2022 Toronto Closed Championship

[Salim Belcadi]

The final list is now available on our website. Link: Annex Chess Club | T647-822-4628 | Chess for everyone

Eligible players were emailed a registration code. They have until next Friday, September 2, noon to complete their final registration and pay online.

All four sections will be very competitive given the level of the players and the tight rating spread:

- Championship Section: average rating 2289, spread 216
- Reserve Section: average rating 2117, spread 117
- Development Section: average rating 2018, spread 101
- Annex Section: average rating 1906, spread 87

[Salim Belcadi]

Registration for the event is now closed. ACC will publish the list of eligible players for the 4 sections within 24 hours after the ratings have been updated by CFC.

[Salim Belcadi]

ACC is please to add a 4th FIDE-rated section to the 2022 Toronto Closed Championship, the Annex Section!

This second expansion, which has been approved by the Greater Toronto Chess League (GTCL), is appropriate given the continued enthusiastic response to this event from seasoned players. This is the first time in the history of the event that there will be more than two sections of players, and they will now be organized as follows:

• Championship Section – 10 highest-CFC-rated players that apply - current average rating 2276 (range: 2414 high to 2192 low)
• Reserve Section – next 10 highest-CFC-rated players that apply - current average rating 2078 (range: 2160 high to 2012 low)
• Development Section – next 10 highest-CFC rated players that apply - current average rating 1925 (range: 2009 high to 1866 low)
• Annex Section – new; next 10 highest -CFC rated players that apply - current average rating 1722 (range 1865 high to 1514 low)

Ratings of pre-registered players will be updated on August 24, 2022.

Pre-registration will remain open until noon August 24, 2022 at which time, the player’s list will be frozen. Players will then have one week to pay their registration fees in order to avoid losing their assigned spots.

Link for pre-registration: Toronto Closed Expanded by Another 10 Players to 40 Players (Updated Post) | Annex Chess Club | Toronto | T647-822-4628

[Hans Jung]

Great intiiative! Good things continue to happen at Annex Chess Club

[Salim Belcadi]

Amazingly, there are enough seasoned pre-registered players with a FIDE rating to open a third, FIDE rated section!

ACC is happy and excited to expand the capacity of the 2022 Toronto Closed Championship to 30 players and open the Development Section, which, I believe, is a first in the history of the event!

The same rules apply for this section as with the Championship and Reserve sections, i.e. 10-player round robin, with a cutoff on Wednesday August 24th at noon based on CFC rating. The prize-fund will also be expanded to include this section.

Pre-Registration link: 2022 Toronto Closed Chess Championship (guestlist.co)

[Salim Belcadi]

Quick note: unfortunately unrated players cannot register for this event. Apologies if you were removed from the list, the number of seats is limited and the event is designed for seasoned competitors.

Pre-registration link: 2022 Toronto Closed Championship | Annex Chess Club | Toronto

[Salim Belcadi]

Eric Malmsten wrote a wonderful article on the great history of this event. We posted it on our website at the bottom of the following page: Annex Chess Club | Toronto | Chess for everyone
ACC is very happy to bring it back and keep the tradition going for established masters and rising juniors.

David Southam, winner of the reserve section in 2004 & 2015, could break Geza Fuster's long standing record if he plays in the event this year by participating for the 21st time.

[Aris Marghetis]

Good to see that the Toronto Closed is back. In years past it was a badge of honour to be Toronto Champion and masters looked forward to competing for the title. Also the reserve was hotly contested as (in the past) the winner would get to play in the championship section the next year.

I agree, and the ACC folks are on a tremendous roll with the events they're working to build!!

[Hans Jung]

Good to see that the Toronto Closed is back. In years past it was a badge of honour to be Toronto Champion and masters looked forward to competing for the title. Also the reserve was hotly contested as (in the past) the winner would get to play in the championship section the next year.

[Salim Belcadi]

Annex Chess Club (ACC) is proud to host the annual 2022 Toronto Closed Chess Championship over successive Monday evenings at the 918 Bathurst Centre, from September 12^th to November 21^st, 2022.

Registration link: Annex Chess Club | Toronto | Chess for everyone

The Championship will have two 10-player sections (Championship and Reserve) organized in a Round Robin format (9 games), using a classical time control of 90 minutes plus 30-second increment. The sections are planned to be both CFC- and FIDE-rated.

It will be a great opportunity for strong players to improve their FIDE rating or get one if they are not yet rated by the International Federation.

The Toronto Closed Chess Championship is overseen by the Greater Toronto Chess League (GTCL) and the event has a long and storied past. It was first held in the 1850s.

Schedule

All rounds begin at 7:30 p.m. and are scheduled as follows: Round #1 – September 12; Round #2 – September 19; Round #3 – September 26; Round #4 – October 3; Round #5 – October 17; Round #6 – October 24; Round #7 – October 31; Round #8 – November 7; Round #9 – November 21.

No round is scheduled for October 10 due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Players will use November 14 for make-up games.

Pre-Registration

Interested players are required to PRE-REGISTER on ACC’s 2022 Toronto Closed Registration website before Wednesday August 24^th at noon, and must have a valid CFC rating supported by an active CFC membership. A FIDE rating is not required to join the event.

Final Registration and Payment

As of noon on Wednesday, August 24, the list of pre-registered players will be frozen.

The top ten CFC-rated pre-registered players will be assigned spots in the Championship Section. The next top 10 CFC-rated pre-registered players will be assigned spots in the Reserve Section.

Pre-registered players will have until noon on Wednesday, August 31 to pay their final registration fees online and avoid losing their assigned spots. The final registration fee is one of the following: $110 for ACC members; $110 for FIDE-titled players; or $140 for anyone else.

ACC also reserves the right to assign up to 2 (of the 20 spots) as “wild-cards” and adjust the final list of players if needed to comply with FIDE requirements.

Arbiter, Prize Fund and Brilliancy Prize

The Arbiter for this event will be Mr. Alex Ferreira.
The estimated prize fund is $1,200, including $500 plus a trophy for 1st place in the Championship Section. Each section will have cash prizes for 1st and 2nd place.

American Chess Magazine (ACM) will be providing a player’s brilliancy prize for each section. This is in the form of a free annual subscription to ACM. ACC plans to submit an article about the event including some player-annotated games for ACM’s year-end issue.