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Since there has been so much interest in a report for this event over the past week... Unofficial because I was not the organizer, just a player.
Not just any player, mind you. A defending co-champion. :) Wenyang Ming and I tied for first last year.
This was the fifth Niagara Falls event I've played in. As usual, it was run by John Erickson and John Brown.
Round 1 was played in St. Catharines, at the Sts. Cyril and Methodious Ukranian Catholic Church. While the church basement isn't anything special, the outside of the church is stunning - probably the most beautiful building I've ever played chess in. I was psyched for the first round. I'd never played in St Catharines before, but it happens to be the city where I was born, and hey, I was there to defend my share of the title. The accelerated pairings meant I got paired up in the first round, and faced Michael Buscar. Michael hadn't played competitive chess since 2007. No matter, he squashed me, like a juicy bug. So much for defending the title...
The remaining rounds were held at the Niagara Shrine Club. An interesting venue because of the large mural painted on one wall. And convenient, because you can buy lunch (hot roast beef sandwiches and all sorts of beverages) on the premises.
The top two players, Razvan Preotu and Roman Sapozhnikov, met in round 4. Razvan ended up converting a N and g+h pawn vs N and "a" pawn ending against Roman en route to a perfect 5-0 score.
Local Joseph Lentini took 2nd place, with 4.5 out of 5. His only draw came against Buscar, whom he happened to be hosting for the event, in an early round.
Wenyang Ming and I both laughed when we saw the round 5 pairings - we were paired against each other, just as we had been in round 5 last year. This year I got lucky in time trouble, and ended up tying Roman, Keith Wight and ??? for third through sixth place, with 4-1 scores.
One of the more unusual aspects of the Niagara Falls event each year is the large number (>10) of non-cash prizes awarded for "upsets". Beat someone 400 points above you, and you earn 400 "upset points"; draw somebody 600 points above you and you earn 300 upset points. Those with the most upset points after round 5 win the upset prizes. Lee Hendon had over 1200 upset points after the first three rounds, and unsurprisingly ended up with the most upset points. His prize was a 1-year CFC membership, donated by John Brown in memory of Jaime Solis, a past regular at this event.
Three things I especially enjoyed this year. 1. Finally getting to meet the rating auditor, Paul LeBlanc, who flew out from BC to play. 2. Seeing Michael Buscar play. As we all know, most kids eventually give up chess. It's hard to come back as an adult, after a long layoff. I hope Michael keeps playing. He pulled off an amazing bishops-of-opposite-color win against Lee Hendon in Round 4. 3. Witnessing (yet again) Razvan's utter love for the game. After the fourth round Razvan asked if he could join some of us in blitz. Even though we were all much weaker than him, and he knew it, he just wanted to "play chess". I found his attitude inspiring.
Not just any player, mind you. A defending co-champion. :) Wenyang Ming and I tied for first last year.
This was the fifth Niagara Falls event I've played in. As usual, it was run by John Erickson and John Brown.
Round 1 was played in St. Catharines, at the Sts. Cyril and Methodious Ukranian Catholic Church. While the church basement isn't anything special, the outside of the church is stunning - probably the most beautiful building I've ever played chess in. I was psyched for the first round. I'd never played in St Catharines before, but it happens to be the city where I was born, and hey, I was there to defend my share of the title. The accelerated pairings meant I got paired up in the first round, and faced Michael Buscar. Michael hadn't played competitive chess since 2007. No matter, he squashed me, like a juicy bug. So much for defending the title...
The remaining rounds were held at the Niagara Shrine Club. An interesting venue because of the large mural painted on one wall. And convenient, because you can buy lunch (hot roast beef sandwiches and all sorts of beverages) on the premises.
The top two players, Razvan Preotu and Roman Sapozhnikov, met in round 4. Razvan ended up converting a N and g+h pawn vs N and "a" pawn ending against Roman en route to a perfect 5-0 score.
Local Joseph Lentini took 2nd place, with 4.5 out of 5. His only draw came against Buscar, whom he happened to be hosting for the event, in an early round.
Wenyang Ming and I both laughed when we saw the round 5 pairings - we were paired against each other, just as we had been in round 5 last year. This year I got lucky in time trouble, and ended up tying Roman, Keith Wight and ??? for third through sixth place, with 4-1 scores.
One of the more unusual aspects of the Niagara Falls event each year is the large number (>10) of non-cash prizes awarded for "upsets". Beat someone 400 points above you, and you earn 400 "upset points"; draw somebody 600 points above you and you earn 300 upset points. Those with the most upset points after round 5 win the upset prizes. Lee Hendon had over 1200 upset points after the first three rounds, and unsurprisingly ended up with the most upset points. His prize was a 1-year CFC membership, donated by John Brown in memory of Jaime Solis, a past regular at this event.
Three things I especially enjoyed this year. 1. Finally getting to meet the rating auditor, Paul LeBlanc, who flew out from BC to play. 2. Seeing Michael Buscar play. As we all know, most kids eventually give up chess. It's hard to come back as an adult, after a long layoff. I hope Michael keeps playing. He pulled off an amazing bishops-of-opposite-color win against Lee Hendon in Round 4. 3. Witnessing (yet again) Razvan's utter love for the game. After the fourth round Razvan asked if he could join some of us in blitz. Even though we were all much weaker than him, and he knew it, he just wanted to "play chess". I found his attitude inspiring.
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