IM Nikolay Noritsyn and WIM Li Yunshan have been crowned the 2025 Canadian Chess Champions, claiming their third and maiden national titles, respectively.
The 89th Canadian Chess Championship and the 22nd Canadian Women’s Chess Championship—both 9-round Swiss tournaments with classical time control—were held simultaneously from April 17–22 in Toronto, Ontario.
The competition featured 90 of Canada’s strongest players, hailing from nine provinces. The lineup included three Grandmasters, 13 International Masters, and three Woman International Masters.
FM Tymur Keleberda (pictured above, left) led the tournament with a perfect 4/4 after four rounds. He then drew with GM Bator Sambuev in round 5, setting up a key round-6 clash with IM Nikolay Noritsyn (pictured above, right). Noritsyn won this pivotal game to emerge as the sole leader after round 6. He maintained his half-point advantage through the final rounds, finishing in clear first with 7.5/9 to secure the national title. The champion remained unbeaten, scoring six wins and three draws.
GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, the other undefeated competitor, finished half a point behind in second place. GM Razvan Preotu and IM Raymond Kaufman tied for third with 6.5/9, with Preotu taking bronze thanks to a superior Buchholz tiebreak score.
In the women’s event, WCM Ashley Qian started strong with a perfect 5/5. She then drew with top seed WIM Li Yunshan (pictured above, left) in round 6, maintaining a half-point lead. Alongside these two, WIM Svitlana Demchenko (pictured above, right) and WFM Morgen Mills consistently ranked in the top four from round 4 through the final round. Demchenko entered the last round with a half-point lead, but lost to Li, while Mills defeated WFM Oksana Golubeva resulting in a three-way tie for Li, Demchenko, and Mills, all on 7/9.
Li clinched gold based on her superior Buchholz Cut 1 tiebreak score while Demchenko edged out Mills on the second Buchholz tiebreak to claim silver.
22nd Canadian Women’s Chess Championship final standings
Written by FA Heidi Gay / Annex Chess Club
Photos: Derek Ma / Annex Chess Club and John Upper / Chess Federation of Canada