Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

[Yuanling Yuan]

The Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival was held at the North York Central Library on Saturday June 26th, 2010. The event was a huge success for our program as it attracted more than 50 participants representing each oof our 10 locations plus one - the North York Central Library.

The festival kicked off with a grand opening ceremony in which 11 people spoke on behalf of the Chess in the Library organization in one way or another. Being the host of the event, I spoke first behind a podium and welcomed everyone to the festival. David Southam, brother of Todd Southam, whose trophies were redistributed in the tournament was the second one to address the audience. He spoke of Todd`s story and proudly explained why their family chose to donate to us. Next was Elsa Ngan, the Youth Services Specialist who spoke on behalf of all librarians that are involved with the Chess in the Library program. Elsa is also one of the organizers of the festival and without her, nothing would have been possible.


Then followed my favourite moment of the festival - the speeches of the Chess in the Library program leaders at each library. They are Magas Yusuf. WFM Hazel Smith, Kevin Wu, Yolanda Zhang, Michael Kleinman, Kostya Golovan, Alexandru Florea and Xiaohan Du. Each little story of theirs made me simile. I was honestly really touched when they spoke of how and why they joined the organization team for Chess in the Library. It made me feel that we`re truly a team that shares the same passions and visions, not just them volunteering like they would at a school cafeteria just for volunteer hours. To those names that I mentioned above, I just want to thank you so much for everything you`ve put into this program since last June. Your speeches will always be in my heart and I will forever cherish that moment. Words alone cannot describe how touched I was...

The main event of the festival was a individual and team chess tournament. There were three sections: Open, Grade 6 & Under, Grade 3 & Under. The system was an invidual swiss, but team scores were totalled in the end to see which library was the best in each section. Unfortunately, we only had the time to play 3 rounds because the library had to close at 5pm (we started the games at 2pm). Nonetheless, that did not affect the participants as each one of them fought hard for their team. Although the games are CMA rated, the tournament site was not even close to being as loud as scholastic tournaments should be. Thanks to the availibility of another meeting room nearby, we kept the parents and kids waiting for the next round busy with our side events - a puzzle competition and a giant chess set activity. Both side events were extremely popular and 3 book prizes were handed out to the the best puzzle solver in the end.

Mostly everyone stayed for the awards regardless of how did they in the tournament. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and anticipation. The top 3 individual finishers in each section received a trophy and the top 3 teams (consists of 3 players each) were awarded with medals. Book prizes (random draw by Elsa and Gal) were also given out to 5 lucky winners! When one team won, all members from that library would cheer for the winners. It`s been a while since I`ve heard that much cheering for chess! A big thank you goes out to the Southam family and other individuals who donated the trophies and book prizes for this event. Finally, a special shoutout to Erik Malmsten, the Greater Toronto Chess League Secretary for sending out a news release for the festival. Unfortunately, all reporters were taken by the G20 and G8 Summit, but I really apprecaite the effort. Next year, we are determined to have news reporters on site! :)

To all the volunteers, librarians, sponsors and donors who are involved with the Chess in the Library program for the past year, THANK YOU!!!! Thank you for the contribution, the support, and most importantly, your faith in us. Happy 1 year anniversary, Chess in the Library!

We are expanding at an extremely fast rate (hopefully opening on in Ottawa soon) so if everyone can continue to support us in the future that would be much appreciated. If you would like to make a donation, email me at yuanling_1@yahoo.com. Thanks!
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Tournament Results:

Open Section Individual Winners

1. Magas Yusuf
2. Steven Xia
3. Calvin Tang

Grade 6 Section Individual Winners

1. Jonathan Chan
2. Jeffrey Li
3. Jaden Wang

Grade 3 Section Individual Winners

1. Catherine Li
2. Benjamin Lin
3. Colin Ruan

Open Section Team Winners
1. Fairview Library (896.0) - Cnt: 3 6.0
Keith Tang (1046) 2.0
Calvin Tang (922) 2.0
Tariq Haji (720) 2.0

2. North York Center Library (810.5) - Cnt: 4 5.5
Steven Xia (970) 3.0
Mario Umana (unr.) 2.0
Alexander Kim (651) 0.5

3. Brookbanks Library (782.5) - Cnt: 3 5.0
Magas A Yusuf (906) 3.0
Sayanthen Sathyakumar (659) 1.0
Tonia Tong (unr.) 1.0

Grade 6 Section Team Winners
1. Brookbanks Library (826.7) - Cnt: 7 8.0
Jonathan Chan (992) 3.0
Jaden Wang (712) 3.0
Kevin Kang (776) 2.0

2. Pleasant View Library (697.5) - Cnt: 4 7.0
Jeffrey Li (964) 3.0
Catherine Lu (431) 2.0
Robert Wang (unr.) 2.0

3. Gerrard/Ashdale Library (0.0) - Cnt: 4 5.0
Bao Tian Fu (unr.) 2.0
Michael Kwan (unr.) 2.0
Callum Denault (unr.) 1.0

Grade 3 Section Team Winners
1. North York Center Library (644.7) - Cnt: 4 7.0
Catherine Li (659) 3.0
Mathanhe Kaneshalingam (753) 2.0
Jonathan Hong (522) 2.0

2. Pleasant View Library (696.0) - Cnt: 3 4.5
Benjamin Lin (696) 3.0
Kalan Raven Samaroo (unr.) 1.0
Tian Yu Zhang (unr.) 0.5

3. Brookbanks Library (491.0) - Cnt: 3 2.5
Alex Hu (611) 1.0
Hao Yang [liana] Liu (371) 1.0
Maxwell Tong (unr.) 0.5

Congrats to all the winners and I hope to see you all at the CITL 2nd Annual Festival! :)

By the way, check out the photos attached! I`ll be posting out an album soon with all the pictures so this is just a preview! :)

[Jean Hébert]

Re : Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

Very, very impressive Yuanling! You would have my vote for CFC president! ;)

We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.
“Kin” Hubbard

[Ken Craft]

Re: Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

Excellent job Yuanling. I taught chess at our then junior library in the Old North End in the early 80s. It was a blast.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Re : Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

Hi Jean:

Maybe when she turns 18 years old, we can talk her into becoming a governor - she is certainly developing the credentials !

Bob

[Jean Hébert]

Re : Re: Re : Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

Hi Jean:

Maybe when she turns 18 years old, we can talk her into becoming a governor - she is certainly developing the credentials !

In my book she is already way overqualified!

[Yuanling Yuan]

Re: Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

Thank you all for the words of encouragement. Since there is a limit on the amount of pictures I`m allowed to attach, I`ll be posting one aspect of the festival each day. Today`s topic is my favourite moment of the festival. I mentioned it in my report - the speeches of all the Chess in the Library leaders. :)

In order from left to right, they are:
Elsa Ngan, the Youth Service Specialist of the North York Central Library who spoke on behalf of all librarians involved with the program. Elsa organized the festival on the library`s part and without her, we definitely couldn`t have done it.

David Southam, representative of the Southam family who donated Todd`s trohpies to us. The Southam family is one of our first donors and it really means a lot to our entire team. The trophies are really nice - mostly marble based and ìf you want to see all of them, you`ll have to wait a few days. :p Thank you so much for coming David, and a BIG THANK YOU to the entire family for their support.

Magas Yusuf, past leader of the Brookbanks Library. The Brookbanks branch is our very first location and after I left to expand the program to other locations, it was Magas who took over the big responsibility. As of the first participants and volunteers of the program, Magas`s support will always be remembered.

WFM Hazel Smith who played an important role at the Pleasant View Library before last September when she had to go to university in Waterloo. Hazel organized the puzzle competition at the Pleasant View branch and became a role model for the kids there . Having another Olympiad member on our organization team is truly an honor.

Kevin Wu, present leader of the Pleasant View Library. After Hazel left, Kevin took over and currently, that branch has one of the highest participation rates. Being only in grade 9 (the youngest member of our team), Kevin has demonstrated everything required to be a leader. His speech during the opening ceremony was one of the best prepared.

To all those names mentioned above, I cannot express how grateful I am for all your support. Thank you for joining the team and I`m looking forward to another great year with all of you!

[Yuanling Yuan]

Re: Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

*Opening Ceremony Speeches Continued...*

In order from left to right:
Yolanda Zhang, current leader of the program at the Fairview Library. Being one of the few girls involved, Yolanda had done a lot to encourge he Fairview players to come to the festival despite the fact that their current session has ended (next session starts in Septemeber). One by one, Yolanda called the top 10 players on the list and succeed in convincing most of the players to join the celebration.

Michael Kleinman, oh boy, I could write a whole page on this description. :p Chess master + leader. Michael was the second person to join the team after me. He always wanted to do something like this to give back to his community so Chess in the Library was perfect for him. We`ve went to meetings together, picked up donations together and right now, he`s leading the program at the Northern District. Michael has contributed so much to the program and I really, really appreciate everything he`s done for the program since the very beginning.

Kostya Golovan is the program leader at the Maria A. Shchuka Library. He is honestly one of the most responsible guys I know. I was informed by the librarians that Kostya NEVER missed a single chess club meet. Now that`s something incredible!

Alexandru Florea, another top junior chess player in Canada. He is currently leading the program at one of the farest TPL branches in Toronto - the Humberwood Library. It seriously took me 2 hours on bus just to get there one way! We`ve been always wanting to do the program there but until Alex came along, the only barriers we had were volunteers. I`m pretty sure that without Alex, CITL at Humberwood wouldn`t be possible.

Xiaohan Du, a pure math genius. Taking grade 11 IB math while in grade 10 is truly something rare. Anyways, Xiaohan is not in the organizing team anymore, but he was one of the first ones to join us. He also tried to open up the program at the Deer Park Library but due to the demographics there, we didn`t get enough participants interested in chess. Nonetheless, Xiaohan still came to celebrate the anniversary with us and I`m sure that he`ll always be a part of the program a bit here and there.

Again, to all those names mentioned above, I cannot express how grateful I am for all your support. Thank you for joining the team and I`m looking forward to another great year with all of you!

**For a better version of this report on the opening ceremony, please visit my blog (you can see all the pictures together with the words) http://yuanlingyuan.blogspot.com/
***I apologize in advance if I don`t post for a few days in a row. I`m in Three-Rivers, Quebec for a french program until August so doing things aren`t as convenient as they are back home. Je suis désolé...

[Yuanling Yuan]

Awards Ceremony

Sorry for not uploading photos for the past 2 days...Our french camp went on a field trip each day for the past 3 days. So I didn't get the chance to touch a computer until now...

Below are 5 photos for the awards ceremony in order from left to right:
Grade 3 Section Individual Champion:Catherine Li
Grade 6 Section Individual Champion: Jonathan Chan
Open Section Individual Champion: Magas Yusuf
Grade 3 Section Team Champion: North York Central Library
Grade 6 Section Team Champion: Brookbanks Library

There is a trophy for the top 3 individuals in each section. They were presented by David Southam, the representative of the Southam family who donated their trophies to us. The old engraving plates were taken off and replaced by new ones. I personally think that it's a really good idea to redistribute one's trophies to the next generation if they are no longer in use. I know that they are people who treasure their trophies because they bring back old memories displays their accomplishments but on the other hand, I also know people who just keep their trophies in their closets. It is not easy for the Southam family to give away Todd's trophies and because of that, my team and I were really touched when they made such a decision. If there is anyone who would like to redistribute their trophies through the Chess in the Library program, we would honour your contribution by engraving the plates with your name on it. If you check the next post, you'll see an upclose picture of the engravings we did this time ( e.g. Middle line: Todd Southam Award). Message me if you're interested! :)

...to be continued on the next post...

[Yuanling Yuan]

Awards Ceremony

Photos from left to right:
Open Section Team Champion: Fairview Library
Complete Set of the Grade 3 Section trophies
Complete Set of the Grade 6 Section trophies
Complete Set of the Open Section trophies
Close up Picture of the Open Section 1st Place Engraving

Team prizes were presented by the referees for each section.

Medals were given out to the top 3 teams in each section. Each team consisted of 3 players so we bought 27 medals using the donations. A big thank you to our donors! :)

[Hans Jung]

Re: Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival Report

Congratulations Yuanling! Well done! The presentations, the programs, the tournament, the giant chess set - promotion and teamwork! Its also nice to see the Todd Southam trophies in circulation and appreciated by others!