ACC February Newsletter

·

·

==

We have finished the first full tournament of 2024!

The winners of A New Leaf were:

Crown: Richard Douglas, with an impressive 5/5

U1800: Tanishq Kumar Dinghra, with an amazing 5/5 and a performance rating approaching 1900!

U1400: a tie between Ben Kamnitzer and new member Richard Reischig.

Congratulations all!

==

Prior to last week’s round, I had said that we would be strictly enforcing our play-up policy, which allows players whose rating is within 100 points of the next rating floor to play up if they wish.

We will continue to enforce this, with the exception of section winners. So a player who wins the U1800 section in a tournament will be allowed to play up to the Crown, and can remain in the higher section if their rating continues to merit it.

This seems to be a reasonable way to allow underrated players to advance quickly, while maintaining a “rating quality” for each section, so a 1650 player isn’t facing an 800 player, for example.

If you have any questions or comments about this, please feel free to email me.

==

Our 2024 Club Championship begins this coming Monday! This is a six-round Swiss, but otherwise exactly like our regular tournaments. I encourage you all to register online or by reply email. The more of you register before Monday, the easier my life is. I appreciate all the help I can get!

This tournament has cash prizes! $100 for the winner of the Championship section, $75 for the U1800, and $50 for the U1400.

Please remember that bye requests are not retroactive. If you intend to play but must miss round one, you must register for the tournament, and request a bye before the tournament begins, otherwise… you just weren’t there!

Also, please do not arrive at 7:28, without having registered for the tournament, and ask if it’s too late to be paired. I’ll do what I can, but I can make no promises. I will be redoubling my efforts to get pairings done by 7:15, and anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated.

==

Club member (and dedicated volunteer) Daniel Rokhvarger is running the February Frozen Blitz tournament this Saturday evening (Feb. 10) at 918 Bathurst. I encourage everyone to take part. It looks like it will be a fun evening of chess!

You can find the details of this event here.

==

Our next meeting of the Toronto Women’s Chess Club is also this Monday, February 12 at 6:30, hosted by WGM Anna Burtasova. Women club members are welcome to attend.

==

Please remember that early bird pricing for tickets to the Candidates Tournament is ending soon. You can get your tickets here!

==

ACC’s Annual General Meeting will be happening in early March, likely March 4.

This meeting will start at 6:30 and will last roughly thirty minutes.

Of course, an agenda will be sent out to the membership, and everyone is welcome to attend.

In general, an AGM involves a review of the past year’s activities, financial position, and an election of board members.

Being a board member of ACC is a volunteer position, and we strive to keep the workload light for people who agree to step up and help ACC function.

If you are interested in being on the 2024 board of ACC, please send a resume/CV/letter of interest to the club by email. Of course, we will also take nominations from the floor.

==

We are very grateful to all of the people, volunteer board members, or volunteers who set up boards and pieces, who help to make this club run. We cannot do it without you!

Some people who have been especially active in making the day-to-day operations of the club are: Daniel, Clara, Heidi, Ryan, Zeen, Gabriel, and (the other) Ryan. Thanks to all of you! Your help is incredibly appreciated!

Thank you, and see you Monday!