Kingston CC Championship 2026: Results summary, some notes

[Frank Dixon]

The 2026 Kingston Chess Club Championship finished on Monday, March 30th. We had a six-round Swiss event, one round per week, with 22 players, ratings controlled. The annual competition was for the Dr. George Danilov Memorial Trophy; George was a medical doctor, longtime Kingston strong stalwart player, 1961 Canadian Closed competitor, newspaper columnist, and father of Dr. Alex Danilov, who passed away in 1975, but this event dates from before World War II!!

Head TD: Maxim Busse; Assistant TDs: NTD Frank Dixon, Jake Van Rooy. Time control: G/60' + 30".

Top finishers: 1. Dr. Bessil Hakim, 5/6, champion for 2026; 2-3. Christopher Lee, Frank Dixon, 4.5/6; 4-6. Noah Kozior, Ben Beardall, Rob Hutchison 4/6.

Some brief notes:
1) No one managed to go unbeaten this year, indicating a very hard-fought, competitive tournament.
2) Bessil lost to Noah, I lost to Noah, Chris Lee lost to Bessil, Noah lost to Chris Lee, Ben lost to Bessil.
3) We had players with ages 16 to 83 competing!! Chris Lee and Noah are both high school students; Rob and I are both age 65+!!
4) The Appeals Committee, consisting of Rob Hutchison, Ben Beardall, and Roman Polywkan, never had to meet! Overall, excellent sportsmanship!
5) KCC President Jake Van Rooy, with the Club's top CFC rating, did not compete this time; Jake has recently begun a new job which is putting much pressure on his schedule. Jake will be back into KCC competition soon!!

A full event cross-table will be posted shortly on this thread, along with some of the better games!

Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston

[Frank Dixon]

Here is the first game to be posted from this event.

John Lukezich (1442) -- Frank Dixon (1842)
Kingston 2026, played March 23
Kingston Chess Club Championship 2026, rd. 5 of 6
TD: Maxim Busse; Assistant TDs: NTD Frank Dixon and Jake Van Rooy
Time control: G/60' + 30"
English, Symmetrical, A30
Clock times in brackets
Notes by Frank Dixon

1.Nf3
[John is in his 80s, and returned to competitive chess after he reached age 65!! John competes several times per year, in out-of-town events in Ottawa, and is a tough customer. He won a prize at his latest Ottawa event, and defeated TD Maxim Busse, a man some 40 years younger, in this event! Twice a graduate of Queen's University, he is a retired engineer, retired high school teacher, and retired lawyer, former Kingston City Councillor, and former Treasurer of KCC, whose dedicated work in that role put the Club on a solid financial footing! I think that John represents one of the best stories in Canadian chess today!! He drew with me in a hard-fought tournament game several years ago!!]
1...c5 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.O-O e6 6.e3 Qb6!?
[Looking to leave well-travelled paths; this move is probably somewhat dubious.]
7.Nc3 Qc7 8.a3 a6 9.Rb1 Nge7 10.d4 cxd4 11.exd4 O-O 12.Re1 d6 13.d5!? Na5! (17,8) 14.Bf1 Nxc4 15.Bxc4 Qxc4 16.Re4!?
[Looks strange, but this sharp move is actually quite effective.]
16...Qc7 17.Bd2 e5!
[I could have played 17...exd5, but didn't like the look of doubled, isolated d-pawns on an open file. Black plays to build a strong center, and threatens 18...Bf5! winning the Exchange.]
18.Rc1! Qb8 19.Be3 f5! 20.Rb4! b5 21.a4!? Bd7 22.axb5 a5! (31,13)
[This was unexpected, and works nicely, creating play on the Queenside, but, in returning the pawn, I give White a passed b-pawn, which will have to be monitored carefully.]
23.Rb3 a4! 24.Rb4 a3 25.Ng5!? axb2 26.Rxb2 Ra3!
[You Rook Marvelous! John told me his computer, at home after the game, evaluated this position as about equal.]
27.Ne6 Bxe6 28.dxe6
[White now has two passed pawns, and these will cause concern, but the passed e-pawn is currently blockaded securely by the N/e7.]
28...f4! 29.gxf4 exf4 30.Bd4 Bh6!
[We are at the key juncture of the game. White absolutely must play 31.Qf3!, seizing the key long diagonal, with a still complex position, where Black seems a bit better. John did not realize how weak his Kingside would be, with Black's coming attack, catching him by surprise. But White has exchanged off his Kingside pieces: the light-squared bishop, his King's knight, and now will exchange his King's rook; all three being exchanged for Black's Queenside pieces, leaving Black's mainly Kingside pieces free rein to invade: Black's Queen, dark-squared bishop, R/f8, and dangerous f-pawn. White's own pressure winds up being too late.]
31.Rb3? Rxb3 32.Qxb3 Qb7! (41,20)
[I couldn't find a defense for White from here on.]
33.Ra1 Qf3! 34.Ra7 Qg4+! 35.Kf1 f3! 36.Be3 Qg2+ 37.Ke1 Bxe3!, 0-1. (56,27)
[On 38.fxe3 f2+ 39.Kd2 f1Q#! If 38.Ke1 Qg1+ 39.Kd2 Qxf2+ 40.Kc1 Bxa7 avoids mate, but would leave Black up a rook and a piece.]

[Frank Dixon]

I am going to use this thread to post both current and historical games, with a Kingston connection.

Dr. Peter Sibbald (2050) -- Wayne Coppin (2050)
Kingston 1997, played April 7
Kingston Chess Club Championship, top group
TD: Frank Dixon; Assistant TD: Dr. James Cairns
Time controls: 30/90', SD/60'
King's Gambit, Cunningham, C35
Light comments by Frank Dixon

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Be7 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Ng5!?
[Not listed in any of the major sources I have consulted. This includes ECO C first (1974) and second (1981) editions, BCO, NCO, MCO, IM Al Horowitz's 1964 manual Chess Openings: Theory and Practice, the 1988 King's Gambit booklet with 100 recent games (and many more threads) edited by postal master Alexander Bangiev, the 1981 book by GM Viktor Korchnoi and IM Vladimir Zak, and GM Joe Gallagher's book. Nor does the site 365chess.com have any examples. Most games at this juncture have 5.e5, and now 5...Ng4 is the main line, although 5...Ne4!? is a seemingly sound rare alternative.]
5...d5 6.exd5 O-O 7.O-O Nxd5 8.Nxh7!? Ne3!? 9.dxe3 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Kxh7
[Some fascinating and double-edged play for the past several moves!, yielding a sharp middlegame without Queens, which still has a lot of play.]
11.exf4 Bc5+ 12.Kf1 Bg4 13.Rd5 Nd7 14.Nc3 Bb4 15.Bd3+ Kg8 16.Bd2 Nc5 17.Re1 Be6 18.Rd4 Nxd3 19.cxd3 c5 20.Rde4 Rfd8 21.a3 Rxd3 22.axb4 Rxd2 23.R1e2 Rxe2 24.Kxe2 cxb4 25.Rxb4 b6 26.Ke3 Rc8 27.h3 Rc4 28.Rxc4 Bxc4 29.g3 a5 30.Kd4 Bf1
[Reaching the first time control. The ending looks drawish, but the players continue to battle it out!]
31.h4 Kh7 32.Nd5 b5 33.Ne3 Be2 34.Kc5 Kg6 35.Kb6 a4 36.Kc5 Kh5 37.Kb4, 1/2--1/2.
[Drawn on White's offer. A highly interesting and original game, and credit to both players!]

[Frank Dixon]

Norbert Fogarasi (2124, University of Toronto, bd. 2) -- Alexander Toolsie (1563, University of Waterloo, bd. 2)
Kingston 1997, played March 2
University Team Championship, rd. 3 of 5
Org.: Queen's University Chess Club
TD: Frank Dixon; Assistant TD: Matthew Struthers
Time controls: 50/120', SD/60'
French, MacCutcheon, C12
Light notes by Frank Dixon

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 Bxc3+!?
[Unusual; the main line runs 5...h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Ne4, with a slight edge to White, but many unclear possibilities lurk! World-champion-to-be GM Tigran Petrosian defeated World-champion-to-be GM Bobby Fischer with the MacCutcheon at the Curacao Candidates 1962, and won the tournament by half a point from GMs Paul Keres and Efim Geller. The variation had its peak popularity in the 1920s, and is still seen occasionally in games with GMs in recent years.]
6.bxc3 h6 7.exf6 hxg5 8.fxg7 Rg8
[We have now transposed into a playable sideline.]
9.Qh5 Qf6 10.Qh7 Qxg7 11.Qxg7 Rxg7 12.h4 g4 13.Bd3 b6 14.h5 f5 15.Ne2 c5 16.Nf4 c4 17.Be2 Nc6 18.Kd2 Bd7 19.f3 gxf3 20.Bxf3 Ke7?
[Black would have been better off to castle long here, and then reinforce his Kingside weaknesses with his QR. As it turns out, Black winds up shorthanded in the key sector, as White tries to promote his passed h-pawn. The game turns on this factor, with White's incisive play, as the game soon turns very sharp. One has to admire Black's fighting spirit, spotting his opponent 561 rating points, but he ultimately falls short.]
21.Rae1 Kf6 22.h6 Rh7 23.Nh5+ Kg5 24.Ng7 Nd8
[Cutting off his R/a8 from the Kingside action!]
25.Rh5+ Kf6 26.g4 f4 27.g5+ Kg6 28.Re4!! Nf7
[If 28...dxe4 29.Bxe4+ recovers the rook!]
29.Rxf4 Nxg5 30.Rg4 Rxh6 31.Rhxg5+ Kh7 32.Nh5 e5 33.Rg7+ Kh8 34.Rxd7 Rxh5 35.Bxd5 Rh2+ 36.Rg2 Rxg2+ 37.Bxg2 Rg8
[At last Black activates his QR, far too late to properly contest the difficult middlegame. Down a piece, Black has swindling chances if he can exchange off White's pawns, getting into a R+B vs R ending, which can be held with certain specific drawing positions available to the defending side. White plays precisely to deny this possibility.]
38.Be4 Rg4 39.Ke3 Rg3+ 40.Bf3 exd4+ 41.cxd4 a5 42.a4 Rg6 43.Ra7 Re6+ 44.Be4 Kg8 45.Kf4 Kf8 46.Bd5 Re2 47.Bxc4 Rxc2 48.Bb5 Rh2 49.Ke5 Re2+? 50.Bxe2 Kg8 51.Kf6 Kh8 52.Bd3 Kg8 53.Ra8#, 1-0.

[Frank Dixon]

Dr. Daniel Deptuck (1650) -- Frank Dixon (1900)
Kingston 1995, played June 25
Kingston Summer Open #2, rd. 1 of 3
Benko Gambit, A57
Org: Kingston Chess Club and Queen's University Chess Club
TD: Frank Dixon
Time controls: G/90'
Clock times in brackets
Notes by Frank Dixon

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5
[My opponent holds a PhD in Physics from Princeton University, and was working in Kingston as a microelectonics researcher. He had earned his undergrad degree in Physics from Queen's University, and at the time was a longtime chess player, but was fairly new to tournament chess. He certainly gives me a good run for my money in this game!]
4.b3 bxc4 5.bxc4 g6 6.Bg5!?
[A safer choice was 6.Bb2, but White was not so concerned with safety in this game, as he soon demonstrates!]
6...Ne4! 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Nbd2 Nxg5 9.Nxg5 Bxa1 10.Qxa1 O-O (5,5) 11.h4!? d6 12.h5 e5 13.Nxh7!? Kxh7 (22,11) 14.hxg6++ Kxg6 15.Qc3!? Rh8 (26,22) 16.Qg3+ Kf6 17.Ne4+ Ke7 18.Qg5+ Kd7 (30,28) 19.Qf5+ Kc7 20.Qxf7+ Nd7 21.Rxh8 Qxh8 22.Qe6 Qf8 23.g4 Rb8 (42,32)
[White has so far sacrificed an Exchange and then a piece, and has driven Black's King from pillar to post, from a Kingside castled position all the way across the board to c7!!]
24.f3 Rb1+ 25.Kf2 Nb6! 26.Qg6 Rb2 27.g5! Bf5! 28.Qf6 Qxf6 29.gxf6 Bxe4! 30.f7! Nd7! 31.Bh3! Nf8! 32.fxe4 Rxa2 (49,41) 33.Kf3 Rc2 34.Kg4 Rxe2 35.Kg5 Kd8 36.Kf6 Rf2+! 37.Bf5 a5 38.Kg7 Ke7, 0-1. (57,49)
[It took a long stretch of careful calculation, but Black's King was just in time to stop the f-pawn from queening, and having stopped White's attack at long last, Black can win with his passed a-pawn. What a game!]

[Frank Dixon]

Francisco de la Parra (1894) -- Raymond Dickson (1856)
Kingston 1995, played Jan. 31
Kingston Chess Club Championship, Group A, rd. 2 of 9
TD: Chris Hargreaves
Time controls: 30/90', SD/60'
Scandinavian, B01
Light notes by Frank Dixon

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.d4 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Be6 7.c5 c6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Nge2 O-O 10.O-O b6 11.Na4 b5 12.Nac3 Ba5 13.a3 Bc7 14.f4 Bg4 15.Qe1 h6 16.Bh4 Re8 17.h3 Bxe2 18.Nxe2 Qe7 19.Kh1 Qf8 20.Qd2 Re7 21.Ng3 Rae8
[Perhaps a bit better is 21...a5 22.Bf5 Qd8 23.Rfe1 a4 24.Bc2 Re6.]
22.Nf5
[White would have been slightly better with 22.a4 a5 23.Nf5 Re6, for example. Now Black is able to hold the balance with precise play.]
22...Re6 23.Rae1 g6 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.Ng3 Qg7 26.f5 Re8 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.Bxf6 Nxf6 29.Qf2 Bxg3 30.Qxg3 Ne4 31.Bxe4 dxe4
[Alternatively, 31...Rxe4 32.Qd6 Kh7 33.Qxc6 Rxd4 also looks pretty level.]
32.Qe3?!
[Here, White could have increased his small advantage with 32.Qd6! Re7 33.Rf6 Rd7 34.Qe6+ Kh7 35.Rxg6 Qxg6. Now the game heads toward the drawing harbour.]
32...Kh7 33.Rf4 Qe7 34.h4 Qe6 35.Rf2 Kg7, 1/2--1/2.
[Another success for the increasingly popular and often underestimated Scandinavian Defense, which has been used by world-class players such as former World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen, who is, of course, Norwegian, and hence Scandinavian!!]

[Frank Dixon]

Frank Dixon (1950) -- Patrick Kirby (2100)
Ottawa 2001, played Dec. 2
Casual series at RA Center, g. 2 of 4
Time control: G/15'
King's Gambit, Kieseritzky, Kolisch Def., C39
Notes by Frank Dixon

[Patrick, from Ottawa, and I had met in Kingston, where he was a Queen's University student, and improving rapidly in chess. We were playing a lot of chess together in those years. He is now an inactive NM with a rating near 2300. His uncle still runs the wonderful Kingston Berry and Petersen second-hand book store, one of Canada's best!!]
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 d6 6.Nxg4 Nf6 7.Nf2
[Whenever I play this line, I get the feeling that if the late, great player and teacher, Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934) were watching the game, he would be ordering me to stand in the corner for an hour after the game finished, regardless of outcome, for moving the same piece, the KN, so many times (four!) in the first seven moves, before developing any other pieces!! But this IS the main line, for well over a century!]
7...Nc6 8.d4 Bh6 9.Bc4!?
[Looking at the site 365chess.com today, I am astonished to find that this thematic KG move is NOT listed among the previously played possibilities! We do have one super-GM game, Short--Shirov, Madrid 1996, which continued 9.Be2 Qe7 10.Nc3 Bd7 11.Bf3 O-O-O 12.a3 Nxe4 13.Nd5 Qe8 14.O-O f5, and Black won in 28 moves.]
9...Rg8 10.Nc3!? Rxg2 11.Qf3 Nxd4 12.Qxg2 Nxc2+ 13.Kf1 Nxa1 14.Bd3!
[Guarding the knight's escape square c2. Black has won several pawns, and will likely have the safer King after castling long (as in Short--Shirov), but if White can capture the N/a1, he should keep the balance.]
14...Be6 15.Qf3 Qd7 16.Bxf4 Bxf4 17.Qxf4 Qe7 18.Ke2 O-O-O 19.Rxa1 Kb8 20.a4 Rg8 21.a5 a6 22.b4 Nd7 23.b5 axb5 24.Nxb5 Qd8
[Here Black misses a very good chance to sharpen the game: 24...f5!?, with White's King in the center and potentially under fire after lines are opened. As the game progresses, White's King turns out to be safe, and White, with an extra piece, can develop strong pressure on the Queenside.]
25.Nd4 Nc5 26.Bc2 Qc8
[Again, 26...f5!? would have made life far more interesting for White's King.]
27.a6! Re8 28.a7+ Ka8 29.Kd2 Bd7 30.Ra3 Na6 31.Bd3! Qd8 32.Qf3 Bc8 33.Nd1
[Looking to bring this piece nearer Black's King. Both players were short of time, but I had a couple minutes more, and this is critical to the outcome.]
33...Kxa7?
[Disastrous, due to the royal forking square c6, for a7 and d8! Black can probably hold by careful maneuver, but his position is not easy to play.]
34.Bxa6! c5 35.Bb5+, 1-0.
[I know it's only a non-tournament, quick time control game, but I think White's ideas are interesting for the variation; this is why I decided to make it available here. The Immortal Game: Adolf Anderssen 1-0 Lionel Kieseritzky, London 1851 (NOT PLAYED IN the famous tournament!), was a non-tournament, casual encounter in the King's Gambit!!]