ZONAL & Easter Sectionals - updated registration list

[Henri Hughes]

unfortunately unable to attend the even as much as I was looking forward to but will there be live boards, be nice to follow the tournament though

[Aris Marghetis]

unfortunately unable to attend the even as much as I was looking forward to but will there be live boards, be nice to follow the tournament though

Yeah, at this point, we should have 8 DGTs. The current plan is to have 6 for the Zonal section, and then 1 each for U2200 and U1900. However, we're still actively planning this aspect of the event.

In addition, we have some strong chess folk who are going to be pumping game scores into databases. I'm more tending to registrations at this time, but we'll publicly announce such points soon.

On a personal note, too bad you can't join us. I'll be playing at Hal's Guelph Pro-Am the weekend before, maybe meet you there? (and yeah, I'll take registrations/payments in Guelph). Best, Aris.

[Henri Hughes]

Yes I will be playing I will see you there

[Hugh Brodie]

In addition, we have some strong chess folk who are going to be pumping game scores into databases. I'm more tending to registrations at this time, but we'll publicly announce such points soon.
Aris.

That's great! I'll be adding them to CanBase. Give priority to Open section games - it would be good to have all the games from that section.

[Steve Douglas]

Here is the list in a more readable form with each section sorted by rating.
:

No.		Section	Name	Rating	FIDE#	CFC#	FQE#
1		Zonal	GM Bareev, Evgeny	2642	4100140	144466
2		Zonal	GM Yang, Kaiqi	2505	8604398	160390
3		Zonal	IM Noritsyn, Nikolay	2489	2604922	132534
4		Zonal	GM Hambleton, Aman	2484	2606577	129797	101444
5		Zonal	IM Krnan, Tomas	2430	14905361	132215
6		Zonal	IM Samsonkin, Artiom	2424	13503111	146305
7		Zonal	IM Thavandiran, Shiyam	2412	2605058	127431
8		Zonal	FM Chiku-Ratte, Olivier Kenta	2406	2614782	148376	101838
9		Zonal	FM Hua, Eugene	2329	2618150	154197
10		Zonal	FM Plotkin, Mark	2326	2611651	141086
11		Zonal	FM Vettese, Nicholas	2323	2620090	154199
12		Zonal	FM Chen, Richard	2317	2617099	148271
13		Zonal	FM Plotkin, Victor	2304	2606674	142063
14		Zonal	FM Rodrigue-Lemieux, Shawn	2282	2620049	155300	103091
15		Zonal	WGM Zhou, Qiyu	2246	505161	151707
16		Zonal	FM Findlay, Ian	2233	2600226	101737
17		Zonal	FM Gentes, Kevin	2220	2601109	112445
18		Zonal	CM Doknjas, Joshua	2203	2614316	146444
19		Zonal	CM Gordon, David	2185	2602431	106629
20		Zonal	Dukic, Zach	2167	2617188	149507
21		Zonal	Masse, Hugues	2163	2604264	125461	88885
22		Zonal	Noritsyn, Sergey	2159	2616408	146893
23		Zonal	Tremblay, Rejean	2146	2606682	105918	11057
24		Zonal	FM Huang, Qiuyu	2145	2619903	156151	103895
25		Zonal	WFM Demchenko, Svitlana	2135	14149893	156853
26		Zonal	Li, William	2096	2619750	154677
27		Zonal	Saha, Ananda	2073	2619644	155219	103299
28		Zonal	CM Chen, Max	2070	2622440	155238
29		Zonal	Kiviaho, Bob	2070	2601354	102232
30		Zonal	Tanaka, Tyler	2067	7002351	159441	105159
31		Zonal	Wiebe, Isaac	2053	2623862	146995
32		Zonal	CM Kang, Dorian	2035	2619156	155339
33		Zonal	FM Munro, Allan (TTO)	2019	7700245	140841
34		Zonal	Yao, Houji	2018	2614871	148322
35		Zonal	CM Zhong, Kevin	1987	2624907	159604	106652
36		Zonal	Rusonik, Max	1900	2619253	155671
	_
No.		Section	Name	Rating	FIDE#	CFC#	FQE#
1		U2200	Xu, Daniel	2081	2627345	160020
2		U2200	Xu, Ruoying	2053	8603707	160490
3		U2200	England, Max	2021	2622602	155135	1
4		U2200	Donev, Danail	2007	2604094	143574
5		U2200	Han, Johnathan	1979	2629631	161709
6		U2200	Zhao, Jeffrey Renfei	1968	2628651	158702
7		U2200	Latreille, Etienne	1956	2634279	154563	103469	1
8		U2200	Doubleday, Bill	1942	2682419	103754
9		U2200	Mercure, Gilbert	1892	2629585	164472	90540
10		U2200	Zhu, Matthew	1892	2633434	160019
11		U2200	Joseph Benher, Savio	1746	2629453	161296
	_
No.		Section	Name	Rating	FIDE#	CFC#	FQE#
1		U1900	Kuryliw, Ray	1885	2604833	105482
2		U1900	Groot-Lipman, Jeff	1848	2625628	102773
3		U1900	Balasooriya, Randika	1828	150499
4		U1900	Hua, Michelle	1815	2626837	159858
5		U1900	Lemieux, Richard	1802	104158	26357
6		U1900	Krolczyk, Jacob	1783	2618001	120860
7		U1900	Kandan, Azroy	1782	5714095	166627
8		U1900	Ramesh, Sanjay	1777	2631270	162979
9		U1900	Perkins, Simon	1753	2618737	107582
10		U1900	Sharma, Vishruth	1745	2621215	156776
11		U1900	Masse-Garneau, Anthony	1742	158468	105260	1
12		U1900	Page, Dany	1740	2629763	165039	105949
13		U1900	Hsu, Ted	1732	2630796	102608
14		U1900	Stopic, Alexander	1689	2630036	160017
15		U1900	Srinivas, Atharva	1683	2623900	157721	1
16		U1900	Dickson, Kirk	1682	112775
17		U1900	Laurin, Marcel	1680	2604906	100337	45663
18		U1900	Lesage, Pierre	1676	2629356	104103	42750
19		U1900	Samuel, Victor	1632	2629062	112306
20		U1900	Dickson, Raymond	1594	2632950	104296
21		U1900	Landstrom, William	1583	2633540	162880
22		U1900	Xiao, Edward	1572	2628643	156911
23		U1900	Frangakis, Evan	1547	2624567	148381	86984	127
24		U1900	Dupont-Mageau, Nicolas	1459	156184	104082	1
	_
No.		Section	Name	Rating	FIDE#	CFC#	FQE#
1		U1600	Hua, Gary	1582	154420
2		U1600	Azroy, Arman	1560	5714087	152657
3		U1600	Wang, Rachel Zihan	1528	2628325	163408	106882
4		U1600	Douglas, Steven	1492	2632098	101523
5		U1600	Wang, Derek	1459	166573
6		U1600	Sztuka, Jeremy	1454	2629089	162452
7		U1600	Paulsen, Lorenz	1434	2620936	106406
8		U1600	Lee, Ji Won	1362	2631806	162960
9		U1600	Li, Allen	1262	168951	107495
10		U1600	de Leon, Raf Adrik	1247	2631784	162967
11		U1600	Mai, DeRen	1242	2633272	165900	107443
12		U1600	Guillemette, Hugo	1210	167806	107286	1
13		U1600	Gougeon, Patrick	1202	2625156	158142	104075
14		U1600	Chocina, Adam	1179	167973
15		U1600	Hay, John	1125	2629046	162669
16		U1600	de Leon, Rut Jurry	1063	2631792	162968
17		U1600	Liao, Austin	902	166464

[Hugh Brodie]

What are the norm requirements for this event? Is it considered a Zonal tournament? It's not listed on the FIDE site under "American [i.e. North, Central, and South] Zonals". (Canada is "American Zone 2.2").
https://www.fide.com/calendar/fide-calendar.html

In the old days of round robins, an IM title was awarded any/all 2/3 scores. The rule eventually became one IM title for a 2/3 score in a Swiss. Is this rule still in effect?

[Victor Plotkin]

Yes, it's a Zonal. The winner qualifies for the next World Cup. Norm/title opportunities are the same for every Zonal since 2015:

1. 1st equal - IM title.

2. 2nd or 3rd - IM norm.

3. 65% (6 points) - FM title.

4. 50% (4.5 points) - CM title.

Thank you, Steve. The list looks very strong. I believe, the strongest in 21st century.

[Aris Marghetis]

Thanks Steve from me too for posting that list in a better format. Spent the morning planning custom scoresheets, name cards, and the live viewing area layout. I dunno what we would do without the likes of John Upper, he really brings a good player's perspective to doing things right. Registrations are still coming in, last discount hotel rooms still available. I don't know if anyone noticed in one of my latest posts, but anyone who takes a hotel room this year will get a discount off their entry fee next year. This is because the board of tourism was so impressed with how many rooms we're taking that they offered to reach an even better agreement with us next year. So we're gonna show our appreciation to those players and families, you're making this event model HAPPEN!

arismarghetis at rogers dot com

[Erik Malmsten]

Super GM Evgeny Bareev has recently been playing and must be the favourite. Will the two new GMs come out on top? Aman Hambleton was the cowinner of the 2017 Canadian Open. Nikolay Noritsyn won the 2019 Aurora Spring Open and in the 2017 Canadian Closed he defeated Sambuev, Thavandiran, and Hambleton. Tomas Krnan recently won the Mississauga CC Spring Open and Titanium Spring Classic and was the 2015 Canadian Closed Champion. Artiom Samsonkin won the 2018 Toronto Blitz Championship and the 2017 Hart House Holidays Open. Noritsyn and Samsonkin were among those tied for first in the 2007 Canadian Closed. Shiyam Thavandiran has been active in international tournaments like the 2018 American Continental Championship. Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte tied for first in the 2019 RA March Open, won the 2018 Quebec Junior Championship, and has played with many grandmasters.

It’s great to see the masters from Montreal on the list. Hambleton, Chiku-Ratte, Rodrigue-Lemieux, veterans Masse and Tremblay, Huang, Saha, Tanaka, and Zhong. Although missing Yu and Sambuev, the winners of the recent Quebec Closed, who both played in the 2017 Canadian Closed.

There are some players from out west, a big travelling expense and time zone change. Findlay, Gentles and Doknjas are closely rated. Also Wiebe, so who will do the best? Missing is Tanraj Sohal who played in the 2017 Canadian Closed and is playing in Iceland.

A large group of young players will have a rare opportunity to play many top masters. Hua, Vettese, Rodrigue-Lemieux, Doknjas, S. Noritsyn, Huang, Demchenko, Li, M. Chen, Tanaka, Kang, Zhong, and Rusonik. Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux won the 2019 Quebec Youth Championship and tied for first with Mark Plotkin in the 2018 Canadian Junior Championship. Eugene Hua won the 2019 Ontario Jr. Open. Missing is the active Rohan Talukdar of Windsor who played in the 2017 Canadian Closed.

Will the old-timers survive the two rounds a day? Bareev will face the pressure on Board 1, but also V. Plotkin, Findlay, Gentles, Gordon, Tremblay, and Kiviaho.

Who’s the underrated underdog? The CFC rating is usually more recent and more games. The biggest difference between their CFC and FIDE rating are:
Rusonik 323
Zhong 246 (fqe 206)
Demchenko 239
Wiebe 233
M. Chen 212
Dukic 209
Munro 203
Kang 202
Yao 195
Li 186
Tanaka 165 (fqe 177)
Huang 160 (fqe156)
Saha 155 (fqe 188)

[Aris Marghetis]

Please note that IM Krnan has withdrawn.

[Erik Malmsten]

Yes, it's a Zonal. The winner qualifies for the next World Cup. Norm/title opportunities are the same for every Zonal since 2015:

. . .

Thank you, Steve. The list looks very strong. I believe, the strongest in 21st century.

There's still time for another GM or two to enter which would make it the strongest. This is the first time with three GMs. 2/3 of the 12 Swiss Canadian Closeds have had only two GMs.

Including GMs and IMs totals together:
2006 9
2015 8
2004 7
2009 7
2019 7 (including Krnan)
2017 6
2012 6
2011 6

Another way of looking at it is by the average CFC rating of all of the players:

1999 2357
2009 2348
2019 2347.5
2007 2300
2001 2284
average 2298

Or the average CFC of the top 10 players:
2015 2541
2011 2528
2009 2519
2019 2516
2012 2514
2002 2502
1999 2483
2004 2476
2017 2474
2001 2446
2006 2445
2007 2410
average was 2482

In the old days of a 16 player round-robin, there were always a few lower-rated that qualified by region. The top 15 this year would have made an excellent round-robin.

[Victor Plotkin]

The average CFC rating for top-10 (with T.Krnan) is not 2445. The average FIDE is 2445.

[Erik Malmsten]

The average CFC rating for top-10 (with T.Krnan) is not 2445. The average FIDE is 2445.

Thanks Victor, I changed it to 2520 CFC. That higher placement makes more sense.

[Aris Marghetis]

Just a quick post to confirm that our registrations have reached the point that (barring some calamitous event) all of the prizes forecast in our initial bids will be met!

This is a really cool moment for us, as some of us took some big risks, and quite a few people said they didn't believe we could make such prizes happen in the first year of a completely new event. Well folks, get ready to battle for at least the prizes we advertised! For the next list of the pre-registered, I'll do it when I've caught up, as more registrations keep coming in. As of today, we STILL have some rooms available, but we can't guarantee that they'll still be available even by tomorrow.

Please do NOT SNAIL-MAIL any payments, as it's too late for that now. I'll also be in person at the RA tomorrow night, and at the Guelph Pro-Am this weekend.

SHOUT-OUT to the guys working behind the scenes to make this happen: Hal Bond, Danny Goldenberg, John Upper, Halldor Palsson, Patrick Gougeon, Frank Dixon.

Register by email: arismarghetis at rogers dot com

[Aris Marghetis]

On a slightly different note, we'll be using FIDE ratings to PAIR the Zonal section (REGARDLESS of what the FIDE rating is)

However, in order to be ELIGIBLE to join the Zonal section, each player MUST have at least one rating (FIDE/CFC/FQE) above 2199.

There's no way around that, so please don't ask me for special treatment. That's right, we're protecting the STRENGTH of the Zonal section!