Banff Open 2019 Nov 9-11 Open for Entries - 1st 100 only

[Neil Frarey]

Anysomemore?

Wat?

[Ian Findlay]

I will update when I get back from cruise. We are up to close to 60 entries now.

[Ian Findlay]

We are now up to 65 advanced entries with 8 players rated over 2300. Ian Zhao has now become a FM and the Alberta Open Champion since our last update and is now the number 2 seed!
If any IM's or GM's are interested in playing, there is still one room left at the site, that I can get for a special rate (email me at ianfindlay2314@gmail.com ). Don't forget you cannot enter at the site. Entries close at midnight November 7 or when 100 players have entered. Here are some reasons to enter now
** Strongest field ever
** Largest prize fund ever
** Our tournament room this year is the prestigious ball room., where the Banff Midsummer's Ball is held each year
** Dinner reception at the President's Mansion on Sunday Nov 10, is the best chess party in North America.
Go to website in order to enter or to view the pre registration list http://www.albertachess.org/home/sch...19-banff-open/

[Ian Findlay]

Only 22 spots left and last minute entries seem to be pouring in. We have just matched last years entries of 78. We will have a record prize fund for Banff Open, which now stands at $3500, with a potential $4500, if someone goes 6-0 and wins the $1000 Fischer prize. The entries seem to be coming in faster now, so first come first serve, but I will let you know quickly when we reach 100.
Also if we reach 100 entries, we get another $100 added to prize fund from SoCA.

[Mark S. Dutton]

some quick updates -- I have created a 2019 PHOTO ALBUM on Facebook for this event: https://www.facebook.com/Mark.S.Dutt...7690167&type=3

Ian tells me we are around 82 to 84 advance entries now -- so less than 18 places remain available! These are the 82 I have so far:
SwissSys Standings. 2019 Banff Open: 2019 Banff Open - OPEN SECTION

#	Place	Name	Rtng	Tot
1	1-51	IM Bitan Banerjee	2499	0.0
2		FM Ian Zhao	2402	0.0
3		IM Mark Ginsburg	2395	0.0
4		IM Brian Hartman	2374	0.0
5		FM Ian Findlay	2362	0.0
6		WIM Agnieszka Matras-Clement	2351	0.0
7		FM* Belsar Valencia	2348	0.0
8		Rafael Arruebarrena	2330	0.0
9		Omid Malek	2311	0.0
10		Isaac Wiebe	2239	0.0
11		Viktors Pupols	2238	0.0
12		Georgi Kostadinov	2209	0.0
13		Steven Peter	2150	0.0
14		David Miller	2138	0.0
15		Brad Booker	2132	0.0
16		Roger Patterson	2113	0.0
17		Vladislav Rekhson	2111	0.0
18		Hemant Srinivasan	2096	0.0
19		Maxim Vasic	2083	0.0
20		Anand Rishi Chandra	2062	0.0
21		Mike McDonald	2052	0.0
22		Sammy Yao	2039	0.0
23		Brian Timmerman	2034	0.0
24		James Windram	2034	0.0
25		Leo Lin	2028	0.0
26		Richard Cannon	2017	0.0
27		Paul Wang	1993	0.0
28		Juraj Pivovarov	1991	0.0
29		Dustin Koperski	1983	0.0
30		Dante Briones	1958	0.0
31		Douglas Nechio	1928	0.0
32		Jim Daniluk	1922	0.0
33		Bhavik Dave	1917	0.0
34		Mark Linnick	1902	0.0
35		Daniel Wei	1902	0.0
36		Logan McLeod	1897	0.0
37		Colin Prince	1884	0.0
38		Charles Wu	1878	0.0
39		Ethan Su	1859	0.0
40		Robin Templeton	1847	0.0
41		Nathan Ping-Ying Wu	1845	0.0
42		Joseph Young	1844	0.0
43		Michael Decaire	1837	0.0
44		Alvin Guevarra	1835	0.0
45		Jason Danner	1829	0.0
46		Chris Jonker	1826	0.0
47		Damon MacLeod	1816	0.0
48		Pat Moore	1795	0.0
49		David Suominen	1769	0.0
50		Ricky Chen	1627	0.0
51		Jeffrey Chen	1615	0.0

SwissSys Standings. 2019 Banff Open: 2019 Banff Open - UNDER 1800 SECTION

#	Place	Name	Rtng	Tot
1	1-31	Nathanael David Bertrand	1702	0.0
2		Mark Tuvera	1701	0.0
3		Tim Kowalyk	1697	0.0
4		Jacob Collins	1694	0.0
5		Paul Leblanc	1693	0.0
6		Avery Li	1683	0.0
7		Husain Ali	1678	0.0
8		Adam Szulski	1604	0.0
9		Kevin D Moore	1582	0.0
10		Mau-Seng Lee	1560	0.0
11		Brian Sullivan	1560	0.0
12		Charles Culver	1541	0.0
13		Eoin Dunne	1538	0.0
14		Felix Lin	1536	0.0
15		Mike Sekuloff	1512	0.0
16		Pranav Pathak	1475	0.0
17		Roland Schech	1465	0.0
18		Mike Scholz	1439	0.0
19		Andrew Xiao	1416	0.0
20		Tri Tran	1400	0.0
21		Jonathan Wu	1374	0.0
22		Jeffrey Street	1334	0.0
23		Jerry Ming	1307	0.0
24		Berry de Groot	1275	0.0
25		Patrick Gougeon	1137	0.0
26		Khoi Trinh	1135	0.0
27		Daniel Jason Smith	940	0.0
28		Mateo Jackson	883	0.0
29		Joel Hyvarinen	unr.	0.0
30		David Mielke	unr.	0.0
31		Bart Simpson	unr.	0.0

[Mark S. Dutton]

only 16 places left -- now 84 ADVANCE ENTRIES
2019 Banff Open: 2019 Banff Open - OPEN SECTION

#	Name	Rtng	Tot
1	IM Bitan Banerjee	2499	0.0
2	FM Ian Zhao	2402	0.0
3	IM Mark Ginsburg	2395	0.0
4	IM Brian Hartman	2374	0.0
5	FM Ian Findlay	2362	0.0
6	WIM Agnieszka Matras-Clement	2351	0.0
7	FM* Belsar Valencia	2348	0.0
8	Rafael Arruebarrena	2330	0.0
9	Omid Malek	2311	0.0
10	Isaac Wiebe	2239	0.0
11	Viktors Pupols	2238	0.0
12	Georgi Kostadinov	2209	0.0
13	Steven Peter	2150	0.0
14	David Miller	2138	0.0
15	Brad Booker	2132	0.0
16	Roger Patterson	2113	0.0
17	Vladislav Rekhson	2111	0.0
18	Hemant Srinivasan	2096	0.0
19	Maxim Vasic	2083	0.0
20	Anand Rishi Chandra	2062	0.0
21	Mike McDonald	2052	0.0
22	Sammy Yao	2039	0.0
23	Brian Timmerman	2034	0.0
24	James Windram	2034	0.0
25	Leo Lin	2028	0.0
26	Richard Cannon	2017	0.0
27	Paul Wang	1993	0.0
28	Juraj Pivovarov	1991	0.0
29	Dustin Koperski	1983	0.0
30	Dante Briones	1958	0.0
31	Douglas Nechio	1928	0.0
32	Jim Daniluk	1922	0.0
33	Bhavik Dave	1917	0.0
34	Mark Linnick	1902	0.0
35	Daniel Wei	1902	0.0
36	Logan McLeod	1897	0.0
37	Colin Prince	1884	0.0
38	Charles Wu	1878	0.0
39	Ethan Su	1859	0.0
40	Tevanio Steadman	1854	0.0
41	Robin Templeton	1847	0.0
42	Nathan Ping-Ying Wu	1845	0.0
43	Joseph Young	1844	0.0
44	Michael Decaire	1837	0.0
45	Alvin Guevarra	1835	0.0
46	Jason Danner	1829	0.0
47	Chris Jonker	1826	0.0
48	Damon MacLeod	1816	0.0
49	Pat Moore	1795	0.0
50	David Suominen	1769	0.0
51	Ricky Chen	1627	0.0
52	Jeffrey Chen	1615	0.0

SwissSys Standings. 2019 Banff Open: 2019 Banff Open - UNDER 1800 SECTION

#	Name	Rtng	Tot
1	Piotr Pisanski	1725	0.0
2	Nathanael David Bertrand	1702	0.0
3	Mark Tuvera	1701	0.0
4	Tim Kowalyk	1697	0.0
5	Jacob Collins	1694	0.0
6	Paul Leblanc	1693	0.0
7	Avery Li	1683	0.0
8	Husain Ali	1678	0.0
9	Adam Szulski	1604	0.0
10	Kevin D Moore	1582	0.0
11	Mau-Seng Lee	1560	0.0
12	Brian Sullivan	1560	0.0
13	Charles Culver	1541	0.0
14	Eoin Dunne	1538	0.0
15	Felix Lin	1536	0.0
16	Mike Sekuloff	1512	0.0
17	Pranav Pathak	1475	0.0
18	Roland Schech	1465	0.0
19	Mike Scholz	1439	0.0
20	Andrew Xiao	1416	0.0
21	Tri Tran	1400	0.0
22	Jonathan Wu	1374	0.0
23	Jeffrey Street	1334	0.0
24	Jerry Ming	1307	0.0
25	Berry de Groot	1275	0.0
26	Patrick Gougeon	1137	0.0
27	Khoi Trinh	1135	0.0
28	Daniel Jason Smith	940	0.0
29	Mateo Jackson	883	0.0
30	Joel Hyvarinen	unr.	0.0
31	David Mielke	unr.	0.0
32	Bart Simpson	unr.	0.0

https://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...fQQQt2vz2EGdOg

[Neil Frarey]

Hi Ian,

Just tossed $100.00 your way. We want it all to go to the U1800 section :)

Grow those roots bro ;)

And if you ever ever ... like as if 'ever' get to that magic 100 registered ...we're there for you too with another C note ...ha.


peace.
n.

[Ian Findlay]

Hi Ian,

Just tossed $100.00 your way. We want it all to go to the U1800 section :)

Grow those roots bro ;)

And if you ever ever ... like as if 'ever' get to that magic 100 registered ...we're there for you too with another C note ...ha.


peace.
n.

Thanks Neil, that is very generous of you and the Society of Chess Aficionados (SoCA). We need 15 more. You offer of the magic $100, certainly adds to the suspense! Thank you for your continued support over our first four years. I was playing in LA this weekend, they had about 35 players with 2 weeks to register and ended up with over 200! It seems the norm to enter last minute in the US, but one has to plan to come to Banff, so I am only expected about 90. Still up from 78 from last year and the advance payments should mean we will not get the 20 last minute withdrawals!

Nov 7 at midnight is the deadline. No last minute entries, as we will be doing pairings in advance. Only 15 spots left

[Ian Findlay]

Now up to 87 entries. With the $500 added to first prize, this puts the prize fund over $4000 and if someone wins the Fischer prize in the top section for a 6-0, then over $5000.
The 1st prize if someone had a 6-0 would be at least $2600. $1100 (1st) + $500 (Armageddon) + $1000 (Fischer)
Nov 7 at midnight is the deadline. No last minute entries, as we will be doing pairings in advance. Only 13 spots left
Go to website in order to enter or to view the pre registration list http://www.albertachess.org/home/sch...19-banff-open/

[Mark S. Dutton]

ROUND 1 is underway at the record breaking 89-player 2019 BANFF OPEN CHESS tournament! November 9-11, 2019
Kinnear Centre for Creativity and Innovation, Room 103 at Banff Centre, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, Alberta
_______________________________________________
Pairings for Round 1. 2019 Banff Open:
2019 Banff Open - OPEN SECTION
Bd Res White Res Black
1 IM Bitan Banerjee (2499) Richard Cannon (2017)
2 Paul Wang (1993) FM Ian Zhao (2402)
3 IM Mark Ginsburg (2395) Juraj Pivovarov (1991)
4 Dustin Koperski (1959) IM Brian Hartman (2374)
5 FM Ian Findlay (2362) Jim Daniluk (1922)
6 Bhavik Dave (1917) WIM Agnieszka Matras-Clement (2351)
7 FM* Belsar Valencia (2348) Douglas Nechio (1911)
8 Michael Blanchard (1903) Rafael Arruebarrena (2329)
9 Omid Malek (2311) Mark Linnick (1902)
10 Daniel Wei (1902) Isaac Wiebe (2239)
11 Viktors Pupols (2238) Logan McLeod (1897)
12 Colin Prince (1884) David Miller (2234)
13 Georgi Kostadinov (2209) Charles Wu (1878)
14 Ethan Su (1859) Steven Peter (2150)
15 Brad Booker (2132) Tyson Menard (1856)
16 Tevanio Steadman (1854) Roger Patterson (2113)
17 Hemant Srinivasan (2096) Robin Templeton (1847)
18 Nathan Ping-Ying Wu (1845) Roy Yearwood (2093)
19 Maxim Vasic (2083) Michael Decaire (1837)
20 Jason Danner (1829) Anand Rishi Chandra (2062)
21 Mike McDonald (2052) Chris Jonker (1826)
22 Damon MacLeod (1824) Sammy Yao (2039)
23 Brian Timmerman (2034) Pat Moore (1795)
24 David Suominen (1745) James Windram (2034)
25 Leo Lin (2028) Ricky Chen (1734)
1 Jeffrey Chen (1668) Please see T.D. (PAB)
½ Dante Briones (1958) BYE
½ Joseph Young (1866) BYE
½ Alvin Guevarra (1835) BYE

Pairings for Round 1. 2019 Banff Open:
2019 Banff Open - UNDER 1800 SECTION
Bd Res White Res Black
28 Piotr Pisanski (1725) Jerry Mikusek (1490)
29 Roland Schech (1477) Nathanael David Bertrand (1702)
30 Tim Kowalyk (1697) Pranav Pathak (1475)
31 Tri Tran (1467) Jacob Collins (1694)
32 Paul Leblanc (1693) Andrew Xiao (1431)
33 Jonathan Wu (1374) Avery Li (1683)
34 Husain Ali (1678) Jeffrey Street (1334)
35 Jerry Ming (1307) Adam Szulski (1604)
36 Kevin D Moore (1582) Berry de Groot (1275)
37 Patrick Gougeon (1137) Mau-Seng Lee (1560)
38 Brian Sullivan (1560) Khoi Trinh (1135)
39 Daniel Jason Smith (940) Charles Culver (1541)
40 Eoin Dunne (1538) Mateo Jackson (883)
41 Joel Hyvarinen (unr.) Felix Lin (1536)
42 Mike Sekuloff (1512) David Mielke (unr.)
1 Bart Simpson (unr.) Please see T.D. (PAB)
½ Mark Tuvera (1688) BYE
½ Mike Scholz (1439) BYE
½ Tyler Davis (unr.) BYE
½ Logan Stafford (unr.) BYE

https://www.facebook.com/Mark.S.Dutt...7690167&type=3

[Aris Marghetis]

I am SOOO envious, looks great there!

[Ian Findlay]

Our record prize fund, which if you add the $500 Armageddon prize, is over $4000. If someone goes 6-0, the prize fund will be over $5000. Not bad for a weekend event.
The 4th round started with 4 perfect scores. Mark Ginsburg and Belsar Valencia drew on board 2. Bitan Banerjee and Agnieszka Matra-Clement are battling on board 1 with perfect scroes.
Updates are on Mark Dutton's Facebook page and later updates at the Alberta Chess Association webpage. www.albertachess.org

2019 Banff Open Prize Fund
Open Section
1st	1100	Plus $500 Armgeddon prize	1600	Plus Fischer $1000 for 6-0	2600
2nd	500
3rd	250
Under 2200	250
2nd	130
Under 1950	220
2nd	110
Under 1800 Section
1st Under 1800	300
2nd	150
1st Under 1550	230
2nd	120
Under 1400	210
2nd	105
Total Prizes	3675
Entry fees	4930
75% of entries (rounded up by $2.50)	3700
Minus Aca dues	425
Plus Cupe Local 4318	300
Plus SoCA - Under 1800	100
Total Prizes	3675

[Mark S. Dutton]

2019 Banff Open Champion WIM Agnieszka Matras-Clement!
at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
9 of the TOP 10 finishers were from ALBERTA!
Great job Alberta Chess Association!

FINAL Standings. 2019 Banff Open: 2019 Banff Open - OPEN SECTION

#	Name	Rtng	Post	St	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Tot	Prize
1	WIM Agnieszka Matras-Clement	2351	2385	AB	+34	+25	+23	+7	+5	=3	5½	$1,300
2	FM* Belsar Valencia	2348	2377	AB	+26	+19	+22	=3	+7	+9	5½	$ 800
3	IM Mark Ginsburg	2395	2403	US	+33	+11	+32	=2	+17	=1	5	$ 125
4	David Miller	2234	2247	AB	=42	+46	=21	+22	+8	+14	5	$ 125
5	FM Ian Zhao	2402	2394	AB	=21	+40	+42	+24	-1	+17	4½
6	James Windram	2034	2068	AB	=46	-42	+50	+30	+32	+13	4½
7	IM Bitan Banerjee	2499	2487	AB	+20	+16	+9	-1	-2	+24	4
8	FM Ian Findlay	2362	2346	AB	+48	-24	+33	+27	-4	+21	4
9	Rafael Arruebarrena	2329	2328	AB	+12	+38	-7	+23	+16	-2	4
10	Georgi Kostadinov	2209	2188	AB	=49	+50	-36	=28	+41	+31	4
11	Roger Patterson	2113	2117	BC	+37	-3	=28	=42	+36	+23	4	$ 130
12	Michael Blanchard	1903	1997	AB	-9	+52	-13	+47	+42	+32	4	$ 220
13	IM Brian Hartman	2374	2352	ON	+39	-23	+12	+19	=14	-6	3½
14	Omid Malek	2311	2295	AB	+27	=36	=24	+41	=13	-4	3½
15	Viktors Pupols	2238	2210	US	+41	-22	-27	+40	+28	=19	3½
16	Brad Booker	2132	2129	AB	+28	-7	+49	+29	-9	=22	3½
17	Hemant Srinivasan	2096	2097	AB	=51	+44	+30	+36	-3	-5	3½
18	Roy Yearwood	2093	2072	AB	-43	+35	=31	+46	-21	+34	3½
19	Sammy Yao	2039	2058	AB	+31	-2	+43	-13	+29	=15	3½
20	Richard J. Cannon	2000	2004	UK	-7	-28	=35	+37	+43	+36	3½
21	Paul Wang	1993	2062	AB	=5	+51	=4	=32	+18	-8	3½
22	Jeffrey Chen	1668	1795	AB	B---	+15	-2	-4	+27	=16	3½	$ 110
23	Maxim Vasic	2083	2092	AB	+29	+13	-1	-9	+44	-11	3
24	Anand Rishi Chandra	2062	2085	AB	+45	+8	=14	-5	=31	-7	3
25	Brian Timmerman	2034	2021	AB	+52	-1	-41	=49	=30	+33	3
26	Douglas Nechio	1911	1908	AB	-2	-31	-37	+53	+48	+44	3
27	Mark Linnick	1902	1920	SK	-14	+53	+15	-8	-22	+45	3
28	Tyson Menard	1856	1936	SK	-16	+20	=11	=10	-15	+38	3
29	Michael Decaire	1837	1895	AB	-23	+39	+38	-16	-19	+42	3
30	Chris Jonker	1826	1881	AB	+47	H---	-17	-6	=25	+41	3
31	Damon MacLeod	1824	1894	AB	-19	+26	=18	+34	=24	-10	3
32	Isaac Wiebe	2239	2208	MB	+35	+43	-3	=21	-6	-12	2½
33	Juraj Pivovarov	1991	1988	AB	-3	+37	-8	=43	+35	-25	2½
34	Bhavik Dave	1917	1910	AB	-1	H---	+45	-31	+46	-18	2½
35	Daniel Wei	1902	1908	SK	-32	-18	=20	+48	-33	+50	2½
36	Ethan Su	1859	1921	BC	+54	=14	+10	-17	-11	-20	2½
37	Tevanio Steadman	1854	1869	SK	-11	-33	+26	-20	=39	+47	2½
38	Leo Lin	2028	1985	SK	+53	-9	-29	-44	+52	-28	2
39	Dustin Koperski	1959	1926	AB	-13	-29	=52	=50	=37	=43	2
40	Dante Briones	1958	1935	AB	H---	-5	=44	-15	-45	+53	2
41	Logan McLeod	1897	1906	YT	-15	+47	+25	-14	-10	-30	2
42	Colin Prince	1884	1897	MB	=4	+6	-5	=11	-12	-29	2
43	Nathan Ping-Ying Wu	1845	1857	BC	+18	-32	-19	=33	-20	=39	2
44	Alvin Guevarra	1835	1837	AB	H---	-17	=40	+38	-23	-26	2
45	Jason Danner	1829	1820	SK	-24	=48	-34	=52	+40	-27	2
46	David Suominen	1745	1767	AB	=6	-4	+48	-18	-34	=52	2
47	Mike McDonald	2052	1988	ON	-30	-41	+53	-12	=50	-37	1½
48	Jim Daniluk	1922	1871	AB	-8	=45	-46	-35	-26	B---	1½
49	Charles Wu	1878	1888	BC	=10	H---	-16	=25	U---	U---	1½
50	Joseph Young	1866	1850	AB	H---	-10	-6	=39	=47	-35	1½
51	Robin Templeton	1847	1849	AB	=17	-21	H---	H---	U---	U---	1½
52	Pat Moore	1795	1779	AB	-25	-12	=39	=45	-38	=46	1½
53	Ricky Chen	1734	1698	AB	-38	-27	-47	-26	B---	-40	1
54	Steven Peter	2150	2132	AB	-36	U---	U---	U---	U---	U---	0

SwissSys Standings. 2019 Banff Open: 2019 Banff Open - UNDER 1800 SECTION

#	Name	Rtng	Post	St	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Tot	Prize
1	Nathanael David Bertrand	1702	1753	SK	+18	+16	-3	+8	+15	+2	5	$150
2	Paul Leblanc	1693	1756	BC	+28	+11	+20	+6	+5	-1	5	$150
3	Husain Ali	1678	1737	AB	+19	+27	+1	-5	+13	+9	5	$150
4	Mark Tuvera	1688	1714	AB	H---	+12	-9	+17	+11	+10	4½
5	Kevin D Moore	1582	1676	BC	+25	=22	+7	+3	-2	+13	4½
6	Tim Kowalyk	1697	1695	AB	+8	+26	+15	-2	-9	+14	4
7	Jacob Collins	1694	1680	AB	=9	+24	-5	+22	=14	+21	4
8	Pranav Pathak	1475	1544	AB	-6	+33	+16	-1	+24	+15	4	$175
9	Tri Tran	1467	1580	AB	=7	+36	+4	H---	+6	-3	4	$175
10	Piotr Pisanski	1725	1701	AB	+17	-15	=13	+25	+20	-4	3½
11	Eoin Dunne	1538	1546	AB	+34	-2	+28	=20	-4	+22	3½
12	Jonathan Wu	1374	1477	AB	=13	-4	=25	+27	+26	=16	3½	$210
13	Avery Li	1683	1651	AB	=12	+31	=10	+18	-3	-5	3
14	Adam Szulski	1604	1564	AB	-24	+29	=17	X31	=7	-6	3
15	Mau-Seng Lee	1560	1555	BC	+29	+10	-6	+24	-1	-8	3
16	Brian Sullivan	1560	1528	BC	+30	-1	-8	=19	+25	=12	3
17	Jerry Mikusek	1490	1501	AB	-10	+30	=14	-4	+27	=20	3
18	Roland Schech	1477	1467	AB	-1	+34	+26	-13	-21	+28	3
19	Jeffrey Street	1334	1386	BC	-3	-20	+35	=16	=23	+26	3	$105
20	David Mielke	unr.	1556	SK	+22	+19	-2	=11	-10	=17	3
21	Bart Simpson	unr.	1334	AB	-32	-25	+33	X36	+18	-7	3

IA Mark S. Dutton and Organizer Ian Findlay - congratulate the 2019 Banff Open Champion WIM Matras-Clement, Agnieszka !
at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Event code	210296
Tournament Name	2019 Banff Open
City	Banff
Country	CAN

Chief Arbiter	Dutton, Mark S (CAN) IA,IO
Deputy Chief Arbiter	Dutton, Christine (CAN)
Chief Organizer	Findlay, Ian T. (CAN)

[Aris Marghetis]

Congratulations Agnieszka-Ian-Mark, that looked like a GREAT event!

[Sammy Yao]

Many thanks to Ian for organizing and Mark and Christine for directing yet another prestigious Banff Open! Was a pleasure to take part in it for a third consecutive year.