2015 Canadian Chess Player of the Year

[Fred McKim]

One of the players below will receive the title of Canadian Chess Player of the Year for 2015.

Here is a list of their noteworthy accomplishments. The bracketed rating is given for an International Tournament to indicate a "relative" strength and is the average rating of the opponents of the top 10 finishers in the tournament. Feel free to make comments, opinions, and predictions. We will be reducing this to a shortlist of 3 players in about a week's time.

GM Evgeny Bareev
1st Kitchener Masters
=6th Millionaire Open (2500)

FM Jason Cao
1st Keres Memorial
=1st Grand Pacific Open
Washington Int (2380) - 6/9
World Open (2430) - 5/9
=9th NA Junior

IM David Cummings
=1st Pan-Am Senior 50+ Champ.
Reykjavik Int. Open (2470) - 5.5/10
World Open (2430) - 5/9
Philadelphia Open (2390) - 5.5/9
World Senior 50+ Champ. - 6.5/11
=2nd Guelph Spring Pro-Am
=3rd Hart House Reading Week Open

IM Leonid Gerzhoy
=1st Canadian Closed

GM Eric Hansen
=1st Canadian Closed
=3rd Reykjavik Int. Open (2470)
=2nd London Chess Classic Open (2390)
2nd Cultural Village RR (NED) (2400)
Americas Continental (2440) - 7.5/11
Gibraltar Chess Festival (2550) - 6.5/10
=5th Francophonie Open (QC)

GM Anton Kovalyov
Lost 3rd Rd World Cup
=3rd Americas Continental (2440)
Tie 5th Washington Int. (2380)
Tie 9th World Open (2430)
US Masters (2420) - 5.5/9

IM Tomas Krnan
1st Canadian Closed
Lost 1st Rd World Cup
=1st Tatry Open (SVK) (2220)
=3rd Ontario Open
=5th Kitchener Masters

IM Razvan Preotu
=2nd Kitchener Masters
=4th Canadian Closed
=5th World Youth U16 Champ.
=5th US Masters (2420)
Reykjavik Int. Open (2470) - 6.5/10
Cappelle-la-Grande (2480) - 5.5/9
World Open (2430) - 5/9
1st Guelph Summer Pro Am
1st Hart House Reading Week Open
1st Niagra Falls Open
=1st Hart House Holiday Open
=2nd Guelph Spring Pro-Am

GM Bator Sambuev
=4th Canadian Closed
=2nd Kitchener Masters
=3rd Ontario Open
1st Montreal Open
1st Varennes Open (QC)
1st Gatineau Open
1st Guelph Winter Pro Am
1st National Capital Open
1st Aurora Spring Open
1st RA Winter Open
=1st TORO Open (QC)

IM Kaiqi Yang
1st Mississauga Open
1st National Chess Congress (2220)
1st Michigan Open
=8th Friendship Games (MICH) (2420)
=7th Lasker Memorial (2250)
Millionaire Open (2500) - 3.5/6

WIM Qiyu Zhou
Awarded WIM Title
1st NA Youth U18 Girls Champ.
1st Aug Kecskemet FM DRR (SRB) (2230)
Canadian Closed Champ. - 4/9
Cappelle-la-Grande (2480) - 4.5/9
Reykjavik Int. Open (2470) - 4.5/10
2nd Aug Kecskemet IM DRR (SRB) (2180)
5th New Years Kecskemet IM DRR (HUN) (2270)
NA Open (2420) - 3.5/9
=2nd RA Winter Open (ON)
=3rd McGill Open
6th NA Junior Girls Champ.
=4th Eastern Ontario Open

[Fred McKim]

The voting is in and we'll do a little tease, by posting the names of the three Finalists: GM Eric Hansen, GM Anton Kovalyov and GM Bator Sambuev. Predictions and comments are welcome, as they could help guide the voters in future years. I'll reveal the winner on Friday.

[Fred McKim]

GM Eric Hansen has been named Canadian Chess Player of the Year for 2015. This marks the 3rd time in 4 years that he's captured the honour.

Final Voting

GM Eric Hansen - 45
GM Bator Sambuev - 31
GM Anton Kovalyov - 21
IM Razvan Preotu - 18
WIM Qiyu Zhou - 8
IM Tomas Krnan - 7
GM Evgeny Bareev - 3
IM David Cummings - 2