The pairings for the Closed are as follows (full tournament info here):

Round 1
Khodjimatov – Keleberda
Malek – Arruebarrena
Bahmani – Wu

Round 2
Keleberda – Wu
Arruebarrena – Bahmani
Khodjimatov – Malek

Round 3
Malek – Keleberda
Bahmani – Khodjimatov
Wu – Arruebarrena

Round 4
Keleberda – Arruebarrena
Khodjimatov – Wu
Malek – Bahmani

Round 5
Bahmani – Keleberda
Wu – Malek
Arruebarrena – Khodjimatov

Registration is open for the Alberta Youth Championship, April 25-26 in Edmonton. Full information here.

Registration is open for the Lethbridge Open, April 18-19. Full info and sign up here.

Reminder that the Alberta Reserves is taking place next weekend, March 28-29 in Edmonton. Info for the tournament here.

Registration is open for the Alberta Reserves, March 28-29 in Edmonton. Full info here.

This tournament is played alongside the Alberta Closed, which will be contested by the following players:

1. Tymur Keleberda
2. Amir Bahmani
3. Omid Malek
4. Sherzod Khodjimatov
5. Jonathan Wu
6. Rafael Arruebarrena

Registration is open for the Alberta Rapid Championship (March 14th) and Alberta Blitz Championship (March 15th) in Calgary. Full info for the Rapid here, and the Blitz here.

The Edmonton Chess Challenge is set for March 7th, and the Calgary Chess Challenge for March 8th. Registration and full information here (Edmonton) and here (Calgary).

Early registration is also open for the Alberta Chess Challenge, April 11th in Red Deer. Info here.

Congratulations to all the top finishers at the Edmonton and Calgary Youth Regionals (Edmonton, Calgary):

U8: Ethan Wang (4/4), Nico Poli (4/5)
U10: Aadhavan Suresh (4/4), Audvik Verma (5/5)
U12: Loki Lai (3/4), Lucas Wang (4.5/5)
U14: Wuran Guo (3.5/4), April Wang (4/5)
U16: Michael Prianichnikov (3.5/4), Jake Chi Hang Li (4/5)
U18: Ryan Chen (3.5/4), Rostyslav Spiian (4.5/5)

Thanks to all our junior organizers for running the events.

Registration is open for all February events:

– The Edmonton Youth Regional, February 7.

– The Calgary Youth Regional, February 7-8.

– The Northern Alberta Open, February 14-16. We will be running it as a 5-round, 3-day event this year, with the final round on Monday, February 16th.

The 2026 calendar kicks off with the Schleinich Memorial Sectional next week, January 9-11, in Calgary. Full information and registration here.

The 2026 tournament schedule has been posted, which you can access at the top of the page.

Additionally, minutes from the ACA Board meetings have been posted here for your viewing, and the referenced new tournament director standards here.