Player types

[Brad Thomson]

The 1994 Canadian Closed in Hamilton was Brian Hartman's dream child. What a tournament, what an event! I remember visiting three times. I feel its important to credit Brian Hartman for what he did. A lot of work went into holding it. What a legacy.

Yes, Brian did an incredible amount that year to put on a great Closed.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2052140 Im posting all of Nick's wins in this championship because they are all interesting. Here it looks like he's headed for another endgame and then all of a sudden there is a deep trap of the knight. In the end position if the logical g3 then RxN and the rook on d5 is hanging to the king.

[Brad Thomson]

Nick puts on another clinic.

[Don Parakin]

Something I've always wondered ... does anyone know why and when Nick moved to North Bay? I grew up in North Bay and, back then in the 1970s, it was a chess backwater. Our highest rated player was 1850 until he moved to Winnipeg. Why would a chess player like Nick move to North Bay? Was shovelling snow his other mastery?

[Hans Jung]

Maybe the North Bay Internationals had something to do with it. For a series of 6 consecutive years North Bay had the best international chess tournaments in Canada. 1994 -1999 A Canadian chess legacy. (by the way they should be archived somewhere on the old chess.ca site).

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2069394 I love the dual knight outposts on c4 and c5. The black knight proved supreme.

[Brad Thomson]

I remember this game well. Nick displays patience.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2052141 Brad, what happened in this game? Do you remember? Nick seemed to have defended successfully and then all of a sudden game over. It was his only loss in the tournament.

[Brad Thomson]

I am not sure what happened here. I remember Nick losing the game but not the circumstances.

[Hans Jung]

Timour Koliada was a dangerous tactician and he had one big psychological edge - his mother! She treated all his opponents the same way - with suspicion - and hovered over and around the board like an albatross. I can still remember her piercing glare and because of that I was personally glad when he gave up playing Canadian tournaments.

[Brad Thomson]

Bryon Nickoloff vs Jura Ochkoos (1997) (chessgames.com)
Nick doesn't waste any time.

[Hans Jung]

I was there playing and remember Nxg6!! what a knight move! and its all over. A zwischenzug supreme! (inbetween move - hardest ones to find)

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131814 Lawrence Day in Nick's best describes this game as "The One that got away" If Nick had won this game he would have won the championship and not Spraggett. So close.

[Brad Thomson]

Timour Koliada was a dangerous tactician and he had one big psychological edge - his mother! She treated all his opponents the same way - with suspicion - and hovered over and around the board like an albatross. I can still remember her piercing glare and because of that I was personally glad when he gave up playing Canadian tournaments.

Both of his parents were always around. They smoked like chimneys. Timour did a lot of speaking with them during his games, some feared that it may have been coaching. Few were able to understand anything they said. I remember many people commenting upon it. Thus the suspicion Hans speaks of worked in both directions. Timour himself was a great kid, and he was involved in plenty of the fun at the Closed of 1994, apart from knocking off Nick over the board.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131814 Lawrence Day in Nick's best describes this game as "The One that got away" If Nick had won this game he would have won the championship and not Spraggett. So close.

In Nick's best Lawrence says: 44.Ra1 leads to the win but also 44.Ne7 threatening mate (which I like best)