RA Winter Open: the event report

[Aris Marghetis]

The Grand Prix series of the EOCA (Eastern Ontario Chess Association) includes 5 regular stops in Ottawa each chess season. Now, of those 5 weekend tournaments, as Organizer/TD for most of them over the last couple of years, the RA Winter Open has tended to have slightly lower attendance and prize funding than any counterpart events at the RA Centre. I had suspected that this was mostly due to concerns about the weather while travelling, and/or perhaps a bit of a letdown after the big holidays? Therefore, we felt we had little to lose by being more aggressive with new registration ideas. We really tried to present options that were simpler and more straightforward, and especially pushed an early registration discount, in the hope that higher early registrations would encourage higher later registrations. We also continued 3-figure class prizes for every 200 rating points between U2400 and U1600.

I am now pleased to report that we just had one of our higher attendance results in recent years, 64 players (easy in Toronto, but great for Ottawa, LOL), and our total prize fund jumped up a whopping 33% from just a couple of months ago (2009 National Capital Open), to reach $2800 for this weekend! :)

The playing area was also different than usual, in that we secured a wonderful high-ceiling room, which had been painted more vibrant than our regular room, and included nice decorative additions, like inset glass wall units with small art and china on display, and book shelves displaying classic books. Even though this room might actually have less square footage than our regular room, it provided a much more flexible layout, which made it easy for us between rounds, to slightly re-arrange table placement and board order, to take as much advantage as feasible for the number of players for that round.

There were 3 predefined sections: Top, U2000, U1600. The Top Section, which was also rated FIDE, was headed by GM Bator Sambuev, and popular IMs Brian Hartman and Tom O'Donnell. Writing such event reports over the last few years, I have often marveled at how much better Bator had done than all of the other players, but this weekend was absolutely incredible! I cannot remember ever having known of a 5-round Swiss ending with the winner scoring 2 points more than anyone else! That's right, Bator ran the table for the untouchable perfect score of 5-0, good for $600, and no one else even broke 3-2!

After Bator, it was an extremely closely matched section, to the point that 8 players (fully half the section) scored 3-2. This was rewarded by combining the prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, with the U2400 and U2200 class prizes, and then splitting the resulting pot 8 ways. Congratulations to the following battling players for winning $125 each: IM Brian, IM Tom, Mihnea Voloaca, Hugues Masse, Dave Gordon, Nikita Kraiouchkine, Alain Regnier, and Michel Desjardins.

After the Top Section was the U2000 section, whose registration numbers were so relatively high, that they were almost half of the whole tournament. So, we are considering splitting U2000 in the future, into separate U2000 and U1800 sections. Back to this event, there were several players heading into the last round who had a chance to win some good money, but Serge Gagnon blasted to the best score alone, 4.5-0.5, which was good for $400. Christopher Spice and Jason Riordon were then close behind with scores of 4-1, and so shared the U2000 Section 2nd and 3rd place prizes, for a total of $150 each.

The U2000 Section then included a $200 U1800 class prize, and this race also finished in a tie, being shared by Alan Tomalty and Gerhard Roth, both scoring 50%. By the way, Joe Burton had also scored the same 2.5-2.5, but was playing as an Amateur, which means not being eligible for cash prizes.

The U1600 Section was also bigger than usual, which led us to providing both 1st and 2nd place prizes. Youngster Jayson Huang scored an impressive 4.5-0.5 to win the first $200, and then Liiban Farah and Dave MacNevin were just behind at 4-1, and are sharing the U1600 Section $100 2nd-place prize.

As usual, I would like to conclude this event report by thanking everyone who helped us all weekend. There are many people who I am missing from the following list, but I really appreciate all of the nice little things that many people did, which made the weekend more enjoyable for all of us. Assistant TD Dave Gordon, in addition to doing a slew of things while I was busy, saved me literally hours by completely owning the skittles room setup, maintenance, and takedown. After the tournament, Dave is also the man who is ensuring that all of our CFC and FIDE ratings are done most effectively. During the tournament, I found myself repeatedly thanking Norman Devine, who despite not having a car, demonstrated extraordinary flexibility acting as our event floater, doing everything he could to help me ensure that no one ever got hit with a forced bye. Finally, thanks to Billy Carroll for the Timmies gift card! :)

Please visit the weblink below for a PDF of the wall chart. It should be up a day or so after the event, and will eventually also link to the CFC crosstables.

P.S. John Upper was collecting scoresheets that were left at the front, and might write a game analysis article for the CFC email newsletter. Please feel free to let me know if you have another game that you would like John to consider for inclusion in his next article. But, is it as good as a Bator game?! ;)

Yours in chess,

FIDE Arbiter Aris Marghetis
Organizer/TD, EOCA President
http://www.eoca.org/htm/tournaments_2009-2010.html

My next event is the RA Spring Open, scheduled for March 5th-7th. Stay tuned for event details, which include multiple early registration discounts!

If you would like to receive details on this event directly via email, please email arismarghetis@rogers.com to be added to my private email list.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: RA Winter Open: the event report

# CFC# rating name: title last, first per round: result# colour total

Top Section
1 146462 2608 GM Sambuev, Bator +8 B 1.0 +4 W 2.0 +3 B 3.0 +7 W 4.0 +5 W 5.0
2 102700 2428 IM Hartman, Brian -9 W 0.0 +16 B 1.0 =10 W 1.5 +8 B 2.5 =6 W 3.0
3 106245 2426 IM O'Donnell, Tom +10 B 1.0 +5 W 2.0 -1 W 2.0 =6 B 2.5 =7 B 3.0
U2400 Class
4 103715 2360 Pacey, Kevin +11 W 1.0 -1 B 1.0 +13 W 2.0 -5 B 2.0 =10 W 2.5
5 120516 2284 Voloaca, Mihnea +12 B 1.0 -3 B 1.0 +14 W 2.0 +4 W 3.0 -1 B 3.0
6 125461 2274 Masse, Hugues =13 W 0.5 =9 B 1.0 +15 W 2.0 =3 W 2.5 =2 B 3.0
7 106629 2254 Gordon, David +15 B 1.0 =0 bye 1.5 +9 W 2.5 -1 B 2.5 =3 W 3.0
8 134989 2240 Qin, Joey -1 W 0.0 =11 B 0.5 +16 W 1.5 -2 W 1.5 +12 B 2.5
9 107850 2210 Kirby, Patrick +2 B 1.0 =6 W 1.5 -7 B 1.5 -10 B 1.5 -13 W 1.5
10 135223 2202 Kraiouchkine, Nikita -3 W 0.0 +12 B 1.0 =2 B 1.5 +9 W 2.5 =4 B 3.0
U2200 Class
11 101925 2194 Upper, John -4 B 0.0 =8 W 0.5 +12 W 1.5 -13 B 1.5 +16 B 2.5
12 106856 2175 Palsson, Halldor -5 W 0.0 -10 W 0.0 -11 B 0.0 -15 B 0.0 -8 W 0.0
13 110815 2162 Regnier, Alain =6 B 0.5 =14 W 1.0 -4 B 1.0 +11 W 2.0 +9 B 3.0
14 131936 2059 Desjardins, Michel =0 bye 0.5 =13 B 1.0 -5 B 1.0 +16 W 2.0 +15 W 3.0
15 139655 2037 Sadeghi, Saeid -7 W 0.0 +44 B 1.0 -6 B 1.0 +12 W 2.0 -14 B 2.0
16 112792 2011 Dydak, Mateusz =36 B 0.5 -2 W 0.5 -8 B 0.5 -14 B 0.5 -11 W 0.5

U2000 Section
17 101380 1974 Carrier, Claude -29 B 0.0 +43 W 1.0 +33 B 2.0 +23 W 3.0 -24 W 3.0
18 101017 1966 Lebrun, Roger +31 W 1.0 -27 B 1.0 -29 W 1.0 -0 bye 1.0 -0 bye 1.0
19 112806 1964 Van Dusen, Eric -32 B 0.0 =0 bye 0.5 =0 bye 1.0 -0 bye 1.0 -0 bye 1.0
20 111290 1963 Smilovici, Emil +33 W 1.0 +29 B 2.0 -24 W 2.0 =28 B 2.5 -21 W 2.5
21 106383 1962 Spicer, Christopher +34 B 1.0 +32 W 2.0 -25 B 2.0 +29 W 3.0 +20 B 4.0
22 101895 1959 Danilov, Alex -37 W 0.0 -39 B 0.0 -38 W 0.0 +41 B 1.0 +43 B 2.0
23 103276 1959 Martin, Spencer =0 bye 0.5 +35 W 1.5 +27 W 2.5 -17 B 2.5 =28 B 3.0
24 105070 1957 Gagnon, Serge +38 B 1.0 +42 W 2.0 +20 B 3.0 =25 W 3.5 +17 B 4.5
25 104837 1947 Riordon, Jason +39 W 1.0 +37 B 2.0 +21 W 3.0 =24 B 3.5 =26 W 4.0
26 142032 1941 Forget, David -40 B 0.0 +34 W 1.0 +37 B 2.0 +30 W 3.0 =25 B 3.5
27 102539 1933 Groleau, Gilles +41 W 1.0 +18 W 2.0 -23 B 2.0 =40 W 2.5 +36 B 3.5
28 137927 1917 Kalra, Agastya -42 B 0.0 +38 W 1.0 +39 B 2.0 =20 W 2.5 =23 W 3.0
29 134894 1904 Murray, Adam +17 W 1.0 -20 W 1.0 +18 B 2.0 -21 B 2.0 +40 W 3.0
30 134845 1891 Renaud, Joshua =0 bye 0.5 +36 W 1.5 =40 B 2.0 -26 B 2.0 +32 W 3.0
31 110972 1872 Ritchie, Gordon -18 B 0.0 +41 W 1.0 =0 bye 1.5 -36 B 1.5 -38 W 1.5
32 104270 1841 Laszlo, Robert +19 W 1.0 -21 B 1.0 =0 bye 1.5 =35 W 2.0 -30 B 2.0
33 102205 1834 Thibault, Mario -20 B 0.0 +45 W 1.0 -17 W 1.0 =38 B 1.5 +42 W 2.5
34 147276 1820 Zhang, Kevin -21 W 0.0 -26 B 0.0 +41 B 1.0 +39 W 2.0 =35 B 2.5
35 100337 1814 Laurin, Marcel =0 bye 0.5 -23 B 0.5 +42 W 1.5 =32 B 2.0 =34 W 2.5
36 103877 1809 Serdula, Jay =16 W 0.5 -30 B 0.5 +43 B 1.5 +31 W 2.5 -27 W 2.5
U1800 Class
37 112353 1780 Tomalty, Alan +22 B 1.0 -25 W 1.0 -26 W 1.0 =42 B 1.5 +45 W 2.5
38 110166 1762 Roth, Gerhard -24 W 0.0 -28 B 0.0 +22 B 1.0 =33 W 1.5 +31 B 2.5
39 107582 1758 Perkins, Simon -25 B 0.0 +22 W 1.0 -28 W 1.0 -34 B 1.0 -41 W 1.0
40 142031 1688 Burton, Joe +26 W 1.0 =0 bye 1.5 =30 W 2.0 =27 B 2.5 -29 B 2.5
41 148745 1670 Meyer, Ralf -27 B 0.0 -31 B 0.0 -34 W 0.0 -22 W 0.0 +39 B 1.0
42 105262 1668 Lidstone, Phil +28 W 1.0 -24 B 1.0 -35 B 1.0 =37 W 1.5 -33 B 1.5
43 135113 1644 Eyre, Keven =0 bye 0.5 -17 B 0.5 -36 W 0.5 =45 B 1.0 -22 W 1.0
44 127526 1624 Devine, Norman +45 W 1.0 -15 W 1.0 =0 bye 1.5 -0 bye 1.5 -0 bye 1.5
45 148449 1618 Zhang, Yuanchen -44 B 0.0 -33 B 0.0 +46 W 1.0 =43 W 1.5 -37 B 1.5

U1600 Section
46 104858 1596 Hunt, Murray =52 B 0.5 +55 W 1.5 -45 B 1.5 -54 B 1.5 +60 W 2.5
47 120087 1590 Van Leeuwen, John +57 B 1.0 +53 W 2.0 -49 B 2.0 +56 W 3.0 -51 W 3.0
48 147460 1584 Wan, Kevin =58 W 0.5 -56 B 0.5 +62 W 1.5 +57 B 2.5 -49 B 2.5
49 148746 1583 Farah, Liiban +59 B 1.0 +54 W 2.0 +47 W 3.0 -51 B 3.0 +48 W 4.0
50 146414 1563 Lalonde, Drake -60 W 0.0 +64 W 1.0 -56 B 1.0 -61 B 1.0 +59 W 2.0
51 140794 1512 Huang, Jayson +61 B 1.0 +60 W 2.0 =52 B 2.5 +49 W 3.5 +47 B 4.5
52 144311 1506 Sharma, Pranav =46 W 0.5 +58 B 1.5 =51 W 2.0 -0 bye 2.0 -56 B 2.0
53 136766 1506 Balanaser, Morgan +62 B 1.0 -47 B 1.0 =57 W 1.5 -55 W 1.5 -0 bye 1.5
54 129952 1504 MacNevin, Dave +63 W 1.0 -49 B 1.0 +60 B 2.0 +46 W 3.0 +55 B 4.0
55 147280 1464 Martin, James =0 bye 0.5 -46 B 0.5 +63 W 1.5 +53 B 2.5 -54 W 2.5
56 148220 1450 Sachs, Daniel =64 B 0.5 +48 W 1.5 +50 W 2.5 -47 B 2.5 +52 W 3.5
57 146597 1435 Luo, Fangyi -47 W 0.0 +61 B 1.0 =53 B 1.5 -48 W 1.5 +62 B 2.5
58 146765 1399 Lukezich, John =48 B 0.5 -52 W 0.5 -64 B 0.5 +62 W 1.5 +61 W 2.5
59 147277 1396 Zhang, David -49 W 0.0 -62 B 0.0 -61 W 0.0 +63 B 1.0 -50 B 1.0
60 150262 1371 Muhammad, Hanif +50 B 1.0 -51 B 1.0 -54 W 1.0 +64 W 2.0 -46 B 2.0
61 126475 1344 Woolner, Nicholas -51 W 0.0 -57 W 0.0 +59 B 1.0 +50 W 2.0 -58 B 2.0
62 146598 1222 Luo, Tony -53 W 0.0 +59 W 1.0 -48 B 1.0 -58 B 1.0 -57 W 1.0
63 148924 1172 Zhang, Jeff -54 B 0.0 =0 bye 0.5 -55 B 0.5 -59 W 0.5 +64 W 1.5
64 150390 1139 Carroll, Billy =56 W 0.5 -50 B 0.5 +58 W 1.5 -60 B 1.5 -63 B 1.5

[Patrick Kirby]

Re: RA Winter Open: the event report

Thanks for the tournament Aris.

I have posted my game against Brian Hartman on chess5. Some good fireworks including a potential Queen sacrifice in one of the side lines.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: RA Winter Open: the event report

Thanks Patrick, you are always a very classy participant!

[John Upper]

Re: RA Winter Open: the event report

Was this the complete game? On Chess5 it seems to end immediately after ...Qg4; but, if I remember right, the game went on for a lot more moves.

jku