The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

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  • Matthew Scott
    replied
    Re: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

    Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post
    Hi Matthew:

    I could only get a draw against Reuben - does that help?

    Bob
    Better than a loss, I suppose; but I blundered out of a winning position with a 2120...

    Have to beat an 1860 today for a chance to stay in the top 3 in my category, though I can't catch the guy in first - he might move up and claim the U1800 prize.

    Leave a comment:


  • David Cohen
    replied
    Re: Day 8 - Saturday, July 17: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. I

    Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post
    ... when promoting it on such international websites as ChessBase, and the Susan Polgar Blog.
    Bob,

    It's not an accident that we're on those web sites - Zeljka from MonRoi is doing an outstanding job handling all of the media work, including PGNs, photos and press releases!

    David

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  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: Foreign GM Conditions

    Originally posted by Michael Yip View Post
    Hi Bob

    Can you tell me the general procedure for asking and organizing conditions for participation in the Canadian open and other Canadian tournaments.

    Once in a while a Hungarian GM will ask me

    1.If conditions are available
    2.What to do or how to go about getting conditions

    I can only come up with something lame like 'email the organiser'. If there is some general procedure to follow please can you let me know and/or have it put in an easy to find place on the CFC website.

    Michael Yip
    Budapest
    Hi Michael:

    I have to plead ignorance on your question.

    I was not on the organizing committee for the Can. Open, and it seems the committee keeps the issue of " conditions " for GM's pretty close to their vest - the reason may be that they do not want to set precedents for conditions for future Canadian events. And Organizers of different tournaments, depending on the availability of sponsorships, may have different abilities to offer conditions.

    But I have forwarded your e-mail to the organizer responsible for sponsorships for the Open, Brian Fiedler, and asked that he e-mail you with whatever info is publicly available. Please post here your e-mail address, and I will then send it on to him as well.

    Bob

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  • Michael Yip
    replied
    Re: Foreign GM Conditions

    Hi Bob

    Can you tell me the general procedure for asking and organizing conditions for participation in the Canadian open and other Canadian tournaments.

    Once in a while a Hungarian GM will ask me

    1.If conditions are available
    2.What to do or how to go about getting conditions

    I can only come up with something lame like 'email the organiser'. If there is some general procedure to follow please can you let me know and/or have it put in an easy to find place on the CFC website.

    Michael Yip
    Budapest

    Leave a comment:


  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

    Hi Matthew:

    I could only get a draw against Reuben - does that help?

    Bob

    Leave a comment:


  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: Day 8 - Saturday, July 17: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. II

    The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog - Pt. II

    Day8/Rd.8– Saturday, July 17

    Round 9 ( Final Round ) – Sunday, July 18

    So who are our new top 7 U 2000 players playing tonight? Here are the pairings and they face some stiff opposition to hold onto their positions, and win prize money ( 1st - $ 1,000; 2nd - $ 500; 3rd - $ 250 ).

    17 FM Adam Ashton (2316 : w : 5.5) David Itkin (1966 : B : 5.5)
    19 Arjun Bharat (1841 : w : 5.5) Keith MacKinnon (2280 : b : 5.5)
    31 Alan J. Walton (2152 : WW : 5.0) Dalia Kagramanov (1998 : w : 5.0)
    32 Gordon Olheiser (2142 : w : 5.0) Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : b : 5.0)
    33 Jingle A. Kho (2120 : WW : 5.0) Stephan Tonakanian (1990 : w : 5.0)
    34 Mavros Whissell (2120 : w : 5.0) Ruokai [David] Li (1932 : b : 5.0)
    35 FM Michael Barron (2375 : b : 4.5) Alex Rapoport (1838 : B : 5.0)


    As a result of my Rd. 8 draw, I got paired down again for Rd. 9, having 3.5 pts. ( I’ve been paired down in Rds.1, 3, 7 & 8 previously ). It is interesting that the swiss pairing system has come through in my case – in 8 rounds, 4 playing up, and 4 playing down. So I only have a chance now to reach 50% ( my goal had been to exceed it ). Here is my pairing:

    82 Robert J. Armstrong (1800 : w : 3.5) Richard Marks (1632 : b : 3.5)

    Invitation

    Finally, I'd like again to invite everyone to join into the discussion - any comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms of the blog are welcome - and of anything to do with the Can. Open. I will try to respond if that seems appropriate.

    Bob

    Leave a comment:


  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Day 8 - Saturday, July 17: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. I

    The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog - Pt. I

    Day8/Rd.8– Saturday, July 17

    Starting the Day Off Right

    Friday night after the Rd. 7, I went out to dinner with a friend from my Scarborough Chess Club in Toronto, Dave Southam, and then we headed home on pubic transit. I got in just before midnight, and then started finishing the analysis of my Rd. 4 game, so I could post it on the chess website, Chess5, and mention it in Friday’s blog. The pairings came up on MonRoi shortly after 1:00 AM, and so I was then able to finish my Day 7 Blog, and post it. I wasn’t tired, and so messed around for about another hour, and went to bed about 3:30 AM. - turned out to be another 5 hr. sleep, as I woke up at 8:30 AM.

    Another Nice CO Day

    In the morning, my wife and I chatted by phone for a while ( she’s up at our recreational property during the Open ), and she was making plans to go to a wedding in Barrie. It is of the son of good friends, who helped her and her sisters so much, when they had to clear out and sell the family home in Timmins, when their parents went into a nursing home two years ago. I brought her up to speed on all the exciting chess things going on around the Open ( and of course, this blog ), and she wished me luck in Rd. 8. I never know about that you know. Like aren’t we supposed to conquer by skill, not luck? But I’ve always considered it lucky when my opponent makes a bad move !

    I then did a draft of this Day 8 Blog, and then settled in to do some prior games analysis, until it was time to go to the round. I left about 1:00 PM for the playing hall ( round started at 2:00 PM yesterday )..

    Some of My Games from Prior Rounds

    As I’ve said in prior blogs ( I’ve decided to use a template here, since new people come to the blog, and I need to give them the following information – so I have to ask you who are repeat offenders to tolerate the repetition ), I like to think class games have some interest. I believe in some ways they are more educational to class players than GM games, if properly annotated. They are understandable, because we all think similarly – GM moves are many times incomprehensible to us class players. For years now, I’ve used a chess website, Chess5 ( http://www.chess5.com ), as my own personal chess games blog – I have gotten to know the owner/administrator Eydun, quite well over the years. I introduced Canada to his website, after I first saw it. Canada is now one of the main posters to this on-line databank. I post all my games, using what I call my “ Comprehensive Annotation System “, hoping that this makes them even more helpful to viewers.

    So yesterday on the website ( click on the heading link “ public games “. and you get a list of games posted this month so far ). I posted my fifth & sixth round games ( my first 4 games were posted on prior days ):

    Rd. 5 – David Filipovich ( 2218 ) 1 – 0 Robert Armstrong ( 1800 ) – a somewhat typical King’s Indian game, where I tried to get a K-side attack, but David was faster on c5.

    Rd. 6 – William Doubleday ( 2206 ) 1 – 0 Robert Armstrong ( 1800 ) – my worst game in a few years

    I think Game 5 is definitely worth a look. I’d ignore Game 6.

    The U 2000 Group

    There are 56 players in our prize group. Going into Rd. 8, our top 5 players were:

    5 pts. – Arjun Bharat ( 1841 )
    4.5 pts. – Eric Bennett ( 1990 ); Louis Cheng ( ( 1975 ); David Itkin ( 1966 ); Ferdinand Supsup (1851 ).

    These players faced tough opposition in Rd.7. Here is what happened:

    15 FM Michael Dougherty (2322 : W : 5.0) 1/2 Arjun Bharat (1841 : B : 5.0)
    23 Eric Bennett (1990 : W : 4.5) 0-1 FM Alex Betaneli (2312 : B : 4.5)
    29 Louis Cheng (1975 : W : 4.5) 0-1 Ian Loadman (2202 : B : 4.5)
    31 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : W : 4.5) 0-1 Ted Kret (2165 : B : 4.5)
    32 David Itkin (1966 : w : 4.5) 1-0 Stanimir Ilic (2340 : BB : 4.0)

    I got a draw in my Rd. 8 game, against Reuben McCleary ( 1597 ), leaving me below 50% - 3.5/8 pts.

    As a result of the Rd. 8 results for our leaders, we now have a partly new leader group of 7 going into the final Rd. 9:

    5.5 pts - David Itkin ( 1966 ); Arjun Bharat ( 1841 )
    5 pts. – Dalia Kagramanov ( 1998 ); Stephan Tonakanian ( 1990 ); Derick Joshua Twesigye ( 1990 ); Ruokai ( David ) Li ( 1932 ); Alex Rapoport ( 1838 ).

    The 8 Scarborough Chess Club U 2000 Results:

    5 pts. - Alex Rapoport ( 1838 )
    4.5 pts. - Robert Bzikot (1984 ); Michael Song ( 1866 )
    4 pts. - Jim Paterson ( 1889 ); .Ferdinand Cale ( 1806 ); Pino Verde ( 1800 );
    3.5 points - Pepin Manalo ( 1932 ); Bob Armstrong ( 1800 )

    My Game

    On move 10 of my round 8 game against young junior Rueben McCleary ( 1597 ), I was faced with a major dilemma. Do I play solidly for rating points, or do I play for fun, and try a sacrificial mating attack that likely doesn’t work ( but I felt I at least would get a three-time repetition draw ). I opted for “ fun “ – I just couldn’t resist trying it. And if Rueben went wrong, maybe I might get it. So I left pawns hanging all over the board, and went onto the attack – if it didn’t work, I was definitely going to lose. Well young Reuben defended against the mate totally accurately, and I had to sac to get a three-time repetition draw – the mate just wasn’t there. An enjoyable game, though it will cost me a few rating points. Fun must sometimes come first !

    Some Random Thoughts After Day 8

    Well, as I’ve quoted before in this blog: “ Time flies when you are having fun! “. It’s hard to believe that today is the final round 9. Where did 8 days go? Oh, I know how I can find out – read my own blog!! It has been fun. I’ve gotten to socialize with numbers of my chess friends, and chatted with numerous chess acquaintances over the 8 days. I think I helped move the CFC forward in our 2 AGM’s. I’ve had some very interesting chess games, and some good post-mortems, and my score, though a bit lower than I’d hoped at this point, still leaves me with the possibility of getting 50% ( I had been shooting to exceed 50% - I’m currently below 50% with 3.5/8 pts. ). All in all, a very nice “ chess holiday “ with a final round to play, and then the closing banquet. Oh, and I have to mention the fun of doing this blog, for which I’ve had commendation and encouragement from so many friends and acquaintances.

    I hope the foreign GM’s who came have had a good time here in Toronto. Some of them have been here before to play in Canadian tournaments. It does add something to the impression of the tournament – it sort of confirms that it is a premier Canadian tournament, and makes it respectable when promoting it on such international websites as ChessBase, and the Susan Polgar Blog. As I said before, these guys have talent – and I think this tournament has shown so far, that so do a number of our Canadian players, including a couple of juniors – Noritsyn, Hambleton, Sapozhnikov, , Martchenko, etc.. We cannot underestimate the word of mouth among foreign GM’s when they mention to each other that they had a great time in our Canadian Open – it opens up the possibility of other GM’s taking a look in future. Actually, I understand from Brian Fiedler, one of the organizing committee, that many more GM’s contacted them, but their budget didn’t allow them to meet conditions for more than the 9 GM’s they originally contracted with ( though only 7 showed up ). It’s true that GM’s add to the organizers’ budget. Is it worthwhile? Some are nostalgic for the old days where we met in downscale locations, and just had local GM’s and IM’s playing – lower budget they say, and lower registration fees. This is a legitimate debate I think. It will depend on whether the organizers actually lose money on this Open. Brian lost on the 2009 PwC Toronto Open, but he still is a firm believer that the Canadian Open has to be a high-class event, as a national championship. And many have said the room we have at the Westin Harbour Castle is the best in recent memory. The CFC governors may have an early issue on their plate, in terms of first getting a bid for the 2011 Canadian Open, and secondly determining what standards will be applied for such bid.

    How am I going to survive after this tournament? Scarborough Chess Club doesn’t re-open ‘til its AGM on Thursday, Sept. 2, and Rd. 1 of the Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss is not until Thursday, Sept. 9 ( we close for July and August, because we can’t rent our playing hall during those months ). I’m not going to be able to play in Kitchener in August. I’ll be in chess withdrawal ! Fortunately, I’ll still have my SCC newsletter to work on, the Scarborough Community of Toronto Chess News & Views. And there are some good international tournaments that I can follow. I guess I’ll survive.

    [ Continued in Pt. II below ]
    Last edited by Bob Armstrong; Sunday, 18th July, 2010, 01:51 AM.

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  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

    Hi Matthew:

    At the 2009 PwC Toronto Open, I played 2 masters..............and got 2 draws. I'd never drawn or beaten a master before in my 45 year chess career.

    Go get Mavros ! Sorry Mavros, but I have to root this time for the underdog lower class player, who's prize-hunting.

    Bob

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  • Matthew Scott
    replied
    Re: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

    Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post
    HI Matthew:

    How much is it worth? Maybe he'll pay more !

    Bob
    Well given I have to beat a 2120 for it to matter, probably not too much ;)

    Leave a comment:


  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

    HI Matthew:

    How much is it worth? Maybe he'll pay more !

    Bob

    Leave a comment:


  • Matthew Scott
    replied
    Re: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog

    Bob, please beat Reuben. Thanks. :)

    Leave a comment:


  • David Cohen
    replied
    Re: Day 7, Friday, July 16: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. II

    Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post
    I want to commend higher-rated players who are willing to take the time to socialize with their defeated lower-rated players, and to spend some time with them in post-mortems to improve their chess. I had such an experience in both round 5 and round 6 with masters ( I am 1800..sometimes ), which I recently posted about. In Rd. 5 I played David Filipovich. We've played in the same tournaments many times, but I don't think we'd ever formally met. I played an OK, but not great game, but it was a bit complex, in a fairly standard position that arises often in different ways. David won. He immediately asked me if I wanted to look at it. We went to the skittles room and started analyzing. He was very respectful of my contributions, though he saw much more than I did. Another player got interested ( I don't think he is too highly rated ), and he sat down beside David and started joining in the analysis. David was fine with this. We analyzed all kinds of optional lines for about an hour I think. It was very educational.

    I enjoyed meeting David, and hope we get to play again. And thanks for having such an open attitude to us class players - it certainly contributes to a positive image of chess and chess players ( which it needs ) and to a positive chess experience for us class players. Thanks again for the time spent.
    Bob,

    I first met David at the 1980 Ontario Junior Championship. Pleased to hear you say this about David - a great example of why he's on the current CFC banner!

    David

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  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: Day 7, Friday, July 16: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. II

    The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog - Pt. II

    Day7/Rd. 7 – Friday, July 16

    Some Random Thoughts After Day 7

    It is important to keep perspective in chess. We all try hard to play like Fischer. But we all aren’t a Fischer. And we lose. And sometimes we really foul up ( like my Rd. 6 game ), and play hundreds of points below our playing strength. This is definitely discouraging. But letting it affect you psychologically is terrible for the next round. Somehow we have to be good managers in chess, of our emotions, and our state of mind. I also try to remember it is only a game – it is not the be all and end all of life. So keep it in perspective. But I am sensitive to the fact that I am a middle class player talking. For those at the top, and especially those with aspirations for titles, Olympiad team participation, international success, etc., this perspective must be altered. They see chess as more than just a game – it is more like a job, one they are passionate about. And so it is legitimate that it has some meaning – and some legitimate frustration when they play below par. But even then, it cannot be allowed to ruin one’s life. There are lots of positives in everyone’s life, and when there are troubles on one front, being aware of the good things on other fronts, helps to keep our balance. I’d love to hear some top players wade in on this issue, and how it appears to them.

    Confrontational politics is an energy sapping way to make progress. Many believe that in the last few years, the CFC has had too much confrontation, and not enough cooperation. I agree. But it must be noted that the fault may lie, not just with the critics, but also with the establishment. Nonetheless, let’s hope that with this new administration, and good communication, and more give and take, CFC will progress in an easier style.

    I think the CFC is really hoping to help cultivate more tournament organizers in Canada, and more TD’s. The arbiters’ seminar side event this week is a prime example of the CFC trying to move this file forward. Unfortunately, this year’s AGM produced no bids for our major Canadian tournaments next year – the Canadian Closed/Zonal, the Canadian Open, the Canadian Junior, the Canadian Women’s Closed, etc.. The CFC is asking all chess players to think about whether they might see satisfaction in providing tournaments for their peers. Unfortunately, it is true that chess players are demanding. They are quick to criticize TD, and organizer errors, and often forget the courtesy of a “ Thank you “. But all chess players know that without organizers, there would be no tournaments for us plebs to play in. I think we all need to think carefully about this, and balance off our demands, with some “ cutting some slack “ sometimes ( I’m not saying we need to accept improper products – just that sometimes, we can maybe be less critical in some situations ). Talk to your CFC governors about organizing a tournament, and see what help the CFC might be able to provide. We are looking for a good candidate to fill the new Tournament Coordinator position ( upgraded at the AGM into a non-executive officer position ), and one of his/her tasks will be to try to help develop bids for tournaments, and to assist organizers across the country. If you think you know someone who might be good in this position, lobby them a bit to find out more about the position. Maybe they are more willing to volunteer some time to help Canadian chess players out than you realize.

    I want to commend higher-rated players who are willing to take the time to socialize with their defeated lower-rated players, and to spend some time with them in post-mortems to improve their chess. I had such an experience in both round 5 and round 6 with masters ( I am 1800..sometimes ), which I recently posted about. In Rd. 5 I played David Filipovich. We've played in the same tournaments many times, but I don't think we'd ever formally met. I played an OK, but not great game, but it was a bit complex, in a fairly standard position that arises often in different ways. David won. He immediately asked me if I wanted to look at it. We went to the skittles room and started analyzing. He was very respectful of my contributions, though he saw much more than I did. Another player got interested ( I don't think he is too highly rated ), and he sat down beside David and started joining in the analysis. David was fine with this. We analyzed all kinds of optional lines for about an hour I think. It was very educational.

    I enjoyed meeting David, and hope we get to play again. And thanks for having such an open attitude to us class players - it certainly contributes to a positive image of chess and chess players ( which it needs ) and to a positive chess experience for us class players. Thanks again for the time spent.

    In Rd. 6, I played a master with whom I’ve become friends, Bill Doubleday of Ottawa. He also asked if I wanted to look at the game ( and I had just played one of the worst games I’ve had in recent years ). We looked at what my game would have been like had I picked the best moves ( and even then it wasn’t great ). I enjoyed the time spent, despite being a bit discouraged at that moment, and it actually helped me a bit psychologically to come out of it. Again, thanks Bill.

    I think it is important that we publicize somewhat the good things about chess players, because we have a stereotype of a sort of cranky, obnoxious, socially inept person. This can be true, but many chess players are very well – rounded individuals, and are pleasant to have met. This can help balance the picture a bit.

    Round 8 – Saturday, July 17

    So who are our new top 5 U 2000 players playing this afternoon ( Round starts at 2:00 PM ) ? Here are the pairings and they face some stiff opposition :

    15 FM Michael Dougherty (2322 : W : 5.0) Arjun Bharat (1841 : B : 5.0)
    23 Eric Bennett (1990 : W : 4.5) FM Alex Betaneli (2312 : B : 4.5)
    29 Louis Cheng (1975 : W : 4.5) Ian Loadman (2202 : B : 4.5)
    31 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : W : 4.5) Ted Kret (2165 : B : 4.5)
    32 David Itkin (1966 : w : 4.5) Stanimir Ilic (2340 : BB : 4.0)


    As a result of my Rd. 7 draw, I got paired down again for Rd. 8, having 3 pts.( I’ve been paired down in Rds. 1, 3 & 7 previously ). Here is my pairing:

    87 Reuben McCleary (1597 : W : 3.0) Robert J. Armstrong (1800 : B : 3.0)

    Here is Reuben's record so far:

    183 Reuben McCleary 1597 L219 W221 L90 D239 L120 W199 D168 3.0

    Here is my record so far:

    167 Robert J. Armstrong 1800 W177 D130 W250 L54 L116 L73 D185 3.0

    Invitation

    Finally, I'd like again to invite everyone to join into the discussion - any comments, suggestions, questions, criticisms of the blog are welcome - and of anything to do with the Can. Open. I will try to respond if that seems appropriate.

    Bob
    Last edited by Bob Armstrong; Saturday, 17th July, 2010, 02:48 AM.

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  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Day 7, Friday, July 16: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. I

    The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog - Pt. I

    Day7/Rd. 7 – Friday, July 16

    Starting the Day Off Right

    After my disastrous loss in Rd. 6, I spent the early morning hours yesterday, analyzing my games from prior rounds. There was also a bit of CFC politicking, as the CFC President, Bob Gillanders, happened to be up late too, and we exchanged a few missives. The pairings were not up ‘til about 2:00 AM yesterday, so it took me a while to finish off my Rd. 6 Blog and post it. I went to bed about 4:30 AM. And I slept in again like on Wednesday – up at 8:30 AM ( 5 hrs. sleep, instead of my usual CO 4 hrs. ).

    Another Pleasant CO Day

    Since my schedule was kind of tight the first 2/3 of the tournament, and I didn’t get a lot of downtime, I decided to pass on Hans Jung’s blindfold simultaneous yesterday morning. Instead I did a few “ CFC governor-emails “, and settled in to continue analyzing my prior round games ( it takes me about 2-3 hrs. to analyze my game using my “ Comprehensive Analysis System “ I’ve invented [maybe I have to say, added to the existing system ] ). Also, I spent some time doing a first draft of yesterdays Day 7 blog. Also, I took time to look a bit longer at the Rd. 7 pairings, and saw that our top Canadian players are right up there. I headed out for Rd. 7 about 5:00 PM ( takes a bit under an hour from my house to the playing hall by public transit ).

    Some of My Games from Prior Rounds

    As I’ve said in prior blogs ( I’ve decided to use a template here, since new people come to the blog, and I need to give them the following information – so I have to ask you who are repeat offenders to tolerate the repetition ), I like to think class games have some interest. I believe in some ways they are more educational to class players than GM games, if properly annotated. They are understandable, because we all think similarly – GM moves are many times incomprehensible to us class players. For years now, I’ve used a chess website, Chess5 ( http://www.chess5.com ), as my own personal chess games blog – I have gotten to know the owner/administrator Eydun, quite well over the years. I introduced Canada to his website, after I first saw it. Canada is now one of the main posters to this on-line databank. I post all my games, using what I call my “ Comprehensive Annotation System “, hoping that this makes them even more helpful to viewers.

    So yesterday on the website ( click on the heading link “ public games “. and you get a list of games posted this month so far ). I posted my third and fourth round games ( my first game was posted Wednesday; my second Thursday ):

    Rd. 3 – Armstrong, Robert ( 1800 ) 1-0 Dattani, Dinesh ( 1392 ) – I was winning all game, but blundered and gave him equality, and then Dinesh flagged.
    Rd. 4 – Armstrong, Robert ( 1800 0-1 Sohal, Tanraj ( 2094 – Can. U 14 Champion ) – I was winning for a while, but then lapsed and he got good counter-play.

    If you have some time, go play these over – they’re sort of interesting – at one point, Tanraj was concerned about the exposure of his K , and ran it from f8 all the way over to a7 !

    The U 2000 Group

    There are 56 players in our prize group. Going into Rd. 7, our top 4 players were: David Itkin, James Fu, Arjun Baharat and David Miller. These players faced tough opposition in Rd.7. Here is what happened:


    15 GM Joshua Friedel (2527 : w : 4.0) 1-0 David Itkin (1966 : B : 4.5)
    21 James Fu (1978 : w : 4.0) 0-1 Yuri Aronov (2301 : b : 4.0)
    26 Arjun Bharat (1841 : w : 4.0) 1-0 David Southam (2165 : b : 4.0)
    27 Felix Barrios (2162 : w : 4.0) 1-0 David Miller (1871 : b : 4.0)

    As a result of my three losses in a row in rounds 4-6 ( to a 2100 expert, and 2 2200 masters ), I had been paired down for Rd. 7, having had only 2.5 pts.. I drew with Jatinder Dhaliwal (1577 ), and so then had 3.5/ 7 ( under 50 % – my goal is to go over 50% ).

    As a result of our Rd. 7 leader losses, the standings in our group have shifted somewhat after 7 rounds. Here are the 5 new leaders:

    5 pts. – Arjun Baharat ( 1841 )
    4.5 pts. – Eric Bennett ( 1990 ); Louis Cheng ( ( 1975 ); David Itkin ( 1966 ); Ferdinand Supsup (1851 ).

    The 8 Scarborough Chess Club U 2000 Results:

    4 pts. - Robert Bzikot (1984 ); Alex Rapoport ( 1838 )
    3.5 points - Michael Song ( 1866 )
    3 points - Jim Paterson ( 1889 ); .Ferdinand Cale ( 1806 ); Pino Verde ( 1800 ); Bob Armstrong ( 1800 )
    2.5 points – Pepin Manalo ( 1932 )

    My Game

    I played Jatinder Dhaliwal ( 1577 ). I got a good attack on his K-side with my King’s Indian Saemisch. I had good pressure, but then I missed one thing. And Jatinder found it – a great defensive move that forced the main attacking pieces off, and won him a P. In desperation, I put my Q on a bad square, solely to try for a “ cheapo “ ( I know…bad way to play chess ). Well, Jatinder missed it and I won his Q + P for my R. But he had counter-play – he threatened to win my second R, and would have 2 R’s vs Q. I analyzed it for a while, and decided I’d be worse, so sacked my Q for one of his R’s – material equality, but I had the worse ending. But I hung on and we drew. Left me with 3/7 pts..

    [ Continued in Part II below ]

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  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: Day 6, Thursday, July 15: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog Pt. II

    Hi Robert:

    Thanks again for the encouragement on the blog - I am glad to hear it is helpful in keeping everyone, including parents, up to speed.

    As to my rating aspirations, I can only say it seems to be a struggle, with my modest " talent ". I was at 1911 in 2001, and then dropped. I have been trying since then to again go over 1900 without success ( 9 years now ! ). My inconsistency, like in Rd. 6, doesn't help. But I am an optimist generally, and this doesn't dampen my resolve to still accomplish this goal, even when I cross over to the other side of 65 years old.

    Wish Michael good luck for me against his Rd. 7 opponent : junior Tanraj Sohal ( 2094 ), whom you know is the U 14 Can. champion. I had a winning game against him for quite a while, before I slipped up, so he is not quite invincible !

    Bob
    Last edited by Bob Armstrong; Friday, 16th July, 2010, 10:40 AM.

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