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Venue: The Westin Harbour Castle; 1 Harbour Square, Toronto, ON M5J 1A6 Tournament Dates: Saturday, July 10 – Sunday, July 18, 2010. Format: Single Section, Swiss System, 9 Rounds. Time Control: 40 moves in 90 minutes, remaining moves in 30 minutes, with 30 seconds increment from 1st move. Entry fees: $175 received by April 30, $195 by June 30. NO entries will be accepted on site!
This is great news! As an avid chess player I am looking forward to finally having Canada's biggest tournament in my home city since I've been around. Maybe we'll even be able to break some (at least recent) records. Very much looking forward to it. I noticed there will be no on-site registrations. As indifferent as I may be to this as a player, as an amateur organizer I think this is a terrific idea, which will professionalize the event. Brian Fiedler hit it right at the PwC Toronto Open 2009, it was clear. Taking into account this will be a 9-day event, and GrandMasters Awesomov, Sensationaleev & Terrifikin will be signed up well in advance, there's no excuse for the average player not to know whether or not he/she will be able to participate, by the end of June.
Looking forward to what will no doubt be a memorable event!
Here are the comments I posted on the CFC Governors board:
As a Governor, I vote in favour as a bid - although I too would like to see a budget.
However - as a (potential) player, I have some concerns.
1) Entry fee: $175 seems too high to me. The 2009 Can. Open entry fee was in the $100-125 range if I recall correctly. The Quebec Open charges $100 maximum (less in lower sections). The US Open 2009 (also with a $50k prize fund) charged $135. The lack of on-site entries may cause some players to think twice - simply charge them more and pair them toghether in round 1.
2) Equipment. Edmonton 2009 was able to provide sets on every board (as was the US Open 2009, and most other major events). Edmonton also provided clocks on almost every board. If Toronto has a clock shortage, perhaps they could rent the Edmonton clocks.
3) Clocks. Make digital clocks with increments mandatory.
4) GM's. I don't care if any GM's are invited or not - I just play whomever I'm paired against - the invited foreign GM's are taking prize money away from the Canadian players . Put the "foreign GM" money into supporting Canadian chess. Alexandre Lesiege would play in such an event if the money is right. Provide sufficient funding to make it worthwhile for other Canadian GM's and IM's to attend.
(and - of course - be sure players' names are placed on all relevant tables) :-)
Here are the comments I posted on the CFC Governors board:
1) Entry fee: $175 seems too high to me. The 2009 Can. Open entry fee was in the $100-125 range if I recall correctly. The Quebec Open charges $100 maximum (less in lower sections). The US Open 2009 (also with a $50k prize fund) charged $135. The lack of on-site entries may cause some players to think twice - simply charge them more and pair them toghether in round 1.
Agree that $175 seems high, especially to commit as early as April. However, if there's a full refund policy in place if withdrawal becomes a necessity, then it's all fine. Comparing to other tournaments at least in Toronto, $175 is really not so bad. Some 6 round tournaments are pretty close to $100. PwC was $90, 5 rounds. The Canadian Open will have all the pomp and much more of these previous events. Taking into account all the side events that players can attend at most Canadian Opens, $175 is comparably fair with other (at least local) tournaments. I can't remember what I paid for Edmonton Canadian Open but that sounds right, about $100. A bargain! The Canadian Open is a huge commitment and the highest class type event. Maybe we've been spoiled in the past :-)
1. As a portion of the TCP (total cost of playing), an entry fee of $175 does not strike me as excessive. For Torontonians, of course having a major event at home is sick. And I mean that in the good way. The 2010 CO doesn't have a $50K prize fund; it is a based-on prize fund, according to the PDF.
2. OCA clocks? Aren't there about 100, all Saitek digitals? OT, but where did the money come to pay for them?
3. I recommend G/90 + 60-second increment from move 1, both as a player and as an official. But they're going with something more traditional. The PDF does not show an alternative non-incremental time control. So if a non-digital clock were used, it would have to be with some special dispensation from the TDs.
4. I'm glad that there's no hype about norms, which would be next to impossible in a tournament of this type (9 rds, one single section). However, it would be nice to have a tournament (outside of Quebec and Alberta) in Canada with norms and, of course, foreign GMs.
In case the organizers do get the GM numbers fever, and do end up with a lot of GMs, I'd like to share an idea which I formulated as a response to a suggestion from Les Bunning. The deal would have to be stated in the tournament announcement and in the GM player contracts! Each GM gets a 1-point bye in round 1. Instead of playing a game, they give a clock simul. The opponents are the players who apply to be in the simul, distributed among the participating GMs. The score of each player is his score in the simul game. I suppose there would need to be some incentive (maybe $) to the GM to play for the best score. For example, 20 GMs, 360 total players of whom 120 sign up for the first-round simul. So each GM gives a 6-board clock simul in round 1.
In the event that you had a norm-suitable event, the above idea could even help facilitate norms. First off, the GMs will score 80%+ in the simuls, thus wiping a lot of FIDE-unrated and low-rated players out of the 100% score group. Norm hopefuls, of course, would not be among the simul players, they would want a FIDE-ratable game instead. Norm hopefuls might even play each other (instead of FIDE-unrated opponents) in the first round.
This is not at all similar to Les Bunning's idea, but I wouldn't have thought of it without the stimulus.
How is the parking? Mainly, is it very far for someone who has problems walking.
If price is no object - since the tournament is in a hotel, generally there would/should be parking in the hotel garage, and then access by elevator to the tournament hall.
(and doesn't the Spadina streetcar go right past the hotel?)
If price is no object - since the tournament is in a hotel, generally there would/should be parking in the hotel garage, and then access by elevator to the tournament hall.
(and doesn't the Spadina streetcar go right past the hotel?)
I guess parking in the garage would be OK. I'll have to drive by and have a look.
Brian Fiedler hit it right at the PwC Toronto Open 2009, it was clear.
Alex Ferreira
Remember too that Brian set a really good time control. The one promised for the open falls possibly little short imo. More importantly, Brian organized play in sections. The one time I played in a one-section CO, it wasn't until round eight that I played someone within +/- 200 points of my own rating. Checking the table after that event, I found this not an isolated instance. I found playing lots of lopsided games not to my taste, but I do accept that plenty of people do prefer this consequence of a one-section event.
The answer to running a one section large event such as this promises to be is ACCELERATED PAIRINGS! This would reduce the number of mismatches and improve norm possibilities. Accelerated pairings unfortunately have fallen into disfavour with some people on account of being mishandled
by some directors that don't know how to apply them. With 350 entries you could effectively even apply 1/8 pairings and get many high quality games as well as many closely paired games in the lower levels. :)
At the one-section Canadian Open in Ottawa in 2007, Jonathan Berry used an accelerated pairings variant of the one used at France's large Cappelle La Grande Swiss. I liked the pairings I got out of that system. Though not a T.D., I have always thought accelerated pairings for large one-section swisses made sense ( I believe Phil Haley was an early proponent of them ). I have yet to see a decent rebuttal of their usefulness, though as Vlad says, they seem to have fallen from favour of late.
Whom will a foreign GM or IM contact (e-mail address if any) in order to get an invitation letter to play at the Canadian Open Chess Championship 2010 for them to apply and acquire a Canadian Visa from the Canadian Embassy from the country of origin?
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