Canadian Chess Player of the Year Award

[Fred McKim]

The Canadian Chess Player of the Year Award was re-established in 2003 by David Cohen. While David passed away earlier this year, he wanted to see his project continued and made arrangements with Chess 'n Math to house the permanent plaque with the names of the past winners. Not only that, but CMA agreed to create keeper plaques for future winners, as elected by a Committee (Larry Bevand, Ian Findlay, Hans Jung, Fred McKim and John Upper) hand picked by David.

Previous winners of the Player of the Year Award can presently be found at
<a href="http://www.canadianchess.info/canadianchesshistory/CanadianChessPlayerYear.html">canadianchess.info</a> (David's website), while we are looking for a more permanent online home for the information.

The independent Player of the Year Committee (recognized by both National bodies...the CMA and the CFC and endorsed by David's wife, Lisette Lu ) is preparing to vote for winners for the years of 2013 - 2019 (as David wished), sequentially, over the next several months. One award will finally be presented for the best player of 2020-21 (combined). All of these awards will be presented in person (if possible) during 2022.

Our first step will be to present on ChessTalk, approximately 10 short-listed players for 2013, along with a couple of achievements for each, and give the public a chance to make some comments leading up to our selection of the three finalists, with a fuller list of achievements, and finally the winner.

Fred
Acting Committee Chair

[Fred McKim]

2013 Short-List (in alphabetical order)

IM Bindi Cheng (1st Guelph Winter Pro-Am, =2nd Continental Class Championship, =2nd DC International Open)
IM Leonid Gerzhoy (=2nd Continental Class Championship, =5th New York International Open, = 3rd Toronto Labour Day Open)
IM Aman Hambleton (Awarded IM Title, =3rd Canadian Open, =1st Forni di Sopra)
GM Eric Hansen (Awarded GM Title, =1st Canadian Open, =1st Cappelle-la-Grande)
IM Nikolay Noritsyn (1st Toronto Thanksgiving Open, 1st Guelph Spring Pro-Am, =1st Toronto Labour Day Open)
IM Raja Panjwani (=2nd St Louis Classic GM RR, =3rd Spice Cup Open, =6th US Masters)
FM Razvan Preotu (=3rd NAYCC U18 Champ., =1st Guelph PreSummer Pro-Am, =2nd Hart House Reading Week Open)
GM Bator Sambuev (1st Ontario Open, 1st Varennes Open, 1st National Capital Open)
WCM Qiyu Zhou (2nd NA Youth U14 Girls Champ., =3rd Eastern Ontario Open, =3rd National Capital Open)
WCM Harmony Zhu (1st World Youth GU8 Champion., 1st NA Youth GU8 Champion.)

We welcome comments over the next week ..............

[Hugh Brodie]

Bator Sambuev also just won the Quebec (closed) championship.

[Fred McKim]

Rightly or wrongly, I excluded provincial championships.

[Erik Malmsten]

Bator Sambuev also just won the Quebec (closed) championship.

This award is for 2013, eight years ago. Did he win the Quebec closed that year?

[Fred McKim]

This award is for 2013, eight years ago. Did he win the Quebec closed that year?

I checked and it turns out he did win in 2013.

[Hugh Brodie]

I didn't even check the date. Why omit provincial championships while including weekend Swisses?

[David Ottosen]

I didn't even check the date. Why omit provincial championships while including weekend Swisses?

+1 to this for me. The criteria for the award doesn't seem to be clearly stated, but it would seem to me that the Canadian player of the year award should weight heavily on events important in Canada, and to me, the provincial championships definitely apply,

[Fred McKim]

+1 to this for me. The criteria for the award doesn't seem to be clearly stated, but it would seem to me that the Canadian player of the year award should weight heavily on events important in Canada, and to me, the provincial championships definitely apply,

I think it's healthy to have some discussion on these topics, and I'll ask the other voters to read the comments here, prior to voting. I think my main reason for not making note of Provincial Championships was because not all provinces hold them (Ontario for example).

For what it's worth, here is the list of accomplishments I tabulated for Bator for 2013 (not necessarily all of his events)

1st Ontario Open
1st Varennes Open (QC)
1st Guelph Fall Pro-Am
1st Ottawa Spring Open
1st TORO Open (QC)
1st Hart House Holidays Open (ON)
1st Hart House Reading Week Open (ON)
1st National Capital Open (ON)
1st RA Fall Open
1st KW Kiedstra Mem. (ON)
=1st Guelph PreSummer Pro-Am
2nd Montreal Open
=2nd Hart House Winter Open
Lost 1st Rd (TB) World Cup
=8th Canadian Open
=10th Quebec Open
Isthmia Int. Open (GRE) - 5.5/9

Now the question becomes "How does that stack up against someone winning a WYCC event or maybe a medal at the Olympiad?"

[Fred McKim]

FINALISTS for 2013 Canadian Player of the Year

Note: Most International tournaments have a rating indicated which is the average rating of the Top 10 player's opposition, to indicate relative tournament strength

Finalists (in alphabetical order)

IM Amam Hambleton
Awarded IM Title
=3rd Canadian Open
=1st Forni di Sopra (ITA) (2330)
=3rd Server24Chess (ITA) (2390)
=8th UT Dallas Spring Open (2440)
=5th Vandoeuevre Int. Open (FRA) (2420)
Reykjavik Open (2480) - 6.5/10
Americas Continental (2400) - 6.5/11
Oslo Int. Open (2430) - 5/9
Sants (ESP) (2400) - 6/10
Philadelphia Open (2400) - 5.5/9
3rd Geneva Int. Open (2290)
=7th Quebec Open
=1st Gatineau Open

GM Eric Hansen
Awarded GM Title
=1st Canadian Open
=2nd Barcelona RR (2570)
Lost 1st Rd World Cup
=1st Capelle-la-Grande (2470)
=2nd Calgary Int.
=3rd Server24Chess (ITA) (2390)
5th Edmonton Int
=7th Oslo Int. Open (2430)
Karpos Open (MKD) (2450) - 6/9
Sants (ESP) (2400) - 6.5/10
Hilton Masters (SUI) (2430) - 4.5/7

GM Bator Sambuev
1st Ontario Open
1st Quebec Invitational Championship
1st Varennes Open (QC)
1st Guelph Fall Pro-Am
1st Ottawa Spring Open
1st TORO Open (QC)
1st Hart House Holidays Open (ON)
1st Hart House Reading Week Open (ON)
1st National Capital Open (ON)
1st RA Fall Open
1st KW Kiedstra Mem. (ON)
=1st Guelph PreSummer Pro-Am
2nd Montreal Open
=2nd Hart House Winter Open
Lost 1st Rd (TB) World Cup
=8th Canadian Open
=10th Quebec Open
Isthmia Int. Open (GRE) (2340) - 5.5/9

Predictions and comments are welcome. Final POY Committee voting results will be revealed in one week.

Fred

[Erik Malmsten]

Achieving the GM title is a once in a lifetime event and more important than winning Canadian swisses.

[Fred McKim]

2013 Canadian Chess Player of the Year is GM Eric Hansen. This is his second title as he also won the 2012 vote. A plaque will be awarded to Eric sometime this year.

Final Voting (10-7-5-3-2)

1. GM Eric Hansen 39
2. GM Bator Sambuev 38
3. IM Aman Hambleton 21
4, Harmony Zhu 20
5. IM Nikolay Noritsyn 8
6. IM Bindi Cheng 5
=7. IM Leonid Gerzhoy 2
=7. IM Raja Panjwani 2

Members of the Player of the Year Committee are Larry Bevand, Ian Findlay, Hans Jung, Fred McKim, and John Upper

We will be moving on to a list of 10 players for consideration for 2014 very shortly.

Fred

[Fred McKim]

2014 Nominees for Canadian Chess Player of the Year

Here are the 10 best performers as judged by the Player of the Year Committee. Voting will commence in about one week, so here's your chance to influence the voters.

Bracketed ratings indicate the approximate average rating of the opposition for the top 10 players in an International tournament, to give some idea of the strength of the event.

This list of achievements is not meant to complete, but represents the most noteworthy ones.

Fred

IM David Cummings
1st Pan-Am Senior 50+ Championship
=1st Canadian Seniors 50+ Championship

IM Leonid Gerzhoy
1st Toronto Open
=2nd Capablanca Memorial Open (CUB) (2390)
=3rd Foxwoods Open (2390)
Bay Area Int (2470) - 5.5/9
NA Open (2490) - 5/9
Chicago Open (2420) - 5.5/9
=2nd Hart House Reading Week Open
Olympiad Bd3 - 2/7

IM Aman Hambleton
1st Sunningdale Open (ENG) (2250)
UT Dallas Fall Open (2430) - 5/9
=1st Montreal Open
=1st Gatineau Open
Olympiad Reserve - 3.5/7

GM Eric Hansen
Olympiad Bd2 - 5/9
=2nd Reykjavik Int. Open (2450)
Gibraltar International Festival (2560) - 7/10
Americas Continental (2450) - 7.5/11
=4th Durban Open (RSA) (2400)
=6th Unive Open (NED) (2390)
=7th Canadian Open
Qatar Masters Open (2600) - 4.5/9

GM Anton Kovalyov
Olympiad Bd1 - 7/11
=1st Bay Area International (2470)
1st UT Dallas Fall Open (2430)
1st Southwest Class Championships (2400)
1st Foxwoods Open (2390)
=4th Canadian Open
=3rd Chicago Open (2410)
=3rd Edmonton Int
3rd UT Brownsville GM Norm RR (2450)
World Open (2450) - 5.5/9
US Masters (2430) - 5.5/9

IM Nikolay Noritsyn
1st Toronto Thanksgiving Open
1st Guelph Winter Pro-Am
=1st Hart House Holidays Open
=3rd Toronto Labour Day Open
=10th Durban Open (RSA) (2400)

IM Razvan Preotu
Awarded IM Title
=3rd US Masters (2430)
World Youth Olympiad Bd1 - 6/9
1st Guelph Fall Pro Am
1st Aurora Fall Open (ON)
=2nd Hart House Reading Week Open
=9th Spice Cup Open (2460)
=5th NA Junior Championship
NA Open (2490) - 5/8
World Open (2450) - 5.5/9
Chicago Open (2410) - 5/9

GM Bator Sambuev
Olympiad Bd4 - 6/10
1st Varennes Open (QC)
=1st Montreal Open
1st Hart House Reading Week Open
1st National Capital Open
1st Aurora Spring Open (ON)
1st Aurora Summer Open (ON)
=1st Gatineau Open
=1st TORO Open (QC)
=2nd Toronto Open
=2nd McGill Open
=3rd Hart House Holidays Open
=7th Canadian Open

WIM Yuanling Yuan
Women's Olympiad Bd1 - 7.5/11
Ontario Open "A" - 3.5/6 (Top Woman)
Chicago Open (2410) - 5/9
NA Open (2490) - 4.5/9

WFM Qiyu Zhou
Awarded WFM Title
World Girls U14 Champion
Women's Olympiad Bd4 - 6.5/9
2nd NA Youth GU18 Championship
1st Eastern Ontario Open
=3rd Gatineau Open
=3rd RA Winter Open
=4th McGill Open
=4th TORO Open (QC)

[Neil Frarey]

That's a tuff list, Fred.

For me it is either IM David Cummings or WFM Qiyu Zhou

Hm...

[David Ottosen]

To me, if you can put together a signature performance, and back it up with other solid results, that's your winner. To me it's clear:

Kovalyov - 7/11 on Bd1 of Olympiad is a monumental achievement, especially since it includes 4.5/8 against GMs with an average rating of 2670, plus top Canadian finisher in the Canadian Open, plus several other impressive tournament wins

Zhou and Cummings are at the next level with impressive signature performances, but I don't think there's enough there to back them up and to be fully honest, both signature performances came in restricted events with uneven fields.

Meanwhile, Sambuev has a lot of solid performances, but nothing I think that will stand out as "did you see what he did? wow!".