CUCC 2026 Day 3 Recap

The final day of the 2026 Canadian University Chess Championship was a test of pure endurance. With a 9:00 AM start and the closing ceremony concluding near 7:00 PM, players were pushed to their limits to determine who would walk away as national champions.

Crown Section: A Dynasty Defended

Round 4 set the stage with a high-stakes match on Board 1, where U of T A defeated U of T B 3.5–0.5. Meanwhile, the clash between Waterloo A and Ottawa A ended in a 2–2 deadlock, allowing U of T A to widen the gap.

Round 5 featured a marquee matchup of the tournament: IM Nicholas Vettese vs. WIM Svitlana Demchenko. In an epic battle of technique and willpower, the two fought to a 113-move draw in a Rook vs. Bishop endgame—the longest game of the round. While Vettese held the draw, victories from FM Sergey Noritsyn and CM Max Chen secured the match for Toronto A.

With this win, University of Toronto A became back-to-back champions, finishing the tournament undefeated. In a surprising turn, U of T C surged into 2nd place after a 4–0 sweep of McMaster A, while McGill A secured 3rd on tiebreaks.

Day 3 of CUCC 2026 by Derek Ma

Reserve Section: Toronto Edges McGill

The Reserve section came down to a "winner-takes-all" finale in Round 5. U of T D and McGill B entered the final round with perfect scores. In a match that went down to the final moves, U of T D edged out a 2.5–1.5 victory to claim the Reserve title. Ottawa B took 2nd place, while Western B outlasted McGill B on tiebreaks to round out the podium.

Tournament Results

For full tournament results, please visit Crown chess-results, Reserve chess-results. For full tournament prize winners, please visit the following spreadsheet.

Crown

1. U of T A (10 MP)
2. U of T C (8 MP)
3. McGill A (8 MP)

Reserve

1. U of T D (10 MP)
2. Ottawa B (9 MP)
3. Western B (8 MP)

Special Awards

• Top Women: 1. Svitlana Demchenko | 2. Cindy Qiao | 3. Joey Qiao
• Top Mixed-Gender Team: Laval B
• Biggest Upset: Western E over Dalhousie A (525.5 point rating gap!)

Day 3 of CUCC 2026 by Derek Ma

Board Prizes (Gold Medalists)

Board 1

• Crown: Nicholas Vettese (U of T A)
• Reserve: Ata Madanchi (McGill B)

Board 2

• Sergey Noritsyn (U of T A)
• Eric Lam (U of T E)

Board 3

• Youcef Lattafi (Ottawa A)
• Max Sun (Waterloo E)

Board 4

• Max England (U of T B)
• Samuel Zheng (U of T D)

Alternate

• Matthew Zhu (Waterloo A)
• Hardik Shrestha (Western B)

Media & Community

• Watch the Analysis: Relive the 113-move marathon and more on FM Koosha Jaferian’s Twitch.
• Review the Games: Visit the lichess-page for live games from the event. In addition, all Crown games will be digitalized within the next week.
• Photos: Visit our Gallery page for photos by Derek Ma, and check the CFC Newsletter for a special feature by John Upper.

Day 3 of CUCC 2026 by Derek Ma

Join the Discussion:

Stay connected and prepare for CUCC 2027 by joining the Canadian University Chess community Discord Server.

Thank You

This event would not have been possible without our dedicated volunteers: Emir Eshberk, Crystal Cao, Jonah Mickelson, Bowen Zhang, Laksshana Deepak, BenJohn Libardo, and Alex Ferreira. Special thanks to the Organizing Committee: Deepanshi Matai, Tanner McNamara, Cindy Qiao, and Victor Zheng.

More content to be posted on our website in the coming weeks.

Day 3 of CUCC 2026 by Derek Ma