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The Canadian Open U 2000 Blog (Armstrong) - Part I
Surprise!! The Canadian Open U 2000 Blog is going to be here on Chesstalk after all!
You will have seen in my earlier posts, that the plan had been for it to just be posted on the FQE Website for the Canadian Open. And it is being posted - here is the link for Blog # 1: http://echecsmontreal.ca/co/blogEN.html .
But the difficulty is that the blog format on the site has no capacity for viewers to discuss items of interest, comment, question, etc. So I spoke with the lead FQE organizer, Felix Dumont, and we agreed that there was no problem with the blogs being duplicate posted, both there, and here. And Chesstalk has the big advantage that it allows for a discussion format. And in order to promote this discussion aspect of the blog, it was felt that just posting a link would be insufficient. So the whole blog is set out below. So this blog site will be the one that will serve as the discussion group. Because of the late change of plans, some of the blog content is now obsolete, but it will not be confusing, with this intro having been read.
I hope CT'ers enjoy the blog, and will have comments for all to read and discuss.
Bob Armstrong
2014 Canadian Open U 2000 Blog (Armstrong) - Part I
The “Day Prior” – Friday, July 18 (Blog # 1)
Introduction
Well, the biggest annual Canadian chess tournament, the Canadian Open, is now upon us in Montreal, Quebec. And for all the chess aficionados across Canada, tuning in to the day by day struggles, I, Bob Armstrong,
have to hand out a warning. I am once again inflicting myself on the Canadian chess public, and posting my 2014 Canadian Open U 2000 Blog!
After a 35 year absence from playing in Canadian Opens, I, starting with 2006, have now played in 7 of the 8 consecutive Canadian Opens. I don’t remember which year I started blogging my tournament section, but I know I have done it for at least three years now (one of the years, when I played in the Toronto International, rather than the BC CO, I blogged it).
Usually, the Chess ‘n Math Association (Larry Bevand) has graciously consented to my posting my blog on their national discussion board, Chesstalk. In that forum, I was averaging 500 views per day for my 8 – 10 blogs (varied a bit from year to year).
This year I am trying something different. FQE inquired whether I might blog for them this year, and we agreed that my blog would not be on Chesstalk this time, but right on the FQE website. I noted that my French was merely minimal now (though I was almost able to get along in Quebec in my younger years – but both my adult kids have resided here in Montreal now for many years – a consequence of Ontario French Immersion). FQE advised that this was satisfactory, and that they would not be having someone translate it…..what they hoped to achieve, through people coming to their website for the blog, was to raise the profile of Quebec chess in English Canada. So I am hopeful that I may be able to go some way in achieving this for them. One of their tournament staffers will be working with me to do the technical posting of the material I present to them.
My Prior CO’s/TIO
I have to say, that I treat the Canadian Opens as a “chess holiday”! My recent prior eight adventures ( 7 CO’s outings and the 2012 Toronto International Open…which, as I said, replaced the 2012 CO in BC) were fabulous – lots of chess, good socializing, doing some touristy things, and getting some R&R between rounds.
Speaking about “chess”, how did I do in this prior eight years? Well, I did a little digging for my 2013 blog, and I’ll reproduce it here and update it:
1. 2006 – Kitchener – Sections - Played in the U 2000 Section (1999 to 1600) – rated 1711 – finished with 5/9 (slightly over 50 %), tied # 21 - # 30 out of 81 players; performance rating of 1832.
2. 2007 – Ottawa – One Section Swiss (with hyper-accelerated pairings) - Was in the U 1800 Class Prize group (1999 to 1800) – rated 1746 – finished with 5.5/9 (over 50 %), tied # 73 - # 113 out of 280 players. Shared a Class Prize – tied for # 3 - # 15 (the split meant a very modest payoff!) – performance rating of 1928.
3. 2008 – Montreal – Sections - Played up a section in the U 2000 Section (1999 to 1800) – rated 1783 – finished with 6.5/9 (72 %), tied # 4 - # 8 out of 77 players. Shared some prize money (again, rather modest due to split) – performance rating of 1940. With this tournament I was given an FQE rating of 1845.
4. 2009 – Edmonton – One Section Swiss (no acceleration) - Was in the U 2000 Class Prize Group (1999 to 1800) – rated 1831 – finished with 4/9 (slightly under 50 %), tied # 110 - # 139, out of 203 players; in my class I finished tied # 30 – # 40 out of 48 players – performance rating of 1797.
5. 2010 – Toronto – One Section Swiss (hyper-accelerated pairings) - Was in the U 2000 Class Prize Group (1999 to 1800) – rated 1800 (ranked last of 56!) – finished with 4.5/9 (50 %), tied # 111 - # 150, out of 265 players; in my class, I finished tied # 25 - # 44 out of 56 players – performance rating of 1829.
6. 2011 – Toronto – Sections – Played in U 2000 section (to 1600) – rated 1744 - 76 players & I was ranked # 27 – finished # 20/31, with 5/9 pts. – had a TPR of 1690, and lost 19 rating points.
7. 2012 – Toronto International – Sections – Played in the U 1900 section (to 1600) – rated 1645 – 34 players and I was ranked second-last – finished # 23/26, with 2.5/7 pts. – TPR of 1629 – lost 3 rating points.
8. 2013 – Ottawa – One big swiss (no acceleration) – 178 players - played in the U 1600 prize group – rated 1590 (hadn’t been in the 1500’s for about 7 years) – finished # 127/148, with only 3.5/9 pts. – but gained 2 rating points (TPR – 1602)!
So here I go again in 2014 in Montreal, this time in the U 2000 section. I am rated for this tournament using my FQE rating, achieved in the 2008 CO – 1845. But I’m afraid it has been some years now since I’ve been there in my CFC rating (now 1645). But in either case, I would be in the U 2000 section. As of Friday’s registration list update, there are 79 players in the U 2000 section. With my FQE rating, I am ranked # 22/79. But the truth is 1645 (sigh) – at this rating I am not even a dark horse ………. # 73/79! From this distance, I can’t even see the top seeds in my section! And with a first prize of $ 1000!
Prepping Is Important
At my Scarborough Chess Club in Toronto, our last tournament went to June 26 (my club closes for July & August). Since then I have played no chess games. For those who know me, they know I have never really studied chess (except to analyze my own games). So doing no studying or prepping for this tournament really doesn’t affect me much – just in the same situation as always…..relying on my native talent……which, if I had any…has now left the building! But I simply love to play officially rated tournament chess, and I just let the chips fall where they may. And I definitely am not preaching myself as any role model for upcoming juniors. I am the anti-role model – do the exact opposite to get better! Study, play a lot, and do prep for your opponents if given a chance.
The Montreal CO
The CO starts today, Saturday, July 19 with Rd. 1 @ 11:00 AM. We will be playing in the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel (the same one the CYCC has been held in for the last four days – finished yesterday with play-offs). So I am doing this blog in the wee hours of the first day of the tournament (Sat.), though blogging about the “day prior”….Friday.
Expectations for the 2014 CO
- I am shooting for a tournament performance rating in the high 1700’s (which I haven’t achieved since May 2012!)
- I am shooting to bring my CFC rating back up into the 1700’s
(rather modest, but I hope achievable, goals.)
The Blog Plan
- hope to report on the playing day by the next morning before noon (but I will shoot for it to be as early as I can manage it, and working with the FQE staffer, who has to find time in his rat-race to post it for me).
Favourites/Dark Horses
I will designate the 1900’s as the “favourites” (though I know there will be some sharp-shooting lower rated juniors that will also come to the top soon enough). There are 6 of them out of 79.
“Favourites” (1900’s)
1. Villeneuve, Robert – 1993 – QC
2. Have, Didier – 1992 - QC
3. Weston, Paul – 1963 – QC
4. Rodrigo-Lemieux, Shawn – 1927 – QC
5. Chang, Michael – 1912 – QC
6. Sarra-Bournet, Marc – 1911 - QC
I will designate the 1800’s the “dark horses” – there are 11 of them out of 79.
“Dark Horses” (1899 – 1850) (note – since my rating is really now an old inflated rating, I will not include myself, despite my 1845 FQE rating). There are 11 of these.
1. Leblanc, Paul – 1893 – BC
2. Pinho, Tiago – 1889 – Portugal
3/ 4. Nardone, Raul – 1887 – QC
3/ 4. Barko, Maxim – 1887 – QC
5. Lee, Brendon – 1875 – ON
6. Yie, Kevin – 1874 – ON
7. Gunapalan, David – 1872 – QC
8. Langlois-Remillard, Alexis – 1860 – QC
9. Libersan, Mattieu – 1857 – QC
10/11. Miettinen, Eric – 1854 – QC
10/11. Itkine, Victor – 1854 - ON
The U 2000 Prize Fund
Top Finishers - $ 1,000; $ 600; $ 300; $ 200;
U 1900 - $ 250
U 1800 - $ 150
Best Female - $ 125
Best Senior - $ 125
Best Junior (U 20 as of Jan. 1/14, according to the FQE website) - $ 125
Best Cadet (15 years and less, according to the FQE website) - $ 75
Continued below in Part II
Surprise!! The Canadian Open U 2000 Blog is going to be here on Chesstalk after all!
You will have seen in my earlier posts, that the plan had been for it to just be posted on the FQE Website for the Canadian Open. And it is being posted - here is the link for Blog # 1: http://echecsmontreal.ca/co/blogEN.html .
But the difficulty is that the blog format on the site has no capacity for viewers to discuss items of interest, comment, question, etc. So I spoke with the lead FQE organizer, Felix Dumont, and we agreed that there was no problem with the blogs being duplicate posted, both there, and here. And Chesstalk has the big advantage that it allows for a discussion format. And in order to promote this discussion aspect of the blog, it was felt that just posting a link would be insufficient. So the whole blog is set out below. So this blog site will be the one that will serve as the discussion group. Because of the late change of plans, some of the blog content is now obsolete, but it will not be confusing, with this intro having been read.
I hope CT'ers enjoy the blog, and will have comments for all to read and discuss.
Bob Armstrong
2014 Canadian Open U 2000 Blog (Armstrong) - Part I
The “Day Prior” – Friday, July 18 (Blog # 1)
Introduction
Well, the biggest annual Canadian chess tournament, the Canadian Open, is now upon us in Montreal, Quebec. And for all the chess aficionados across Canada, tuning in to the day by day struggles, I, Bob Armstrong,
have to hand out a warning. I am once again inflicting myself on the Canadian chess public, and posting my 2014 Canadian Open U 2000 Blog!
After a 35 year absence from playing in Canadian Opens, I, starting with 2006, have now played in 7 of the 8 consecutive Canadian Opens. I don’t remember which year I started blogging my tournament section, but I know I have done it for at least three years now (one of the years, when I played in the Toronto International, rather than the BC CO, I blogged it).
Usually, the Chess ‘n Math Association (Larry Bevand) has graciously consented to my posting my blog on their national discussion board, Chesstalk. In that forum, I was averaging 500 views per day for my 8 – 10 blogs (varied a bit from year to year).
This year I am trying something different. FQE inquired whether I might blog for them this year, and we agreed that my blog would not be on Chesstalk this time, but right on the FQE website. I noted that my French was merely minimal now (though I was almost able to get along in Quebec in my younger years – but both my adult kids have resided here in Montreal now for many years – a consequence of Ontario French Immersion). FQE advised that this was satisfactory, and that they would not be having someone translate it…..what they hoped to achieve, through people coming to their website for the blog, was to raise the profile of Quebec chess in English Canada. So I am hopeful that I may be able to go some way in achieving this for them. One of their tournament staffers will be working with me to do the technical posting of the material I present to them.
My Prior CO’s/TIO
I have to say, that I treat the Canadian Opens as a “chess holiday”! My recent prior eight adventures ( 7 CO’s outings and the 2012 Toronto International Open…which, as I said, replaced the 2012 CO in BC) were fabulous – lots of chess, good socializing, doing some touristy things, and getting some R&R between rounds.
Speaking about “chess”, how did I do in this prior eight years? Well, I did a little digging for my 2013 blog, and I’ll reproduce it here and update it:
1. 2006 – Kitchener – Sections - Played in the U 2000 Section (1999 to 1600) – rated 1711 – finished with 5/9 (slightly over 50 %), tied # 21 - # 30 out of 81 players; performance rating of 1832.
2. 2007 – Ottawa – One Section Swiss (with hyper-accelerated pairings) - Was in the U 1800 Class Prize group (1999 to 1800) – rated 1746 – finished with 5.5/9 (over 50 %), tied # 73 - # 113 out of 280 players. Shared a Class Prize – tied for # 3 - # 15 (the split meant a very modest payoff!) – performance rating of 1928.
3. 2008 – Montreal – Sections - Played up a section in the U 2000 Section (1999 to 1800) – rated 1783 – finished with 6.5/9 (72 %), tied # 4 - # 8 out of 77 players. Shared some prize money (again, rather modest due to split) – performance rating of 1940. With this tournament I was given an FQE rating of 1845.
4. 2009 – Edmonton – One Section Swiss (no acceleration) - Was in the U 2000 Class Prize Group (1999 to 1800) – rated 1831 – finished with 4/9 (slightly under 50 %), tied # 110 - # 139, out of 203 players; in my class I finished tied # 30 – # 40 out of 48 players – performance rating of 1797.
5. 2010 – Toronto – One Section Swiss (hyper-accelerated pairings) - Was in the U 2000 Class Prize Group (1999 to 1800) – rated 1800 (ranked last of 56!) – finished with 4.5/9 (50 %), tied # 111 - # 150, out of 265 players; in my class, I finished tied # 25 - # 44 out of 56 players – performance rating of 1829.
6. 2011 – Toronto – Sections – Played in U 2000 section (to 1600) – rated 1744 - 76 players & I was ranked # 27 – finished # 20/31, with 5/9 pts. – had a TPR of 1690, and lost 19 rating points.
7. 2012 – Toronto International – Sections – Played in the U 1900 section (to 1600) – rated 1645 – 34 players and I was ranked second-last – finished # 23/26, with 2.5/7 pts. – TPR of 1629 – lost 3 rating points.
8. 2013 – Ottawa – One big swiss (no acceleration) – 178 players - played in the U 1600 prize group – rated 1590 (hadn’t been in the 1500’s for about 7 years) – finished # 127/148, with only 3.5/9 pts. – but gained 2 rating points (TPR – 1602)!
So here I go again in 2014 in Montreal, this time in the U 2000 section. I am rated for this tournament using my FQE rating, achieved in the 2008 CO – 1845. But I’m afraid it has been some years now since I’ve been there in my CFC rating (now 1645). But in either case, I would be in the U 2000 section. As of Friday’s registration list update, there are 79 players in the U 2000 section. With my FQE rating, I am ranked # 22/79. But the truth is 1645 (sigh) – at this rating I am not even a dark horse ………. # 73/79! From this distance, I can’t even see the top seeds in my section! And with a first prize of $ 1000!
Prepping Is Important
At my Scarborough Chess Club in Toronto, our last tournament went to June 26 (my club closes for July & August). Since then I have played no chess games. For those who know me, they know I have never really studied chess (except to analyze my own games). So doing no studying or prepping for this tournament really doesn’t affect me much – just in the same situation as always…..relying on my native talent……which, if I had any…has now left the building! But I simply love to play officially rated tournament chess, and I just let the chips fall where they may. And I definitely am not preaching myself as any role model for upcoming juniors. I am the anti-role model – do the exact opposite to get better! Study, play a lot, and do prep for your opponents if given a chance.
The Montreal CO
The CO starts today, Saturday, July 19 with Rd. 1 @ 11:00 AM. We will be playing in the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel (the same one the CYCC has been held in for the last four days – finished yesterday with play-offs). So I am doing this blog in the wee hours of the first day of the tournament (Sat.), though blogging about the “day prior”….Friday.
Expectations for the 2014 CO
- I am shooting for a tournament performance rating in the high 1700’s (which I haven’t achieved since May 2012!)
- I am shooting to bring my CFC rating back up into the 1700’s
(rather modest, but I hope achievable, goals.)
The Blog Plan
- hope to report on the playing day by the next morning before noon (but I will shoot for it to be as early as I can manage it, and working with the FQE staffer, who has to find time in his rat-race to post it for me).
Favourites/Dark Horses
I will designate the 1900’s as the “favourites” (though I know there will be some sharp-shooting lower rated juniors that will also come to the top soon enough). There are 6 of them out of 79.
“Favourites” (1900’s)
1. Villeneuve, Robert – 1993 – QC
2. Have, Didier – 1992 - QC
3. Weston, Paul – 1963 – QC
4. Rodrigo-Lemieux, Shawn – 1927 – QC
5. Chang, Michael – 1912 – QC
6. Sarra-Bournet, Marc – 1911 - QC
I will designate the 1800’s the “dark horses” – there are 11 of them out of 79.
“Dark Horses” (1899 – 1850) (note – since my rating is really now an old inflated rating, I will not include myself, despite my 1845 FQE rating). There are 11 of these.
1. Leblanc, Paul – 1893 – BC
2. Pinho, Tiago – 1889 – Portugal
3/ 4. Nardone, Raul – 1887 – QC
3/ 4. Barko, Maxim – 1887 – QC
5. Lee, Brendon – 1875 – ON
6. Yie, Kevin – 1874 – ON
7. Gunapalan, David – 1872 – QC
8. Langlois-Remillard, Alexis – 1860 – QC
9. Libersan, Mattieu – 1857 – QC
10/11. Miettinen, Eric – 1854 – QC
10/11. Itkine, Victor – 1854 - ON
The U 2000 Prize Fund
Top Finishers - $ 1,000; $ 600; $ 300; $ 200;
U 1900 - $ 250
U 1800 - $ 150
Best Female - $ 125
Best Senior - $ 125
Best Junior (U 20 as of Jan. 1/14, according to the FQE website) - $ 125
Best Cadet (15 years and less, according to the FQE website) - $ 75
Continued below in Part II
Attached Files
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