Chess Federation of Canada

The Chess Federation of Canada or CFC (French name: Fédération canadienne des échecs) is Canada's national chess organization. Founded in 1872 as the Canadian Chess Association, it was replaced in 1932 by the Canadian Chess Federation (CCF), which for the first time included representation from all major cities in Canada. In 1945 the name was changed to avoid confusion with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a political party that shared the same initials. The CFC organizes tournaments and publishes national ratings so all members can see how they compare in playing strength to the rest of Canada. The highest rated player in Canada is currently Bator Sambuev of Montreal.

From 1974 to 2008 the CFC published a bi-monthly magazine called Chess Canada. Its former titles were En Passant and CFC Bulletin. The magazine reported on the latest important tournaments in Canada, especially those with Grandmaster-strength players, including many game scores. The magazine also printed the top ratings of several age groups and top overall in Canada. Chess Canada also posted notices of upcoming tournaments across Canada. It has since been replaced with an online magazine, which contains many of the same functions. Current editor is John Upper.

The CFC oversees numerous national events. It organizes the Canadian Open every July, a tournament open to all Canadians as well as to foreign players. The first Canadian Open was held in Montreal in 1956 and saw the participation of Bobby Fischer. In recent years, the tournament has increased in prestige, becoming a part of the ACP Tour in 2007.[1] In the past, it has attracted such top grandmasters as Boris Spassky, Paul Keres, Bent Larsen, Ljubomir Ljubojević, Alexei Shirov, Vasily Ivanchuk and Nigel Short. The Canadian Youth Chess Championships are usually held just prior to the Canadian Open at the same location.

The CFC organizes a national championship every one or two years. As Canada is a FIDE Zone, many players earn their International Master or FIDE Master title in the Canadian Chess Championship. In addition, the CFC runs the Canadian Women's and Canadian Junior Championship. It also sends men's and women's teams to the World Chess Olympiad every other year.

The Chess Federation of Canada has no affiliation with the Chess'n Math Association, the major organization in Canada dedicated to promoting chess at the scholastic level.

Ratings system

The CFC uses the ELO rating system. CFC ratings for a player tend to be around fifty points higher than United States Chess Federation ratings and ninety points higher than FIDE ratings.

Current Champions

• Canadian Champion: Bator Sambuev
• Women's Champion: Natalia Khoudgarian
• Junior Champion: Arthur Calugar

See also

• Canadian chess periodicals