11/30/2018 – The inaugural Ivy Chess Challenge was the one of the strongest collegiate tournament to be ever held in North America, after the Pan-American Collegiate Championships. Though the name is a bit misleading, as only three out of the six teams were Ivy Leagues, the tournament nevertheless boasted very strong chess-players, on both rating and academics. QIYU ZHOU was there representing the host University of Toronto and sends this report. | Photo: Changong Yu
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The Ivy League goes to Toronto
The students from Princeton, Yale, and Harvard University, as well as University of Michigan and Toronto played 5 rounds (90 min + 30 sec) during the three days. As the host, University of Toronto participated with two teams, named respectively University of Toronto A and B. The University of Toronto’s iconic Hart House [pictured], established in 1919, was one of the beautiful venues for the event.
Perhaps what is most unique about the Ivy Chess Challenge is that all the players have incredible academic backgrounds, along with impressive chess strengths. Getting into any of the Ivy League universities, or the University of Michigan and the University of Toronto is difficult enough on its own, but these players achieved a high level of chess skill while maintaining top grades throughout high school and college.
As the tournament kicked off, University of Harvard were the rating favourites with an average of 2328, followed by the University of Michigan at 2264. The strong players in the pool included GM Darwin Yang (2488), IM Larson Matthew (2408), IM Shetty Atulya (2395), FM Chandran Kapil (2393), IM Bora Safal (2392), IM Richard Wang (2332) and myself, WGM Qiyu Zhou (2227) to name a few.
A note about the University of Toronto A and B teams: Toronto A is the “varsity team” which will be representing the university at Pan-Americans in December. As I, unfortunately, missed the qualifiers in October due to a timing conflict with the World Chess Olympiad, I played on Toronto B, which had a higher average rating.
Yale against Toronto B... (Photo taken by Changong Yu)
The best game award for the tournament was given to Chandran vs Shetty.
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1.d4d52.c4c6The Slav, apparently one of Atulya's favourite openings.
Other games by Shetty this tournament that featured a draw in the Slav was his
round 2 draw against Matthew Larson, and round 4 draw against Darwin Yang.3.Nf33.cxd5cxd54.Nf3Nf65.Nc3Nc61/2-1/2 Shetty Atulya - Larson
Matthew, round 23...Nf64.Nc34.e3Bf55.Be2Ne46.0-0Nd77.Qb3Bg48.Bd3Bf59.Be2Bg410.Bd3Bf511.Be21/2 - 1/2 Yang Darwin - Shetty
Atulya, round 44...a65.e3g66.Bd3Bg77.0-00-08.Qe2Bg49.h3Bxf310.Qxf3e611.Rd1Nbd712.e4e513.Be3Nh514.Bf1dxe415.Nxe4f516.dxe5!?I remember walking past the game at this point and just thought to
myself, is that not just a free knight?Nxe5However,16...fxe4?
is better for white because of17.Qg417.Qe2Qh418.Nd6f419.Bd4f320.Qe3fxg221.Bxg2Nf4=21...Qe7the only move that maintains a
slight advantage for black.22.Ne4Nxc423.Qc3b524.Bxg7Qxg725.Qxg7+Kxg7with a slightly better endgame for black22.Bxe5forced. After this
the game is just drawn.Nxg223.Kxg2Bxe524.Qxe5Qxf2+25.Kh1Qf3+26.Kg1Qf2+27.Kh1Qf3+½–½
The students/players were evidently tired during the second round of the day, and the reason I discovered (and can relate to) was that they were staying up late to… work on assignments! Every undergraduate I talked to had some schoolwork to do, whether it was homework, midterms to study for or assignments to hand in. As Ethan Li said, he was trying to pretend he was playing blindfold chess but was in fact just falling asleep at the board!
Board 2 for Princeton, FM Ethan Li (2248), doesn’t look too satisfied with his position…or maybe he is just tired! | Photo: Changong Yu
Results for round 2
Princeton 2½ : 1½ Harvard
Michigan 2½ : 1½ Yale
Toronto A 1½ : 2½ Toronto B
Round 3
For a change in scenery, the third round was held on the 31st floor of the Manulife Centre in downtown Toronto, which is also where the teams were staying.
The highest rated player in the tournament, GM Darwin Yang, a fourth-year undergraduate in economics at Harvard | Photo: Changong Yu
Results for round 3
Toronto B ½ : 3½ Princeton
Harvard 2½ : 1½ Michigan
Yale 3½ : ½ Toronto A
Round 4
This was the round I was looking forward to the most because I was playing against my friend of 11 years and my teammate on numerous occasions. Thus, a draw was agreed to due to the quiet nature of the Sicilian opening…
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I was very excited to play this game and had briefly checked Richard's games
before the tournament and before the round. After the game he told me how he
did the same, and had spent 40 minutes before the round considering what to
play.1.e4c52.Nf3g63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nc65.Nc3Bg76.Be3Nf67.Bc40-08.Bb3d69.h3Bd710.0-0up to here was preparation.Rc8Draw offer
from black, which was instantly accepted.½–½
Afterwards, we decided to play blitz to determine the 'real' winner, which ended up in a 1-1 anyway.
Richard stays cool during the blitz games… | Photo: Leslie Tang
After the rounds, the more studious players chose to return to their rooms in order to catch up on schoolwork, while some opted to hang out in the skittles room.
The pool table was put to good use… | Photo: Changong Yu
...it doubles as a table for chess analysis!
Results for round 4
Princeton 3½ : ½ Yale
Michigan 3½ : ½ Toronto A (3.5 – 0.5
Harvard 3 : 1 Toronto B
Pub Night/Chess & Drinks
In true spirit of university life, a pub night is of course necessary. Unfortunately, since pubs in Ontario require patrons to be 19, and check IDs, the 18-year olds were unable to stay. As a result, the pub night was moved to the organizer’s personal apartment in the Manulife Center.
'Pub' night | Photo: Qiyu Zhou
The tournament organizer Panagiotis Tsialas working hard during all stages of the tournament — tirelessly executing this 'challenge', which, despite the lack of funding and sponsorship, was a big success.
What resulted was a fun night of drinks (for the 19+ year olds of course), lots of bughouse, slapjack and even pushups...the loser in slapjack was made to do pushups until they dropped!
Penalty pushups | Photo: Qiyu Zhou
The exasperation when you lose in bughouse is something I’m sure a lot of chess players can relate to…
Bughouse late into the night…or not so late because the decisive last round was at 9:30 am! | Photo: Qiyu Zhou
Round 5
The tournament was decided by Princeton’s win over the University of Toronto A. My own game against IM Safal Bora lasted more than four hours, in which white couldn’t quite find the win in the endgame:
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1.Nf3Nf62.g3e63.Bg2d54.0-0Be75.c40-06.d4c67.Ne5first time
seeing this move!b67...Nbd78.Nd2Nxe59.dxe5Ng410.Nf3f6=
is possible8.Nc3Bb79.Bf4Nbd710.Rc1Rc8another possibility was10...Nh511.Bd2Nxe512.dxe5g611.e4dxc4?!black's position is pretty
bad after this11...Nxe512.dxe5Nxe413.Nxe4dxe414.Bxe4Qc712.Nxc4Ba613.b3Nb814.Re1b515.Ne5Qb616.Be3Rfd817.Qc2Qa518.Red1Ba319.Rb1h619...Nbd720.Nd3b421.Na4Bb520.Nd3Bb4better was20...b421.Na4Bxd322.Rxd3Nbd721.Nxb4Qxb4+-22.h322.e5Nd523.Ne4Nxe3where black is just too weak on the dark squares24.fxe322...Bb723.Rbc1Nbd724.Ne2Qa325.Nf4a526.Nd3Qe727.f4Ne828.a4Nc729.Nc529.Bd2Ra830.Be1+-and black literally has no useful moves29...Nxc530.Qxc5Qxc531.dxc5Kf832.Rd6Ke733.e533.Rcd1Ne834.Rxd8Rxd835.Rxd8Kxd836.Bd4±is also a better endgame for white33...b434.g4Ne835.Bf2this exchange sacrifice by white lead to a very interesting endgame
with chances for both sides.f636.Kh2Nxd637.cxd6+Kd738.Bb6Rf839.Kg3g540.Bxa540.fxg5hxg541.exf6Rxf642.Bxa540...gxf4+41.Kxf4fxe5+42.Kxe5Rf243.Be4Rcf843...Rg844.Bxb4Re245.Bc5Ba646.Rc3Rf147.Be3c548.h4Rfe149.Kf4Kxd650.Bxc5+Kd751.Bf3Rf1?+-
I had to play51...e5+52.Kg3Rd252.Kg3Ree153.g5?!53.Be3+-
just winning the h6 pawn and most likely the game53...hxg554.hxg5Re555.Be3Rf556.Be4Re557.Bf3Rf558.Bg2Re159.Be459.g6Rxe3+60.Rxe3Rg5+61.Kf2Rxg662.Rg3Rh6±is a better version of the game for white59...Rxg5+60.Bxg5Rxe461.Be3e562.Bc5Re163.Kf2Re2+64.Kf3e4+65.Kf4Bd366.Ke5Ra267.Kd4Kc668.Ba3+68.Rc1Bc269.Kc3Bd370.Be3Kb771.Rh1Rc2+72.Kb4Kc6±68...Kb769.Bc1Rc270.b4Rxc371.Kxc3Kc6=72.Be3Be273.Kd4Bd374.Ke5Be275.Ke6Bd376.Ke7Be277.Kd8Ba678.Bf2Bd379.Kc8Be280.Kb8Bd381.Be3Be282.Ka7Bd383.Bc5Bc484.Be3Bd385.a5Bb586.a6Bc487.Bd4½–½
Interestingly enough, there was a three-way tie for first, as Princeton, Harvard and the University of Michigan all had 8 match points. However, the trophy went to Princeton on tiebreaks.
(Left to right) Princeton: FM Ethan Li (2248), Aaron Balleisen (2195), Isaac Martinez (2127), FM Chandran Kapil (2393) | Photo: Changong Yu
Blitz Tournament
The blitz tournament (time control of 3 min + 2 sec) was won by IM Atulya Shetty (2395) of University of Michigan, with second place going to FM Kapil Chandran (2393) of Princeton University.
Photo: Qiyu Zhou
Brett Sherman has taken excellent video footage of the event:
Impressions from Day 1
Impressions from Day 2
Final Results
1. Princeton University (RtgAvg:2241, TB1: 8 / TB2: 2)
Bo.
Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
Pts.
Games
RtgAvg
1
FM
Chandran Kapil
2393
USA
½
½
1
1
1
4
5
2333
2
FM
Li Ethan
2248
USA
0
0
½
1
½
2
5
2212
3
Balleisen Aaron
2195
USA
0
1
1
½
½
3
5
2101
4
Martinez Isaac
2127
USA
1
1
1
1
1
5
5
1645
2. Harvard University (RtgAvg:2328, TB1: 8 / TB2: 2)
Bo.
Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
Pts.
Games
RtgAvg
1
GM
Yang Darwin
2488
USA
1
½
½
½
½
3
5
2314
2
IM
Wang Richard
2332
USA
1
1
0
½
1
4
5
2195
3
FM
Krishnan Varun
2253
CAN
½
0
1
1
½
3
5
2083
4
Hu Bryan
2240
USA
1
0
1
1
½
4
5
1617
3. University of Michigan (RtgAvg:2264, TB1: 8 / TB2: 2)
Bo.
Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
Pts.
Games
RtgAvg
1
IM
Shetty Atulya
2395
USA
½
½
½
1
1
4
5
2333
2
IM
Bora Safal
2392
USA
1
1
1
½
½
4
5
2183
3
FM
Heimann Mark
2368
USA
1
1
0
1
1
4
5
2067
4
Webster Kyle
1902
USA
0
0
0
1
½
2
5
1690
4. Yale University (RtgAvg:1842, TB1: 4 / TB2: 0)
Bo.
Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
Pts.
Games
RtgAvg
1
IM
Larson Matthew
2408
USA
½
½
1
0
½
3
5
2330
2
Fabbri Alexander
2067
USA
0
0
1
0
0
1
5
2248
3
Vishwanathan Ram
1893
IND
1
0
½
½
½
3
5
2162
4
Vemuri Harish
0
USA
1
1
1
0
½
4
5
1870
5. University of Toronto B (RtgAvg:2164, TB1: 2 / TB2: 0)
Bo.
Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
Pts.
Games
RtgAvg
1
FM
Gusev Nikita
2253
CAN
½
0
0
½
0
1
5
2361
2
FM
Qiyu Zhou
2207
CAN
1
1
½
½
½
4
5
2220
3
Haizhou Xu
2116
CAN
0
0
0
0
3
2152
4
Zehn Nasir
2081
CAN
0
½
0
0
½
1
5
1832
5
Yu Jonathan
2057
CAN
1
0
1
2
1620
6. University of Toronto A (RtgAvg:1765, TB1: 0 / TB2: 0)
Bo.
Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
Pts.
Games
RtgAvg
1
Bellissimo Joseph
2121
CAN
0
1
0
0
0
1
5
2387
2
Fu James
2061
CAN
0
0
0
½
½
1
5
2249
3
Lei Sean
1876
CAN
½
½
½
0
½
2
5
2158
4
Huang Xiaoshi
0
CAN
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
1865
Your author, Qiyu Zhou (University of Toronto), with the individual trophies | Photo: Changong Yu
Qiyu ZhouWGM Qiyu Zhou [pronounced Chee-you Jo], born in 2000, is a Canadian chess player who has competed for team Canada at the Women's Chess Olympiad since 2014 and who won the Canadian women's championship in 2016.
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