GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

[Bob Armstrong]

LISTING OF REGISTRANTS as of May 20, 2010

Title First Name Surname Rating Province Category

1 GM Pentala Harikrishna 2678 IND
2 GM Evgeny Bareev 2664 RUS
3 GM Luke McShane 2623 ENG
4 GM Joshua Friedel 2622 USA
5 GM Alexander Shabalov 2618 USA
6 GM Eduardas Rozentalis 2607 LTU
7 GM Merab Gagunashvili 2592 GEO
8 IM Nikolay Noritsyn 2559 ON
9 GM Walter Arencibia 2537 CUB
10 IM Tomas Krnan 2484 ON
11 IM David Cummings 2462 ON
12 Roman Sapozhnikov 2436 ON j
13 IM Luis Lazaro Aguero Jimenez 2398 CUB
14 FM Michael Barron 2375 ON
15 Arthur Calugar 2358 ON j
16 Alexander Martchenko 2354 ON j
17 IM Lawrence Day 2326 ON s
18 FM Michael Dougherty 2322 ON
19 FM Adam Ashton 2316 ENG
20 Keith MacKinnon 2300 SK j
21 Liam Henry 2295 ON
22 Nikita Gusev 2274 ON j
23 FM Brett Campbell 2270 ON
24 Yuri Aronov 2266 ON
25 FM Hans Jung 2264 ON
26 Bernd Wagner 2253 GER
27 Mariano A. Acosta 2253 USA s
28 Michael Kleinman 2232 ON j
29 David Filipovich 2226 ON
30 Lorne Yee 2222 ON s
31 Ilia Bluvshtein 2216 ON s
32 Ian Loadman 2202 ON s
33 Erwin Casareno 2177 ON
34 Ruperto Frilles 2168 ON s
35 Bob Holliman 2165 USA
36 Vladimir Drkulec 2157 ON s
37 Alan J. Walton 2152 ENG
38 David Southam 2119 ON
39 Alex T. Ferreira 2116 ON
40 Andrew Picana 2114 ON s
41 Maxim Dudkin 2108 RUS
42 Ralf Ostermeier 2102 GER
43 Jamin Gluckie 2096 AB
44 Daniel Van Heirzeele 2091 BEL
45 Ismail Ibrahim 2062 ON
46 Daniel Abrahams 2060 ON
47 Jesse B Wang 2052 ON j
48 Helmut Fritzsche 2051 ON
49 Alexandru Florea 2050 ON
50 Ralph Gregorz 2048 ON
51 Lawrence Cohen 2031 USA
52 Vladimir Semyonov 2030 ON
53 Dezheng Kong 2014 BC b
54 Dalia Kagramanov 2012 ON fj
55 Nick Karlow 2012 USA
56 Stephan Tonakanian 2008 ON
57 Agastya Kalra 1988 ON b
58 Rod Hill 1982 NB s
59 James Fu 1978 ON b
60 Stephen Fairbairn 1973 ON
61 Daniel Wiebe 1973 ON
62 David Itkin 1965 ON b
63 Kevin Mo 1964 USA
64 WCM Alexandra Botez 1963 BC fj
65 Sam Haziprodromu 1950 ON s
66 Simon Gladstone 1946 ON
67 Robert Bzikot 1942 ON
68 Laurent Allard 1934 QC
69 Ian Finlay 1931 ON s
70 John Doknjas 1917 BC b
71 Yves Ber 1914 QC s
72 Rene Preotu 1907 ON
73 Paul Leblanc 1883 BC
74 Ralph Deline 1882 ON
75 Pepin Manalo 1879 ON s
76 Kevin Zhou 1878 ON j
77 Alan Gregg 1876 USA s
78 Michael Song 1874 ON
79 Oleg Tseluiko 1874 ON s
80 David Poirier 1855 NS
81 Jim Paterson 1852 ON s
82 Arjun Bharat 1841 IND b
83 Ferdinand Supsup 1834 ON
84 David Bowers 1813 ON
85 Eric Van Dusen 1802 ON
86 Bruce Dowling 1796 ON s
87 Jack Triefeldt 1791 ON s
88 Jackie Peng 1779 ON fb
89 Robert J. Armstrong 1764 ON s
90 Steven Faust 1758 AB
91 Joe Bellomo 1742 ON s
92 Jose Cabioc 1738 ON s
93 Bryan Morgan 1728 ON
94 Mario Moran-Venegas 1722 ON s
95 Caesar Posylek 1708 ON
96 John R. Brown 1696 ON s
97 Joseph Sy 1694 ON
98 Richard Keep 1690 QC
99 Joe Yalkezian 1688 ON s
100 William George 1688 ON
101 Ian Mahoney 1678 ON j
102 Jack Mo 1662 USA
103 Shafkat Ali 1659 ON
104 Doug Gillis 1633 ON s
105 Ken Kurkowski 1630 ON s
106 Zehn Nasir 1630 ON b
107 Doug Sly 1628 BC s
108 Lali Agbabishvili 1627 ON f
109 Genadi Medvedev 1619 ON s
110 Razvan Preotu 1606 ON
111 Reuben McCleary 1602 ON
112 Peter Xie 1600 ON
113 Henry Grayson 1580 ON s
114 Jatinder Dhaliwal 1577 ON
115 Bruce W. Thomson 1566 ON
116 Peter Hazen 1565 ON
117 Samir El-Gohary 1552 NL
118 Michael Rogers 1536 ON s
119 Alex De Cal 1532 ON
120 Ted Termeer 1530 ON s
121 Jack Maguire 1518 ON s
122 Hugo Ortiz 1516 ON
123 Bryant Yang 1476 ON b
124 Andre Siegel 1471 ON
125 James Mourgelas 1466 ON
126 Wayne Siu 1449 ON
127 Jiaxin Liu 1440 ON fb
128 Dinesh Dattani 1414 ON s
129 James Law 1396 ON j
130 Jesus Vera 1380 ON s
131 Eric Song 1328 ON b
132 Paul Radelicki 1317 ON j
133 Daniel Sirkovich 1227 ON b
134 Rick McCleary 1158 ON
135 Michael Gomes 964 ON b
136 Kevin (Jieyi) Wang 802 ON j
137 "Victor
" Okon 0 ON
138 Eyinsan Agbeyegbe 0 ON

2010 CANADIAN OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

JULY 10TH to JULY 18TH
LOCATION: Westin Harbour Castle
Downtown Toronto. See following page for map ( website given at end ).
STYLE: 9 Round Swiss System, Single Section, CFC and FIDE rated.
Accelerated pairings will be used in early rounds.
TIME CONTROL: 40 moves in 90 minutes, 30 minutes for remainder (with 30 second increments from move 1).
SCHEDULE: Saturday July 10th Opening Ceremony & Round 1 6:00pm Sharp
July 11th- July 16th Rounds 2-7 6:00pm Daily
Saturday July 17th Round 8 2:00pm
Sunday July 18th Round 9 10:00am
Sunday July 18th Awards Banquet / Presentation 6:00pm
For other side events, including Canadian Speed Chess Championship, GM simuls and lectures, see website
PRIZE FUND: $ 30,000+ Guaranteed! (see following page for details).
ENTRY FEE: $175 per person (Early bird Special to April 30), thereafter $195. Deadline July 6th. To enter see details / entry form on following page.
ACCOMMODATION: Special Chess Rate of only $99.00 is being offered by the luxurious Westin Harbour Castle. Book early; a limited number of rooms are available at this rate.
BYES: Maximum of 3 ½-point byes available in rounds 1-8
EQUIPMENT: Please bring chess sets and digital clocks, if you have them.
CHIEF ARBITER: Hal Bond, I.A. halbond@sympatico.ca
ORGANIZERS: Greater Toronto Chess League
Michael Barron 416 739-6257 barron045@yahoo.com
Brian Fiedler 416 733-3199 fiedlerbrian@yahoo.com.au
WEBSITES: www.chess.ca www.monroi.com
PRIZE FUND DETAILS: Tournament Placement Prizes Overall
1st $ 6,500
2nd $ 3,500
3rd $ 2,500
4th $ 1,500
5th $ 1,500
6th $ 500
7th $ 500
8th $ 500
9th $ 500
10th $ 500

go to http://www.chess.ca/misc2009/2010CANOP.pdf

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

138 entries.
12 Canadians from outside Ontario.

:o

[Erik Malmsten]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

138 entries.
12 Canadians from outside Ontario.

:o

And what can be done to get some of the great chess enthusiasts from Quebec and out west?

[Kerry Liles]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

138 entries.
12 Canadians from outside Ontario.

:o

Not to mention that only 2 of the top 10 (so far) are from Canada (#8 and #10).

[Rob Love]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

And what can be done to get some of the great chess enthusiasts from Quebec and out west?

Erik,

Do you understand what I was upset about??? People volunteered their time to raise money and support to the Chess Olympiad Team but look!!! You don't even see their names first on the list when this is a NATIONAL CHESS EVENT!!!
Except IM Noritsyn! What type of national representatives we are chess enthusiasts supporting here?! Believe me or NOT, they will register close to end of the registration date. Or perhaps, they are still looking for sponsorship? The funny thing about finding sponsorship is what you have to offer in return to the sponsor's money. Is it worth the price to sponsor one is what i WOULD THINK IF I AM AN SPONSOR!?

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

Erik wrote:

And what can be done to get some of the great chess enthusiasts from Quebec and out west?

The "class" (i.e. U2000) players from Quebec will tend to play in the Quebec Open if given a choice because:

1) The entry fees are less than half those at the Canadian Open.
2) Better chance of winning a class prize at the Quebec Open (especially for those in the 1800-2000 range - usually the largest group of players).

(lesser factors could be (a) not being compelled to bring your own equipment. (b) no CFC membership expense).

[Mark Bluvshtein]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

Rob,

You speak about the Olympic team as if you know us all personally.

The Canadian Open organizers pursued me to play in the event.
It is very unfortunate that I will not be able to play.
I have played in every Canadian Open since 2004, the year in which I became a Grandmaster. This summer however, I will be focusing on my studies as I will be finishing my university degree. There is no other reason for me not playing.

I fully support the Canadian Open. It will be a well organized event. The Toronto Open organized by Brian Fiedler last year was a great event. Just ask Friedel and Shabalov who are coming back for seconds.
The organizing team seems to have gotten larger and better.
I myself, plan to volunteer and give a lecture or a simul as a side event in support of the main event.

I hope that everybody who can will play in the Canadian Open.
The organizers are working hard to make this a great event.

I read parts of a thread criticizing organizers. As an elite player in Canada, I know the importance of organizers. It is about cooperation between the two sides. We need each other. Bashing organizers saying they need to do this and that is simply inappropriate. If people think its so easy, please do it yourself and find out its not.

We have some great organizers in Canada. I have yet to meet an organizer who is not willing to accept constructive criticism. Organizers want to know as to how they can improve their events. However, this sometimes resorts to pure ungrateful criticism. Who would want to sponsor anything criticized so heavily? Why would any organizer want to organize an event when people are so ungrateful?
We, as the chess community, come off as a bunch of pricks.

Thank you to all chess organizers in Canada.
Most people really appreciate what you are doing.
Without you, there would be no Canadian chess.

Mark.

[Marc Poulin]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

Another non negligeable factor, is that since the Quebec Open is held in Montreal, most Quebec players don't have to take a week vacation to play, plus the cost of a hotel room and other expenses....

[Duncan Smith]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

Having dropped off the scene I believe I have a fresher perspective on things these days. Concerning the time period 1999-2008, Canada actually has had many good organizers and many good players. The criticism you are objecting too does seem misplaced to me. I would say the CFC itself has been the source of a lot of acrimony and unnecessary pain. The umbrella federation that has its hands seemingly on everything but achieved minimal value added to the stronger organizers or players trying to do something wonderful for chess.

I know all too well how negativity can creep in when you are dealing with a mediocre organization, especially one holding a monopoly on a service you require.

You are correct; without the organizers there is no chess. Without the CFC in that time period I would suggest not only would there have been chess but it might have been better by now in Canada with less acrimony. New groups and organizations would have filled the void. This is not to say there was not some good players and good organizers involved with the CFC, but the net result was not good for whatever reason.

[Vlad Rekhson]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

138 entries.
12 Canadians from outside Ontario.
:o

Wow, that seems to be really low. I only see one entry from AB, which is something that we will need to work on. I personally, really wanted to attend the event this year as it looks like it would be a great tournament and I have never actually played in the Canadian Open, despite directing two! But it looks like it won't be happening this year, unfortunately.

In Edmonton, we will be sending the Edmonton champion; FM Vladimir Pechenkin with full expenses paid and we will try to do some advertising of the event.

Vlad

[Duncan Smith]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

My guess would be that the organizers and facilities are excellent. They are working against the trend that CFC style chess events are simply less popular at the moment. The potential player pool is smaller.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

In Edmonton, we will be sending the Edmonton champion; FM Vladimir Pechenkin with full expenses paid and we will try to do some advertising of the event.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

They are working against the trend that CFC style chess events are simply less popular at the moment.

Would you mind telling me what you mean by "CFC style chess events" so I can see why they are less popular? I have my own ideas why the paid entry is low but have a feeling it's quite different than yours.

[Jean Hébert]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

I read parts of a thread criticizing organizers. As an elite player in Canada, I know the importance of organizers. It is about cooperation between the two sides. We need each other. Bashing organizers saying they need to do this and that is simply inappropriate.

All chess players, not just the elite, have to understand the importance of our organizers and most do. That is precisely the reason why we should pay attention and praise when they do well and pay attention and suggest improvements when they don't do so well. Otherwise if nobody never say or do anything but praise, canadian chess is very likely to remain in the underdeveloped state that it is in now.

If people think its so easy, please do it yourself and find out its not.

Well Mark, I suppose that you will never criticize any politician, because you are no politician and will not ever be interested to do their jobs, you will never sue your surgeon or dentist for malpractice, never criticize your contractor for having made a major mistake building your house, because let's face it, these are tough jobs that you cannot do yourself. Right ?

Thank you to all chess organizers in Canada. Without you there would be no Canadian chess.

Chess organizers are not an endangered specie. There are way more of them now than when I started in the late 60'. It will survive as long as there are people playing this game, because chess organizers come from chess, and not the other way around. Chess has existed well before it became "organized", and it is not about to disappear any time soon through lack of interest.
By indiscriminately thanking the good, the bad and the ugly, you simply relinquish your capacity to exercise your judgment and promote the worst of them by unfairly putting everyone in the same basket. In a chess game moves are unequal in value, the good and average moves are acceptable but the bad ones must be eliminated.

[Jean Sasseville]

Re: GM's Harikrishna and Luke McShane join the Canadian Open race!

I read parts of a thread criticizing organizers. As an elite player in Canada, I know the importance of organizers. It is about cooperation between the two sides. We need each other. Bashing organizers saying they need to do this and that is simply inappropriate. If people think its so easy, please do it yourself and find out its not.

We have some great organizers in Canada. I have yet to meet an organizer who is not willing to accept constructive criticism. Organizers want to know as to how they can improve their events. However, this sometimes resorts to pure ungrateful criticism. Who would want to sponsor anything criticized so heavily? Why would any organizer want to organize an event when people are so ungrateful?
We, as the chess community, come off as a bunch of pricks.

Thank you to all chess organizers in Canada.
Most people really appreciate what you are doing.
Without you, there would be no Canadian chess.

Mark.

Great post. I am convinced that your message is sincere and represents the view of the majority of elite players. Thank you for doing that. The situation of chess of Canada is not perfect but it is unproductive to unduly criticize the ones that making it work. The silent majority have great respects for organizers.