Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After Rd. 7

Friday was a somewhat lazy day - we could have slept in ( went to bed at 3:30 AM ; but with my chess tournament sleeping hours, I woke up at 7:30 AM ). There was no side event scheduled, so Mario Moran-Venegas, another Scarborough CC member in the U 1800 class, and I, decided to head out to the Royal Alberta Museum about noon. Alex, Tyler and Jon decided to go to the West Edmonton Mall, which Mario and I visited on Wednesday. The museum was quite nice. There was a special exhibit of nature photos. They were well set up with an explanatory plaque for each - the first paragraph described when, where and how the picture was taken; the second paragraph gave some scientific facts about the subject of the picture - quite enjoyable and informative. The stuffed bird collection was great as well. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there, and then headed back to the playing hall.

In Rd. 7 yesterday, I played somewhat uninspired chess against an opponent rated 200 points lower. I got an inferior opening, but managed to equalize. But then I couldn't find any way to improve my position. In the end, he had pressure on my isolated centre pawn, and when I protected it with my N, he'd attack it and I'd have to go back - no way out of the repetition - draw. Paul Usselman, who was co-leader of the U 2000 class lost. Omar Shah, the other co-leader drew, and so remained in first place, only now it was a 5-way tie. There are 12 players 1/2 point back in second. Here are the standings for our Toronto gang of 8 in the U 2000:

1. Omar Shah ( 1921 ) - 4.5 ( past Scarborough CC member, and winner of the U 2000 section last year in the Montreal CO ).
2. Brendan Fan ( 1992 ) - 4
3. Dalia Kagramanov ( 1941 ) - 4
4. Jonathan Farine ( 1894 ) - 4
5. Tyler Longo ( 1992 ) - 3.5 ( Scarborough CC member )
6. Alex Ferreira ( 1987 ) - 3.5 ( Scarborough CC member )
7. Sam Arfin ( 1916 ) - 3.5 ( Scarborough CC member )
8. Bob Armstrong ( 1831 ) - 3 ( Scarborough CC member & your intrepid blogger )

5 of our group again headed out after the round to Denny's for the traditional late dinner and analysis - Rodney is now getting used to us !

Alex didn't win the magic square Rb1 move for Rd. 5, because others played the move earlier than he did - can't win 'em all.

Today the round 8 starts a bit earlier - 4:00 PM Edmonton time.

Bob

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After Rd. 8

Saturday started out optimistically.

At chess tournaments, I sleep very little ( although I generally don't need much sleep, chess tournaments are worse ). So far I've averaged about 4 hours or less per night. But yesterday night I slept for a whopping 6 hours ( I woke up after 4 hours, but actually managed to go back to sleep ). A good start to the day.

Secondly, when I came last Friday, I found there was a complimentary computer in the lobby lounge - unfortunately someone had logged off ( which you weren't supposed to be able to do ), and no one on staff knew the password. So the computer was down all week. But on Friday they fixed it. So I'm now able to do my computer thing without having to use the computer in Alex' ( my roomate ) bedroom, and keep him up - and when he sleeps in, I can now go to the lobby computer. So yesterday morning I was able to check a few websites and post a few replies ( actually, Alex almost slept in past the round. He woke up at around 4:00 PM, and realized the round had already started - so he got to his game about half an hour late - but still crushed his opponent ).

Thirdly, I went to Timmy's for my early morning ritual - large coffee, toasted bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese, and reading my sc-fi book. Amazingly, when I sat down at the outside table, a little sparrow came and landed on the table right beside my hand. No fear ! Obviously he's done this trick before. So I broke him off a small chunk of bagel which he grabbed in his beak from my hand, almost before I had it off the bagel. Nature is amazing.

Fourthly, I found out I had a very pleasant opponent for Rd. 8, Ken Einarsson. He is a CFC Governor from Manitoba whom I've corresponded with a bit in the past, and whom I got to know a bit better when we both attended the two CFC AGM's on Monday and Tuesday. Ken is rated just a bit below me, so I looked forward to a good, tough game.

Fifthly, my wife had left me a message shortly after I arrived last Friday, that she needed the address and phone number of our mechanic. This didn't sound good. So I had called and received the bad news that on the way to our farm, the car had started smoking under the hood, and when she stopped, oil was leaking out of the motor. Also, a couple of cabbies had looked at it for her, and said it looked bad. But yesterday I called her again for an update, and found out that, although it was fairly major, we didn't need a new motor ( back a few cars ago, when something similar had occurred, we'd had to get a new motor in our Volvo ). And the car will be ready for me to pick it up when I return to Toronto on Monday.

So I was feeling quite confident as I went into my Rd. 8 game with Ken. It started off well, when he played into my favourite KID. I got a great attack, and it looked like he was in trouble. But then my optimism faded. I saw a sac line that looked intuitively good, but I couldn't calculate the final win. I wimped out and traded the piece rather than sacking it. Mistake - the sac was a mate as we saw in a post-mortem with some of the Toronto, U 2000 players. But after the swap, I get a slightly worse game. The game went on for a while with him having the advantage. Then he got a passed pawn on my 7th rank, and I eventually lost the ending. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed playing the game, but the optimism of early in the day did not pan out.

In the Toronto U 2000 group, Omar Shah had been in a 5-way tie for first, but he lost, and so dropped back into a 12-way tie for second, a half point back. But Brendan Fan won his game, and jumped into a four-way tie for first. Here are the standings of the Toronto gang of 8 after 8 rounds:

1. Brendan Fan ( 1992 ) - 5
2. Alex Ferreira ( 1987 ) - 4.5 ( Scarborough CC member )
3. Dalia Kagramanov ( 1941 ) - 4.5
4. Omar Shah ( 1921 ) - 4.5 ( past Scarborough CC member, and winner of the U 2000 section last year in the Montreal CO ).
5. Jonathan Farine ( 1894 ) - 4
6. Tyler Longo ( 1992 ) - 3.5 ( Scarborough CC member )
7. Sam Arfin ( 1916 ) - 3.5 ( Scarborough CC member )
8. Bob Armstrong ( 1831 ) - 3 ( Scarborough CC member & your intrepid blogger )

I'm a bit disappointed that my chess has been so inconsistent, but I have to admit it is something I have had to live with over the years.

Onward into Rd. 9 later today. The round starts earlier today - at noon.

Bob

[Wilf Ferner]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge

Bob: Great writings! Dig deep and get that
"warrior" part of your chess into the last game.

Wilf Ferner

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge

Hi Wilf:

Thanks for the encouragement on the blog - the writing sort of takes the place of my writing up the Scarborough Community of Toronto Chess News & Views, since I had to skip the July 15 issue because I was here. I hope my blog has been somewhat entertaining and informative on the U 2000 race.

As to the warrior part, it does seem that the killer instinct has been a bit absent - I've had great positions a couple of times re King hunts, and have failed to see the finishing part of the line. Oh well, maybe that's why I'm in the low 1800's. But I'll try again today !

Bob

[Caesar Posylek]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge

Hi Bob,
All the best in your last round from me too, Bob.
Best wishes,
Caesar

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge

Hi Caesar:

Missed you at this year's CFC AGM - maybe we can entice you to come back as a governor again sometime in the future. It was great having you as part of the Grassroots' Campaign.

Thanks for the good luck in Rd. 9 - I'll try to come back to Toronto with at least 4/9 pts. - not sparkling, but somewhat passable I guess.

Bob

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

Well, it has been a great chess holiday here in Edmonton !

The tournament has been very efficiently run by organizer Micah Hughey, TD Vlad Rekhson, Alberta Chess Association E.D. Tony Ficzere, and their volunteer team. All digital clocks, boards and sets were provided. The side events helped fill in the days and all were informative and enjoyable. I got to play my first grandmaster after 40 years of playing chess ( thought I should do it at least once before I die ! ) - though I managed to hang a minor for a pawn on move 13 against GM Michael Adams in his simul ( with, he said, some compensation for keeping him from castling, and keeping his K in the centre, under a bit of pressure ). A big thanks to all who put on the tournament or assisted by providing side events.

And the modest amount of Edmonton touristing was enjoyable too ( West Edmonton Mall & the Royal Alberta Museum ).

The weather was totally cooperative, avoiding trypical hot mid-July temperatures, though the mornings were actually a bit chilly some days. It only rained the one night after the round, and it had stopped by the time we had to walk back to the student residence where we were staying.

The residence was quite comfortable, and worked well for Alex Ferreira and I. It was only a 15-20 minute walk from the playing site, and the price was reasonable. There were phones in the rooms and internet connection. And there was the complimentary computer in the lobby ( though it was down for the first number of days we were there ).

The socializing was very pleasant. I met some new people, and went to eat with a few new acquaintances, and with some long-standing friends. The Toronto U 2000 and Scarborough CC gang went to lunch together a number of times at the Elephant & Castle, and as well, the late night dinner and analysis at Denny's became a regular occurrence.

The tournament saw a 2-way tie for first between Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein and Canadian IM Edward Porper ( Shirov, Ni and Adams and other GM's and IM's and FM's came further back ). Mark won the tournament on tie-break, though the cash prize was split equally.

I finished off the tournament with a nice win against a fast-improving young junior rated 300 points below me in Rd. 9. My chess over the course of the tournament was somewhat inconsistent as I said in an earlier blog. Against the new Canadian Blitz Champion, FM Eric Hansen, I had a great attack, and would have had a good advantage had I played the aggressive move first and the defensive move second ( playing them in reverse gave him time to defend ). And in another game I had an N-sac mate, though it was likely too complex for me to find. In another game however I hung my queen in a winning game ! Not the best. But nonetheless, I enjoyed the chess anyway and some of the games, or parts of them, were quite complex and challenging.

In the U 2000 class, which I was part of, the winner with 6 points was Richard Huang. There was a 2-way tie for second - one of these was Toronto player Omar Shah. Unfortunately for him, the player who tied with him got his point in the last round by forfeit from his higher rated opponent. Here are the standings for the Toronto U 2000 group of 8:

1. Omar Shah - 1921 - 5.5
2. Brendan Fan - 1992 - 5
3. Dalia Kagramanov - 1941 - 5
4. John Farine - 1894 - 5
5. Alex Ferreira - 1987 - 4.5
6. Tyler Longo - 1992 - 4.5
7. Sam Arfin - 1916 - 4.5
8. Bob Armstrong - 1831 - 4

I head back to Toronto at 8:30 AM tomorrow, and will be able to add this to my list of most enjoyable chess holidays at the Canadian Opens: Kitchener ( 2006 ), Ottawa ( 2007 ), Montreal ( 2008 ) and now Edmonton ( 2009 ) [ along with, in the mists of an earlier epoch: Kingston ( 1966 ) and Toronto ( 1968 ) ].

Bob

[Tony Boron]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

.

The weather was totally cooperative, avoiding typical hot mid-July temperatures, though the mornings were actually a bit chilly some days. It only rained the one night after the round, and it had stopped by the time we had to walk back to the student residence where we were staying.

Bob

?!
Did you miss the experience of the 100km wind storm Saturday night ?
After leaving the E&C, Ian Aird (Scotland) and I, headed back to the Lister Centre residence via LRT. At approximately 10:30 we disembarked at the Health Sciences ground level stop. Bad timing. I think the cell was immediately moving overhead. Immediately adjacent to the tracks is a building construction project - in progress. I looked up at the black clouds and then noticed all sorts of building materials and containers getting blown off the open floors. We had about 400 yards to go to the residence. We arrived safely, but after being sandblasted by the oncoming wind and whatever dust was in the air.

But it could have been worse, the hail started soon after.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmo.../10189171.html

[Tony Boron]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

In the U 2000 class, which I was part of, the winner with 6 points was Richard Huang. There was a 2-way tie for second - one of these was Toronto player Omar Shah. Unfortunately for him, the player who tied with him got his point in the last round by forfeit from his higher rated opponent. Here are the standings for the Toronto U 2000 group of 8:

1. Omar Shah - 1921 - 5.5
2. Brendan Fan - 1992 - 5
3. Dalia Kagramanov - 1941 - 5
4. John Farine - 1894 - 5
5. Alex Ferreira - 1987 - 4.5
6. Tyler Longo - 1992 - 4.5
7. Sam Arfin - 1916 - 4.5
8. Bob Armstrong - 1831 - 4

Bob

Bob,
Does the above mean that 5 points got a piece of 4th-5th in U2000, including some of your posse above (and me!)? BTW, I lost to Huang in Round 8.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

But it could have been worse, the hail started soon after.

My grandfather homesteaded E of Edmonton (closer to Millet than to Edmonton) after WW I. It was the heartbreaking midsummer hail storms without crop insurance that put an end to his farming career. He eventually (co-) founded radio station CFGP in Grand Prairie.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

Hi Tony:

You are right:

Huang in first with 6 pts.
2 in second/third with 5.5 pts. - from Toronto - Omar Shah - $ 600
11 sharing the 4th/5th prize with 5 pts., including from Toronto: Fan; Kagramanov & Farine, and including you !!

Congratulations - but with some many sharing the prize, you won't be jetting off to anywhere exotic on your winnings.

Great tournament - Edmonton keeps its string of fine CO's going !! Glad I came.

Bob

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

Bob

Bob, you have been featured at chessbase.com
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5594

Robert (Bob) Armstrong is a class 'A' player that has recently drawn three Masters (two in the Toronto Open, one in the Canadian Open), after losing to every other Master he has played in his life. One of the drawn Masters was GM Mark Bluvshtein's father. As a senior his game seems to be rising to a new level, which is entirely unexpected for a player of his age (just over 60). More practically, he is one of the most active governors with the Chess Federation of Canada, and was a governor with the Ontario Chess Association – fulfilling the term of a resignee. He does his part to hold the executive accountable to the rank-and-file, serving as an unofficial liasion between the two.

Thnx for posting and keeping us informed :)

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Weekend Warrior & the CO Challenge - After the Last Rd. 9

Hi Tony:

I did miss the storm. After we finished Saturday's round, a number of the Toronto U 2000 crew went to the Elephant and Castle for dinner. When we went in there was heavy rain on the mall skylight, but we couldn't tell anything else. And when we went home that night, it had stopped and was totally quiet - no indication of the severity of it. So I was quite surprised when I found out how bad it had been. So I guess I should have said: The weather was cooperative, except for ................

Congratulations on your tie for fourth/fifth in the U 2000.

Bob