U of T Hart House Reading Week Open 2013

Report and Final Standings HHchess HHOpen 2013
From Alex Ferreira Chesstalk

'125 players came and played in the Reading Week Open. Very consistent with our normal standards, though we will try to match the Winter Open's attendance at some point in future

We were a bit upset with ourselves mostly, for having started the 1st round about 1 hour late. A mix of having a computer setback (which could have totally been avoided with more advanced preparation), and some snow that delayed several of the participants. Something that must be improved for next time. Being more strict with late registrations will be necessary as well.

Apart from that, the tournament was an overall success. Most players seemed to have enjoyed it. In particular, 8 players played in their first ever tournament and at least 5 of them who I talked to in more detail were truly excited about the experience.

The Winners:
Open
In the Open Section, tournament favourite Grandmaster Bator Sambuev topped the group with 4.5/5, taking down IMs Noritsyn and Vavrak as well upcoming star Razvan Preotu. Only a draw conceded to IM Tomas Krnan.

IM Bindi Cheng and Razvan Preotu shared 2nd and 3rd with 4.0 points each.
Within the Open Section, three players split the U2300 prize. WFM Jackie Peng, Konstantin Semianiuk and our right-hand-man for these tournaments, Geordie Derraugh.

Under 2200
In the U2200, playing all the top competition, Matthew Nicholson came clear first with 4.5/5. Zehn Nasir took 2nd with 4 points, and Bill Evans shared 3rd with UT troublemaker Jonathan Yu.

Under 1900
The largest section this time was U1900, with 42 players. All the favourites finished just below the prize-winnings. Derick Aghamalian took clear 1st with 4.5 points.

Two more youngsters, Daniel Sirkovich and Alexandre Michelashvili, along with veteran Will Rutherdale, shared the rest of the exploits. All clear outperforming their ratings, climbing the ranks with the next section in sight for next time!

Under 1600
In the U1600, Harry Zhao cleared the field, entering the last round with 4/4! He had to play his dad in the last round, Yanchun Zhao, who also did terrific again and finished 2nd-4th. Chess is in the family -- Taking also 2nd-4th were upcoming juniors, Richard Guo and Daniel Liu.

Team Prize
For a change, the Team Prize never seemed in doubt. The 'Zen Masters' took a lead and never looked back. They were Matthew Nicholson, Zehn Nasir, Robert Li and Richard Guo.

Big Thanks
I also want to thank Bryan Lamb for an amazing job as always.

Making this tournament possible were also the stellar Hart House Chess Club Volunteers.

The phenomenal people who go above and beyond: Leon Perelman, Haizhou Xu, Geordie Derraugh.

And with the essential on-site help, making the difference: Adrienne Todd, Jack Ding, Jonathan Yu, Bindi Cheng, Chris Wehrfritz, Samir Hossain, as well as our alumni who weren't even playing in the tournament, Edward Chan, Kit Ng, Bernd Hahn.

We also had the pleasure of having Aquino Inigo with us again. At Hart House tournaments, we gladly offer High School students the opportunity to help out and collect volunteer hours to graduate.

Thank you all for coming, and hope it was an enjoyable experience,

Alex Ferreira
Hart House Chess Club

#	Name	Ratng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total	Prize$
1	Bator Sambuev	2673	W15	W3	D5	W4	W6	4.5	1100
2	Bindi Cheng	2500	W14	W21	D4	D5	W8	4	550
3	Razvan Preotu	2407	W23	L1	W12	W11	W5	4	550
4	Nikolay Noritsyn	2586	W27	W7	D2	L1	W13	3.5
5	Tomas Krnan	2568	W16	W8	D1	D2	L3	3
6	Peter Vavrak	2505	W11	W9	H---	H---	L1	3
7	Victor Plotkin	2369	W17	L4	H---	W16	D10	3
8	Haizhou Xu	2335	W24	L5	W19	W20	L2	3
9	Konstantin Semianiuk	2268	W18	L6	L20	W19	W14	3	93.33
10	Geordie Derraugh	2247	L21	D14	W24	W22	D7	3	93.33
11	Jackie Peng	2208	L6	W18	W26	L3	W20	3	93.33
12	Hans Jung	2292	H---	W26	L3	L14	W18	2.5
13	David Filipovich	2229	H---	D20	D21	W15	L4	2.5
14	Yuanchen Zhang	2205	L2	D10	W27	W12	L9	2.5
15	Mike Ivanov	2230	L1	W23	D22	L13	D17	2
16	Aquino Inigo	2216	L5	D24	W17	L7	D21	2
17	Gordon Olheiser	2163	L7	D27	L16	W26	D15	2
18	Stephan Tonakanian	2140	L9	L11	W23	W21	L12	2
19	Lali Agbabishvili	2111	H---	D22	L8	L9	W26	2
20	Joey Zhong	2052	H---	D13	W9	L8	L11	2
21	Allan Munro	2051	W10	L2	D13	L18	D16	2
22	Yuetong [davy] Zhao	1934	H---	D19	D15	L10	D23	2
23	Avinaash Sundar	2164	L3	L15	L18	B---	D22	1.5
24	David Itkin	2146	L8	D16	L10	X27	U---	1.5
25	Sergey Noritsyn	2086	U---	U---	U---	U---	W27	1
26	Neal Pan	2018	B---	L12	L11	L17	L19	1
27	David Southam	2221	L4	D17	L14	F24	L25	0.5