2023 Canadian Transnational Championship (CTN)

[Salim Belcadi]

Annex Chess Club of Toronto and Maplewood Chess Club of Montreal are excited to co-organize the first Canadian Transnational Chess Championship (CTN) from June 3rd to 11th. This is expected to be the premier chess event in Canada in 2023.

Event:
The CTN is an original event which consists of three tournaments:
- A Blitz and a Rapid in Toronto
- A Classical in Montreal

The GENERAL Sections are open to all. The CROWN Section in all three tournaments will be accessible to players with a minimum rating of 2200 FIDE. We have invited 18 GMs and the Classical in Montreal will be a great opportunity for GM, IM and WGM norms.

Format:
- Blitz: 7 double rounds (3|2) on June 3rd from 10am to 3:30pm
- Rapid: 11 rounds (15|5); 3 rounds on June 3rd from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, 8 rounds on June 4th from 10:00am to 8:00pm
- Classical: 5 rounds (90|30) for the GENERAL sections from Friday June 9 to Sunday June 11; 9 rounds (90|30) for the CROWN section from Tuesday June 6 to Sunday June 11

Note: GENERAL sections will start at 6pm on Friday 9th, and there will be 2 rounds at 11am and 6pm on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th. CROWN Section, June 6th, 7th and 8th will have 1 round at 6pm, June 9th, 10th and 11th will have 2 rounds at 11am and 6pm.

Venues:
- Toronto: St Casimir's Parish Hall: 156 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto ON M6R 2L4
- Montreal: La Maison du Loisir et du Sport: 7665 Boulevard Lacordaire, Montreal, QC H1S 2A7

Prize Fund:
- Est. $16,500 based on 260 players, prior to sponsorship
Cash prize funds will be available for each tournament. Players in the CROWN section will also be eligible to participate in a bonus prize pool based on their overall performance in all three events.

Current confirmed FIDE titled players:
GM Awonder Liang (USA), 2643
GM Mateusz Bartel (POL), 2615
GM Lazaro Bruzon (CUB), 2610
GM Arturs Neiksans (LAT), 2609
GM Nikita Meshkovs (LAT), 2584
GM Marin Bosiocic (CRO), 2564
GM Emilio Cordoba (PER), 2546
GM Viktor Matviishen (UKR), 2538
GM Omar Almeida (CUB), 2531
GM Cristhian Cruz (PER), 2523
GM Isan Ortiz (CUB), 2521
GM Gergely Szabo (ROM), 2514
GM Elshan Moradiabadi (USA), 2507
GM Toms Kantans (LAT), 2499
GM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon (CAN), 2461
GM Bator Sambuev (CAN), 2407
IM Jason Liang (USA),2528 - Classical only
IM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux (CAN), 2457
IM Nikolay Noritsyn (CAN), 2455
IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN), 2425
IM Peter Vavrak (SLO), 2414 - Blitz only
IM Sai Krishna (IND), 2384 - Classical only
IM Mark Plotkin (CAN), 2363
IM Rohan Talukdar (CAN), 2359
IM Eric Lawson (CAN), 2328
IM Nicholas Vettese (CAN), 2293 - Blitz & Rapid only
IM Alex Reprintsev (UKR), 2292 - Blitz & Rapid only
IM Michael Barron (CAN), 2152 - Blitz only
FM Anthony Atanasov (CAN), 2361
FM Mike Ivanov (CAN), 2290 - Blitz only
FM Vinny Puri (CAN), 2214 - Blitz & Rapid only
FM Zachary Dukic (CAN), 2211 - Classical only
FM Victor Plotkin (CAN), 2176
FM James Canty III (USA), 2155
WGM Thalia Cervantes Landero (USA), 2268
WGM Anna Burtasova (CAN), 2241 - Blitz & Rapid only
WGM Maili-Jade Ouellet (CAN), 2222 - Classical only
WGM Yulesi Hernandez Moya (CUB), 2215
WIM Anna Kentane (LAT), 2252
WIM Svitlana Demchenko (CAN), 2183 - Classical only
CM Koosha Jaferian (IRA), 2220

Capacity:
- GENERAL Sections: 200 places in each tournament.
- CROWN Section: Only 14 spots are left for the Montreal Classic. 2 GMs as well as 10 IMs not in the list above have reserved their spots. A greater number of places are available for the Toronto events.

Entry fees:
Please see the registration link below. Members of ACC are eligible for a discount.

Registration:
- We understand that ratings change over time. GENERAL sections players will have the opportunity to play up for a fee. The option will be made available shortly before the event.
- Please click on the following link for registration: https://guestlist.co/events/738804

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

[Hugh Brodie]

I see there are discounts for ACC/MCC members. Does the MCC (Maplewood Chess Club) physically exist yet? I haven't seen any news on it, although there was talk of it at the Père Noel tournament in Montreal at Christmas. It was to be at the Lacordaire site at least one evening a week.

[Salim Belcadi]

Hi Hugh, the opening has been delayed until March or April. But all the participants in the Maplewood Rapid in November can opt for the MCC discount.

[Chris Wang]

Is this one (Classical: 5 rounds (90|30) for the GENERAL sections from Friday June 9 to Sunday June 11) fide rated?

[Salim Belcadi]

Hi Chris, the higher sections of the GENERAL Sections will be FIDE rated (top and U1900). Under 1600, there are usually not enough players with a FIDE rating to make it work.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Salim:

Given that I now reside part-time in Montreal, and given the ACC discount, I've marked it in my organizer as "possible". I understand there is a player limit for the general tournament.....your original post says "200 players per section"?

What is the breakdown of the sections in the general tournament? I'm glad to see that there will be a "pay to play up" option.

Thanks.

Bob A

[Salim Belcadi]

Hi Bob, there is a 200 place limit for Montreal. For now, you have time. I'll give updates once in a while.
Registrations in Montreal will probably pick up next week after FQE makes its announcement.
Also big thanks to FQE, their support has been amazing!

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Salim:

Thanks......just to be clear......that is a 200 player limit for all sections of the General Classical Tournament.

Also, what are the classical rating groups: Top; U 1900; U 1600? I'm desperately hoping to get my rating back up a bit, to be entitled to use a "Playing Up" option to enter the U 1900 section..

Bob A

[Salim Belcadi]

Hi Bob, that's right, and most likely Top, U1900, U1600 or Top, U1800, U1400 depending on the rating spreads.
Good luck on getting your rating back up, we are now all watching and believing in you... but no pressure haha :)

[Henri Hughes]

wow Salim, no words. what a great initiative. will hopefully see you in Montreal.

[Salim Belcadi]

Thanks a lot Henri. For sure!

[Salim Belcadi]

There are only 3 spots left for the Crown section in the Classical in Montreal. We will start a waiting list after that. All other spots in this section have been confirmed or reserved.

A larger number of spots are still available for now in the Crown section in the Blitz & Rapid in Toronto, as we can go beyond 60 players for these two tournaments specifically.

There are still spots remaining for the General sections in all tournaments.

Registration link: https://guestlist.co/events/738804

[Erik Malmsten]

This incredible event provides opportunity for more players to get a GM norm then a 10-player round-robin. Over the years several top Canadian players have obtained IM norms in Canadian events: Plotkin, Ivanov, Chiku-Ratte, Cheng, Gardiner, Pechenkin, Haessel, Hamilton, Hansen, Thavandiran, Panjwani, Kovalyov, Noritsyn, Linskiy, Pushkedra, Taylor. Only a couple have obtained a GM norm in Canada like Roussel-Roozmon, Noritsyn, and Zugic.

The top section will have 18 GMs - is this a record for an event in Canada? The 2011 Canadian Open had 13 GMs. Maybe Quebec Opens have had more?

Has anyone done a study of how often these large swisses result in norms? What is the ideal number of players? With 18 GMs and a total of 48 players in 9 rounds, the average player will play 3 GMs? So those playing with a even or plus score will likely be paired up to more than 3 GMs. Playing 3 GMs is a requirement to get a norm, along with a maximum of playing 5 Canadians, and scoring points for a performance rating of 2600. If one's average opponents rating is around 2400, one would need to score 7-2 for a GM norm, 2450 score 6.5, 2500 score 6, 2530 score 5.5, or 2570 score 5. Players need to get 3 norms to get a title. FIDE requires 20 non-Canadians and new rules requires obtaining one norm from a Swiss of over 40 players. Should 10 more USCF IMs be brought in to increase the number of non-Canadian opponents?

There are only a few FMs in the event and they will certainly play 3 GM/IMs to try for an IM norm, a performance rating of 2450. If one's average opponents rating is 2300, one would need to score 6.5-2.5 for a IM norm, 2350 score 6, 2380 score 5.5, 2420 score 5, or 2460 score 4.5, 50%. Some players like FM Mike Ivanov have the norms, but needs to get his rating up to 2450. Should a couple of non-FM rising juniors be let in to the top section, lowering players average opponents rating which could affect norms?

[Henri Hughes]

Thanks a lot Henri. For sure!

what is the cut of for the top section, just wondering

[Hugh Brodie]

Minimum is 2200 as noted here:

Canadian Transnational Chess Championship (guestlist.co)