Waterdown Chess Club

It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of the Waterdown Chess Club.

Since the beginning, the Waterdown Chess Club has helped to instill the love of chess in kids, and has coached several who would later go on to play at national and international levels.

We thank all those involved in helping to make the WCC the place where people – and especially kids – could learn to love the game of chess.

In particular we would like to thank Gary Hua and Mikhail Egorov for their leadership and dedication.

Looking for an alternative place to play?
Consider one of the following local area clubs:
Burlington Chess Club
Oakville Chess Club
Mississauga Chess Club

Hurry! Only two more weeks left for early bird registration for the CYCC qualifier on 29-Feb.

WCC player FM Eugene Hua was the best performer for Team Canada at the U-16 Olympiad, Turkey with 5.5 points out of 8. He gained almost 30 ELO points in the process. We are so proud of you

Congrats to Team Canada overall and especially in beating arch rival USA ( higher rank than Canada ) in the last round by 2.5-1.5.

Cheers to Chess in Canada

Photo credit: Vadim Tsypin
https://www.facebook.com/juniorstomasters/

Team Canada Coach GM Gergely Szabo provides insight from the World U16 Olympiad in Turkey:

U 16 Olympiad, the 2nd part: Good individual results, “not-so-good” final team ranking

Rounds 6-9:

A relatively quiet and easy victory against Iceland (3.5-0.5) was followed by three tough matches in the final rounds: 2-2 against Israel and 0.5-3.5 against Russia (with many missed chances in both matches), finishing on a more positive tone by narrowly beating USA (probably the only match when luck was on our side). While our 20th place in the final rankings (tied for 14th) is slightly disappointing, it's important to say that we had incredibly rough pairings (out of our 9 opponents, 6 were higher-rated – including top seed Azerbaijan, 2nd seed Russia and 4th seed Turkey Red). Not to mention that rating-wise, Team Canada gained 16 ELO points – so the individual results are more than satisfactory.

I would like to thank everyone that made this possible: the CFC, the parents who were eagerly kibitzing our games (sometimes at night), our wonderful Head of Delegation, Sandra Vettese, and, of course, our fighters: Rohan, Eugene, Shawn, Nicholas and Svitlana. I was delighted by everyone's fighting spirit and how they kept on resiliently battling strong opposition, not being demoralized by the tough tournament we had. These are valued assets in chess – and in any other field, should they choose a different career later on. It was a great pleasure to be the Captain of this team – safe travels everyone!

Team Canada's results at this link:
http://chess-results.com/tnr477602.aspx?lan=1&art=20&flag=30&snr=13

Photo credit: Vadim Tsypin
https://www.facebook.com/juniorstomasters/

Team Canada Coach GM Gergely Szabo provides insight from the World U16 Olympiad in Turkey:

“Round 4: Nicholas returned to the team well-rested, while Rohan, Eugene and Shawn were feeling energized for this top clash. The match started similarly to the one against Turkey; only this time, our Top Board got into trouble early, while Nicholas obtained a very good position from the opening. Eugene and Shawn had two relatively peaceful encounters, where the balance stood firm until the very end. By the time they finished, the second act of the drama played out in the front of the spectators (and the captain, who was ecstatic to the thought we could score such a precious win): Rohan came back in the game, balancing it out, while Nicholas was close to winning. Unfortunately, the final act was written with a different ink: the Azeris pulled the winning ticket in the time-trouble lottery, both their players winning their games. Final result Azerbaijan – Canada 3-1; and while it's a bit disappointing to lose a match like this, we should look at the bright side of it. We gave the top seeds a big scare and proved what I said the team at the beginning – namely that we are capable of beating anyone here. We were close, but that ounce of luck needed for a great result was missing again. Waiting for it on our side when most needed – at the finish line! Go Canada Go!”

Photo credit: Vadim Tsypin
https://www.facebook.com/juniorstomasters/

Team Canada Coach GM Gergely Szabo provides insight from the World U16 Olympiad in Turkey:
“Round 2: After a clear victory in the inaugural round (4-0 against South Africa), we were paired against the the hosts' top team, named “Turkey Red”, 4th seed. By the way, it's worth mentioning that the “easy” first round produced a fair number of upsets; the most notable victim was the 2nd seed, chess powerhouse Russia, who lost 3-1 to Turkmenistan – on boards 3 and 4, the Russians were stronger on paper by 400, respectively 600 points. Yet, they lost both games... We decided to play the “all boys” formation, expecting the same from the opponent. After the first hour, the match didn't look favorable to Team Canada; nevertheless, the boys fought on and turned the tables. Shawn and Nicholas drew, while Rohan won a fantastic game on the top board. Alas, luck was not on our side at the very end – time-trouble took toll on Eugene, who was the last to blunder in a very exciting, rollercoaster-like game. So, 2-2 after a hard-fought match, which was certainly exciting to watch.”

Photo credit: Sandra Vettese
https://www.facebook.com/juniorstomasters/

Juniors to Masters Co-Founder GM Gergely Szabo returns as the Team Canada Coach at the 2019 World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad in Turkey. Along with Juniors to Masters Students: FM Eugene Hua who won on Board 1 today, as did FM Nicholas Vettese and WIM Svitlana Demchenko, all helping Team Canada to win Round 1 with a perfect 4-0 team score.

Great start for Team Canada Players, FM Eugene Hua, FM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, FM Nicholas Vettese, WIM Svitlana Demchenko, and FM Rohan Talukdar, Team Canada Coach GM Gergely Szabo, and Head of Delegation Sandra Vettese!

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