Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

[Aris Marghetis]

Due to the Ontario Open having been in Ottawa this year, the Eastern Ontario Open was in turn later in the month of June than it usually is. We were even later than both the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the end of school for the summer! However, we were able to squeeze it in before Canada Day! :)

Almost 50 players made it to the RA Centre in Ottawa, despite an incredible rainstorm during onsite registration! Few things in my chess life have been funnier than the sight of a topless player blow-drying his soaked shirt in the restroom! Aside from that, the RA Centre has recently dramatically improved their air conditioning system, which was much appreciated by everyone. We also switched to bigger better tables, which all the players seemed to prefer.

Back to the registrations, the players were divided into Section A for 1800 and up, and Section B for U1800. Both of these sections were further broken down into classes of 200 rating points each, but more details on that later. But before reporting the tournament results, I just wanted to take a moment to thank my two floater players, who thus ensured that we had no forced byes all weekend. Thanks again Wei Xiong and David Gordon, who also helped with the set-up and wrap-up of the playing room and of the skittles room. If anyone else is interested in being a floater player for us, please feel free to email me!

Getting to the tournament results, all of our regular FIDE title players were otherwise occupied this weekend, which opened the door wide open for some different people to win this event. In addition to drawing with each other in round 4, the top two rated players, Kevin Pacey and Armando Valdizon, finished tied at the top with scores of 4-1. This was worth $400 each, as they split the 1st and 2nd place prizes of $500 and $300. A special honourable mention goes to John Upper, who also finished with a score of 4-1, but who was playing as an Amateur. There was a 3rd place prize of $100, but more on that later.

Two players scored 3.5-1.5 to round out the top five players, but they both won much bigger class prizes instead. Mavros Whissell started his long drive home before knowing for sure that he had won the U2200 $300 class prize, so when you read this Mavros, congrats! Mavros had a great tournament, but really impressive was that Danail Donev also scored 3.5 -1.5 to win the U2000 $300 class prize. To put this in perspective, Donail was ranked 21st out of 24 players in section A, and still scored 3.5-1.5 against five opponents rated higher than him, most of them by hundreds of rating points! Well done Danail!

These two high performing class prize winners left a unique gap for other players to claim the 3rd place $100 prize, which rounded out the $900 in prizes for the top of Section A. Five non-Amateurs scored 3-2 each to share this for $20 each: Misters Doubleday, Humphreys, Sadeghi, Fritzsche, Desjardins.

Moving on to Section B, it consisted of an U1800 class, an U1600 class, and an U1400 class. In the U1800 class, Anton Georgiev and Jason Nguyen had the best scores of 4-1, but as Anton was playing as an Amateur, Jason took the U1800 $200 class prize alone. In the U1600 class, Jacob Krolczyk took the U1600 $200 class prize alone, again with a dominating score of 4-1. Finally, in the U1400 class, the top results were achieved by Liiban Farah with 3.5-1.5, and Matthew Scott and Kevin Wan, both with 3-2. However, only Kevin was playing as a non-Amateur, and so he took the U1400 $100 class prize alone.

In closing, I would like to take a moment to recognize all the positive spirit displayed this weekend. This was one of the most fun events I have run in years, with so many players having a great time, and the chess was so combative and exciting, as witnessed by incredibly few draws! Good summer everyone!

Please visit the weblink below for a PDF of the wall chart. It should be up a day or so after the event, and will eventually also link to the CFC crosstables.

Yours in chess,

Aris Marghetis
Organizer/TD, EOCA President
http://www.eoca.org/htm/tournaments%202008-09.html

My next event will be the RA Fall Open, to be scheduled for late September.

If you would like to receive details on this event directly via email, please email arismarghetis@rogers.com to be added to my private email list.

Section A (note that late players 23 & 24 embedded by order of rating)
Top Class
1 2600455 103715 2347 Pacey, Kevin +12 B 1.0 +7 W 2.0 =9 B 2.5 =2 W 3.0 +10 W 4.0
2 2603110 101864 2264 Valdizon, Armando +13 W 1.0 +11 B 2.0 +6 W 3.0 =1 B 3.5 =8 B 4.0
3 2610914 149090 2258 Torres, Aleksandr +14 B 1.0 -9 W 1.0 +12 B 2.0 -8 W 2.0 -0 bye 2.0
4 2602431 106629 2248 Gordon, David =0 bye 0.5 =0 bye 1.0 -0 bye 1.0 -19 B 1.0 -0 bye 1.0
5 2682419 103754 2218 Doubleday, William -15 W 0.0 =14 B 0.5 +17 B 1.5 +22 W 2.5 =13 B 3.0
U2200 Class
6 2607522 131628 2199 Humphreys, Michael +16 B 1.0 +15 W 2.0 -2 B 2.0 -11 W 2.0 +24 B 3.0
7 2606810 139655 2178 Sadeghi, Saeid +17 W 1.0 -1 B 1.0 -13 W 1.0 +23 B 2.0 +12 W 3.0
8 2609460 112769 2158 Whissell, Mavros -19 B 0.0 +16 W 1.0 +15 B 2.0 +3 B 3.0 =2 W 3.5
9 2606844 133928 2157 Xiong, Jerry +20 W 1.0 +3 B 2.0 =1 W 2.5 =10 B 3.0 -11 W 3.0
10 4631544 145427 2140 Fritzsche, Helmut =0 bye 0.5 +19 W 1.5 +22 B 2.5 =9 W 3.0 -1 B 3.0
11 2606437 101925 2115 Upper, John +21 B 1.0 -2 W 1.0 +23 W 2.0 +6 B 3.0 +9 B 4.0
24 105070 2069 Gagnon, Serge =0 bye 0.5 =23 B 1.0 =19 W 1.5 =13 B 2.0 -6 W 2.0
12 2605201 141393 2050 Marinkovic, Mate -1 W 0.0 +20 B 1.0 -3 W 1.0 +18 B 2.0 -7 B 2.0
13 2601427 131936 2022 Desjardins, Michel -2 B 0.0 +21 W 1.0 +7 B 2.0 =24 W 2.5 =5 W 3.0
U2000 Class
14 132541 1988 Bzikot, Robert -3 W 0.0 =5 W 0.5 -21 B 0.5 -17 B 0.5 +20 W 1.5
15 2606321 111290 1945 Smilovici, Emil +5 B 1.0 -6 B 1.0 -8 W 1.0 +21 W 2.0 -22 B 2.0
16 2604345 142032 1911 Forget, David -6 W 0.0 -8 B 0.0 -0 bye 0.0 +20 W 1.0 =18 W 1.5
23 2603926 101895 1892 Danilov, Alex =0 bye 0.5 =24 W 1.0 -11 B 1.0 -7 W 1.0 +21 B 2.0
17 2607182 133929 1889 Xiong, Sonja -7 B 0.0 =0 bye 0.5 -5 W 0.5 +14 W 1.5 -19 B 1.5
18 2608529 110972 1885 Ritchie, Gordon =0 bye 0.5 -22 W 0.5 =0 bye 1.0 -12 W 1.0 =16 B 1.5
19 2604094 143574 1872 Donev, Danail +8 W 1.0 -10 B 1.0 =24 B 1.5 +4 W 2.5 +17 W 3.5
20 2604892 104270 1822 Laszlo, Robert -9 B 0.0 -12 W 0.0 =0 bye 0.5 -16 B 0.5 -14 B 0.5
21 2604906 100337 1818 Laurin, Marcel -11 W 0.0 -13 B 0.0 +14 W 1.0 -15 B 1.0 -23 W 1.0
22 2609177 134845 1818 Renaud, Joshua =0 bye 0.5 +18 B 1.5 -10 W 1.5 -5 B 1.5 +15 W 2.5

Section B
U1800 Class
1 147006 1790 Georgiev, Anton +13 B 1.0 +8 W 2.0 -4 B 2.0 +3 W 3.0 +12 W 4.0
2 2606267 136932 1742 Schwartz, Saul =0 bye 0.5 +9 B 1.5 -12 W 1.5 -11 B 1.5 -0 bye 1.5
3 2610060 147351 1700 Liu, Dan +14 W 1.0 =7 B 1.5 +11 W 2.5 -1 B 2.5 +13 W 3.5
4 2610140 148226 1684 Nguyen, Jason +15 B 1.0 +19 W 2.0 +1 W 3.0 -12 B 3.0 +8 W 4.0
5 2610213 136037 1678 Xiong, Wei =0 bye 0.5 +21 W 1.5 =7 B 2.0 -0 bye 2.0 -16 B 2.0
6 104858 1664 Hunt, Murray +16 W 1.0 -12 B 1.0 -13 W 1.0 -15 B 1.0 +19 W 2.0
7 145659 1638 Highcock, Bruce +17 B 1.0 =3 W 1.5 =5 W 2.0 =13 B 2.5 -11 W 2.5
8 147276 1622 Zhang, Kevin +18 W 1.0 -1 B 1.0 +15 W 2.0 +17 B 3.0 -4 B 3.0
U1600 Class
9 2604205 135113 1592 Eyre, Keven =0 bye 0.5 -2 W 0.5 +19 B 1.5 -16 W 1.5 =22 B 2.0
10 2610078 146597 1566 Luo, Fangyi -19 B 0.0 +23 W 1.0 -17 B 1.0 -18 W 1.0 =20 B 1.5
11 2603209 135198 1535 Baril-Boudreau, Felix +20 W 1.0 =0 bye 1.5 -3 B 1.5 +2 W 2.5 +7 B 3.5
12 120860 1487 Krolczyk, Jacob +22 B 1.0 +6 W 2.0 +2 B 3.0 +4 W 4.0 -1 B 4.0
13 2604698 145247 1406 Jarmyn, Tom -1 W 0.0 +18 B 1.0 +6 B 2.0 =7 W 2.5 -3 B 2.5
U1400 Class
14 142900 1378 Scott, Matthew -3 B 0.0 =0 bye 0.5 =0 bye 1.0 +19 W 2.0 +17 W 3.0
15 2610191 147460 1372 Wan, Kevin -4 W 0.0 +20 B 1.0 -8 B 1.0 +6 W 2.0 +18 B 3.0
16 2610019 148746 1344 Farah, Liiban -6 B 0.0 =0 bye 0.5 +21 W 1.5 +9 B 2.5 +5 W 3.5
17 147277 1320 Zhang, David -7 W 0.0 +22 B 1.0 +10 W 2.0 -8 W 2.0 -14 B 2.0
18 138388 1234 Hunt, Neil -8 B 0.0 -13 W 0.0 +23 B 1.0 +10 B 2.0 -15 W 2.0
19 2610086 146598 1229 Luo, Tony +10 W 1.0 -4 B 1.0 -9 W 1.0 -14 B 1.0 -6 B 1.0
20 2610639 148924 1154 Zhang, Jeff -11 B 0.0 -15 W 0.0 -22 W 0.0 +23 B 1.0 =10 W 1.5
21 146319 1148 Fritzsche, Philipp =0 bye 0.5 -5 B 0.5 -16 B 0.5 -22 W 0.5 +23 W 1.5
22 149314 1037 Metcalfe, Drew -12 W 0.0 -17 W 0.0 +20 B 1.0 +21 B 2.0 =9 W 2.5
23 146452 894 Fritzsche, Daniel =0 bye 0.5 -10 B 0.5 -18 W 0.5 -20 W 0.5 -21 B 0.5

--------- original event announcement ---------

The Eastern Ontario Chess Association (EOCA) organizes the EOCA Grand Prix, a series of weekend tournaments, over the 2008-2009 chess season.

The next EOCA event in Ottawa will be the Eastern Ontario Open, on June 26th-28th. It will consist of 5 rounds, with flexible bye and Amateur options.

We have multiple sections, and class prizes for every 200 rating points from 2200 to 1400. Every player will be submitted for both CFC and FIDE rating.

For more details on this event, and a great webpage for all of the events in the 2008-2009 EOCA Grand Prix, please consider bookmarking this weblink:
http://www.eoca.org/htm/tournaments%202008-09.html

For local players who normally register at the RA chess club on a Thursday evening, please note that I now often work evenings. Therefore, whenever I do expect that I will be dropping by the RA chess club, I will post my schedule at the ChessTalk site: http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Aris Marghetis
- Organizer/TD
- EOCA President

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

Thank you, Aris for the report.

Do you see a trend that more people play like "amateurs"?

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

Thank you, Aris for the report.

Do you see a trend that more people play like "amateurs"?

Hi Egis, I don't think so, but I haven't really analyzed it. Some players switch back and forth. The trend seems to be that many less experienced and/or lower rated players auto-register as Amateur. However, I have a chunky prize every 200 rating points, so everyone has a legit chance. What often happens is that an Amateur wins a section, but receives no cash prize, and then the next time they come back as non-Amateur!

I think also that most players assume that the higher rated classes get higher prizes solely because they are higher rated, but in fact, I have higher prizes in higher rated classes mostly because higher rated classes have more non-Amateur players than lower rated classes, in other words, less Amateurs. Of course, there is some upward pull on prize money, but I tend to pull that more from Amateur entry fees, and I tend to earmark non-Amateur entry fees for the prizes for that player's class. Note for example, at the recent Ontario Open, I pumped extra prize money into the U2000 class, as they had way more non-Amateurs than other classes. Another interesting twist is that even though I get relatively many U1400 players, almost all of them enter as Amateurs. But, if they all entered as non-Amateurs, then their prize would be about 4 or 5 times larger! For this last weekend, it would have been $400 or $500, versus the $100 that it was!

Finally, I offer Amateur entry fees because that is what many people like, but for those familiar with poker concepts, it seems that the pot odds should encourage people to play as non-Amateur. For example, using numbers from this weekend, let's say that 5 non-Amateurs are playing for a $300 prize. Now you are a player (RA members deduct $5 from each of the following numbers, but the $40 difference remains) joining that class, and you can pay $40 for Amateur, or $80 for non-Amateur. Your $40 is like an ante, or a big blind, or a sunk cost in accounting terms. The question now is, do you pay an extra $40 for a 1/6 chance to win $300? Given small class ranges of 200 rating points, unless you feel you have an inflated rating at the bottom of a class, then your expected value would be $50, and yet you are risking only $40 for it. Note too that as you go non-Amateur, you are contributing to an upward push in that class prize, making it even more attractive mathematically. Over the course of a season, it seems better to me to always play as non-Amateur. Of course, I understand that some people feel they just cannot afford the non-Amateur fee, but I guess I'm always leaning towards this kind of pot-odds expected-value evaluation of options. The way my events are structured, the only section this breaks down is if you are rated 2200 and up, there are at least 3 superstars (for the first 3 place prizes), and not enough players to form an U2400 class. However, I try to compensate by having an attractive really big first place prize, like $500 this past weekend, $1000 at the Ontario Open, etc. Top players seem to love that, but note that much of this funding comes from Amateur players. I am not sure what the ideal ratios should be, but intuitively, I reckon (ironically given my above analysis) that my model would not work that well if there were too few Amateurs! In other words, I need at least some Amateurs in order to push some prize money upward, which attracts travelling good players, which in turn attracts even more players, etc.

I am still completing the rating data files from the weekend, so I might not be able to respond too quickly to this thread, but I do find these concepts interesting. Egis, so what prompted you to ask me your question? Thanks in advance, best regards, Aris.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

Egis, so what prompted you to ask me your question?

Quite a gray crosstable :)
Thnx for the extensive answer. I was expecting much more shorter.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

Quite a gray crosstable :)
Thnx for the extensive answer. I was expecting much more shorter.

LOL, no problem, I found it interesting to compile my thoughts on it anyway. Players seem to appreciate the 2 payment options, and I am open to feedback and new ideas. One niche that I particularly want to tap is players who would only like to play 3 games or less over a weekend. I haven't quite ironed out yet how to charge them in a way that wouldn't add onerously to my bookkeeping, and always cover rating fees, expenses, etc.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

I'd like to congratulate and thank Aris Marghetis for his exceptional effort and dedication running EOCA Grand Prix events for the past year. :) :) :)

Aris has brought a new level of professionalism in organization, direction, and arbiting to this circuit's events. His improvements have led to greater efficiency in operation, fewer disputes, rises in attendance, better prize funds, more strong players turning out, and a generally positive spirit and ambience around the tournaments.

It's clear to all the people in Canadian chess who have been paying attention that Aris has the potential to earn international titles for chess arbiting, and soon, should he choose to do so. I hope he does find the time and energy to follow through, advance his already outstanding skills even further, and be recognized by the top leaders in world chess.

I'm already looking forward to my next chance to work with Aris running a tournament.

Aris, best wishes for every future success!!

Cheers,
Frank Dixon
Kingston

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

WOW, Frank, thank you for the very kind words! One thing that I am very happy about is that these EOCA events seem to be getting just more fun. There's more smiles and more battling chess, and the skittles room is hopping with blitz and bughouse games.

I believe part of the reason for this positive growth is that more players are travelling in to play, where they don't have the distractions of everyday life, and can let themselves enjoy the weekend. The other day I mentioned how happy the players who were staying at Carleton University seemed to be after the buffet breakfast, and I really meant it.

The residences at Carleton University are great for the Eastern Ontario Open in June, and I have made a note to find something equivalent for the school months. The EOCA executive is meeting tomorrow evening to start planning our dates for the 2009-2010 season, and as soon as we have the September date finalized for the RA Fall Open, I'll try to get us an affordable lodging deal comparable to the Carleton deal in the summer.

I am also thinking of opening registrations for the RA Fall Open much further ahead of time, and offering multiple levels of early bird discounts. Let's see if that grabs people.

Thanks again, best regards, and good luck to everyone in the big summer events! :)

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

but receives no cash prize, and then the next time they come back as non-Amateur!

Anyhow, I'll come back as an Amateur :)

Finally, I offer Amateur entry fees because that is what many people like, but for those familiar with poker concepts, it seems that the pot odds should encourage people to play as non-Amateur.
...
Over the course of a season, it seems better to me to always play as non-Amateur.

You may add somewhere, that 5 rounds even more contribute to gambling ;)

Of course, I understand that some people feel they just cannot afford the non-Amateur fee

My is more personal, thus I'll keep it within myself. (maybe this helps "A game that can't be won only played" is motto of my website)

but I do find these concepts interesting.

Nevertheless, I appreciate your offers as the TD to have various options to enter tournaments.

how happy the players who were staying at Carleton University seemed to be after the buffet breakfast, and I really meant it.

We (all of my family) find really a good stay at Carleton Uni. Look for for their holiday days to match your tournaments. However, keep in mind there are more people knowing about their hospitality. As I remember, the last year some church members and taekwondo teams were staying. (Maybe Alex F. & Co remember better. )

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

Thanks again Aris for a great tournament.

[Bob Gillanders]

Well done Aris !

In the last year, Aris has proven himself to be one of the best chess organizers in the country. He clearly puts a lot of effort and thought into it, and has the courage to try new ideas.
I always enjoy reading his tournament reports. He always remembers the important things like thanking the volunteers. I always hear positive reports from his tournaments, and most important, he appears to be having fun himself.

Well done Aris, and thanks.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Well done Aris !

Thanks for the kind words guys! The new EOCA Executive was meeting tonight, and we had a great time looking back at the year that just was, and planning for next season.

Our new Secretary, Tom Jarmyn, will soon be posting a report on the whole EOCA Grand Prix tour season, and he will be including some great numbers compiled by our outgoing VP, Garland Best. We are happy with our growth this year, and look forward to more! ;)

As soon as our site rental dates are finalized, not before next week, I will start taking registrations for the RA Fall Open, planned for the end of September. One thing that I really want to do better next season is to announce my events further ahead of time, and offer significant early registration discounts. The idea is to get decent numbers of players earlier than usual, which will predict a bigger prize fund and build excitement as players anticipate a larger field. Then this buzz will hopefully lead to more registrations?!

We're also actively looking for less expensive lodging options than regular hotels, which in the Ottawa area, can seem high compared to the size of the city. So stay tuned! :)

[Mavros Whissell]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

I have to say thanks again to Aris for running a clean show. He runs things like a professional and has a good attitude. I'm always happy to chat with this guy - and I think he is a big plus for chess in Canada overall. We need more organizers/directors with this kind of enthusiasm and professionalism. That is why I believe it extremely important to support people willing to devote time and energy to what can often be a thankless task. It need not be that way

Thank you Aris!!

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Eastern Ontario Open: the event report

And here are the links to the CFC crosstables. I'm not sure when FIDE would be doing their rating, but both sections were also submitted for FIDE rating. We'll keep checking.

Section A: http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200906063
Section B: http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200906064