TCN 1 9

THE “Independent” Voice for Canadian Chess
Covering Toronto Chess News and Beyond!
www.TorontoChessNews.com
“Chess IS Life!” – GM Bobby Fischer
Issue # 1- 9 – January 1, 2013
Highest Rated Human Ever @ 2861! Magnus Carlsen ( Norway )!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2
Toronto Chess News

Table of Contents
Page
Articles, etc.
Youth/Junior Chess in Canada 4
FIDE January 1, 2013 Regular Rating List ( Open/Women ) 11
FIDE Jan. 1, 2013 Regular Rating List – Canadian Rankings ( Open/Women ) 13
Malmsten on Chess – Chess History at Hart House 35
Editor’s Notebook: Year-End Stock-taking 61
Ken’s Chess Trivia 62
TCN Readers Have Questions 64
TCN Readers’ Feedback 64
TCN’s “Readers’ Opinion” Column 64
Tournaments
World Mind Games – Chess 6

Groningen Chess Festival, Netherlands 12
Canadian Junior Chess Championship 22
The Battle of Toronto Invitational 40
Toronto Junior Championship 49
GTCL Premier League 51
Organizations with News Reports

Chess Federation of Canada ( CFC ) 21
Chess ‘n Math Association ( CMA ) 22
Greater Toronto Chess League ( GTCL ) 52
Chess Institute of Canada ( CIC ) 52
Scarborough Chess Club ( SCC ) 54
Annex Chess Club ( ACC ) 54
Willowdale Chess Club ( WCC ) 55
Burlington Chess Club 56
Mississauga Chess Club 56
Aurora Chess Club 58
Ajax Chess Club 59
Hamilton City Chess Club 59
Kitchener-Waterloo Chess Club 60
Tournament Notices
Hart House Winter Open 65
Toronto Chess News

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GTCL League Cup 66

2013 Toronto Closed Championship – Advance Notice 66
NOTE re GAME ANALYSIS
I use Fritz 13 in my game analysis. My research, using Fritz for many years, establishes
that Fritz 13 evaluates 1.e4, 1.d4, and 1.Nf3 as a “ slight “ advantage to White, whereas
historically, these positions were generally considered equal. Many still dispute this
evaluation. Though W has "initiative", some/many ( ? ) feel Bl., with best play, equalizes.
But in my research on the three W openings where Fritz gives +/= after W's first move,
Bl never should equalize, as long as W does not make a mistake (a general operational
principle). And true enough, even into the middlegame of my " perfect " games, Bl.
remains +/=!!. So the computer has now convinced me to switch camps, where I used to
believe in " Black equality ". However, it may be that the "horizon effect" will yet
establish equality for Black when the "perfect game" is taken far enough. But, since I am
using Fritz 13, I therefore follow its lead, and so have felt it necessary to make some note
re these first moves. In the past, I gave this explanation above in annotations to these
three first moves. But, for regular readers of my analyzed games, I know this annotation
became irksome; but people who are new come to my analyzed games on the TCN
Website, or where a TCN newsletter has been forwarded to them, and, for them, an
explanation of this unusual Fritz 13 feature is required, to understand what I am doing.
However, I agree with some readers who suggested a general explanation would be
preferable to the annotation in every game starting with these three moves ( which is
most of them ). I appreciate my repeat readers' patience ‘til this change. I therefore began
using this other format of a general explanation in the table of contents, to explain this
interesting computer phenomenon ( and not insert it into the actual annotated game ). In
the game score, I will just note the symbolic and numerical evaluation by Fritz on these
first moves. I hope this small change improved the quality of TCN for all subscribers.
Toronto Chess News

4
Youth/Junior Chess in Canada
In recent years there has been much more emphasis on over-the-board ( OTB )
junior chess in Canada, than we have previously seen. And the emphasis is not just on
elite junior chess.
Let’s look at some junior statistics over the last 10 years. First of all, it must be
noted that there has been a significant CFC membership drop from 2002 to 2012 – 24% !
( 2449 down to 1859 ). But what has happened in terms of junior chess membership? It
has risen from 15% of the total in 2002, to 24% of the total in 2012 ( 449 juniors out of
1859 overall membership ). And in fact the total juniors is slightly higher, since juniors
are also included in the Family category ( 31 of them ), and the Life Membership
category ( 376 of them ). But the statistics do not break out the juniors within these
categories. So juniors now form about ¼ of all CFC memberships – a rise of about 10%
in 10 years, or 1% per year. This is a steady incremental growth that is profoundly
affecting chess in Canada.
For its part, the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) has both a national youth and
junior championship each year, that move back and forth across the country – The
Canadian Youth Chess Championships ( CYCC – based on age breakdown ), and the
Canadian Junior Championship ( and sometimes the Canadian Junior Girls Championship
). It also has a system feeding into the CYCC of Provincial Qualifiers ( YCC’s ). The
CFC had actually done little to promote junior chess, outside of its tournaments, and so
this move to “ qualifiers “ for the CYCC was a move to try to expand the junior chess
tournaments across the country, and particularly to get junior chess tournaments into the
provinces where CFC junior memberships are the least – together, half the provinces (
Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, P.E.I., New Brunswick and Manitoba ) amount to only 7 %
of the CFC Junior Memberships, and they have, unfortunately, since the qualifier system
came in, still been the least participative. CFC also sends a team to both the World Youth
Chess Championships ( WYCC ) and representatives to the World Junior/Junior Girls
Chess Championship. Many juniors also play in the CFC-rated official chess
tournaments, organized by local chess organizers. Our Canadian chess Olympiad teams
have gotten younger in recent years, and have had junior members. But, overall, CFC
cannot really take a significant part of the credit for the recent rise in junior chess in
Canada.
The most significant factor has been the rise of “teaching chess to juniors” in
Canada. And the most significant teacher has been the second national chess organization
we have in Canada, called the Chess ‘n Math Association ( CMA ), dedicated to
scholastic chess. It hires chess teachers to hold classes in schools at lunchtime and after
school. The schools enter into a contract with CMA for whatever program best suits their
needs, and pay accordingly. CMA also runs tournaments and chess camps. It’s national
tournament, The Chess Challenge, is based on a breakdown of juniors into grades. There
are regional and provincial playdowns that attract hundreds of juniors, and then there is a
national provincial team championship with the top juniors of each province. It’s website
is: http://chess-math.org/ . The principal is Larry Bevand. The Toronto Regional
Coordinator is Francis Rodrigues. CMA is a non-profit corporation, and besides revenue
from the activities noted above, in terms of school contracts and registration fees, it runs
3 non-profit stores selling chess and other games, in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Toronto Chess News

5
Purchasing chess supplies at these stores contributes to their promoting junior chess in
Canada, since any profit from these stores is ploughed back into Canadian scholastic
chess. CMA actually has its own rating system, for the juniors involved in its programs,
tournaments and camps.
In Toronto, a second significant chess teaching organization is the Chess Institute
of Canada ( CIC ). It’s website is: http://www.chessinstitute.ca/ . It’s principal is Ted
Winick. They also teach classes and have chess camps. The CIC also runs the Toronto
chess club, Annex CC, though it is handled as a separate organization/division within
CIC.
Finally, contributing to the rise of junior chess, is the new phenomenon of chess
“coaches” – parents are now hiring them, like they would a piano teacher – for children
of all levels ( particularly talented or not ). It seems that the information that chess
teaches valuable life skills is getting through to parents. Some of these teachers now have
chess schools where they teach classes in groups – some refer to their groups as “ junior
chess clubs “.
With all this teaching activity going on, and more and more juniors learning the
game, Canada is bound to find more and more talented juniors. This can be seen in the
recent 2012 FIDE Chess Olympiad by looking at the two Canadian teams
( Open/Women’s ). Of the 5 members of the Open team, one was a junior, now GM-elect
Eric Hansen of Alberta. On the women’s team, 3 of the five were juniors! They were:
Jackie Peng of Ontario. Alexandra Botez of B.C., and Yelizaveta Orlova of Ontario. And
Eric came 5th in the 2012 World Junior Championship. At this same junior championship,
Canadian IM-elect Aman Hambleton established an IM norm.
Two other factors are important when discussing junior chess. One is the
explosion of internet chess. It is speculated that more people in the world than ever before
are now playing chess as a result of the internet. And with kids feeling more comfortable
with the new technology than their parents, many of the new internet players are juniors.
CFC has been actively wrestling with how to convert these players to OTB play in
official tournaments.
The second factor is that juniors are being welcomed into local chess clubs, to a
degree not seen before, And some chess clubs now run a separate junior section.
Mississauga CC has become the largest chess club in Canada, due to their dramatic
increase in junior memberships, through their junior club. At my club, the Scarborough
Chess Club in Toronto, 45% of our members are now juniors, and they play with the
adults, fully integrated into the CFC-rated club tournaments. This compares to about 10%
6-8 years ago.
The conclusion from all this is that chess has a bright future in Canada. These
young players are the CFC members of the future, the club members of the future, the
local tournament players of the future, and the elite of future international Canadian
teams. I think Canada has been doing something right!
Toronto Chess News

6
INTERNATIONAL
World Mind Games – Chess
(Adapted from ChessVibes) The World Mind Games are a multi-sport event
centered on the "gymnasium of the mind". The first edition in 2008 included five mind
sports of great popularity and influence worldwide: bridge, chess, draughts ( checkers ),
go and xiangqi (Chinese chess). Last year the World Mind Games moved to a new level,
being organized SportAccord, the umbrella organization for both Olympic and non-
Olympic sports as well as a major organizer of conferences and sporting events.
Like last year (and also in 2013 and 2014) the event was held in Beijing,
China. The chess events are under the auspices of FIDE. 32 players (16 men and 16
women – as far as I have been able to research, a strong woman player like Judit Polgar
would not be allowed to play in the Men’s section ) will compete for the medals:
Men: Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura,

Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Grischuk, Laurent Fressinet, Gata
Kamsky, Peter Leko, Viktor Bologan, Baadur Jobava, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Wang
Hao, Anish Giri and Ding Liren.
Women: Hou Yifan, Anna Muzychuk, Humpy Koneru, Zhao Xue, Kateryna
Lahno, Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Zatonskih, Antoaneta Stefanova, Bela Khotenashvili,
Harika Dronavalli, Elisabeth Paehtz, Zhu Chen, Pia Cramling, Monika Socko, Elina
Danielian and Alexandra Kosteniuk.
As always the players performed in three different disciplines, in 2-day sessions:

Rapid: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. Blitz: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move.
Blindfold: 20 minutes plus 20 seconds per move
Rapid Section: Men’s
( Adapted from Susan Polgar Blog ) Laurent Fressinet (France)
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won gold on tie-break. He edged out Hikaru Nakamura ( USA ) on better tiebreak
score.
Nakamura entered the day as sole leader, but right in the first game Fressinet
defeated him with black and took the lead. Nakamura quickly recovered and
equalized Fressinet in the standings in round 6 by beating Grischuk ( Russia ).
A strong final sprint by both players where Nakamura beat Morozevich ( Russia )
and Fressinet beat Karjakin ( Russia ), left both with equal 5,5/7, but saw the
French Grandmaster lift the title on better tiebreak. The bronze medal was
awarded to Alexander Grischuk, who finished with the same points as Ding Liren,
but also had better tiebreak.
Here is Laurent’s win against Sergey ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong,

using Fritz ):
Karjakin, Sergey (2775) − Fressinet, Laurent (2700) [A07]

SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 Beijing CHN (7.3), 15.12.2012
1.Nf3² 0.29 1...d5 2.g3?!= [2.d4²] 2...c6?!² [2...Nc6 3.Bg2 e5=] 3.Bg2 [3.d3?! g6 4.Bg2 Bg7=;
3.d4 Nf6 4.Bg2 g6²] 3...Bg4 4.c4 e6 5.0-0 Nf6 6.cxd5?!= [6.d4 Nbd7 7.cxd5 cxd5²] 6...Bxf3
7.Bxf3 cxd5 8.d4 [8.Qb3 Qd7 9.d4 Nc6=] 8...Nc6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.e3 0-0 11.Bd2 Rc8 12.Qe2 Nd7
13.Rfc1 Nb6 14.Be1 Qd7 15.h4 a6 16.h5 Rc7 17.Qd1 [17.a4 Rfc8 18.Qd1 Qe8=] 17...Rfc8
18.Ne2 [18.Na4 Nxa4 19.Qxa4 h6=] 18...Nc4 19.b3 Nd6 20.Nf4 Ne8 [20...Nf5 21.Bg4 Bg5=]
21.Nd3 [21.a4 Nd6 22.Nd3 h6=] 21...Ba3 22.Rcb1 Bf8?!² [22...Nd6 23.b4 Na7=] 23.b4 Nd6
[23...Nf6 24.a4 Bd6²] 24.Nc5?!= [24.a4 Nc4 25.b5 Nb8²] 24...Qe8?!² [24...Qd8 25.Be2 Nc4=]
25.a4 Nc4 26.Be2 Nb8 [26...a5 27.Bxc4 dxc4 28.bxa5 Bxc5 29.dxc5 Qe7²] 27.e4?!= [27.a5 Nd6
28.Ra2 Nd7²] 27...b6 28.exd5 exd5 29.Nd3 Nc6?± Sergey gets a " clear " advantage [29...Nd7
30.a5 bxa5 31.Nc5 axb4 32.Nxa6 Ra7=] 30.Nf4 Ne7 31.b5 a5 32.Bf3?= [32.Bg4 f5 33.Bf3 Qf7±]
32...Rd8?!² [32...Qd7 33.Ra2 g5 34.hxg6 hxg6=] 33.Ra2 Qd7 34.Rc1?!= [34.Bg4 Qd6 35.Re2
Qf6²] 34...g6 35.Qe2 Rdc8 36.Rd1 Bh6 37.Nd3 Bg7?!² [37...Qd6 38.Ne5 Re8=] 38.Bg4 Nf5
39.Qf1?³ [39.Ne5 Nxe5 (39...Bxe5 40.dxe5 gxh5 (40...d4²) 41.Bxh5 Qe6²) 40.dxe5 Rc4²
(40...d4²) ] 39...Re8 40.Qh3 [40.Nf4 Bh6 41.Ne2 Ncd6³] 40...Ncd6 41.Nf4?!∓ [41.Ne5 Bxe5
42.dxe5 Rxe5³] 41...Rc4 42.h6 Bh8 [42...Rxd4 43.Rb1 Be5∓] 43.Ne2?!-+ Laurent gets a "
winning " advantage [43.Be2?! Rxd4 44.Rxd4 Bxd4∓] 43...Qc7 44.Bd2?!-+ − 2.03 [44.Qh1 Bxd4
45.Qxd5 Bc5-+ − 1.51] 44...Nxd4 Laurent goes up a P
Toronto Chess News

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Position after 44…Nxd4

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+kvl(
7+-wq-+p+p'
6-zp-sn-+pzP&
5zpP+p+-+-%
4P+rsn-+L+$
3+-+-+-zPQ#
2R+-vLNzP-+"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
45.Nf4?-+ − 4.19 a blunder leaving the B no escape [45.Bf4 f5 46.Nxd4 Rxd4 47.Rxd4 Bxd4-+ −
1.55] 45...f5 46.Bh5 Qf7 47.g4?-+ − 6.15 [47.Bxg6 hxg6 48.h7+ Qxh7 49.Qxh7+ Kxh7 50.Nxd5
Re2 51.Nxb6 Ne4-+ − 5.15] 47...gxh5 48.gxh5 Laurent is up an N 48...Ne2+ 49.Nxe2 Rxe2
50.Kf1 Re6 51.Qg2+?-+ − 7.88 [51.Be3 d4 52.Bf4 Ne4-+ − 5.76] 51...Rg4 52.Qxd5 Laurent is up
N vs P 52...Re8?-+ − 3.52 [52...Rge4 53.Ra3 Qxh5-+ − 8.91] 53.Bc1 Qxd5 54.Rxd5 Rd4 55.Rd2
Rxd2 56.Bxd2 Nc4 57.Bg5 Be5 58.Bc1 f4 59.Kg2 Kf7 60.Rd7+ Re7 61.Rd8 Kf6 62.Rg8 Kf5
63.Kf3 Bd6 64.Rf8+ Kg5 65.Bxf4+ Laurent is up N vs 2 P's ( one passed; one doubled )
65...Bxf4 66.Rxf4 Nd2+ 67.Kg3 Ne4+ 68.Kf3 Nf6?-+ − 4.47 [68...Nxf2! 69.Rd4 Rf7+ 70.Ke2
Ng4-+ − 5.18] 69.Rc4 Re6?-+ − 3.68 [69...Nd7 70.Kg2 Nc5-+ − 4.54] 70.Rc6 Rxc6?!-+ − 3.15
[70...Kf5 71.Rc7 Ne4-+ − 3.82] 71.bxc6 Ne8 72.Ke4 Kxh5 Laurent is up N vs P 73.Ke5 Kxh6
Laurent is up an N 74.Ke6 Nc7+ 75.Kd7 Na6 76.Kc8?-+ − 9.56 [76.Kd6 Kg7 77.Ke5 Kf7-+ −
6.39] 76...Nb4 77.Kb7 Nxc6!-+ − 13.50 getting rid of any counter−play with an ending sac
78.Kxc6 Laurent is up a P 78...Kg5 79.Kd5 Kf4-+ − 14.01Laurent will go up 2 P's 0-1
Rapid : Women’s
Kateryna Lahno ( Ukraine )
Toronto Chess News

9
won gold in the women’s section on tie-break.
Here the story was even more complicated. The sole leader of yesterday Yifan
Hou ( China - former Women’s World Champion, and 2103 Challenger for the
title, against Champion Anna Ushenina ) had a rough start after a draw with
Antoaneta Stefanova ( Bulgaria – 2012 Women’s Championship Runner-Up ) and
a loss to Elizabeth Paehtz ( Germany ). A final round, where all games finished
with decisive results, left four players equal at the top of the standings – Yifan
Hou, Kateryna Lahno, Humpy Koneru ( India ), and Anna Muzychuk
( Slovenia ).
The tiebreak rules awarded the title to Kateryna Lahno, second place to Yifan
Hou, third place for Humpy Koneru, while the short straw was for Anna
Muzychuk who finished without a medal.
Here is Kateryna’s win in the last round against the 2012 Women’s World
Championship Runner-Up ( and former Women’s Champion ), Antoaneta
Stefanova ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Stefanova, Antoaneta (2491) − Lahno, Kateryna (2553) [A49]

SportAccord Rapid Women 2012 Beijing CHN (7.2), 15.12.2012
1.d4² 0.29 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3?!= [3.c4²] 3...Bg7 4.Bg2 c5 [4...0-0 5.c4 c5=] 5.c4 cxd4
6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Nc3 Qc7 [7...Nc6 8.0-0 Qb6=] 8.Nd5 [8.b3 d5 9.Bxd5 Nc6=] 8...Nxd5 [8...Qxc4?!
9.Nxe7+ Kh8²] 9.cxd5 Qa5+?!² [9...Qb6 10.Nb3 Qa6=] 10.Bd2 Qb6 11.Bc3 [11.Be3?! Qxb2
12.0-0 d6=] 11...d6 12.0-0 [12.h4 Bd7 13.Qd2 Na6=] 12...Nd7 13.Rc1 Qa6?!± Antoaneta gets a "
clear " advantage [13...Ne5 14.a4 Bd7²] 14.a4 Nc5 15.a5 Bd7 16.b4 Na4?!+− Antoaneta gets a
" winning " advantage [16...Ba4 17.Qd2 Nd7±] 17.Ba1 Rac8 1.60 [17...Rfc8 18.Qd2 Bxd4
19.Bxd4 f6+− 1.75] 18.Qd2 b6 19.Nc6 Bxc6 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.dxc6 bxa5 Kateryna goes up a P
22.Ra1 Qb5 23.Qc2?+− 2.40 [23.Rfb1 d5 24.Qd4+ f6+− 3.56] 23...Nb6 24.Rxa5 Qxb4 25.Rxa7
material equality 25...Nc4 26.Ra4 Na3 27.Qd1?!± [27.Qxg6+! hxg6 28.Rxb4 Nc2+− 2.67]
27...Qc3 28.Qd5 Rc7 29.Rd1 Rb8 30.h4 Nc2?!+− 2.04 [30...Qb3 31.Qd4+ Kg8 (31...e5?!
32.Qxd6 Qxd1+ (32...Qxa4? 33.Qxe5+ Kg8+− 5.21(33...Kh6 34.Rd4 Nc4 35.Qxc7 Qa1+ 36.Bf1
Qxd4 37.Qxb8 Qc5+− 5.95) ) 33.Qxd1 Rb1 34.Qf1 Rxf1+ 35.Kxf1 Nb5+− 2.49) 32.Rd3 Qb1+±]
31.Rc4 [31.Rc1 Rb4 32.Qa5 Qd2 33.Rf1 Rd4 34.Qxc7 Rxa4 35.Qxe7 Nd4+−] 31...Qb3 32.Rc1
Na3?!+− 1.80 [32...Rb5 33.Qe4 Na3+− 1.42] 33.Qd4+?!± [33.Qa5 Nxc4 34.Qxc7 Ne5 35.Qxe7
Qb2+−] 33...Kg8 34.R4c3 Qb2 35.Qa4 Nb5 36.R3c2 Qd4 37.Rc4 Qb2 38.R4c2?!+− [38.Qa5
Rbc8 39.R4c2 Qe5±] 38...Qd4 39.Qa5?² Antoaneta is losing her advantage [39.Qb3 Kg7 40.e3
Qb6+−] 39...Ra7 40.Qe1 Nc7 41.Rc4 Qb2 42.h5 d5 43.R4c2 Qe5 44.hxg6?!= Antoaneta has
lost her advantage [44.h6 f5 45.f4 Qf6²] 44...hxg6 45.Qd2 e6?!² [45...Ra6?! 46.Bf3 Ra4²;
45...Ra4 46.Bf3 Kg7=] 46.Bf3 Ra1 47.Kg2 Rbb1 48.Rxb1?!= [48.e3 Rxc1 49.Rxc1 Rxc1
50.Qxc1 Qd6²] 48...Rxb1 49.Qh6 Qa1 50.Kh2?!³ for the first time in the game, Kateryna gets the
advantage [50.Qh4 Kg7 51.e4 Qa4=] 50...Rf1?!= [50...Qd4 51.Qf4 Qxf2+ 52.Kh3 Qa7³]
Toronto Chess News

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Position after 50…Rf1?!

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-sn-+p+-'
6-+P+p+pwQ&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+LzP-#
2-+R+PzP-mK"
1wq-+-+r+-!
xabcdefghy
51.Qe3??–+ a fatal blunder - tired after trying to win all game, at the end of a long
game?? It is mate. [51.e4 Re1 52.exd5 exd5=] 51...Qh8+–+ Antoaneta resigned. Mate in
3 moves 52.Qh6 Qxh6+ 53.Bh5 Qxh5+ 54.Kg2 Qh1# 0–1
Blitz Section: Men’s
( adapted from FIDE ) Sergey Karjakin ( Russia )
managed to take a sole lead on the second day and won the tournament one round before
the end. His victory over Bologan ( Russia ) became the decisive one but he also won the
last game against Vassily Ivanchuk ( Ukraine ) to get the gold medal 1,5 points ahead of
Hikaru Nakamura ( USA ), who came second. Third place was still open with one round
to go – tied with 9 points were Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ( Azerbaijan ), Levon Aronian (
Armenia ) and Laurent Fressinet ( France ). In the final round, all of them played quite
riskily and unexpectedly everybody lost their games. As a result everything was decided
on the tie-break points and the Azeri player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov got the bronze.
Toronto Chess News

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Blitz Section: Women’s
( Adapted from FIDE ) Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) got the gold medal, on tie-break,
ahead of Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia). Elisabeth Paehtz ( Germany ) shared the third place
with Humpy Koneru (India) but the bronze was taken by Paehtz on tie-break.
Anna, Alexandra, Elizabeth
Blindfold Section: Men’s
Levon Aronian ( Armenia )
Levon
Toronto Chess News

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won the Gold. Hikaru Nakamura ( USA ) won Silver. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (
Azerbaijan ) took the Bronze.
Blindfold Section: Women’s
Gold was won by Hou Yifan ( China ).
The Silver medal went to Viktoria Cmilyte ( Lithuania ). Bronze was won by Anna
Zatonskih ( USA ).
Groningen Chess Festival, Netherlands
Groningen is the main municipality as well as the capital city of the eponymous
province in the Netherlands. With a population of around 190,000, it is the largest city in
the north of the Netherlands. This 9-round swiss took place from Dec. 21 -30.
Canadian GM-elect, Eric Hansen, of Alberta played.
Also playing was Canadian IM Leon Piasetski of British Columbia.
Toronto Chess News

13
The winner was GM Zaven Andriasian of Armenia, on tie-break ( 3 tied with 7/9
pts. ).
Eric finished in a 3-way tie for 4th, ending in 6th place, with 6.5 pts.
( undefeated! ). Congratulations Eric!
Leon finished in a 15-way tie for 53rd, finishing in 62nd , with 4 pts..
FIDE January 1, 2013 Regular Rating Lists – Open/Women
Open
Magnus Carlsen ( Norway ), # 1 for most of 2010 & 2011, and all of 2012 , the
youngest player ever to hold this position, on Jan. 1 not only kept his # 1 spot to start
2013, but became the highest rated human ever, with a rating of 2861!! He has now
surpassed Gary Kasparov’s 1999 peak of 2851! 14th World Champion, Vladimir
Kramnik ( Russia ) has now moved back up into the 2800’s and now sits in second, rated
2810. The third player over 2800 is Armenian Levon Aronian, at 2802 ( down 13 pts. ). [
Garry Kasparov ( Russia ), 13th World Champion, now retired, was the first player to
break 2800 ( peak rating - July 1999 – 2851 – 2nd highest rated player ever ); Kramnik
was the second player; Veselin Topalov, 2005 FIDE World Champion, was the third;
Viswanathan Anand, 15th and current World Champion was the fourth; Magnus Carlsen
was the fifth; and Levon Aronian is the sixth. ].
Besides these 3 in the 2800’s, there are 44 players in the 2700’s.
The top players are ( birth date of younger players [ 22 yrs. & younger ] in
brackets, after country ) :
Toronto Chess News

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# 1 : Magnus Carlsen ( Norway - 1990 ), rated 2861 ( up 13 pts.);
# 2 : Vladimir Kramnik ( Russia ), 14th World Champion, rated 2810 ( up 15 pts.; was
below 2800 from July – Dec./12 ).
# 3 : Levon Aronian ( Armenia ) – rated 2802 ( down 13 pts. );
Toronto Chess News

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# 4: Teimour Radjabov ( Azerbaijan ), rated 2793.
# 5: Fabiano Caruana ( Italy - 1992 ), at 2781 ;
# 6: Sergey Karjakin ( Russia – 1990 ), rated 2780 ( up 5 pts.);
Toronto Chess News

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# 7 : Viswanathan Anand ( India ), 15th and current World Champion, rated 2772;
# 8: Veselin Topalov ( Bulgaria ), rated 2771;
# 9: Hikaru Nakamura ( USA ), rated 2769.
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# 10: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ( Azerbaijan ), rated 2766.
# 50 : Judit Polgar ( Hungary ), the strongest women’s player in the world, with 2696
( over 2700 from October – December, 2012 lists – last time before that was on the
July/12 list ) – ( in 2005, she was in the top 10 with a rating of 2735. She has taken
periods off to have children and had dropped below 2700 for a while, before going back
over 2700 again ).
.
Some other past World Champions/FIDE World Champions still in the top 100,
and their current ratings are :
# 21: 2002 FIDE World Champion, Ruslan Ponomariov ( Ukraine ) at 2733;

# 33 : 2004 FIDE World Champion, Rustam Kasimdzhanov ( Uzbekistan ) at 2709 ( up
from # 50! Up 13 pts. ). .
Here are the younger ( Under 22 as of Jan. 1 ) players we’re watching - not in the
top ten, but in the top 30, ( birth date in brackets after country )[ note: “ juniors “ = U 20
yrs. as of Jan. 1 ]:
# 22 : Dmitry Andreikin ( Russia – 1990 ) – 2727;

# 29 : Anish Giri ( Netherlands – 1994 ) – 2720;
# 30 : Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 1990 ) – 2711.
Women
Four women have broken the 2600 barrier: GM Judit Polgar ( Hungary ) – also
only woman to break 2700; Humpy Koneru ( India ); Hou Yifan ( Chinese surname first
) – current Women’s World Champion; Anna Muzychuk ( Slovenia ).
The top 10 women in the world are :
# 1 : GM Judit Polgar ( Hungary ) – 2696 ( first woman player in history to break 2700;
peaked at 2735 in the July 1, 2005 rating list; back in the 2700 club briefly in July/12,
after a number of years in the 2600’s; dropped down again, and was back from Oct. –
Dec./12 );
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# 2 : GM Hou Yifan ( China – 1994 ) – 2603 – ( 18 years old – third woman over 2600 )
– former Women’s World Champion; 2013 Challenger for the Women’s World Chess
Championship ( against Women’s Champion Anna Ushenina ( Russia ) )..
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# 3 : GM Humpy Koneru ( India ) – 2597 ( second woman over 2600 );
# 4 : IM Anna Muzychuk ( Slovenia ) -2582 ( 4th woman to break the 2600 barrier! ).
# 5 : GM Nana Dzagnidze ( Georgia ) – 2555;
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# 6 : GM Zhao Xue ( China ) – 2554 ( down 11 pts. );
# 7 : GM Kateryna Lahno ( Ukraine ) – 2547;
# 8: GM Nadezhda Kosintseva ( Russia ) at 2531.
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# 9: GM Marie Sebag ( France ) at 2530 ( up 9 pts. );
# 10. Pia Cramling ( Sweden ), rated 2518.
NATIONAL
Organizations
Chess Federation of Canada ( CFC )
Website: http://www.chess.ca/
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Chess Discussion Forum: http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2
(by TCN Liaison for CFC, Bob Armstrong, CFC Public Relations Coordinator)
Visit the 2013 Winter Meeting of the CFC Governors that started today, and runs
for one week – it is on-line and open (http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/forum.php ).
The CFC Executive and Governors hope all chess players in the world, and
especially in Canada, had a very happy and safe holidays, and wish them all the best for
2013!
Chess ‘n Math Association ( CMA )
National Scholastic Chess Organization

Website: http://chess-math.org/
( by TCN Liaison for CMA, Francis Rodrigues, CMA Toronto Regional Coordinator)
- CMA has decided to take out a news section in TCN, but Francis has been swamped in
the last part of 2012 and over the holidays, and been unable to get in his first report in the
last few Issues. We hope his first report may be submitted for the next Jan. 15 Issue.
Tournaments
The 2012-13 Canadian Junior
Here is the final line-up for the event (Ratings published Nov 27 2012):
IM Richard Wang, Edmonton, Alberta. Rating: 2454 CFC (FIDE - 2356)

Joey Qin, Nepean, Ontario. Rating: 2449 (FIDE - 2263)
FM Roman Sapozhnikov, Richmond Hill, Ontario. Rating: 2440 (FIDE 2334)
FM Louie Jiang, Verdun, Quebec. Rating: CFC 2406, FQE 2264 (FIDE 2328)
Karoly Szalay, Ottawa, Ontario. Rating: 2392 (FIDE 2159)
FM Michael Kleinman, Toronto, Ontario. Rating: 2368 (FIDE 2307)
Nikita Kraiouchkine, Granby, Quebec. CFC Rating: 2351, FQE 2325 (FIDE 2245)
Michael Song, North York, Ontario. Rating: 2322 (FIDE 2177)
Razvan Preotu, Burlington, Ontario. Rating: 2300 (FIDE 2086)
Olivier-Kenta Chiku-Ratté, Montreal, Quebec. CFC Rating: 2187, FQE - 2216 (FIDE
2064)
Average CFC Rating: 2367

Average FIDE Rating: 2232
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1.
1. Joey Qin
2.
2. Michael Song
3.
3. Razvan Preotu
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4.
4. Roman Sapozhnikov
5.
5. Louie Jiang
6.
6. Olivier-Kenta Chiku-Ratté
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7.
7. Nikita Kraiouchkine
8.
8. Karoly Szalay
9.
9. Michael Kleinman
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10.
10. Richard Wang
This 10-player round-robin tournament is sanctioned by the Chess Federation of Canada.

It is organized and sponsored by the Chess'n Math Association, Canada's National
Scholastic Chess Organization. It was held December 26-31 in Toronto at Briton House,
720 Mt Pleasant Rd. It was therefore 9 rounds; time control was 120 minutes + 30 sec
increment. Games were broadcast on the MonRoi system.
Prize fund: Trophies to the top 3. The winner is provided with airfare to the 2013 World
Junior and airfare for his coach....plus $1,000 for training between the time the youngster
wins the Canadian Junior and the start of the World Junior.
The new Canadian Junior Champion is IM Richard Wang of Alberta. Congratulations

Richard!!
Here are the final standings:
Final Ranking crosstable after 9 Rounds

Rk. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 IM Wang Richard 2454 CAN * ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 6.5 26.00 0.0 5
2 Qin Zi Yi (joey) 2449 CAN ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 6.0 25.25 0.0 4
3 FM Kleinman Michael 2368 CAN 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 5.5 21.50 0.0 3
4 Preotu Razvan 2300 CAN 1 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5.0 21.50 0.5 2
FM Jiang Louie 2406 CAN ½ ½ ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 5.0 21.50 0.5 2
Sapozhnikov
6 FM 2440 CAN ½ 0 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ 0 1 4.0 16.75 0.0 2
Roman
Kraiouchkine
7 2351 CAN 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 3.5 16.25 0.0 1
Nikita
8 Song Michael 2322 CAN 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0 3.5 15.25 0.0 1
9 Szalay Karoly 2392 CAN 0 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ * ½ 3.5 14.00 0.0 1
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Chiku-Ratte Olivier
10 2187 CAN 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * 2.5 9.50 0.0 1
Kenta
FIDE January 1, 2013 Regular Rating List – Canadian Rankings -

Open/Women’s
Open
The 10 highest FIDE rated Canadians ( active in the last 24 months,

internationally or in Canada ) are :
# 1 : GM Kevin Spraggett, 4 times Canadian Champion ( last in 1996 ), at 2577 ( has

been over 2600 ) – now playing out of Portugal – excellent staying power, given he was
58 years old on Nov. 10, 2012;
# 2 : GM-elect Eric Hansen at 2568 ( up 29 pts. !! );
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# 3. GM Bator Sambuev at 2510 – 2012 Canadian Champion (& 2011 );
# 4 : GM Pascal Charbonneau, 2002 & 2004 Canadian Champion, at 2505 – now

working in USA;
# 5: IM Leonid Gerzhoy, rated 2484;
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# 6 : GM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon at 2476.
# 7: IM Nikolay Noritsyn at 2464 .
# 8 – IM-elect Aman Hambleton, rated 2462 (up 40 pts.!! );
Aman on right
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# 9 – IM Zhe Quan, rated 2431;
# 10 – IM Tomas Krnan, rated 2420
GM Mark Bluvshtein retired in late 2011, rated 2590 ( had been over 2600 ); so
for our FIDE list purposes, we have now removed him from the active list even though
technically he would have been active for our purposes to 2013.
There are two Canadian GM’s with another federation : 18 year old GM Wesley
So ( Philippines citizen; plays for that federation; Canadian permanent resident ) at 2682
( # 66 in the world) – the top-rated Canadian!; GM Anton Kovalyov ( citizen of the
Ukraine; Canadian permanent resident; plays for Argentina ) at 2606 ( briefly went into
the 2500’s from Sept. – Nov./12 ) ( he has now started the process to change federations
to Canada, but there is a waiting period )!.
There is one previously inactive GM, Dimitri Tyomkin ( his last rated game in
Canada was August 2005 ; and after playing only 2 FIDE rated games in Europe between
Jan. 1, 2006 and the end of 2010, in 2011 & 2012 Dimitri played a number of games for
teams in the Spanish Team Championships; he is rated 2486 ).
Canada has 2 inactive GM’s : Alexander Le Siege; and Duncan Suttles.
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Women
The top 10 FIDE rated Canadian women players are ( active in the last 24 months,
internationally or in Canada ) :
# 1 : WIM Yuanling Yuan ( 1994 ) at 2220 ( currently at university in USA ) ;.
# 2 : WIM Natalia Khoudgarian, current 2012 ( and 2006, 2007 & 2011 ) Canadian
Women’s Champion, at 2136.
# 3 : WFM Dina Kagramanov, 2009 Canadian Women’s Champion, at 2067;
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# 4 : WFM Daniela Belc, at 2044;
( no file picture )
# 5 : Anastasia Kazakevich, rated 2033;
# 6 : WCM Alexandra Botez, at 2024 ( up 9 pts. ).
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# 7: WCM Jackie Peng at 1993.
# 8 : Iulia Lacau-Rodean, rated 1989;
# 9 : Myriam Roy, rated 1985;
( no file picture )
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# 10 : WCM Yelizaveta Orlova, rated 1973 ( up 12 pts.)
There are 5 inactive Canadian WIM’s : Vesma Baltgailis; Johanne Charest;

Dinara Khaziyeva; Diane Mongeau, Smilja Vujosevic.
The highest FIDE-rated Canadian woman is WFM Valeriya Gansvind, at 2246,
who plays for another federation - Estonia. Another highly rated Canadian woman in
Hong Kong, who plays under the Canadian flag, is WFM Yamei Wang, rated 2045 ( but
since 2004 she’s only played infrequently in Hong Kong, against one opponent 1866, and
a few others in the 1700’s ).
Provincial Tournaments & Chess Clubs/Organizations

TCN offers chess clubs and chess organizations a “ news section ”. As a
club/organization accepts, TCN is developing “TCN Liaisons” in these groups in
Toronto, the GTA and beyond, whereby one member at each club/organization will take
responsibility for submitting their news to TCN on a regular basis for this section. For
clubs, this will include club games from club tournaments when possible. We have 4
chess organizations and 9 clubs now with news sections of the newsletter opened for
them. We hope to slowly increase this number as time passes. We also intend to extend
coverage outside of Ontario, our starting province.
We also hope to develop ongoing relationships with GTA (and beyond)
tournament organizers, so they will consider sending in reports and some of the more
interesting games from their tournaments. Depending on time available, TCN will try to
annotate some of the unannotated games submitted by organizers and clubs.
Depending on time available, TCN will try to annotate some of the unannotated games
submitted by organizers and clubs.
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ONTARIO
GREATER TORONTO AREA
Malmsten on Chess
( by part-time columnist, Erik Malmsten )
Chess History at Hart House
My first visit to Hart House was in October 1970 to see a simul by GM Walter
Browne in the Debates Room [how civilized, if only all debates could only be held there].
He scored +27=0-0 but bombed in the Thanksgiving Open at New College, on the west
side of campus. I was wowed by the large bricks, large windows, the majestic size of the
building, the wood paneled telephone booth, and a door that had lettering “Chess Club.”
There was poor lighting, creaky floors, and creepy washrooms. There was classical piano
being played down the hall, a whole building for leisure and culture. I would later learn
that there was a chapel, pool, theatre, squash courts and a gun range. At one time there
was a barbershop with four barbers. Among the paintings on the walls were some by the
Group of Seven. The Canadian film Frankenstein on Campus (or Flick!) (1970) had the
band Lighthouse playing in the Arbor Room, the basement cafeteria.
Hart House, named after the farm-tractor manufacturer Hart Massey, opened in
1919. One of his grandsons, Vincent, became the first Canadian-born Governor-General
of Canada, while another, Raymond, was nominated for an Oscar. “The members of Hart
House may discover within its walls the true education that is to be found in good
fellowship, in friendly disputation and debate, in the conversation of wise and earnest
men, in music, pictures and the play. . . dedicated to the task of arming youth with
strength and suppleness of limb, with clarity of mind and depth of understanding, and
with a spirit of true religion and high endeavour.”
University of Toronto has a long history of chess. First University President in
1850 Rev. John McCaul was listed as the president of the Toronto Chess Club back in
1846. He also organized the Toronto Philharmonic Society. In the 1850-74 Prof John B.
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Cherriman, Chairman of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, contributed to writing the

Globe chess column and organizing. He was also a flautist and a captain in the university
rifle corps. Students had a club at Trinity College, which wasn’t yet part of U of T.
The Toronto Chess League was formed in 1897 to have team matches between
the Toronto, YMCA and Varsity Chess Clubs; Varsity won in 1901. Founder of the
Varsity club in 1895 was Prof. James Mavor, chair of Political Science, author of
Economic History of Russia, and also one of the founders of the Art Gallery of Ontario
and the Royal Ontario Museum. Playwright George Bernard Shaw named a character
after him in Candida (on Broadway Raymond Massey performed as Rev. James Mavor
Morell) and the Toronto theatre awards are named after his daughter, Dora.
In 1910 there was a 33-board match, Toronto CC 19-14 Varsity. There were
annual matches between faculty and students. Later on the University would have
matches with McMaster and other universities and eventually play in the Pan-Am’s.
Toronto won their first Pan-Am in 1965 (They also won in 1973, 1974, 1980, 1981,
1982). Team member Vlad Dobrich went on to become a chess professional: giving
simuls in stores, writing the column in the Star, and selling books with his Chess Canada
magazine.
While a student Frank Anderson won the Canadian Championship, played historic
games with Russian Champion Igor Bondarevsky, wrote the chess column for the
Hamilton Spectator and almost got a GM norm at the Olympiad 1958. In 1955 Anderson
and George Berner, who taught chess to a class of 50 at night school, gave a 7-hour 100-
board tandem simul in Hart House, then the largest simul in North America.
Prof. Zvonko Vranesic, IM, lost to Duncan Suttles in a tie-breaking match for the
Canadian Championship at Hart House in 1969, won the Ontario Closed 1981, and got a
GM norm at the Olympiad 1970. Both Anderson and Vranesic contributed to chess-
playing computer programs.
1972 Canadian Championship
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Andrew McMillan is doing extensive research into the history of chess at U of T,

list of club champions, and their inter-collegiate matches. I'm looking forward to seeing
the results of his many hours of work.
In 1968 Hart House hosted the 7th Canadian Open which had a record 164
entrants. It was easily won by GM Bent Larsen, 10.5-.5, drawing with 15-year-old Ken
Rogoff. Larsen slept in a room above the playing hall. Dobrich, 8.5, defeated Vranesic to
be the Top Canadian over Denis Allan and half-a-point ahead of Day, Fuster, Amos and
Krotki.
Hart House hosted the first (sic) Canadian Junior in 1970, won by 20-year-old
Leon Piasetski, 8-1 ahead of John MacPhail 7-2. The 1974 Canadian Junior was won by
Nigel Fullbrook on tie-break over Kevin Spraggett and Peter Nurmi. And the 1977
Canadian Junior was won by Mike Rohland.
The Pan-Am Intercollegiate in Dec. 1971 at Hart House, won by Columbia U, had
55 teams.
In June 1972 the round-robin Canadian Closed at Hart House, directed by
Dobrich and Stephen Boyd, was won by Peter Biyiasis (2269) 12-5, followed by George
Kuprejanov (2367) and Lawrence Day (2258) 11.5-5.5, and IM Vranesic (2425) 10.
Chess Canada had a special issue with all of the games. The inside cover always had an
ad for Hart House “where the kibitzer is king,” open daily 12-5. Double chess seemed to
be a bigger Hart House activity than rated games, but Hart House teams won the Toronto
and Ontario Team Championships.
1973 Toronto Open in the Great Hall
Hart House again hosted the Canadian Closed in 1978, directed by Stephen Boyd
and Toronto CC members operated the demo boards and made the bulletins.
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Jean Hébert (2197), 20-years old, won 11-3; ahead of GM-elect Biyiasis (2405)
10; Coudari (2282), IM Spraggett (2356), and IM Day (2404) 9.5. The CFC Bulletin gave
almost a whole issue covering the games.
The annual Toronto Closed and Reserves round-robins which was played two or
three rounds a week were usually played at Hart House circa 1980, always having U of T
students entered, such as Dave MacLeod, Robert Morrison or Ian Findlay. I remember
being shocked when, in a time scramble, a master blocked his king’s escape square, and
his opponent also missed the back rank mate in one.
Historically women couldn’t be members of Hart House and were barred from the
library and the pool, but Hart House hosted several of the 1970s Toronto Ladies
Championships.
After the '68 Canadian Open there was at least one weekend open at Hart House
each year, with growing number of entrants.
Labour Day 1972 at New College had 217 players in two sections, and later
tournaments started to break players into three sections. Through the 1970s the annual
Ontario High School Championships in May were at New College, which provided
accommodation to out-of-towners. But Wetmore Hall didn’t have the same historic feel
as Hart House and never attracted as many players. Also, the washrooms were far away
in the basement which led to increased pressure in sudden death time trouble.
The 1973 Toronto Open had an unexpected 350 players – 231 in the Novice
section! Players were squeezed into the Great Hall and luckily other rooms were
available. First was IM Geza Fuster and junior Victor Dzera, 5-1. In Nov, 1972, Dzera
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had crushed me to win the big CKFM & Hudson’s Bay Company Junior Chess
Tournament at the Sheraton Centre; I blame the lights of the TV cameras (I got to be on
Board 1 by defeating master MacPhail who didn’t know that the subways on Sunday
didn’t start to 9).
I became part of the TD team led by Paul Janicki, Ken Field, and Angela Julian.
Two people were needed for each section. One TD would use individual pairing cards to
make the pairings, while the other would write down the pairings on a sheet to hang in
the hall. Taking into account a bye, pairings could be made from the bottom up while
waiting for the top boards to finish/ be adjourned. The crosstables had the names printed
by marker in large letters with touches of colour for junior, city, and who the leaders
were. The 1974 Toronto Open had 318 players in three sections 76, 94, and 148. The
following Toronto Opens, in different venues, had 319, 256, 301 and 278 players.
One of the rituals was going as a group up to Bloor Street for lunch, often
Harvey’s when they had fresh, large-cut French fries. A favourite at Mr. Sub was to order
extra, extra cheese and have it melted in that new thing called a microwave.
Young players often hung out together after the tournament games, playing speed
chess late at night. After one day’s play, a group of us were walking on Yonge St to get
something to eat. A guy on the street got excited when he saw the chess set beneath
somebody’s arm and wanted to play, invited us upstairs to a party in an apartment above
a store. Playing chess was “cool, man.” We were lucky to wake up before the morning
round started and tiptoed through the dozens of passed-out people to leave.
In 1975 our school chess team played Paul Keres in a simul in the Debates room
and I got crushed in the opening which discouraged me from ever playing a GM again,
waste of time, just look up the line in Modern Chess Openings. I more enjoy GM
lectures.
The big Toronto tournaments moved a few blocks east to the MacDonald Block
cafeteria, and the 1976 Canadian Open had 408 players. Nick de Firmian and Lawrence
Day tied for first (GM Browne withdrew). Tied for third were Spraggett, Amos, Bisguier,
Kopec, Silman, and Biyiasas.
When the Canadian Open came to Toronto’s turn in 1983, it was again held in the
McDonald Block and attracted 332 players. It was won by GM Bozidar Ivanovic and IM
Spraggett, 8-2, ahead of IM Michael Wilder and IM Day. TD was Larry Bevand. David
Lavin tried making it an annual International event, couldn’t get Hart House so moved it
to another college across the street, got only 249 players (including a computer) and the
top section was won by IM Igor Ivanov ahead of 4 GMs. But entries decreased and
expenses increased when he brought in Korchnoi in 1985 and he discontinued organizing.
It’s great to again see regular chess tournaments again at Hart House and I hope
the students of the future will continue the tradition.
Toronto Chess News

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Tournament Reports
The Battle of Toronto Invitational

( by organizer, Canadian Chess Consulting Service ( CCS )/Bob Armstrong )
Mario Moran-
Michael Dougherty Zaki Uddin Bob Armstrong Venegas
Tyler Longo Rob Bzikot Marcus Wilker Wajdy Shebetah
( from the Annex CC Website )
This is a FIDE Rating Round Robin of 8-players, 4 FIDE-rated and 4 with no

FIDE rating. It is organized by Canadian Chess Consulting Service, a company of Bob
Armstrong’s, and is being played at the Annex CC ( which is one of the sponsors of the
tournament, by subsidizing the site/equipment rental fee ). Round 1 was played Oct. 15.
The tournament ended on Dec. 17 ( two make-up games were necessary ).
Results – Make-Up from Round 3, Oct. 29 – played December 17, 2012
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This last outstanding game, FIDE Master Mike Dougherty – Expert Tyler Longo,
was critical – If Mike won, he won the tournament, and Tyler fell to third on tie-break. If
Tyler won, he won the tournament on tie-break, and Mike came second. Here is the result
Dougherty 0 vs 1 Longo
Congratulations to Tyler, first place,
with an upset of a well-know FIDE Master. For this he won the modest first prize of $
150. Mike got $ 80. Third place went to Expert Wajdy Shebetah - $ 60. ( Prize fund
was kept low, to keep registration fee low ).
Final Standings
1 – 6 pts. – Longo ( on tie-break )
2 – 6 pts. – Dougherty ( on tie-break )
3 – 5 pts. – Shebetah
4 – 4.5 pts. – Uddin
5 - 2.5 pts. - Bzikot
6 – 2 pts. - Moran-Venegas
7 – 1 pt. - Armstrong ( on tie-break )
8 – 1 pt. –Wilker. ( on tie-break )
Here is the cross-table for the event:
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# Name CFC FIDE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
1 Bzikot, Robert 1927 1881 X 0 0.5 1 0 1 0 0 2.5
2 Dougherty, Michael 2275 2149 1 X 1 1 1 1 1 0 6
3 Shebetah, Wajdy 2155 2026 0.5 0 X 1 0.5 1 1 1 5
4 Armstrong, Robert J. 1633 0 0 0 X 0 1 0 0 1

Uddin, Mohammad
5 Zaki 1647 1 0 0.5 1 X 1 1 0 4.5
6 Wilker, Marcus 1633 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 0 1
7 Moran-Venegas, Mario 1757 1879 1 0 0 1 0 0 X 0 2
8 Longo, Tyler 2065 1956 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 X 6
CCCS organized this tournament to assist players with their FIDE rating. From
many points of view, and especially this, the tournament was a great success. The 5 FIDE
rated players all got to play for Elo points re their FIDE rating. Zaki and Marcus will get
a FIDE rating “ part result” as a result of their scores, the first step in getting a published
FIDE rating. Your intrepid editor, Bob Armstrong, will complete his needed 9 games in
the 2-year period, and so will get a published FIDE rating, the list after Alex Ferreira,
arbiter, submits the crosstable for FIDE rating ( it will also be CFC-rated, as advertised ).
The players extend a big thanks to Alex for agreeing to be our arbiter, since without an
arbiter with a FIDE arbiter’s number, a FIDE-rated tournament cannot go ahead.
All players agreed that the tournament was enjoyable, had good competition and
good playing conditions ( thanks to Annex CC for their wonderful hosting of and
subsidizing of our tournament ), and generally fun to play in ( though we all, except
Tyler, would have liked to win more games! LOL ).
CCCS hopes that it may organize a second FIDE rating round-robin in mid-Feb. –
April, 2013, if there is sufficient demand. We would hope to be at Annex CC. Time
control would be Game/90 with 30 sec. increment. We are not guaranteeing it will
proceed, but one of the factors we do need to know is if there is sufficient interest.
So, if you would play in such a tournament, send us your indication to play
( canadianchessconsultingservice@gmail.com ), depending on timing being as stated, and
we’ll start a registration waiting list in our two pools. Tournaments seem to be running
from $70 - $ 80 for 5 rounds. We will shoot for this range, but we do have 7 rounds and 2
make-up rounds to rent for.
As with the first tournament, there are no guaranteed entries – players go into the
FIDE-rated pool, or the Non-FIDE-rated pool. The final decision on entries is based on
having the tournament achieve its goal of the opportunity to achieve a start on a FIDE
rating, balanced by making the tournament as competitive as possible.
Thanks to all who supported our tournament, and especially thanks to all the
players who made it happen – they took a chance on a new type of tournament, and on a
new organizer.
Toronto Chess News

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For the players ( and Hugh Brodie ), CCCS has entered all the games into a
tournament database, which has been sent to them. If you would like a copy of the
database ( it is in cbv, but we could make a pgn if someone wanted it ), just write us.
For your playing pleasure, we present here some of the most interesting games,
IMHO ( Annotations are by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz, except of the game noted as
annotated by Tyler Longo ):
Round 1:
Shebetah, Wajdy (2132) − Wilker, Marcus (1633) [B10]

The Battle of Toronto Invitational Toronto (1), 15.10.2012
1.e4² 0.34. 1...c6?!± Wajdy gets an early " clear " advantage [1...e5²] 2.d3?!² [2.d4 d5 3.e5 Na6
4.Nf3 Bf5±] 2...d5 3.Nd2?!= [3.Nf3 dxe4 4.dxe4 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Bg4²] 3...e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4?±
[4...Bd6 5.d4 exd4 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.0-0 c5 8.exd5 0-0=] 5.Be2 Nd7 6.h3?!² [6.0-0 dxe4 7.Nxe4
Ngf6±] 6...Be6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4?!= [8.exd5 Bxd5 9.0-0 Nc5²] 8...Ngf6 9.Nxe6 [9.exd5 Bxd5
10.0-0 Qb6=] 9...fxe6 10.exd5 exd5 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Nf3 0-0-0 13.Nd4 Re8 14.Be3 c5 15.Nb5
Qb6?!² [15...Qb8 16.c3 a6=] 16.b4 a6 17.bxc5 Bxc5 18.Nd4 Ne5 19.Rb1?!= [19.Rc1 Re7 20.a4
(20.c3 Ne4²) 20...Rd8²] 19...Qc7 20.Rb3 [20.Bd3 g6 21.Re1 Rhf8=] 20...Rhg8?± [20...Rhf8
21.Bd3 g6=] 21.Nf5?= [21.Bd3 Nc4 (21...Qa5?! 22.Qa1 Nfd7+−) 22.Bf5+ Kb8±] 21...Bxe3?!²
[21...g6 22.Bxc5 Qxc5 23.Qd4 Qxd4 24.Nxd4 Rg7=] 22.Nxe3 Qf7?+− Wajdy gets a " winning "
advantage [22...Qc5 23.Qb1 b5²] 23.Qd4 Nc6 24.Qb6 Ne4?+− 6.65 missing the tactic [24...Qc7
25.Bxa6 Qxb6 26.Rxb6 bxa6 27.Rxc6+ Kb7+− 1.57]
XABCDEFGHY
8-+k+r+r+(
7+p+-+qzpp'
6pwQn+-+-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-+n+-+$
3+R+-sN-+P#
2P+P+LzPP+"
1+-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
25.Bxa6! nice sac 25...Qc7?+− 10.71 [25...bxa6?? 26.Qxc6+ Qc7 27.Qxa6+ Kd8 28.Rb7 Re6
29.Qxe6 Qxb7 30.Qxg8++− 17.80; 25...Nd8 26.Qa7 Qc7 27.Nxd5 Qb8+− 8.46] 26.Bxb7+ Wajdy
goes up 2 P's 26...Kd7?+− 12.40 [26...Kd8 27.Qxc6 Qxc6 28.Bxc6 Nf6 29.Bxe8 Rxe8+− 11.38]
27.Bxc6+ Qxc6+− 12.60 Wajdy is up 2 P's. Marcus resigned. More material will be lost 28.Qa7+
Ke6 29.Rb6 Qxb6 30.Qxb6++− 12.10 Wajdy would be up Q + 2 P's vs R 1-0
Round 2
Bzikot, Robert (1940) − Dougherty, Michael (2275) [B23]
Toronto Chess News

44
The Battle of Toronto Invitational Toronto, Canada (2), 10.12.2012
1.e4² 0.35 1...c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3?!= [3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Be2 Nf6²] 3...d5?!² [3...Nc6 4.Nf3 Nf6=]
4.Bg2?!= [4.Bb5+ Nc6 5.exd5 exd5²] 4...d4 5.Nce2?!³ [5.Nb1 d3 6.Nf3 Nc6=] 5...Nc6 6.d3 e5
7.f4 exf4?!= [7...Nf6 8.fxe5 Nxe5³] 8.Nxf4 Nf6 9.Nf3 Bg4 [9...Bd6 10.c3 dxc3 11.bxc3 c4=] 10.h3
[10.0-0 Bd6 11.c4 (11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 0-0=) 11...0-0=] 10...Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Ne5 12.Qe2 Bd6 13.0-
0 0-0 14.g4 g5?!² [14...h6 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Qb6=] 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Ng6 17.Rf5?!=
[17.Be4 Bf4 18.Bxf4 Nxf4²] 17...f6 18.Bd2 Qc7 19.Qe6+?∓ this Q is getting trapped behind
enemy lines. Mike gets a " clear " advantage [19.Be4 Rae8 20.Rb1 (20.Rff1?! Kg7³; 20.c4?! dxc3
21.Bxc3 Be5³) 20...Rf7=] 19...Kg7 20.Re1 Nh4 21.Rff1?!-+ Michael gets a " winning " advantage
[21.Rf2 Bg3 22.d6 Bxd6 23.Rfe2 (23.Bd5?! Ng6-+) 23...Rae8∓] 21...Bh2+?!∓ [21...Rae8 22.Qxe8
Rxe8 23.Rxe8 Bh2+ 24.Kh1 Nxg2 25.Rf2 Ne3 26.Bxe3 Bg3 27.Re2 dxe3 28.R8xe3 Be5-+ −
3.78] 22.Kh1 Rae8 23.Qxe8?-+ − 3.60 [23.d6 Bxd6 24.Qd5 Ng6∓] 23...Rxe8 24.Rxe8 Nxg2 Mike
is up Q + N vs 2 R's 25.Re2 − 4.15 [25.Kxg2?? Qg3+ 26.Kh1 Qxh3 27.Rf2 Bg3+ 28.Kg1 Bxf2+
29.Kxf2 Qh2+ 30.Ke1 Qg1+ 31.Ke2 Qxg4+ 32.Kf1 Qf3+ 33.Kg1 Qxd5-+ − 8.69; 25.Rf2 Ne3
26.Bxe3 Bg3 27.Re2 dxe3 28.R8xe3 Be5-+ − 3.83] 25...Qg3?-+ − 3.09 [25...Nh4 26.Rxh2 Qe5-+
− 4.94] 26.Rxg2
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zpp+-+-mkp'
6-+-+-zp-+&
5+-zpP+-zp-%
4-+-zp-+P+$
3+-+P+-wqP#
2PzPPvL-+Rvl"
1+-+-+R+K!
xabcdefghy
Qxh3 saving the B; Mike has Q + P vs 2 R's 27.Be1 Bf4+ 28.Kg1 Qe3+ 29.Bf2 Qe5 30.Re1
Qxd5 Mike is up Q + 2 P's vs 2 R's 31.b3 Qf3 32.Rf1 Qh3 33.Re1 Kf7 34.Re4 Qf3 35.Re1 Kg6
36.Rf1 Qh3 37.Re1 h5 38.gxh5+ Kxh5 39.Re2 Qf3 40.Be1?-+ − 9.15 [40.Re1 g4 41.Rf1 Qd5-+
− 4.74] 40...Be3+ 41.Kh1??-+ leads to mate [41.Kh2 Kg6 42.Rxe3 dxe3-+ − 10.67; 41.Rxe3
dxe3 42.Rh2+ Kg6-+ − 10.06] 41...Qf1+ 42.Kh2 Bf4+-+ Rob resigned. It is mate. The game could
have continued 43.Bg3 Bxg3+ 44.Rxg3 Qxe2+ 45.Rg2 Qe5+ 46.Kh1 g4-+ mate in 21 moves 0-1
Round 3
Dougherty, Michael (2146) − Longo, Tyler (1956) [D27]

Battle of Toronto Invitational, Toronto, 17.12.2012
[Longo, Tyler]
[ Ed. - the pgn program Tyler used has made some graphical PGN notation… it just shows
arrows, highlighted squares, etc. if you open it in a good PGN viewer (like ChessBase 11)
- we have simply left them as is, since this is the way we received it, when we opened it from
Tyler.]
Toronto Chess News

45
This was the last game from the Battle of Toronto round robin, organized by Bob Armstrong.
Coming into the game, I had 5.0/6.0, while FM Dougherty had a perfect 6.0/6.0, so this was a
must win game to guarantee a share of 1st place. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4
c5 6.0-0 a6 [%cal Gb7b5] 7.Nc3 These days, the critical variation is 7. Bb3, not allowing Black to
play b5 with tempo, where White has been scoring well recently. [7.Bb3 Nc6 (7...b5?! 8.a4 b4
[%csl Gc4][%cal Gb1d2,Gd2c4] Where White has a comfortable edge with control of the c4
square.) 8.Nc3 etc. This position has been played by several super−GMs including Kasparov and
Kramnik. For example: Kasparov−Ivanchuk, 1-0 (Linares 1999)] 7...b5 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.exd4 Bb7
This is typical of several lines in the QGA: White has a development advantage, and some
initiative, while Black has a solid structure and long term chances against the isolated queen's
pawn. 10.Ne5?! This might be premature, as it allows Black to trade off an undeveloped piece at
some point with Nc6. [Continuing development with 10.Qe2 is fine] 10...Be7 11.Re1 Nc6= Black
has more or less equalized: He has caught up in development, and has no serious weaknesses.
White retains some attacking prospects, at the cost of an isolated d−pawn. 12.Be3 Nd5? Black
would like to simplify into a position where White is stuck with an isolated pawn without any
serious attacking chances. However, this move runs into some problems. [Better is 12...Rc8 ; or
12...0-0 ] 13.a4= White misses an opportunity for an advantage: [13.Qf3! Nxe5 14.dxe5 Bb4
15.Be4± [%cal Ge4a8,Ge4h7] White has solved the "problem" on d4, has a strong bishop on e4,
and retains attacking prospects] 13...b4?! This leads to a sequence of exchanges into an ending
where White is slightly better. In a must−win situation, maintaining tension in the position would
be more desirable. [13...Nxe3 14.Rxe3 b4 15.Be4 (15.Ne2? Nxe5 16.dxe5 Bc5³ [%cal
Gc5g1,Gb7h1] Where the Black bishop pair is very strong) 15...Rc8 16.Ne2= Where Black has
managed to get the bishop pair, without any serious difficulties.] 14.Nxd5 Nxe5 [Another option
was 14...Qxd5 15.Bc4 Qd6 16.Qf3 0-0² Where White still has some attacking chances but the
result is far from clear] 15.Nxe7 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 Qxe7² The majors and opposite bishop ending is
double−edged. The opposite bishops give both sides attacking chances, but White has a lead in
development. Controlling the c−file is important, as both players have a potentially weak
queenside. Time trouble quickly becomes a concern for both players in the ending as well (G/90).
17.Bf4 Rd8 18.Qg3² 0-0? [18...f6 [%csl Gd5][%cal Gb7d5,Gd8c8] Safe. Black will put his bishop
on d5 to protect e6, and fight over the c−file.] 19.Rad1?= White misses a chance for a significant
edge: [19.Bh6! f6 (19...Qf6 20.Bg5 Qxd4 21.Bxd8 Rxd8±) 20.Rxe6! Qf7 21.Rb6 Rxd4 22.Bxg7
Qxg7 23.Rxb7 Qxg3 24.hxg3 Where White's extra pawn gives him serious chances for a win.; A
mistake would be 19.Re5? f6 20.Ree1 Rxd4∓] 19...Rd5 20.Re5 Rc8 21.Rxd5 Bxd5
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+k+(
7+-+-wqpzpp'
6p+-+p+-+&
5+-+l+-+-%
4Pzp-zP-vL-+$
3+-+-+-wQ-#
2-zP-+-zPPzP"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
22.Be5?∓ Decisive. White's advantage has been slipping, and he needs to immediately contest
the c−file. White's queenside quickly crumbles. [22.Rc1= is still equal] 22...f6 23.Bd6 Qd7 24.Re1
[24.Bxb4?? Qxa4-+] 24...Qxa4 25.h4 a5 26.h5 Qc2 27.h6 g5 28.f4 Qxb2 29.fxg5 Qxd4+ 30.Kh2
Toronto Chess News

46
Rc3 31.Qf4 Qxf4+ 32.Bxf4 fxg5 33.Be5 Rc2 34.Rf1 Rxg2+ as 35. Kh3 Re2 wins even more
material for black. The result gave me and Michael shared 1st place (I finished with better tie−
breaks). In the end, this was an extremely enjoyable event with some friendly people. Hopefully
there will be more events like this in the future (maybe with a longer time control though!) 0-1
Round 4
Bzikot, Robert (1940) − Armstrong, Robert J. (1606) [B09]

1.e4² 0.35 1...g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.f4?!= [3.Nf3²; 3.Nc3²] 3...d6?!² [3...d5 4.exd5 (4.e5?! Nh6 5.Be2
Nc6=) 4...Nh6= (4...c6?! 5.dxc6 Nxc6²) ] 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-0 6.e5 dxe5 7.fxe5 Nd5 8.Ne4?!=
[8.Bc4 Nb6 9.Bb3 Nc6²] 8...Bf5 [8...Nc6 9.Be2 f6=] 9.Ng3 Bg4 10.c4 Nb6 11.Bf4?-+ I get a "
winning " advantage [11.Be3 f6 12.exf6 exf6=] 11...Nc6 12.Be3 Qd7?³ I am losing my advantage
[12...f6 13.exf6 Bxf6-+] 13.Qd2 Rad8 14.0-0-0 a5?!= I have lost my advantage [14...f6 15.exf6
Bxf6³] 15.h3 [15.Be2 Qe8 16.Qc3 f5=] 15...Bxf3 16.gxf3 a4?!² [16...f6 17.exf6 Bxf6=] 17.f4
f5?+− Rob gets a " winning " advantage [17...e6 18.Kb1 Qe7²] 18.h4 Ra8 19.h5 Na5 20.Qc2 e6
21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Kb1 Rfd8 23.d5 exd5 24.Bxb6 cxb6 25.cxd5 Rdc8 26.Qh2 a3?+− 6.72 the
thinking was this − I'm losing, and I can just defend against the attack and eventually lose;
alternatively, the best defence is a good offence, and I have some attacking chances, though I
can't clearly calculate how far it may get. I may as well gamble that there's something in my
counter−attack − likely not much worse that just being slowly strangled. But in fact, it is
substantially worse! LOL [26...Kf8 27.d6 a3 28.b3 Rc5 29.Qh7 Qf7+− 2.44]
XABCDEFGHY
8r+r+-+k+(
7+p+q+-vl-'
6-zp-+-+p+&
5sn-+PzPp+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3zp-+-+-sN-#
2PzP-+-+-wQ"
1+K+R+L+R!
xabcdefghy
27.Qh7+ Kf8 [27...Kf7?? 28.e6++−] 28.Qxg6 Rob goes up a P 28...Qa4?+− 11.14 [28...Qc7??
29.Bd3 axb2 30.Nxf5 Nb3 31.Bc4 Qf7+− mate in 17 moves; 28...Qf7 29.Qg5 Qe7+− 8.78]
29.Qxf5+ Rob goes up 2 P's 29...Kg8?+− 28.35 [29...Ke8 30.Bd3 Qb4 31.Rh2 axb2 32.Rxb2
Qf8+− 16.34] 30.Qe6+?+− 11.42 Rob misses the mating line [30.Bd3 Rc7 31.Nh5+− Rob mates
in 21 moves] 30...Kf8 31.Qd6+?+− 10.63 [31.Bd3 Qb4 32.Qf5+ Ke8+− 14.50] 31...Kg8??+−
mate in 21 moves [31...Ke8 32.Qg6+ Kf8 33.Bd3 Qb4 34.Qf5+ Ke8 35.Rh2 axb2 36.Rxb2 Qf8+−
16.50] 32.Bd3 Qe8 [32...Qxd1+ 33.Rxd1+− mate in 18 moves] 33.Bh7++− I resigned − it is mate
both ways 33...Kh8 [33...Kf7 34.e6+ Qxe6 35.dxe6+ Kf6 (35...Ke8 36.Bg6#) 36.Nh5#] 34.Bg6+
Kg8 35.Bxe8 Rxe8 36.Nf5+− W mates in 7 moves 1-0
Toronto Chess News

47
Round 5
Uddin, Mohammad Zaki (1647) − Bzikot, Robert (1940) [B08]

1.e4² 0.35. 1...d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 [5...Nc6?! 6.Be3 0-0±] 6.0-0 c6 [6...e5
7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5 Re8²] 7.a4 [7.Be3 b5 8.a3 Nbd7²; 7.h3 Nbd7 8.Be3 Qc7²]
7...Qc7 8.Bf4 Nh5 [8...Na6 9.h3 Nh5²] 9.Bg5 [9.Be3 a5 10.Nd2 Nf6²] 9...h6?!± Zaki gets a "
clear " advantage [9...a5 10.Qd2 Na6²] 10.Be3 e5?!+− Zaki gets a " winning " advantage
[10...Na6 11.Qd2 Kh7±] 11.Qd2 Kh7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Bc5 Re8 15.Bd6 Qa5
16.b4 Qd8 17.Nxe5 Zaki goes up a P 17...Qf6?+− 3.46 [17...a5 18.b5 Bxe5 19.Bxe5 Qxd2
20.Rxd2 cxb5 21.Nxb5 Nc6+− 2.34] 18.f4 Na6??+− 6.59 Rob has problems to try to blunt on the
K−side [18...Rd8 19.f5 Bxf5 20.Nxf7 Qxf7 21.exf5 gxf5 22.Rxf5! Nf6+− 4.56; 18...Qh4 19.f5 gxf5
20.exf5 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 Bc4 22.g3 Qg5 23.Bxc4 Rxe5 24.f6 Nxg3! 25.Qxg5 Rxg5 26.Bd3+ Kg8
27.hxg3 Nd7+− 5.05] 19.g4?+− 2.61 though the N is trapped, this is not the best option [19.f5
gxf5 20.Bxh5 f4 21.Qxf4 Qxf4 22.Rxf4 Rad8 23.Nxf7 Bxc3 24.Nxd8 Rxd8+− 7.35] 19...Qh4?+−
6.48 [19...Rad8 20.gxh5 Bf8 21.hxg6+ fxg6 22.Bxa6 bxa6 23.Nxc6 Rxd6 24.Nd5 Qg7+− 2.83]
20.gxh5 gxh5 Zaki is up an N 21.f5 Rg8?+− 10.42 [21...Ba2 22.Nd7 Rg8+− 6.87] 22.Kh1
Rad8?+− 13.48 [22...Bxe5? 23.Bxe5 Rad8 24.fxe6 Rxd2 25.Rxd2 Nc7 26.Rd7 Nxe6 27.Rdxf7+
Rg7 28.Bxg7 Nxg7+− 26.16; 22...Ba2 23.f6 Bxf6 24.Nxa2 Rae8+− 11.50] 23.fxe6
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+r+(
7zpp+-+pvlk'
6n+pvLP+-zp&
5+-+-sN-+p%
4PzP-+P+-wq$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2-+PwQL+-zP"
1+-+R+R+K!
xabcdefghy
Bxe5??+− leads to mate in 32 moves [23...fxe6 24.Nf3 Qg4+− 15.37] 24.Rxf7+ Zaki is up B + P
24...Bg7 [24...Kg6 25.Bd3 Qg4 26.Bxe5+− mate in 7 moves] 25.Rg1??+− 19.05 Zaki misses
the somewhat long mating line [25.e7 Qg5 (25...Rde8 26.Rg1 Qf6 27.Bc4! Nb8 28.Rxf6 Bxf6
29.Bxg8+ Rxg8 30.Qf2+− mate in 7 moves) 26.exd8Q Rxd8 27.Rg1 Qxg1+ 28.Kxg1 Rg8
29.Be5+− mate in 9 moves] 25...Kh8??+− Leads to mate again [25...Qf6] 26.Rgxg7! this sac
mates. Rob resigned. The mate is 26...Qe1+ 27.Bf1 Qxf1+ 28.Rxf1 Rxg7 29.Qxh6+ Kg8 30.e7
Rxe7 31.Rg1+ Kf7 32.Qg7+ Ke6 33.Qxe7# 1-0
Round 6
Longo, Tyler (2065) − Moran−Venegas, Mario (1757) [A48]

The Battle of Toronto Invitational Toronto, Canada (6), 26.11.2012
1.d4² 0.29 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.b3?!= [3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0²] 3...Bg7 4.Bb2 0-0 5.Nbd2³ [5.e3 d5
6.c4 Bg4=] 5...b6?!= [5...c5 6.dxc5 Na6³] 6.e4 Bb7 7.Bd3 c5 8.e5 Nh5 9.Be4?!³ [9.dxc5 bxc5
Toronto Chess News

48
10.Qc1 Nc6=] 9...Nc6?!= [9...d5 10.exd6 Bxe4 11.Nxe4 exd6³] 10.d5 Nb4?!² [10...Na5 11.c4 f5
12.exf6 Nxf6=] 11.a3 Na6?!± Tyler gets a " clear " advantage [11...Nxd5] 12.0-0?= [12.d6 Bc6
13.Bxc6 dxc6±] 12...f5 13.exf6 Nxf6
Position after 13…Nxf6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpl+pzp-vlp'
6nzp-+-snp+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-+L+-+$
3zPP+-+N+-#
2-vLPsN-zPPzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
14.c4?∓ leads to a long, complicated set of exchanges favouring Mario. Mario gets a " clear "
advantage 14...Nxe4 15.Bxg7 Nxd2 16.Bxf8 Tyler is temporarily up the exchange 16...Nxf3+
17.Qxf3 Qxf8 Mario is up B + N vs R 18.Qg4 Qf5 19.Qxf5?!-+ Mario gets a " winning "
advantage [19.Qh4 Re8 20.Rae1 e6∓] 19...gxf5 20.Rae1 Re8?!∓ [20...Kf7 21.Re3 Nc7 22.Rd1
Rg8-+] 21.Re5 e6 22.Rd1 Re7 23.Rd3 Kf7 24.Rh3 Kf6?!³ Mario is losing his advantage
[24...Ke8 25.f4 Rg7∓] 25.f4 Kg7 26.Rh5 Kf6?!= Mario has lost his advantage [26...Kf8 27.Kf2
Nb8³] 27.dxe6 dxe6 28.Rh6+ Kf7?± Tyler gets a " clear " advantage [28...Kg7 29.Rhxe6 Rf7=]
29.Rxh7+ Tyler is up R + P vs B + N 29...Ke8 30.Rh8+ Kd7 31.h4 [31.Re2 Rf7 32.h4 Nc7±]
31...Be4 32.g4 Rg7?!+− Tyler gets a " winning " advantage [32...Re8 33.Rxe8 Kxe8±] 33.g5
Nc7?+− 6.24 [33...Bf3 34.Kf2 Bd1+− 4.40] 34.h5 these two connected, passed pawns on the fifth
rank look like BIG trouble 34...Ne8?+− 13.15 [34...Kd6 35.Kf2 Re7+− 8.69] 35.h6 Re7??+− leads
to mate [35...Ke7 36.Rxe6+! Kxe6 37.Rxe8+ Kf7 38.hxg7 Kxg7 39.Rxe4! fxe4+− 14.48] 36.g6 Nf6
[36...a5 37.Rh7 Bc2 38.Rxe7+ Kxe7 39.h7 Bxb3 40.h8Q Bxc4+− mate in 25 moves; 36...Bf3
37.Rf8 Bh5 38.h7 Bxg6 39.h8Q Bf7+− mate in 34 moves] 37.h7??+− 7.55 Tyler misses the
lengthy mating line [37.Rf8 Nh7 38.g7 b5 39.g8Q Nxf8 40.Qxf8 Bc6+− mate in 20 moves]
37...Rg7??+− mate in 63 moves [37...a6 38.Ra8 Bxa8 39.h8Q Ne8+− 9.64] 38.Rd8+ Kxd8
39.h8Q+ Tyler is up Q vs B + N 39...Ne8 40.Rxe6+− Tyler is up Q + P vs B + N, and it is mate in
35 moves 1-0
Toronto Chess News

49
Toronto Junior Championship
Justin Quinn Zehn Nasir

D’Souza
Mike Ivanov
Mark Plotkin
Alejandro
John Zhang Daniel Zotkin Renteria
Alex Florea
( from Annex CC Website )
- started Oct. 15 at the Annex CC; 8-player round robin.

- Mike Ivanov is the new Toronto Junior Champion – he scored 6/7 pts., and won
despite some outstanding games. Congratulations Mike!!
- Crosstable from the Annex CC website - now complete – last outstanding game
played on Dec. 17:
Toronto Chess News

50
CFC FIDE
# Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 total
rating rating
Zhang, 1
1 1973 × ½ 0 0 0 1 0 2.5
John F
Zotkin,
2 1865 1775 ½ × ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 3.0
Daniel
Renteria, 0
3 1364 1693 ½ × 0 0 0 0 0 0.5
Alejandro F
4 Nasir, Zehn 1915 1870 1 ½ 1 × 0 1 1 1 5.5
Ivanov, 1
5 2270 2050 1 1 1 1 × 1 0 6.0
Mike F
Florea, 0
6 2179 2013 1 1 1 0 × 1 0 4.0
Alexandru F
D’Souza,
7 Justin 1517 0 0 1 0 0 0 × 0 1.0
Quinn
Plotkin,
8 2092 1916 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 × 5.5
Mark
Toronto Chess News

51
GTCL Premier Club League Ready to Rumble in 2013
5 teams of 4 players each ( + entitlement to 1 reserve ) are entered into the GTCL
Club Premier League. It starts at Willowdale CC on Jan. 8/13. Details are at
http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/c...13_gtcl_league
The teams are (ordered by first four boards' average rating):
Chess Academy, 2362

Willowdale, 2267
Knights of Chess, 2263
Hart House, 2171
Annex, 2163
Here are the individual members of the teams:
1. Chess Academy: Nikolay Noritsyn 2598

Michael Song 2322
Nikita Gusev 2309
Konstantin Semianiuk 2219
James Fu 2127
Sergey Noritsyn 1924
2. Willowdale: Alex Rabinovich IM (no CFC rating, FIDE 2423)

Michael Barron FM 2268
Michael Kimelman 2219
Vladimir Semyonov 2030
Alexander Strugach 1964
Dmitry Chernik 1929 (captain)
3. Knights of Chess: Victor Plotkin - 2350

Vladimir Birarov - 2273
Mike Ivanov - 2266
Mark Plotkin - 2161
one reserve may be added later on.
4. Hart House: Xu, Haizhou - 2320

Derraugh, Geordie - 2221
Ferreira, Alex - 2081
Yu, Jonathan - 2046
Roller, Robert – 1880
5. Annex: Michael Humphreys, FM - 2270 (captain)

Pavel Peev - 2213
Toronto Chess News

52
Tyler Longo - 2065

Daniel Wiebe - 2057
Zehn Nasir – 1931
Chess Organization News
From the GTCL Perspective
- The Greater Toronto Chess League ( GTCL ) has a 6 person executive and
currently a 9 person board of directors (can be larger)
- Coordinating chess in the Greater Toronto Area (Toronto, Halton, Peel, York &
Durham)
- Website: http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/
(by TCN Liaison for GTCL, Egis Zeromskis)
The GTCL award ceremonies of Women, Senior, Junior champions will be held during
the Hart House Winter Open, on Saturday January 5, just before Round 3 approximately
at 3:50 pm (15:50). Participants will receive chess books donated by Mr. J. Ken
MacDonald too.
In January League championship will take place at the Willowdale Chess Club. If you
missed the registration deadline (December 31), contact Vladimir Birarov
[ vlady0101@yahoo.com ] immediately. The current team list will be published
at http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/chesstournament/2013_gtcl_league
The Greater Toronto Chess League wishes everyone good games in 2013!
Chess Institute of Canada
Toronto Chess News

53
Photo Credit: Jordynn Colosi

At the Chess Institute of Canada, we bring chess to life!
( by Jessica Yared, TCN Liaison for CIC )
November 17 Tournament Results
The Chess Institute of Canada’s (CIC) first tournament of the school year took place on
November 16th, with over 85 children participating. Awards were given out to the top
winners in each section, as well as the top winners in each grade.
Winners by grade: SK – Isaac Schneider, Gr. 1 – Solomon Rosenblood, Gr. 2 – Maksim

Casino, Gr. 3 – Dylan Pitt, Gr. 4 – Julian Matta, Gr. 5 – Colin Monahan, Gr. 6 – Cuinn
Chowdhury, Gr. 7 – Kaizen Liu, Gr. 8 – Liam Baillergeon.
For a full list of the tournament results by section, please consult the CFC website.
December 7 Tournament and Winter Camp
There is still time to register your child for the CIC’s December 7 P.A. Day Tournament.
The tournament is open to beginner to advanced kids in SK to Grade 8. Our trained
instructors engage children in group and individual tournaments and other chess
challenges. An awards ceremony is held at the end of the day so that children get a
chance to celebrate each other’s accomplishments with ribbons and medals.
Also not to be missed is the CIC’s fun-filled Winter Chess Camp! Run by Director of
Curriculum, Tal Granite, CIC camps give kids the opportunity to build on their skills or
learn chess for the first time with tournaments and simuls, openings and endgames,
strategy and tactics and other chess adventures. The camp’s program is also packed with
a lot of other activities sure to keep even the most active child stimulated, including a
variety of sports, arts and crafts, drama and improv, and more!
Register for these great events on the CIC website at http://www.chessinstitute.ca.
Toronto Chess News

54
Join the CIC’s mailing list so that you’re always notified about our upcoming camps and
tournaments. (http://www.chessinstitute.ca/news/join-our-mailing-list/).
Chess Club News
TORONTO
Scarborough Chess Club News
Scarborough Chess Club starts the New Year with the Jack Frost Swiss, a 5-round
tournament commencing on Thursday Jan. 10 (NOTE: NOT Jan. 3 as originally
reported).
Annex Chess Club News
Meets Monday evenings

Location: 918 Bathurst St., Toronto (north of the Bathurst Subway Station)
Annex CC website: http://annexchessclub.com/
(by TCN Liaison for Annex CC, Marcus Wilker)
Happy new year! We've been closed for the holidays December 24 and 31, but many of
our members will be playing in the Hart House Winter Open, Jan 4 to 6.
2013 will see another edition of our Club Championship followed by the Toronto Closed,
and maybe another Battle of Toronto. But it all starts with our Polar Bear Swiss Round 1
January 7.
Kids' classes are back in full swing on January 7 as well. The Winter session runs on
Monday nights till March Break.
Toronto Chess News

55
There's a kids' section of the Polar Bear Swiss, too, played at a faster time control and
running parallel to the main tournament.
January 7 will also see our Executive elections, starting at 6:30 pm.
Then, January 14, along with Round 2, we're re-launching our 7-week adult Introduction
to Chess course - beginner and intermediate levels.
It's shaping up to be a great year, with lots of chess for everyone!
Willowdale Chess Club News
Meetings: Tuesday, 7:00 – 10:00 PM (generally casual play)

Location: Earl Bales Community Centre (Bathurst St./Sheppard Ave.)
(by TCN Liaison, Mike Ivanov )
Willowdale will be hosting the GTCL team matches, which will include such as
Annex, Hart House, The Knights of chess and the hosts, the Willowdale chess club. The
tentative start date is January 8th and it'll be running every Tuesday under a round-robin
system.
HALTON
Burlington Chess Club News
Meetings - Tuesday evenings

Website: http://www.burlingtonchessclub.com/
Email: jandllehmann@sympatico.ca
Location:
The Red Cross Building
262 Guelph Line
Burlington, ON L7R 3K7
(Southwest corner of Guelph Line and 1st Street)
For juniors : the Burlington Junior Chess Club – Wednesdays - at Robert Bateman High
School, 5151 New Street (near Appleby Line). Check website for details.
(by TCN Liaison for Burlington CC, Bob Gillanders)
The club ended the year with an evening of casual chess on December 18th, just
one week prior to Christmas day. We were pleasantly surprised by three new faces, one
of which was a former member from years ago, who brought his two work buddies. The
three of them play a round robins during their lunch hour at the water treatment plant
with the unusual time control of game in 22 minutes. Welcome to Eric, Mathew, and Joe,
I hope we see them in the new year. Thanks again this year to Ed for the Christmas
cookies!
Toronto Chess News

56
The club will be closed on Dec. 25th and Jan 1st and return on Jan 8th with a casual
night of chess. The tournament schedule starts off with the club championship starting
Jan 15th. All club tournaments are CFC rated with 2 hours sudden death time controls.
The 2013 tournament schedule has been posted on our website.
The final meeting of the junior club on Wednesday, Dec 19th was cancelled. The
junior club reopens in 2013 on Wednesday, January 9th at Robert Bateman High School.
PEEL
Mississauga Chess Club News
Website: www.mississaugachessclub.ca
Email: chessking123@hotmail.com
Location: U of T – Mississauga Campus (see website for map)
Junior club: Thursdays, 6:45 – 8pm, Spiegel Hall
Adult club: Thursdays, 8-11pm, Faculty Lounge, Room 3141
(by TCN Liaison for Mississauga CC, Bob Gillanders)
The annual club meeting was held Thursday, December 13th, before taking a three
week break for Christmas and New Year. The meeting highlights are:
1. The traditional club executive structure has been thrown out and replaced by a
panel of directors. The club directors are Paul Roschman, Vincent Chow, and Bob
Gillanders. This now better represents the actual decision making process that has been in
place for many years.
2. The club now has 261 members (adult club = 56, junior club = 205). I believe that
gives us bragging rights to be the largest chess club in Canada, but certainly not the
strongest.
3. We will kick off the 2013 schedule with the club speed championship on Jan 10th.
As we did last year, the club will sponsor a $200 total prize fund. Players must be club
members, but then that is only $35/year!
4. The next 6 weeks will be the Viktar Chuprys Memorial tournament. As we did last
year, the club will match the optional $10/player prize fund.
5. The balance of the 2013 tournament schedule will be determined by a committee

consisting of Florian Bergeron, Shankar Balakrishnan, and Paul Roschman.
6. Shankar Balakrishnan has volunteered to be TD for the adult club, and Jin Huang
has volunteered to join our core of parent and student volunteers in the junior club.
Thanks guys.
Toronto Chess News

57
7. A vote was taken to enforce a game forfeit due to cell phone ringing. The motion
was defeated. However a second motion, a $10 penalty for cell phone ringing ( 1
warning/ year) was adopted.
8. Forming a team for the GTCL league was discussed, but there was insufficient
interest.
9. The parking authority is threatening to increase the fees on our parking passes, a
lot. The school is on our side in keeping any increases reasonable, but we just don’t know
yet.
10. We are considering opening the club on Sunday afternoons, on a trial basis. It is
contingent on getting sufficient volunteers, a reasonable deal on the rent, and satisfactory
resolution of our parking issues.
As always, we appreciate our members who attend the annual meeting and voice
their opinions.
We broke our usual routine at the junior club for the final 2 weeks of the year. On
th
Dec 6 we introduced them to a waterfall tournament. Players start at row 1, and the
winners move to row 2, and so on, until they reach the simul tables against a strong adult.
It was fun, but a bit chaotic as we struggled with bottlenecks. Learning a few lessons in
the process, we tried it again with more success on Dec 13th. We ended the year with
another new attendance record of 133 kids. The kids were treated again to club t shirts, a
tradition we started last year. With at least a dozen cameras amongst the parents, we
await to see who captured the most kids in the group photo.
The club opens again in 2013 on Jan 10th. A reminder of our YCC qualifier
tournament on January 27th.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Mississauga CYCC Qualifier 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Location: University of Toronto (Mississauga Campus)

3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga
Faculty Lounge, 3rd floor
Visit our website for a site map: www.mississaugachessclub.ca
Entry fee: $25, family discount ($10 each for siblings)

5 round Swiss pairings, Time control: 25 minutes each.
Sections: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18, (Boys & Girls)
(Sections will be combined where numbers warrant.)
Medals will be awarded for top 3 finishers in each section.

This is a qualifying tournament for the Canadian Youth Chess Championships 2013.
Players achieving a score of 2.5 or better will qualify (subject to approval of the CFC
Youth coordinator) to participate in the CYCC in Ottawa in July 2013.
Toronto Chess News

58
Players are encouraged to register in advance at the Mississauga Junior Chess Club any
Thursday evening or by email to rgillanders@cogeco.ca by January 17, 2013. Space is
limited, so register early. Late entry fee is $5.
Players check in between 12-12:30pm to confirm registration and pay entry fees.
Rounds start: 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, sharp.
Presentation of medals: 6:15-6:30pm
Tournament Director: Bob Gillanders

CFC Quick rated, Mississauga Junior Club rated.
Players are required to maintain a scoresheet.
Parking: $6 all day Sunday flat rate. (sorry, club parking passes are not valid on sunday)
Refreshments provided.
YORK
Aurora Chess Club News
Meetings: Mondays in the Cafeteria of Aurora High School, from 6pm until 10:30pm!
Website: www.aurorachessclub.ca
For info: contact founder, Graeme Knight : info@aurorachessclub.ca
(by TCN Liaison for Aurora CC, Graeme Knight)
What a great first seven weeks of our new, fresh, young chess club! The
Christmas Season is well and truly upon us and we are looking forward to New Year
Chess! But in the meantime, here’s a run-down of the events to date:
Our first meeting on the 5th November saw the Mayor of Aurora make the first
move against a young chess player who now frequents out hall. We welcomed folks from
Aurora and surrounding area and had an evening of casual chess. Chocolates shaped like
chess pieces and beverages were available to all who participated. November 12th saw
more casual chess and more members. Old friends met once again, new friends were
made, and our membership grew.
Toronto Chess News

59
The 19th November saw our first club rapid chess competition – for the
Tournament Director it was a baptism of fire as it was his first time running anything like
this. It went well and 30 players battled over 5 rounds until an eventual winner was
found. Eleven year old Yuan Chen Zhang proved to be one of the strongest players in the
club for all to learn from. After a week’s break and casual chess on the 26th (the
Tournament Director needed a well-earned break to get his nerves back together) two
consecutive back-to-back Rapids were held.
These competitions again went without a hitch and had a good number of players
considering the Christmas Shopping was probably in full swing at that time. Once again
Yuan Chen prevailed, but for others, the matches gave a time to calculate their strengths
and weaknesses and form plans for improvement into 2013.
Our final meeting prior to the Christmas break (of two weeks) was simply
amazing for all involved. National Master Egis Zeromskis graced us with a simultaneous
display and gave all-comers a chance to battle with him for an evening. Out of twenty
boards, twenty losses were recorded. The playing strength varied but was generally
strong, and Egis did a great job being masterful and professional in his approach – it gave
everyone a wonderful playing experience over a period of several hours.
The club starts up again on 7th January 2013, 6pm at Aurora High School. Details
are on the website and all are welcome. Our first day back will see the start of a 5-week
CFC rated Swiss competition. Details are also on the website.
We’ve had a wonderful start to the club – and I wish to thank all involved. On
behalf of the 32 members of the Aurora Chess Club, I wish you a very Happy Holiday
and good chess for the coming year.
DURHAM
Ajax Chess Club News
- meet every 1st, 3rd and 5th Fridays of the month

- 7:00-8:30 pm for juniors and adults play up to 11:00 pm.
- location: 115 Ritchie Ave, Ajax
- currently, tournaments are not CFC-rated: no club members have CFC
membership
- For further information, contact David Ho at ajaxchessclub@gmail.com
( from TCN Liaison for Ajax CC, David Ho)
The Ajax chess club had its Christmas pot luck social last night [ Friday,
Dec. 21 ]. Good cheer and chess play was present all night. On behalf of myself and club
we wish all you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
SOUTH-WESTERN ONTARIO
Chess Club News
Hamilton City Chess Club News
Toronto Chess News

60
Meetings: Friday Nights

Website: http://chesshamilton.mygamesonline.org/news.php
Email: chesshamilton@gmail.com
Location: Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School
1715 Main Street East (near Parkdale)
Hamilton, Ontario
(by TCN Liaison for Hamilton CC, Bob Gillanders)
Round 4 of the Holiday Series tournament was held on Friday, Dec 21st to
conclude the 2012 year. The club will be closed on Dec 28th and Jan 4th for the holiday.
The club will return on January 11th to play the final round. Doug Bailey leads the
tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.
We are trying to book Winston Churchill Secondary school for the Hamilton
Winter Open but there may be a snag. Apparently some other large group now meets
there regularly on Saturday’s in another room but they eat their lunch in the cafeteria. We
will be posting tournament details once we finalize the room rental.
Kitchener-Waterloo Chess Club News
Meetings: Tuesdays – regular meeting
Sunday afternoons – Youth Club
Location: Kitchener City Hall ( located in the heart of downtown Kitchener at 200 King
Street West ), the 'Conestoga Room' behind the rotunda on the main floor, and in the
'Learning Room' on the 2nd Floor.
Website: www.kwchessclub.com/
( by TCN Liaison for K-W CC, Kai Gauer )
1 - 23 players played in the club championship (you already reported the winners [ Issue
# 1-8 ] )
2 - 13 players played a 5 minutes/player + 3 seconds/move 4 round Bronstein time

control during our Christmas club celebrations with snacks (Hans Jung was upset by
Avinaash in the last round, and Istvan Kiss was the 3rd player with 3 out of 4).
3 - the kw chess club closes until 8 January, when a new tournament (Ed Thompson
thinks it's a "quick" time control, but he hasn't announced that yet)
It appears that the room for the 2012 Ontario closed has not yet been booked. So it
appears that Hans Jung has cancelled it on the behalf of Hans Jung.
Toronto Chess News

61
TCN Readers’ Section

Editor’s Notebook: 2012 Year-End Stock-taking
As you may know, your intrepid editor, Bob Armstrong, is a passionate

tournament player ( though of somewhat modest ability – and that may be stating the case
somewhat more strongly than it deserves). Before launching into an optimistic New Year
of more tournament playing, Dec. 31 is the time for every player to look back, to take
stock. Where have we been? How have we been doing? And in chess, this can mean to us
avid players, what in the world is happening to my rating!!?? Now some of us have been
accused of “ rating obsession “. But I prefer to think of it as an objective, detached view,
of the historical ups and downs of chess life. And what better time to look back than the
end of the year?
A Chart of ( Fluctuating ) Rating History
The CFC Website gives a personal chess rating history of its members, back to
1997. So a few years ago, smitten by the bug of ascertaining certainty about history, I
developed a chart to help me evaluate my somewhat spotty chess career. Here it is up to
2011:
Average Peak
Year Rating Rating 1500’s 1600’s 1700’s 1800’s 1900’s
1997 1774 1800 No Yes Yes Only 1 No

1998 1726 1784 No Yes Yes No No
1999 1697 1767 No Yes Yes No No
2000 1793 1859 No No Yes Yes No
2001 1831 1911 No No Yes Yes Only 1
2002 1699 1778 No Yes Yes No No
2003 1629 1730 Yes Yes Yes No No
2004 1649 1729 Yes Yes Yes No No
2005 1673 1729 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
2006 1714 1875 No Yes Yes Yes No
Rating Boon
2007 1785 1829 No Yes Yes Yes No
2008 1825 1873 No No Yes Yes No
2009 1824 1857 No No Only 1 Yes No
2010 1790 1832 No No Yes Yes No
2011 1735 1819 No Only 1 Yes Only 1 No
So we can see that my rating has risen and fallen over the years. From 2003 to 2005, I
had ratings under 1600, in the “C” class. But before then, in 2000-1 I had “A” class
ratings. And after the low period, from 2005 to 2011, I had ratings in the “A” class again.
So from A to C and back up to A. And if we were to check back on my career from when
Toronto Chess News

62
I started playing tournament chess in 1964, we would see a number of repeats of this
wave pattern. So much for the concept of consistency!
But one thing that is not clear from the chart, is the rather devastating year 2011
turned out to be. At the start of the year, 1819. At the end of the year, 1699. A significant
decline of over 100 points. This taking stock is becoming worrisome!
A Look Back Over 2012
My 2012 New Year’s resolution was to reverse the trend – to dig in my heels, call
on my year’s of experience ( coming up on almost 50 years ) and start climbing back up
toward the 1800 mark. What in fact happened? A repeat of the prior year ( sigh ). My
average rating fell from 1735 to 1648, almost 100 pts.. My peak rating fell from 1819 to
1699, over 100 points. And though almost all my ratings were in the 1600’s, the second
last one ( 1595 ) put me into the 1500’s for the first time since 2005, 7 years ago ( though
the last one bounced me back up to 1600! (whew!– can proudly say I didn’t end the year
in the 1500’s – can’t come much closer, though, can you?)!
Conclusion
Now some might be discouraged at this career review. But for us died-in-the-wool
tournament players, the saying is: “ There is always HOPE!” “ Don’t let them wear you
down” is our motto. So what is my 2013 New Year’s Resolution?? To crawl back up to
1700, and if I make it during the year, to then shoot for the very distant goal of 1800!!
The moral of this story is this: even if your life in 2012 was much less than you
had hoped for, don’t give up! Fight back! Believe that 2013 can be BETTER!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND ALL THE BEST
FOR YOU IN 2013!!
Ken’s Chess Trivia
(questions/presentations researched by columnist Ken Kurkowski,
Scarborough CC Treasurer, and TCN Liaison for SCC)
Last Issue’s Chess Trivia was the Question:
Toronto Chess News

63
What former participant in the Canadian Closed has the distinction of having defeated
Bobby Fischer in a serious game?
The Answer is:

Initially, I thought there was only one answer, Carlos Jauregui
Carlos Jauregui Andrade was born in Santiago, Chile on September 14, 1932. He was a
participant in many Chilean Championships from 1951-1974, but he never finished
higher than second place in any of them. He represented Chile in the Chess Olympiads in
1956 and 1964.
In the mid-1970's he moved to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. He was a

participant in the Canadian Championships in 1978, 1981 and 1987.
Jauregui’s win (playing the White side of a King’s Indian Saemisch) against Fischer
came in 1959 at Santiago, Chile.
On a personal note, I saw Carlos in action at my first Canadian Open- Fredericton NB
1977.
But two subscribers sent in a different answer, that on researching, I have found is also
right – multiple Canadian Champion from Montreal, Maurice Fox ( he was Canadian
Champion 8 times, tying the record of Abe Yanofsky ). At age 58, Fox beat 13-year-old
Bobby Fischer, a future World Champion, in the 1956 Open Canadian Chess
Championship at Montreal. This was the first Canadian Open, and the game was in the
fourth round.
TCN Bragging Rights:

There was a flurry of activity after the Dec. 15 Issue of TCN was sent out around 10:00
PM on Friday night, Dec. 14. Multiple past Scarborough Newsletter Trivia Quiz winner,
Pino Verde, Scarborough CC member, had his answer in at 11:20 PM on Friday night,
and it was right ( Ken had to add to his answer, the second correct answer ). Michael von
Keitz, CFC President, was also pretty fast out of the blocks, but he didn’t get his correct
answer in until 12:24 AM Saturday morning – about an hour too slow ( though he added
two facts to the answer that we didn’t have )! Honourable mention also goes to Phil
Haley who came in with the right answer, but was quite a ways behind time-wise. It’s
looking like subscribers who want to win this Quiz, have to move like greased lightning
after the Issue is published! How fast will someone have to be to win this Issue’s Quiz??
Today’s Trivia Question is:
Only one person has ever won the World Junior Championship with a perfect score (i.e.
no losses OR draws). Who was he? Bonus question: Where did he accomplish this feat?
Toronto Chess News

64
You can use any resource available to answer the question ! Just find it fast and send it in
as fast as you can, by e-mail, to Ken: kkurkowski@rogers.com
The first correct e-mail received wins, and gets bragging rights. Also, we will publish the
honoured winner’s name in the next newsletter, along with a few details they provide as
to their chess experience ( if they wish ), along with the researched answer.
Thanks for playing !!
Chess History is fun !!
Also write Ken if you have any chess trivia questions or presentations you’d like him to
consider for his column. We will give credit to the author if we use your suggestion.
TCN Readers Have Questions
This column invites readers to submit to TCN any type of chess question they wish (e.g.
What does FIDE stand for?), and TCN will try to find the answer.
TCN Readers’ Feedback
We would like to thank subscriber Pino Verde, Scarborough CC member, who

recently wrote in:
My compliments on a great issue [ # 1-8 of Dec. 15 ] of Toronto Chess

News!
As well, our Scarborough CC TCN Liaison wrote in about Issue # 1-8 of Dec. 15:
Great newsletter, especially the article by Harmony- an amazing little girl! I was a
bit taken aback though by her quote about ‘Mr. Kasparov’: “he is old but still
handsome”. That makes guys like us...ANCIENT haha
We obviously love that kind of feedback!! Keep it coming ! LOL
TCN’s “Readers’ Opinion” Column
Got a chess issue that has been bothering you for a while? Got a favourite chess
topic that you’ve always wanted to share with other chess players? Read something in
TCN that you profoundly agreed with, or maybe (surely not !) disagreed with?
We are very open to publishing freelance articles and comments from our readers.
Drop us a line, and we’ll read it over, and let you know if we’d like to use it.
Also, if you would like us to cover some topic, send us your idea, and we’ll see if
we can write something up on it.
Toronto Chess News

65
Finally, we love to hear from our readers on how we’re doing, good, bad or
indifferent. Drop a line to the editor, and give us your suggestions, comments and general
feedback.
Tournament Notices
Hart House Winter Open
January 4th, 5th, 6th (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Great Hall, Main Floor, Hart House, University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle
Style: 5 round Swiss in 4 sections: Open & U2200 (FIDE Rated),

U1900 & U1600
Rounds: 6pm Friday, 10am & 4pm Saturday & Sunday
Time Control: 120 mins + 30 sec increment for Open & U2200 Sections; 30
moves in 90 minutes, with 1 hour added after move 30 for
U1900 & U1600 Sections
Registration: In advance by January 2nd by cheque or email.
Registrants after January 2nd are not guaranteed to be paired
Round 1.
In advance (arrival by January 2nd) by mail to:
Hart House Chess Club – 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto,
ON M5S 3H3
Make cheque payable to Hart House Chess Club. No postdated
cheques please.
Email registration to hhchess@utoronto.ca (by January 2nd –
otherwise considered late). Email registrants must arrive onsite
before 5:30pm
January 4th to pay or will be charged onsite fee.
Membership: Registrants must be current CFC members or bring payment
prior to playing.
Entry Fees: $70 in advance, $90 cash only on site. Extra $20 to play up
each section.
Free for players new to CFC rated tournaments, eligible for
prizes in Open Section only.
Discounts: $10 less for juniors (born after January 4th, 1995), seniors
(60+), women, FM’s and University of Toronto students (show
ID card). One discount per player.
Free for IMs by December 28th, $60 afterwards, $80 on-site.
Byes: Maximum of 2 in rounds 1-4 if requested in advance.
Hart House: 10 minute walk Southeast from St. George subway station or 5
minute walk
Southwest from Museum subway station.
PRIZES: $5,000
(Based on 110 players)
1st place in Open Section - $800 minimum Guaranteed!
Toronto Chess News

66
Prize distribution
Open U2300 U2200 U1900 U1600 Team
1 $1000 $250 $300 $300 $300 $400
2 $700 $250 $250 $250
3 $400 $200 $200 $200
Other Info: Please bring chess sets and clocks.

For parking and access information, please visit our
website.
Website: http://hhchess.sa.utoronto.ca/hhopen
Organizer: Alex Ferreira, Hart House Chess Club
Arbiter: Bryan Lamb
GTCL Premier League Cup
Four-on-four matches for Toronto chess teams.

Format: Round Robin tournament for 4-player teams, team board decided by the team
captain.
Dates: Tuesdays, starting from January 8, 2013 - as long as necessary.
Location: all matches at Willowdale Chess Club, 4169 Bathurst, Toronto.
Arbiter: Fred Kormendi
Organizer: Vladimir Birarov
Time Control: game in 60 minutes, with 30-second increment from move 1.
Registration: By email to vlady0101@yahoo.com; teams of 4 players and unlimited
number of reserves, should be registered by December 31, 2012.
Entry Fee: FREE
Prizes: trophies for winning team (to be provided by GTCL)
CFC-Rated: To be rated with the CFC – CFC Membership Required (GTCL to cover
rating fees).
2013 Toronto Closed Championship – Advance Notice
April 15 to June 10, 2013
GTCL Event: The Toronto Closed is sanctioned by the Greater Toronto Chess League,
which also pays rating fees and provides the trophy
Championship Format: an 8-player round robin comprised of the highest rated Toronto
players who apply - but the defending Toronto Champion and the 2012 Reserve winner
qualify automatically
Reserve Section: eight additional players – and the winner qualifies for next year’s
Championship
Time Control: game in 90 minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one
CFC & FIDE-rated: Championship section rated by the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC)
and the World Chess Federation (FIDE)
Chief Arbiter: Alex Ferreira
Toronto Chess News

67
Prizes (based on 16 players):

o First Place – $400 and trophy
o Second Place – $200
o Reserve 1st – $180 and qualify for next year
o Reserve 2nd – $100
Entry Deadline: Entries Annex Chess Club @ •first set of lights north of
Bloor
must be received online or at 918 Bathurst •one block from Bathurst
Annex Chess Club by April 1 @ just north of Bloor (near
subway
7:00 pm Location Bathurst subway)
Game Time Monday nights @ 7:30 pm

seven rounds, April 15 to June 10
Entry Fee $90 ($10 discount for ACC members) up-to-
date CFC membership is required
________________________________________________________________________
NOTES:
A - Contact Bob Armstrong, editor. , at Canadian Chess Consulting Service
(canadianchessconsultingservice@gmail.com) to :
1. Be added to the free e-mail list;
2. Submit content (fact, opinion, criticism, recommendations!).
B – The opinions expressed here are those of the editor, and not necessarily those of Canadian Chess
Consulting Service;
C - To review this newsletter after it has been deleted, or some of the archived newsletters, visit our own
TCN official website at: www.TorontoChessNews.com
D – Please notify us if you wish to be removed from the free subscription list..
Editor: Bob Armstrong.
Publisher: Canadian Chess Consulting Service.
Canadian
Chess Coordinator: Bob Armstrong
Consulting
Toronto Chess News

68
Service
CanadianChessConsultingService@gmail.com
Bob’s LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

CCCS Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Chess-Consulting-Service/164065437044857
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TCN 1 9

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THE “Independent” Voice for Canadian Chess

Covering Toronto Chess News and Beyond!

“Chess IS Life!” – GM Bobby Fischer

Issue # 1- 9 – January 1, 2013

Highest Rated Human Ever @ 2861! Magnus Carlsen ( Norway )!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Toronto Chess News

World Mind Games – Chess 6

Organizations with News Reports

Toronto Chess News

GTCL League Cup 66

NOTE re GAME ANALYSIS

Toronto Chess News

Youth/Junior Chess in Canada

Toronto Chess News

Toronto Chess News

World Mind Games – Chess

Men: Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura,

As always the players performed in three different disciplines, in 2-day sessions:

Rapid Section: Men’s

( Adapted from Susan Polgar Blog ) Laurent Fressinet (France)

Toronto Chess News

Here is Laurent’s win against Sergey ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong,

Karjakin, Sergey (2775) − Fressinet, Laurent (2700) [A07]

Toronto Chess News

Position after 44…Nxd4

Kateryna Lahno ( Ukraine )

Toronto Chess News

won gold in the women’s section on tie-break.

Stefanova, Antoaneta (2491) − Lahno, Kateryna (2553) [A49]

Toronto Chess News

Position after 50…Rf1?!

Blitz Section: Men’s

( adapted from FIDE ) Sergey Karjakin ( Russia )

Toronto Chess News

Blitz Section: Women’s

Anna, Alexandra, Elizabeth

Blindfold Section: Men’s

Levon Aronian ( Armenia )

Toronto Chess News

Blindfold Section: Women’s

Gold was won by Hou Yifan ( China ).

Groningen Chess Festival, Netherlands

Canadian GM-elect, Eric Hansen, of Alberta played.

Also playing was Canadian IM Leon Piasetski of British Columbia.

Toronto Chess News

FIDE January 1, 2013 Regular Rating Lists – Open/Women

Toronto Chess News

# 1 : Magnus Carlsen ( Norway - 1990 ), rated 2861 ( up 13 pts.);

# 3 : Levon Aronian ( Armenia ) – rated 2802 ( down 13 pts. );

Toronto Chess News

# 4: Teimour Radjabov ( Azerbaijan ), rated 2793.

# 5: Fabiano Caruana ( Italy - 1992 ), at 2781 ;

# 6: Sergey Karjakin ( Russia – 1990 ), rated 2780 ( up 5 pts.);

Toronto Chess News

# 8: Veselin Topalov ( Bulgaria ), rated 2771;

# 9: Hikaru Nakamura ( USA ), rated 2769.

Toronto Chess News

# 10: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ( Azerbaijan ), rated 2766.