GTCL President’s Report 2024-25
Date Published
Dear chess friends,
This past year chess life continued to thrive in Toronto Area. Last year Excelsior Chess Club hosted Greater Toronto Chess League Team Competition and started Toronto Closed Championship before permanent closure in May. Annex Chess Club helped to finish Toronto Closed Championship and hosted Toronto Open, Toronto Women’s Championship, Toronto Blitz Championship and GTCL Cup. Willowdale Chess Club hosted Toronto Seniors Championship. Mississauga Chess Club hosted Toronto Juniors Championship. Hart House Chess Club hosted Toronto Rapid Chess Championship, as well as Canadian Closed and Canadian Women’s Closed Championships over Easter week. Chess in the Park program continued to grow. Toronto became the significant place on the world chess scene – FIDE Candidates and Women Candidates tournaments took place in our city. Many local volunteers contributed to its success and organized many side events – the list is too long to put it here. Last year we had a competitive and transparent process for selecting organizers for all planned Toronto chess events. Several chess clubs submitted their bids and GTCL Board discussed them and voted to select the best bids for 2025 Toronto chess events: Greater Toronto Chess League Team Competition – completed at Willowdale Chess Club in January - March, Toronto Rapid Chess Championship - April 27 at Hart House Chess Club, Toronto Closed Chess Championship - from April 28 to June 30 at Annex Chess Club, Toronto Blitz Championship - June 15 at Annex Chess Club, Toronto Open – from August 30 to September 1 at Annex Chess Club, Toronto Women's Championship - from September 22 to November 17 at Annex Chess Club, Toronto Seniors Championship - from September 20 to November 29 at Willowdale Chess Club, Toronto Juniors Chess Championship - October 4 – 5 at Mississauga Chess Club, GTCL Cup Team Rapid Championship - December 1 at Excelsior Chess Club.
Now we can start planning our future events for next year - 2026. We're encouraging all chess clubs and organizations to plan ahead and submit their bids for 2025 Toronto chess events.
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to lead the Greater Toronto Chess League during the past year and want to express my willingness to stand for this position again to continue improvement of chess life in the Greater Toronto Area.
Michael Barron,
GTCL President