Every great chess game begins with the right opening and the same goes for joining the Toronto Chess Centre! To help parents and players feel confident, we have gathered answers to the most common questions about our organization, chess ratings, tournaments, classes, and how we support young players.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please reach out to us by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 647-225-3767. We’re here to help!

The Toronto Chess Centre (TCC) is a community hub for chess players of all ages and levels. We organize tournaments, lessons, workshops, and club activities to promote chess as both a sport and an educational tool. Our goal is to create a welcoming environment where kids and adults can play, learn, and grow through chess.

Yes! The TCC organizes regular tournaments for youth and adults. Our Junior Tournaments are held once a month at our North Location in Thornhill. They typically last one or two days and are designed to give kids opportunities to play, improve, and earn official chess ratings. Our Open Tournaments happen less frequently and may take place either at our Downtown Location (Manulife Centre) or at the North Location. These events are open to players of all ages.

Not at the moment. The Toronto Chess Centre operates mainly as a tournament organizer rather than a traditional chess club that meets weekly. We hope to host regular club meetings in the future, if we secure our own dedicated venue. In the meantime, if you’re looking for weekly gatherings, please check out the “Our Friends” section on our website, where we list local chess clubs in the GTA that do host regular meetings.

Yes! Two of our co-founders, Mark and Panos, are full-time chess coaches with years of experience helping young players improve. Families can choose between private lessons for personalized training, or group lessons for a fun, supportive learning environment. For group lessons, we recommend our longtime partner – Canada Chess Youth Club (CCYC) – Ontario’s largest chess school for kids, offering online and in-person classes every day. New students are welcome to try a free assessment and trial class. For more details, visit the CCYC website or contact them at 647-567-6670/[email protected].

The CFC is the national governing body for chess in Canada. It organizes national championships, maintains the Canadian rating system, and represents Canada in international chess through the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

• Ontario Youth Chess Championship (OYCC): The OYCC is an official CFC event that serves as the provincial qualifier for the Canadian Youth Chess Championship (CYCC). It takes place annually, usually in May, and it lasts for 2-3 days. Players are divided into groups by gender and age and the winners in each section are declared Ontario Youth Chess Champions in their respective category and receive bursaries to represent their province in the Canadian Youth Chess Championship. Participation in the OYCC is open to all Ontario-residing youth, with no prior qualification required.

• Canadian Youth Chess Championship (CYCC): The CYCC is Canada’s largest youth chess event, taking place annually, typically during the first ten days of July, and lasting for four days. Participation is by qualification only. The 700+ participants are split into twelve sections based on age and gender. The winner in each section is declared Canadian Youth Chess Champion and the top three finishers in each section qualify for: a) the World Youth Chess Championship (WYCC) and World Cadet Chess Championship (WCCC), b) the Pan American Youth Chess Championship, c) the North American Youth Chess Championship. The CFC provides limited sponsorship to winners.

The CMA (Chess & Math Association) is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to teaching chess in schools. They run the Chess ’n Math scholastic program, publish teaching materials, maintain their own CMA rating system and organize tournaments specifically designed for kids, including the popular Ontario Chess Challenge and the Canadian Chess Challenge.

• Ontario Chess Challenge (OCC): The Ontario Chess Challenge is a provincial chess championship for school kids. This one-day tournament is hosted annually by the CMA, typically at the end of April/beginning of May. Participation is by qualification only and players are divided into groups, based on their grade – starting from kindergarten to grade 12 – regardless of gender. The winner of each section is the respective grade’s Ontario CMA champion. Winners also qualify and receive funding to participate in the Canadian Chess Challenge.

• Canadian Chess Challenge (CCC): The Canadian Chess Challenge is a national scholastic competition, hosted annually by the CMA. It takes place in the second half of May and it lasts for two days, featuring nine rounds of rapid time control games. To be eligible to participate in this event, a player has to be the scholastic champion of their respective province. For Ontario-based players, that means the player would have to win first place in the Ontario Chess Challenge in their respective grade. Assuming all provinces are fully represented, the number of participants is always the same: 10 provinces x 13 provincial grade champions = 130 players.

• TYCC: No prior qualification is needed. The event is open to all GTA-based youth.
• OYCC: No prior qualification is needed. The event is open to all Ontario-based youth.
• CYCC: Your child can qualify by scoring at least 50% (typically 2.5 points out of 5.0 rounds) in a junior tournament designated as a “CYCC Qualifier”
• OCC: Your child can qualify by scoring at least 60% (typically 3.0 points out of 5.0 rounds) in a junior tournament designated as a “OCC Qualifier”
• CCC: Players qualify by getting first place among their grade in the scholastic CMA Championship of their respective province (for Ontario, that championship is the OCC)

Each pathway is competitive but designed to give motivated players the chance to progress step by step.

From September to June, the TCC hosts one junior tournament per month. Most of these tournaments serve as both CYCC and OCC Qualifiers and are a great way for school kids to get involved in tournament competition and practice their chess skills.

A. Age Requirement

Players are divided into age groups (U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18), so they get to play opponents of roughly their age. We have had participants as young as 5 years-old, competing for kindergarten qualification or simply looking to gain experience! Chess is a game and kids, no matter how young, love playing with other kids!

B. Skill Level

The only skill requirement is to have a working knowledge of the movement of the pieces. Players will be instructed by our experienced floor staff to carry themselves quietly and respectfully. If this is their first time playing with a chess clock, they will also be taught how to use it.

There is no better place to start practicing and competing than TCC’s junior tournaments!

A chess rating is a number that measures a player’s relative strength based on their performance in rated tournaments. When you win, your rating goes up; when you lose, it goes down. Ratings help seed and match players against opponents of similar skill in chess tournaments. Many on-line platforms, such as lichess.org and chess.com, provide un-official chess ratings to their users.

Three recognized institutions in Canada maintain a formal rating system.

1. CFC Rating: Canada’s official national rating, awarded through CFC-rated tournaments. There are two types of CFC ratings, depending on the length of a game.

• Regular Rating: Based on standard, longer games – the “main” national rating.
• Active Rating: Based on faster-paced games with shorter time controls.

2. FIDE Rating: The World’s official international rating, awarded through FIDE-rated tournaments. There are two types of FIDE ratings, depending on the length of the game.

• Standard Rating: Classical time control, the “main” international rating.
• Rapid Rating: Faster games, usually 10–60 minutes per player.
• Blitz Rating: Very fast games, typically 3–10 minutes per player.

3. CMA Rating: Scholastic rating system for children in Canada, managed by the Chess and Math Association. Its applicability is limited to tournaments overseen by the CMA or directly connected to it.

To obtain a rating, your child needs to participate in tournaments recognized by the respective organization and play against players who already have a rating.

• CMA Rating: Your child earns a CMA rating by participating in CMA-sanctioned scholastic tournaments, such as local competitions and the Ontario Chess Challenge. Every game played in these events contributes to their CMA rating, which is updated regularly.

• CFC Rating (Regular & Active): To get a CFC rating, your child must play in CFC-rated tournaments. Regular ratings come from standard, longer games, while Active ratings are calculated from shorter time controls.

• FIDE Rating (Classical, Rapid, Blitz): FIDE ratings are earned in FIDE-rated tournaments, usually at larger national or international events. Classical ratings come from standard long games, Rapid from medium-length games, and Blitz from very fast games. A player usually starts with a CFC rating before progressing to FIDE-rated events.

Each rating type tracks performance separately, so a motivated player can hold multiple ratings at the same time, giving a full picture of their growth across different formats.

Most of Toronto Chess Centre’s junior tournaments are CFC-rated and CMA-rated, making them an easy way for young players to obtain and improve their rating. Most of TCC’s open tournaments are FIDE-rated too.

Absolutely!

• Volunteer: The TCC welcomes volunteers to help with tournaments, events, and community programs. Adolescents and chess parents with organizational or technical skills are especially appreciated.

• Donate: Both monetary donations and donations in kind go directly toward supporting tournaments, equipment, coaching programs, and making chess more accessible to kids.

• Sponsor: Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses and individuals who want to support youth chess in Toronto. Sponsors may receive recognition at events, on our website, and in our communications.

Please contact us at [email protected] to learn how you can contribute!