Online Canadian Qualifier (Zonal)

[Sam Sharpe]

This was a fun week. A big "Thank you!" to everyone involved, from me to the TD,Org, Arbs and of course, the players.

[Aris Marghetis]

Question: Will GMs Bareev and Preotu play a match now, to determine the event's overall winner?

No. This Open event was put together with the intention of declaring two qualifiers to the World Cup.

[Aris Marghetis]

This was a fun week. A big "Thank you!" to everyone involved, from me to the TD,Org, Arbs and of course, the players.

Thanks Sam, I had a great (although tiring lol) time too!

[Aris Marghetis]

I am pleased to confirm (Fair Play analysis)
that our winners have been confirmed:

Open #1 Razvan
Open #2 Evgeny
Women #1 Qiyu
Women #2 Svitlana

Thank you, kind regards, Aris Marghetis, Chief Arbiter.

[Hans Jung]

A big thanks to you Aris for all the work you've done in putting together a wonderful event and communicating the results so well!

As a fan I really enjoyed most of the games and there were a lot of tough and interesting endgames.

[Hans Jung]

Congratulations to Razvan and Evgeny and Qiyu and Svitlana. Success in a very tough schedule.

and condolences to the other players. Chess is a very hard game especially at 3 or 4 rounds a day.

[Aris Marghetis]

Very well said Hans! And they were all real troopers, great attitudes!

[Frank Dixon]

I believe that IA / IO Aris Marghetis is the only Canadian arbiter and organizer who could have put together an event this successful on such short notice!! It is truly an astonishing achievement, and his assistants and team worked, both hard and smart, in a highly cooperative manner to bring it about. Aris showed complete mastery of both the chess and technical aspects; his engineering background is really an asset!!

The players in both sections showed outstanding fighting spirit and sportsmanship. Thanks and congratulations!! With the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling so many events in Canada and around the world, it was such a treat to be able to follow real chess, online, in real time, which mattered, between many of Canada's top players.

Good luck and good skill to our winners from this event, at the next level!!

I also want to make sure that FM Victor Plotkin is publicly recognized for his considerable leadership on this project. Victor is new to his role as FIDE rep, and this marks the start of what I am sure will be a successful service term for Canada's chess interests. Victor also played in the event, and had, by his standards, a result less than what he had hoped. Victor, you have just learned the first rule of chess organization: your tournament results and rating will both go down!

Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston

[Rene Preotu]

I am pleased to confirm (Fair Play analysis)
that our winners have been confirmed:

Open #1 Razvan
Open #2 Evgeny
Women #1 Qiyu
Women #2 Svitlana

Thank you, kind regards, Aris Marghetis, Chief Arbiter.

Hi Aris,

I'm just wondering if CFC can assist the qualified players getting the second COVID vaccine shot? I've sent emails to the CFC president and FIDE rep. but I haven't received any answers. The deadline for signing the FIDE contract is tomorrow.

Thank you,

[Aris Marghetis]

Hi Aris,

I'm just wondering if CFC can assist the qualified players getting the second COVID vaccine shot? I've sent emails to the CFC president and FIDE rep. but I haven't received any answers. The deadline for signing the FIDE contract is tomorrow.

Thank you,

Hi Rene, I don't know what to say, I'm not part of the CFC Executive or anything like that. And I don't know what influence the CFC might have. Have you tried Razvan's public health unit?

[Sam Sharpe]

According to Chessbase, Demchenko won our women's zonal and not Qiyu Zhou. They must know something we don't?

On the other side of the globe, the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) organized the Canadian World Cup Qualifier (Zonal) from May 31 to Jun 4. Canada alone represents Zone 2.2., and 12 players participated in the Open Zonal that was won by GM Evgeny Bareev. He will be joined at the World Cup by GM Razvan Preotu as the Federation’s representative. In the Women’s Zonal, WIM Svitlana Demchenko was the winner, and she will be in Sochi together with WGM Qiyu Zhou as the Federation’s representative.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/asian-and-canadian-zonals-2021

[Hans Jung]

Also Razvan finished first and Evgeny second, no?

[Sam Sharpe]

Indeed, Hans. Have to love how ChessBase doesn't seem to check the stories that folks contribute.

[Aris Marghetis]

Indeed, Hans. Have to love how ChessBase doesn't seem to check the stories that folks contribute.

That's unexpected, and I saw the email that Victor provided to them, and which was perfectly correct.

[Sam Sharpe]

That makes it even more confusing.