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The inaugural Ivy League Chess Challenge was held last year, and the Hart House Chess Club at the University of Toronto is honoured to have successfully hosted the second one. This year’s tournament featured a round-robin between the Ivy League universities Harvard, Yale, Princeton, as well as MIT and two University of Toronto teams.
The Ivy League Chess Challenge is an ode to all the students out there who, despite having midterms, problem sets, projects and assignments that are due, are more than willing pursue a passion. It is very challenging to balance chess with studies, and many students have had to almost drop chess, if not completely, in order to succeed in their academics.
Some of the highest rated participants in the 2019 Ivy League Challenge included GM Andrew Tang (2507 – Princeton), IM Advait Patel (2460 – UofT A), FM Mark Plotkin (2378 – UofT A), FM Aaron Jacobson (2340 – Harvard), FM Ethan Li (2231 – Princeton) and WGM Qiyu Zhou (2212 – UofT A), among many other strong players.
(Left) The chief organizer, Panagiotis Tsialas gives the opening speech
(Right) Michelle Brownrigg, Senior Director of Co-Curricular Education & Chief Program Officer for Hart House | Photo: Skylar (Cheryl) Cheung
The first round started Friday morning, with Harvard facing Yale and MIT facing Princeton. We also saw the two University of Toronto teams going head-to-head.
Spirits are high going into the first round!
GM Andrew Tang on the prowl (get it?) | Skylar (Cheryl) Cheung
The 2nd Ivy League Chess Challenge is underway! | Panagiotis Tsialas
It’s always refreshing to see female players at chess tournaments!
The four girls participating (L to R): Sarah Ascherman (Harvard), Juntong Lin (University of Toronto B), Ella Papanek (Harvard), and your author, Qiyu Zhou (University of Toronto A) | Photo: Panagiotis Tsialas
University of Toronto A won against Yale, University of Toronto B won against Princeton, and Harvard lost to MIT.
Lots of exciting games were played throughout all the rounds, but the third round was extra special! The winner of the Best Game Award went to the following game, with annotations by FM Mark Plotkin (University of Toronto A).
The Modern Pirc is actually a mixture of the Caro-Kann and the Pirc. In many lines Black combines the ideas of the classical Pirc in which the fianchettoed bishop is important with the Caro-Kann idea to fight for the center with c6-d5.
I believe the runner-up to the best game deserves a mention too. This wild tactical game was played between Altschuler Jason (MIT) and Webster Dex (Yale), with White coming on top in the end.
For players who lack either the time or inclination to study reams of opening theory the Closed Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 followed by 3.g3) is an excellent choice. The two great exponents of this method of play were World Champions Vassily Smyslov and Boris Spassky. These days it’s the top English Grandmasters Michael Adams and Nigel Short who are its leading exponents.
University of Toronto B team faces off against MIT! GM Parimarjan Negi, A PhD student in Computer Science, could have potentially been the MIT board one!| Photo: John Upper
Nalin Khanna (Yale) is looking slightly unimpressed | Photo: John Upper
With University of Toronto A winning against MIT 2½:1½ in the penultimate round, University of Toronto A takes home the trophy in a clean fashion. Last year’s champions, Princeton, won against Harvard 3 to 1 to take second place.
MIT against University of Toronto A. University of Toronto A has not lost a single round so far! | Photo: Panagiotis Tsialas
Thus University of Toronto A took home the Ivy League trophy! In second place was Princeton, and in third place was MIT.
Individual best performance board prizes were given out too! University of Toronto A won on boards 2, 3, and 4.
Best board 1 prize went to Andrew Tang (right) from Princeton! Best game award went to the third round (annotated above) between Ethan Li (Princeton) and Mark Plotkin (University of Toronto A) | Photo: Panagiotis Tsialas
A special word of thanks to the organizers Panagiotis Tsialas, Sean Lei, Alyssa Rusonik, Tanner McNamara, as well as the arbiters Weiwen Leung, Alex, Corinna Wan, Karen. All pictures from the tournament are available in a photo gallery.
