouraged to participate in Casual Chess! All those intending to participate are asked to complete our RSVP form no later than Wednesday, January 8th at 6 pm.

Afterwards, join us for the 2025 Hart House Chess Club Blitz Championship! Open to all, this is a 9-round unrated swiss event to start off the semester! Students and community members are welcome and encouraged to come!

Pizza party details

WHEN: Welcome Back Pizza: Friday, January 10th 6 pm – 7 pm – Reading Room
- RSVP required for pizza, see this form and fill by 6 pm, Thursday, Jan 9
WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – Reading Room

blitz Format and event details

WHEN: Friday, January 10th, 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Rd #1 starts at 7:30 P.M.
WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – East Common Room.
WHAT: 9-round single-round Blitz Event (Swiss), with a 3 minute + 2 second time control.
RATED: Unrated
REGISTRATION: On-site registration before 7:15 PM
ENTRY FEE: FREE for members, $10 for non-members, free for FMs and above. Pay onsite with cash before 7:15 pm.
PRIZE FUND (est. based on 60 entries): $400 as follows:
- 1st place – $120
- 2nd place – $80
- 3rd place – $50
- Top Woman – $50
- Top U1900 – $50
- Top U1400 – $50
SPECIAL PRIZES: All participants will be entered into a door prize for a HHCC merchandise.
MAXIMUM CAPACITY: 60 players.
NOTE: chess sets and boards provided

Pre-registered, pairings, STANDINGS: Chess Manager.

Thank you for all coming. Winners below.

1st: Vettese, Nicholas
2nd: Mao, Fengxi
3rd: Plotkin, Mark
Top-Woman: Qiao, Cindy
U1900: Yuan, Justin & Gribilas, Tom & Alsaiah, Mohammad & Woo, Nicole
U1400: Zheng, Samuel

Contact:

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

2025 Canadian University Chess Championship

Published on December 10, 2024March 24, 2025 by harthousechess

The 2025 Canadian University Chess Championship is coming up soon and we want to inform everyone of the logistics for this year. This year’s tournament is from January 24th to 26th in Montreal, Quebec, and is being hosted by the Université de Montréal and McGill University chess clubs. There is no qualifying procedure and everyone is welcome to play. The Hart House Chess Club will send four teams to CUCC this year on a first-come, first-serve basis, of which a maximum of two teams will play in the Crown section. Registration fees and accommodation will be covered by the Hart House Chess Club with a $30 nonrefundable deposit.

Event Recap: https://harthousechess.com/2025/01/29/university-of-toronto-wins-the-2025-canadian-university-chess-championship/

CUCC 2025 Tournament Details

When: January 24th – 26th, 2025
Where: Université de Montréal, MIL Campus
Organizers: UdeM and McGill University Chess Clubs — Official Website
Tournament: 5-round team Swiss (4 players per team) Each team may have a reserve fifth player, who may be substituted at will. The board order must be determined before the first round. The board order must generally follow ratings.
Time control: 90 mins + 30 sec/per move increment
Eligibility: All players must be University of Toronto students, faculty, or staff members. All participants must also be members of the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) or the Fédération Québécoise des Échecs (FQE).
Hotel: Lodging information is available here. Please note that the club will coordinate accommodation and cover costs — final details will be emailed to registered players.
Contact: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca if you have any questions

Schedule

Friday, January 24th
Opening Ceremony and Technical Meeting @ 6:00 PM
Round 1 @ 6:30 PM

Saturday, January 25th
Round 2 @ 10:00 AM
Lunch @ 2:00 PM
Round 3 @ 3:00 PM

Sunday, January 26th
Round 4 @ 9:00 AM
Lunch @ 1:00 PM
Round 5 @ 2:00 PM
Closing Ceremony @ 6:30 PM

Players are responsible for:

1. Hart House Chess Club Membership [mandatory].
If you have not already done this, you can do this at Hart House main desk or online for $10 (Winter semester.)

2. Chess Federation of Canada Membership
The CUCC will be rated with the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC). Some of you are already active members of the chess tournament scene, others are not. If not, you will have a published rating based on your results, after this tournament. You can get an annual CFC membership on-line for $48 or a single tournament membership for $20.

3. Paying Fees and Registering
Hotel fees and registration fees are all accommodated by Hart House Chess Club. Participants will be asked to cover their travel fees.

Link to the sign-up page is now online here. Spots are given out in order of registration, except 4 spots reserved for the highest rated players. Highest rated players must inform the Club by December 15th to guarantee their spot on the team.

Because Hart House financially sponsors this event for students, the following Asana form must be filled immediately following payment. Following successful payment and completion of the Asana form, your registration will be confirmed.

The CUCC is a team event that will provide for an excellent tournament experience and a wonderful team-bonding event, so come prepared to play some chess and enjoy yourself! One of the goals of the Club is to encourage beginners and new-to-chess members to participate! We highly encourage beginners and those without tournament experience to play at this event!

In 2024, Queen’s University hosted the event. See last year’s event report here.

Questions? Please feel free to email us at hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

2024 Greater Toronto Chess League Cup at Annex Chess Club

Published on November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by harthousechess

The Greater Toronto Chess League Cup is back again for another year at the Annex Chess Club. The Greater Toronto Chess League runs chess matches between clubs in the Toronto region and this year’s Cup tournament will be held on Monday, December 9th from 7 pm – 11 pm. Full event info can be found here.

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 9th, 7-11:30 PM.

Format: 5-round Swiss (team vs. team) in two sections – Championship and U1800 teams play in separate sections.

Round Times: Round 1 starts at 7:00 pm sharp; subsequent rounds to begin every 45 minutes; event expected to be over by 11:30 pm. Players are expected to arrive by 6:30 pm to check-in. Hart House Chess Club members are expected to arrive by 6:50 pm.

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

Location: Annex Chess Club, 918 Bathurst St, Toronto

CFC Memberships: The Club will subsidize student members’ first tournament CFC membership. Please contact us for details.

Entry Fee: 100% discounted entry for Hart House Chess Club members. Up to 12 players will be subsidized (first come first served), plus a waitlist for dropouts. 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 2024 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 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 8th or until space runs out. The Club will also maintain a waitlist for participants.

Contact: hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca

2025 Varsity Chess Team

Published on November 15, 2024March 8, 2025 by harthousechess

The members of U of T’s Varsity Chess Team represent U of T at various events throughout the year. The 2025 Varsity Chess Team consist of the following students.

IM Nicholas Vettese
CFC: 2418
FIDE: 2229

WIM Yunshan Li
CFC: 2411
FIDE: 2281

Fengxi Mao
CFC: 2302
FIDE: 2118

Nicolai Woltery
CFC: 2200
FIDE: 2075

Ethan Moon
CFC: 2208
FIDE: 1858

WFM Cindy Qiao
CFC: 2070
FIDE: 1785

Bingfei Wang
CFC: 1865
FIDE: 1612

Samuel Zhang – Communications

Published on November 15, 2024May 22, 2025 by harthousechess

Samuel Zhang is a first year undergraduate student studying Math, Physics, and Economics. From when he learned the game at the age of 10, chess realized his thirst for competition, from playing his dad to competing in tournaments just a year later. Samuel reached the title of USCF candidate master less than 2 years after his first tournament, and continued to play throughout high school and now into university. He’s been teaching chess for the past 4 years at his own chess club that he started for his town, and continues to teach now in Toronto. Samuel first visited the Hart House Chess Club when he competed in the 2024 Canadian Zonals, scoring 6/7 winning 6 games in a row, and reaching a CFC rating of 2322. He is grateful to be a part of the club’s board and hopes to grow HHCC’s community in any way he can.

2025 FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar

Published on October 13, 2024April 23, 2025 by harthousechess

The Hart House Chess Club is pleased to announce an upcoming FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar at Hart House, Friday, January 10th to Sunday, January 12th, 2025. The seminar will be conducted by one of Canada’s leading Arbiters and Organizers, International Arbiter Hal Bond.

Amongst his many accolades, Hal Bond has served as the Chief Arbiter at the 2012 Women’s World Chess Championship, Deputy Arbiter at the 2012 World Chess Championship, and as the Chief Arbiter of the 2017 World Youth Chess Championship.

WHEN: Friday, January 10th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Saturday, January 11th 10:00 am – 8:00 pm, Sunday, January 12th 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
WHERE: Hart House (7 Hart House Cir, Toronto) – Committees Room.
WHO: The Lecturer will be IA/IO Bond, Hal (CAN), FIDE Lecturer.
ENTRY FEE: $250 paid online only
CAPACITY: 16 participants
LANGUAGE: The seminar will be conducted in English.
ORGANIZERS: Hart House Chess Club
EQUIPMENT: All materials provided by HHCC.

The Seminar will give norms and titles of FIDE Arbiter, according to the Regulations for the titles of Arbiters.

Requirements: All participants must be National Arbiters before the seminar begins.

SCHEDULE (tentative, subject to change):
January 10
6 pm – 10 pm: Role of Arbiters, Laws of Chess (4hrs)

January 11
10 am – 1 pm: System of Games, Tie-Breaks (3hrs)
2 pm – 4 pm: Ratings and OTB Title Regulations (2 hrs)
4 pm – 6:30 pm: Swiss System and Pairing Rules (2.5 hrs)

January 12
10 am – 11:30 am: Competition rules, Equipment standards and clocks (1.5 hrs)
11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Arbiter Title Regs (1 hr)
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Fair Play Guidelines (2 hrs)
2 pm – 6 pm: Exam (4 hrs)

REGISTRATION:

Registration is available online here. Please note that all participants must be National Arbiters before the seminar begins. Details on becoming a National Arbiter are available here.

For any inquiries, please email us at hhchess@studentorg.utoronto.ca.

For more information regarding the FIDE Arbiter seminar and system, see:
1. https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B0602
2. https://arbiters.fide.com/arb-titles/fide-arbiters-system

Results: https://arbiters.fide.com/news/9781. Congrats to Mark, Deepanshi, Grace, Andrew, and Egidijus for successfully passing the exam