IVY LEAGUE CHALLENGE
ROUND 4 – LIVE RESULTS
Nov. 10th – 4:30 PM
I. Princeton vs Yale (3.5 – 0.5)
FM Kapil Chandran (2393) – IM Matthew Larson (2408) 1 – 0
FM Ethan Li (2248) – Alex Fabbri (2067) 1 – 0
NM Aaron Balleisen (2195) – Ram Vishwanathan (1893) 1/2 – 1/2
NM Isaac Martinez (2127) – Harish Vemuri (1887 USFC) 1 – 0
II. Michigan vs Toronto A (3.5 – 0.5)
IM Atulya Shetty (2395) – NM Joseph Bellissimo (2121) 1 – 0
IM Safal Bora (2392) – NM James Fu (2061) 1/2 – 1/2
FM Mark Heimann (2356) – Sean Lei (1876) 1 – 0
Kyle Webster (1902) – Gary Huang (1748 CFC) 1 – 0
III. Harvard vs Toronto B (3 – 1)
GM Darwin Yang (2488) – FM Nikita Gusev (2253) 1/2 – 1/2
IM Richard Wang (2332) – FM Qiyu Zhou (2207) 1/2 – 1/2
FM Varun Krishnan (2253) – NM Zehn Nasir (2081) 1 – 0
NM Bryan Hu (2240) – NM Jonathan Yu (2057) 1 – 0
IVY LEAGUE CHALLENGE
ROUND 3 – LIVE RESULTS
Nov. 10th – 10:00 AM
I. Toronto B vs Princeton (0.5 – 3.5)
1. FM Nikita Gusev (2253) – FM Kapil Chandran (2393) 0 – 1
2. FM Qiyu Zhou (2207) – FM Ethan Li (2248) 1/2 – 1/2
3. NM Haizhou Xu (2116) – NM Aaron Balleisen (2195) 0 – 1
4. NM Zehn Nasir (2081) – NM Isaac Martinez (2127) 0 – 1
II. Harvard vs Michigan (2.5 – 1.5)
1. GM Darwin Yang (2488) – IM Atulya Shetty (2395) 1/2 – 1/2
2. IM Richard Wang (2332) – IM Safal Bora (2392) 0 – 1
3. FM Varun Krishnan (2253) – FM Mark Heimann (2356) 1 – 0
4. NM Bryan Hu (2240) – Kyle Webster (1902) 1 – 0
III. Yale vs Toronto A (3.5 – 0.5)
1. IM Matthew Larson (2408) – NM Joseph Bellissimo (2121) 1 – 0
2. Alex Fabbri (2067) – NM James Fu (2061) 1 – 0
3. Ram Vishwanathan (1893) – NM Sean Lei (1876) 1/2 – 1/2
4. Harish Vemuri (1887 USFC) – Gary Huang (1748 CFC) 1 – 0
IVY LEAGUE CHALLENGE
ROUND 2 – LIVE RESULTS
Nov. 9th – 5:00 PM
I. Princeton vs Harvard (2.5 – 1.5)
1. FM Kapil Chandran (2393) – GM Darwin Yang (2488) 1/2 – 1/2
2. FM Ethan Li (2248) – IM Richard Wang (2332) 0 – 1
3. NM Aaron Balleisen (2195) – FM Varun Krishnan (2253) 1 – 0
4. NM Isaac Martinez (2127) – NM Bryan Hu (2240) 1 – 0
II. Michigan vs Yale (2.5 – 1.5)
1. IM Atulya Shetty (2395) – IM Matthew Larson (2408) 1/2 – 1/2
2. IM Safal Bora (2392) – Alex Fabbri (2067) 1 – 0
3. FM Mark Heimann (2356) – Ram Vishwanathan (1893) 1 – 0
4. Kyle Webster (1902) – Harish Vemuri (1887 USFC) 0 – 1
III. Toronto A vs Toronto B (1.5 – 2.5)
1. NM Joseph Bellissimo (2121) – FM Nikita Gusev (2253) 1 – 0
2. NM James Fu (2061) – FM Qiyu Zhou (2207) 0 – 1
3. NM Sean Lei (1876) – NM Zehn Nasir (2081) 1/2 – 1/2
4. Gary Huang (1748 CFC) – NM Jonathan Yu (2057) 0 – 1
IVY LEAGUE CHALLENGE
ROUND 1 – LIVE RESULTS
Nov. 9th – 10:30 AM
I. Princeton vs Michigan (1.5 – 2.5)
1. FM Kapil Chandran (2393) – IM Atulya Shetty (2395) 1/2 – 1/2
2. FM Ethan Li (2248) – IM Safal Bora (2392) 0 – 1
3. NM Aaron Balleisen (2195) – FM Mark Heimann (2368) 0 – 1
4. NM Isaac Martinez (2127) – Kyle Webster (1902) 1 – 0
II. Harvard vs Toronto A (3.5 – 0.5)
1. GM Darwin Yang (2488) – NM Joseph Bellissimo (2121) 1 – 0
2. IM Richard Wang (2332) – NM James Fu (2061) 1 – 0
3. FM Varun Krishnan (2253) – NM Sean Lei (1876) 1/2 – 1/2
4. NM Bryan Hu (2240) – Gary Huang (1748 CFC) 1 – 0
III. Toronto B vs Yale (1.5 – 2.5)
1. FM Nikita Gusev (2253) – IM Matthew Larson (2408) 1/2 – 1/2
2. FM Qiyu Zhou (2207) – Alex Fabbri (2067) 1 – 0
3. NM Haizhou Xu (2116) – Ram Vishwanathan (1893) 0 – 1
4. NM Zehn Nasir (2081) – Harish Vemuri (1887 USFC) 0 – 1
“When witches go riding, and zombies are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, a checkmate is near.”
It might be that there were no buckets of blood or bat wings, snakes and eyeballs in the Hart House Reading Room but there sure was plenty of gore and terror on the chess boards. On Friday, October 26th Hart House Chess Club hosted its first ever themed blitz tournament, asking participants to play the notorious Halloween Gambit (1.e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Nc3 Nf6, 4. Nxe5). What a better way to spend your Halloween?
Twenty-eight players accepted the invitation and came out to play – among them, three chess masters. And boy-oh-boy! What a terrific spectacle they offered! This slimy and forgotten line resulted in 95% decisive results, with just a handful of games ending with draw. The big shocker, however, was that, while before the tournament almost everyone was quick to dismiss the gambit as hopeless, it turned out that many players were able to discover hidden resources in White’s position and push their initiative into a full point! Even Μasters who thought that White is simply left a piece down on move four had a really hard time defending Black’s position in a Blitz Game, absent any home preparation.
Twenty-eight players participated in the Halloween Tournament!
Moreover, and in the spirit of preparing our less experienced club members to challenge the top seeds of the tournament, our very own exec and chess master, Zane Nasir, taught an intensive one-hour workshop on the Halloween Gambit Tournament right before the games. Attendees were taught the fundamentals of this opening and were introduced to some notorious Halloween traps they should avoid!
The tournament was a 5 double-round Swiss system with each player taking a shot at the Halloween Gambit, first as White and then as Black. Each player had 3 min + 2 secs per move to complete the game. And while there were no major upsets in the tournament, there was a lot of suspense in the end with two top seeds facing each other in the last round. William Li, coming from 8 straight victories in the first 8 games was facing Hart House Chess Club’s Varsity Player James Fu, who had 7 points. James repelled William’s attack and won the first game with Black and the question was: would he be able claim first place by beating his opponent with the Halloween Gambit?
In a nail-biting last-round match, William Li (2223) faced James Fu (2232)
In a tournament-deciding game, the Gambit showed its sharp teeth and its bite proved venomous. James defeated William after a tough fight and, with 9 points out of 10 games, he claimed first place in the Hart House Halloween Blitz Tourney!
James Fu: He wants YOU for a new best chess friend…
James Fu and Mr. Gerhard Gross, who was visiting from Germany, were, in fact, the only players who did not lose a single match in the tournament.
Mr. Gross was the only one to make it through James’s Gambit
But the games were not over yet as, after 10 rounds, Ethan Moon and Jurgen Aliaj both had scored 7/10, tying for the U-1600 prize.
Ethan Moon: “What a freaking set-up. First time I’d rather get black…”
In the playoffs that followed, in a mirror image of the match between James and William, Ethan first took the Black pieces and managed to stop Jurgen’s attack. In the second game, however, his own halloween attack proved too powerful and led to a back rank checkmate, offering Ethan the U-1600 prize.
Panayoti Tsialas: “Blessed he who gets to shake the hand of Ethan Moon”
Finally, after a sudden hiccup on Round 2, Eileen Lin scored a magnificent 7 points in 10 games and became the rightful winner of the top female player prize!
First-year student, Eileen Lin (1920) scored a splendid 7 our of 10!
Panayoti Tsialas was the tournament arbiter. Given the special occasion, all participants were treated to Halloween candy! Hart House Chess Club would like to thank all our chess friends who came out to play with special thanks to the very promising 15 year-old Brendan Cambell who travelled with his mom all the way from Michigan and participated in the event! Finally, a big shout-out to Dmitri Chouchkov, Zara Toyserkani, Robin and so many other unnamed volunteers who added their generous contribution to the success of this event.
Hart House Halloween Blitz Tournament Crosstable
If anything, the Halloween Blitz Tournament proved that, in the modern chess era, when engines are assuming an all the more prominent role in the game, there are still ways to stay creative. Themed tournament that revive sharp and forgotten lines are but one way to uphold chess imagination, a precious quality not in great supply. To bring it back to Halloween and to quote a famous author: “Where there is no imagination there is no horror”.
On October 5th, 2018 Hart House hosted its first bughouse tournament in recent years! The tournament consisted of 13 ambitious teams (26 players), who competed in five double-rounds. The tournament was extremely close, with only a half point separating gold from silver, bronze and fourth place. Congratulations are extended to Joseph Bellissimo and Johnathan Yu for winning the tournament with 4/5! Finishing just a half point behind (3.5/5) was team Jack Ding/Edward Chan, Panayoti Tsialas/Robin, and Leslie Tang/Ethan Moon.
As UofT Alumni, Jack Ding and Edward Chan, who only lost one game, got an honorable mention and were awarded 4th place. Good job to both of you! A head to head playoff commenced between Panayoti/Robin and Lesie/Ethan.
Board No1: The second round of the exciting tie-breaking match has just begun!
Panayoti/Robin won the first game, but could not close out the event and lost the second. A final death match occurred between the two teams, but momentum proved decisive, and eventually Leslie and Ethan won the silver medal!
Big smiles and a rightfully won second place for Leslie and Ethan!
Thank you to everyone that participated in this historic event! We hope to organize similar events in the future!
We are looking forward to seeing you all next Friday for more chess!
The Pan-Am qualifier that happened on September 29th and 30th was the first foray of the club into high stakes serious chess! The lazy night of bughouse and blitz on Friday night was replaced on the Saturday morning, with an intense atmosphere that found itself in silence. This was a heated qualifier with many shocks and turns. Through it all only two players were able to stay unbeaten. In a hotly contested final match these two players, James Fu and Tanner McNamara fought against each other, only for the game to end in a draw. These two players together with Gary Huang and Joseph Bellissimo will represent the University of Toronto at San Francisco this year at the 2018 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship.
We would like to thank all the participants, and would like to stress that this does not include just the national masters and the experienced chess players who participated; but most importantly those new chess club faces who impressed us by braving it out for five rounds (shout-out to Santiago Valdes, James Robins and Vikram Nighawan for their incredible enthusiasm).
Finally, we would like to extend our special thanks to Alex Ferreira, who as the chief arbiter was able to organize the tournament in and keep it running smoothly.
The Hart House Chess Club sincerely wishes the best of luck to our 2018 team. We hope they make themselves and us proud, as they attempt to bring home the grand trophy!
Leslie Tang started his chess path at the age of 9. In the short time, he began climbing the Elo ladder. He participated in many tournaments and almost qualified to compete to represent Ontario in the Canadian Youth Chess Championships. At his young age, he competed against players of the name: Razvan Preotu, Christopher Knox, Zarchary Dukic, who would later become Chess Masters. Sadly in the span of approximately three years, he had retired from chess. But now, he is back again to play chess and completely rejuvenated!
Leslie is rather new to the scene of teaching chess again as he had only begun playing chess again casually in late 2017. His specialty is in clever tactics and positional moves. He has high hopes in teaching chess to students and igniting their passions to learn and enjoy chess.
He holds the position of the Club Secretary and he was the instructor in the Intermediate-Beginner Chess Lessons at the Hart House Chess Club in the Fall of 2018.
Leslie is a graduate of the Applied Mathematics and Financial Economics Specialist and Major in Statistics programs, which he completed in June 2019.
While not playing chess, Leslie loves sports, travelling and researching.
Hart House Chess Club 