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Day 5, Wednesday, July 14: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog
The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog
Day5/Rd. 5 – Wednesday, July 14
Starting the Day Off Right
I started Wednesday off with doing the right thing – I apologized for a significant ambiguity in my writing, which Matthew Scott had brought to my attention. I had used the title for a section – “ Predictions “. But I was not really trying to predict the outcomes of the three matches I set out. I just meant that in my blog, I was then going to move on from Rd. 2, to Rd. 3. But clearly it could be read otherwise. That’s one thing about doing a blog – you sort of put yourself out there, and then have to take responsibility for any mistakes. It just comes with the territory, and a good apology sometimes cleanses the spirit ! Anyway, I got it all sorted out.
A Relaxing Day
Also, a good thing – I got 5 hours sleep on Wednesday morning, rather than my standard 4 hours. Left me in good shape to do a first draft of this Day 5 Blog in the morning. The day today was a lazy one, after 2 back to back, pretty intensive , CFC AGM meetings – especially the Monday one, where I was trying to shepherd through 16 of my motions ( they sort of piled up during the year, because I wanted them all voted on at the AGM for technical reasons )! I had some nice time to start analyzing my games – I’ve had no time to even look at them in the first 4 days. So it was a very enjoyable and relaxing ( seeing some of my boners is always a bit distressing though ) afternoon, and at 5:00 PM, I headed down to play round 5.
Some of My Games from Prior Rounds
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 on the website now ( click on the heading link “ public games “. and you get a list of games posted this month so far ). I have posted my first game:
Rd. 1 – Armstrong, Robert ( 1800 ) 1 -0 Shafkat, Ali ( 1688 )
If you have some time, go play it over – it’s sort of interesting, though nothing dramatic.
The U 2000 Group
There are 56 players in our prize group. Going into Rd. 5, our top players faced tough opposition. Here is what happened:
8 GM Vladimir Malaniuk (2551 : w : 3.0) 1-0 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : b : 3.5)
10 IM David Cummings (2482 : w : 3.0) 1/2 Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : b : 3.0)
14 Dmitry Chernik (1855 : w : 3.0) 0-1 Alexander Martchenko (2382 : b : 3.0)
15 Arjun Bharat (1841 : w : 3.0) 0-1 Laszlo Bekefi (2376 : b : 3.0)
16 Pino Verde (1800 : w : 3.0) 0-1 FM Dale Haessel (2316 : b : 3.0)
As a result, the standings in our group have shifted after 5 rounds. Here are the new leaders:
1 / 4 – 3.5 pts. – Derick Joshua Twesigye ( 1990 )
David Itkin ( 1966 )
Robert Roller ( 1937 )
Ferdinand Supsup ( 1855 )
I lost to national master David Filipovich, so I then had 2.5/5 points ( 50 %. ). Though I lost this game, I’m still quite satisfied with my standing at this time, and my play overall.
The 8 Scarborough Chess Club U 2000 Results:
3 points - Alex Rapoport ( 1838 ); Pino Verde ( 1800 )
2.5 points – Robert Bzikot (1984 ); Michael Song ( 1866 ); Bob Armstrong ( 1800 )
2 points – Ferdinand Cale ( 1806 ); Jim Paterson ( 1889 ).
½ point – Pepin Manalo ( 1932 )
My Game
I played Black against national master, David Filipovich ( 2218 ). He fianchettoed on the K-side, and I am not used to playing against that, so I had to improvise. It kind of went like a traditional Kings’ Indian Defence, with me trying to push pawns on the K-side to attack his K, and him pushing c5 to get an advantage on the Q-side. He got there first – he had too much pressure in the centre, and eventually he won my dP. The game then got complicated, and he simply had the superior position. He went up an N then, and I really could not hold on. We did a post-mortem together afterwards, and he showed me a number of options I really hadn’t considered – but the consensus was that W pretty much dominated. So this left me with 2.5/5 pts..
Some Random Thoughts After Day 5
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am somewhat shocked ! We are now past the half way point in the tournament ! I thought time was flying when we were at the 1/3 mark on Monday night, and now on Wednesday, the situation hasn’t changed – as I said before, chess is fun, and the saying is “ Time flies when you are having fun ! “ This tournament is going to be over, and I’m going to be still standing at the starting gate !
I love to see Canadians playing great chess. Here we were at Rd. 5, and what do we see on the top boards:
Bd Res White Res Black
1 GM Luke McShane (2624 : w : 4.0) 0 - GM Harikrishna Pentala (2678 : b : 3.5)
2 GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2631 : w : 3.5) - FM Vladimir Pechenkin (2432 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
3 GM Joshua Friedel (2527 : w : 3.5) - IM Leonid Gerzhoy (2630 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
4 IM Michael Mulyar (2405 : w : 3.5) - IM Artiom Samsonkin (2609 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
5 FM Vinny Puri (2326 : w : 3.5) - Canadian - GM Merab Gagunashvili (2596 : BB : 3.5)
6 Razvan Preotu (1606 : w : 3.5) - Canadian - GM Alexander Shabalov (2578 : b : 3.5)
7 Wayne Siu (1449 : W : 3.5) - Canadian - IM Nikolay Noritsyn (2536 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
8 GM Vladimir Malaniuk (2551 : w : 3.0) - Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
9 Felix Barrios (2162 : w : 3.0) - Canadian - IM Tomas Krnan (2484 : b : 3.0) Canadian
10 IM David Cummings (2482 : w - 3.0) Canadian:Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : b : 3.0) - Canadian
60% of the top 10 boards are Canadians ( 12/20 ) !! And this despite, unfortunately, Canada having a quite weak chess culture in the mainstream. We can play chess! And it looks like our strength at the top increases year by year. And with our ever strengthening junior programs across the country, I think Canada has a bright chess future. We have assembled good Olympiad teams, in relation to their peers, and they are quite young. I think we can hope for some good results there too.
Round 6 – Thursday, July 15
So who are our top 4 U 2000 players playing tonight? Here are the pairings and they face some stiff opposition even though they have been moving down to somewhat lower boards::
21 Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : W : 3.5) - Keith MacKinnon (2280 : B : 3.5)
22 Kevin Chung (2280 : b : 3.5) - Robert Roller (1937 : B : 3.5)
24 David Itkin (1966 : w : 3.5) - David Filipovich (2218 : B : 3.5)
26 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : W : 3.5) - Mikhail Egorov (2179 : B : 3.5)
Go get’em guys !!
In my Rd. 6 game, on Bd. # 51, I again play a national master: William Doubleday ( 2206 ) – who I just happen to be going out for dinner with before the round !. Wish me luck !
Finally, I'd like again to invite everyone to join into the discussion - any comments, suggestions, criticisms of the blog are welcome - and of anything to do with the Can. Open. I will try to respond if that seems appropriate.
Re: Day 5, Wednesday, July 14: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog
Dear Bob,
Thank you for tracking so mush games information, especially for the U2000 top players pairing. My son Michael Song is playing U2000 as well. His biggest achievement is draw with IM Lawrence Day(Michael's first game against Master in rated tournament) in round 4. In round 5 Michael lost to FM Alex Betaneli. Round 6 he is going to play with well known Canadian girl Jiaxin(Dora) Liu. Hope he can increase his point to 3.5.
Bob, you played very well in first couple of rounds. Good luck in round 6.
I started Wednesday off with doing the right thing – I apologized for a significant ambiguity in my writing, which Matthew Scott had brought to my attention. I had used the title for a section – “ Predictions “. But I was not really trying to predict the outcomes of the three matches I set out. I just meant that in my blog, I was then going to move on from Rd. 2, to Rd. 3. But clearly it could be read otherwise. That’s one thing about doing a blog – you sort of put yourself out there, and then have to take responsibility for any mistakes. It just comes with the territory, and a good apology sometimes cleanses the spirit ! Anyway, I got it all sorted out.
A Relaxing Day
Also, a good thing – I got 5 hours sleep on Wednesday morning, rather than my standard 4 hours. Left me in good shape to do a first draft of this Day 5 Blog in the morning. The day today was a lazy one, after 2 back to back, pretty intensive , CFC AGM meetings – especially the Monday one, where I was trying to shepherd through 16 of my motions ( they sort of piled up during the year, because I wanted them all voted on at the AGM for technical reasons )! I had some nice time to start analyzing my games – I’ve had no time to even look at them in the first 4 days. So it was a very enjoyable and relaxing ( seeing some of my boners is always a bit distressing though ) afternoon, and at 5:00 PM, I headed down to play round 5.
Some of My Games from Prior Rounds
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 on the website now ( click on the heading link “ public games “. and you get a list of games posted this month so far ). I have posted my first game:
Rd. 1 – Armstrong, Robert ( 1800 ) 1 -0 Shafkat, Ali ( 1688 )
If you have some time, go play it over – it’s sort of interesting, though nothing dramatic.
The U 2000 Group
There are 56 players in our prize group. Going into Rd. 5, our top players faced tough opposition. Here is what happened:
8 GM Vladimir Malaniuk (2551 : w : 3.0) 1-0 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : b : 3.5)
10 IM David Cummings (2482 : w : 3.0) 1/2 Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : b : 3.0)
14 Dmitry Chernik (1855 : w : 3.0) 0-1 Alexander Martchenko (2382 : b : 3.0)
15 Arjun Bharat (1841 : w : 3.0) 0-1 Laszlo Bekefi (2376 : b : 3.0)
16 Pino Verde (1800 : w : 3.0) 0-1 FM Dale Haessel (2316 : b : 3.0)
As a result, the standings in our group have shifted after 5 rounds. Here are the new leaders:
1 / 4 – 3.5 pts. – Derick Joshua Twesigye ( 1990 )
David Itkin ( 1966 )
Robert Roller ( 1937 )
Ferdinand Supsup ( 1855 )
I lost to national master David Filipovich, so I then had 2.5/5 points ( 50 %. ). Though I lost this game, I’m still quite satisfied with my standing at this time, and my play overall.
The 8 Scarborough Chess Club U 2000 Results:
3 points - Alex Rapoport ( 1838 ); Pino Verde ( 1800 )
2.5 points – Robert Bzikot (1984 ); Michael Song ( 1866 ); Bob Armstrong ( 1800 )
2 points – Ferdinand Cale ( 1806 ); Jim Paterson ( 1889 ).
½ point – Pepin Manalo ( 1932 )
My Game
I played Black against national master, David Filipovich ( 2218 ). He fianchettoed on the K-side, and I am not used to playing against that, so I had to improvise. It kind of went like a traditional Kings’ Indian Defence, with me trying to push pawns on the K-side to attack his K, and him pushing c5 to get an advantage on the Q-side. He got there first – he had too much pressure in the centre, and eventually he won my dP. The game then got complicated, and he simply had the superior position. He went up an N then, and I really could not hold on. We did a post-mortem together afterwards, and he showed me a number of options I really hadn’t considered – but the consensus was that W pretty much dominated. So this left me with 2.5/5 pts..
Some Random Thoughts After Day 5
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am somewhat shocked ! We are now past the half way point in the tournament ! I thought time was flying when we were at the 1/3 mark on Monday night, and now on Wednesday, the situation hasn’t changed – as I said before, chess is fun, and the saying is “ Time flies when you are having fun ! “ This tournament is going to be over, and I’m going to be still standing at the starting gate !
I love to see Canadians playing great chess. Here we were at Rd. 5, and what do we see on the top boards:
Bd Res White Res Black
1 GM Luke McShane (2624 : w : 4.0) 0 - GM Harikrishna Pentala (2678 : b : 3.5)
2 GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2631 : w : 3.5) - FM Vladimir Pechenkin (2432 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
3 GM Joshua Friedel (2527 : w : 3.5) - IM Leonid Gerzhoy (2630 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
4 IM Michael Mulyar (2405 : w : 3.5) - IM Artiom Samsonkin (2609 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
5 FM Vinny Puri (2326 : w : 3.5) - Canadian - GM Merab Gagunashvili (2596 : BB : 3.5)
6 Razvan Preotu (1606 : w : 3.5) - Canadian - GM Alexander Shabalov (2578 : b : 3.5)
7 Wayne Siu (1449 : W : 3.5) - Canadian - IM Nikolay Noritsyn (2536 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
8 GM Vladimir Malaniuk (2551 : w : 3.0) - Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : b : 3.5) - Canadian
9 Felix Barrios (2162 : w : 3.0) - Canadian - IM Tomas Krnan (2484 : b : 3.0) Canadian
10 IM David Cummings (2482 : w - 3.0) Canadian:Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : b : 3.0) - Canadian
60% of the top 10 boards are Canadians ( 12/20 ) !! And this despite, unfortunately, Canada having a quite weak chess culture in the mainstream. We can play chess! And it looks like our strength at the top increases year by year. And with our ever strengthening junior programs across the country, I think Canada has a bright chess future. We have assembled good Olympiad teams, in relation to their peers, and they are quite young. I think we can hope for some good results there too.
Round 6 – Thursday, July 15
So who are our top 4 U 2000 players playing tonight? Here are the pairings and they face some stiff opposition even though they have been moving down to somewhat lower boards::
21 Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : W : 3.5) - Keith MacKinnon (2280 : B : 3.5)
22 Kevin Chung (2280 : b : 3.5) - Robert Roller (1937 : B : 3.5)
24 David Itkin (1966 : w : 3.5) - David Filipovich (2218 : B : 3.5)
26 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : W : 3.5) - Mikhail Egorov (2179 : B : 3.5)
Go get’em guys !!
In my Rd. 6 game, on Bd. # 51, I again play a national master: William Doubleday ( 2206 ) – who I just happen to be going out for dinner with before the round !. Wish me luck !
Finally, I'd like again to invite everyone to join into the discussion - any comments, suggestions, criticisms of the blog are welcome - and of anything to do with the Can. Open. I will try to respond if that seems appropriate.
Re: Day 5, Wednesday, July 14: The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog
Hi Robert:
Thanks for the encouragement on the blog.
I don't know if you noticed, but I mentioned Michael's draw against Lawrence in my blog for that round.
Michael is steadily progressing. As you know, he has a plus score against me ( we both play in the Scarborough Chess Club, and often have been paired in weekend tournaments ), and it is going to get better as time goes on. In fact, I predict it won't be long before he'll have his first win against a master.
Day 6, Thursday, July 15: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog - Pt. I
The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog - Pt. I
Day6/Rd. 6 – Thursday, July 15
Starting the Day Off Right
Wednesday night, OCA President, Michael von Keitz, who is also a tournament arbiter, and I made plans to go for a beer after Rd. 5. It finished at 11:00 PM, and so Michael said he just had to help Hal Bond, the head arbiter, and Aris Marghetis, another arbiter, to do the Rd. 6 pairings. We also found out that Hal and Aris would like to join us. So they started work – well, there are behind the scenes issues that arise that really slow the process down, and which we, as the public, don’t often hear about. First one of the results cards had not been handed in – so what do they do? Pair as if it was a draw? Give both a 0 pt. result? Fortunately, one of the players was a member of my Scarborough Chess Club in Toronto, with whom I am good friends – and I had his phone number on me! I think there was a visible sigh of relief when I announced I could call him, and that he’d likely have gotten home by then. We reached him and got the result and in it went into the computer. Then they found 2 results sheets where no result had been marked in ( something the arbiter taking the sheet is supposed to have checked for – mistakes happen, despite the best of intentions ). Fortunately one of the one pair was staying in the hotel. So up went a call to the room to find out the result – successful! Whew ! As to the other pair, I knew the one gentleman, but didn’t have a clue how to reach him. One smart arbiter came up with 411 information, since his name was a bit unusual, and we hoped there would not be too many hits. We got a number and called and he answered – he gave the result, but also decided he wanted to chat a bit about the round and his game ! I thought the arbiter was genuinely considerate with this older gentleman, and patiently listened, though he had to get back to helping with the pairings. The things arbiters do ! Also, because of the glitch in Rd. 3, once the Rd. 6 pairings were up, Hal wanted them visually monitored more than once, to see if there were any obvious anomalies. Finally, about 12:15 AM this morning, Hal authorized their physical posting in the playing hall, and on MonRoi. All I can say is that the computer program may have thrown a spanner into the works in Rd. 3, but the arbiters are trying desperately to compensate for that, and to have the rest run perfectly. From what I can see, and talking to the arbiters informally from time to time ( another arbiter who was there for part of last night is Bryan Lamb, a well-known Toronto TD, and a member of my SCC club ), the arbiters are earning their keep. Steer the ship through to Rd. 9 guys!
Problem: my beer ! By the time we left the playing hall, and the arbiters changed into casual clothes, it was 12:30 AM – the problem – the subway closed sometime after 1:00 AM. The guys didn’t know where the Irish pub was that they had heard about, but I said I knew, since the new CFC President and I had had dinner there the night before. On the way, we tried to get GM Luke McShane ( England ) to join us, but he had to admit he had likely already, earlier, imbibed a bit more than he should have, and so begged off on this outing. So I guided them to the pub, and they went to drink beer, and I didn’t ( sigh ), and I headed back to the subway. At least I can say that the time was well-spent ( did talk to a number of different stragglers in the playing hall while waiting though ) in that I was able to help them solve one of the pairing issues with my phone call. Hope you guys enjoyed your beer !
When I got home, I completed my Day 5 Blog, and posted it. Then I messed around with some computer stuff, and went to bed at 3:30 AM – up of course after my unusually long sleep of 5 hours yesterday morning !
A Nice Morning and Afternoon
Don’t know whether I mentioned it, but my wife is away for this week – when I play in a Canadian Open, she usually hightails it to our recreational property about 3 hours outside of Toronto. So I am sort of “ bach’ing “ it – even in marriage, it is nice sometimes to get a short extended time to yourself ! Allows me to just float and do what I want, when I feel like it, without having to deal with mutual priorities intervening.
Yesterday morning I did a draft of this blog, to finish this morning. The rest of the day, I again got to spend analyzing my games – fun to do currently, because my games have been interesting, and not too bad. Always enjoy trying to learn from my mistakes though – I like to think of Fritz as a mini-coach, for an aging 65 year old ( well, I will be at the end of the month ).
Just as an aside, I’ve been getting very positive feedback and encouragement for this blog, both by posts and personally at the Open. I’m glad if people are enjoying it, and vicariously getting a taste of what the Canadian Open experience is like. I noted that by about 1:00 PM yesterday, we passed 2000 “ views “ of this blog, and all the reply posts. That seems to be good evidence the blog is being read, and that people are returning for subsequent installments. Doing a blog is a bit of work, but it is fun, and I enjoy writing ( I am the editor, for 11 years now, of the Scarborough Community of Toronto Chess News & Views, the newsletter of the SCC ). I hope it is interesting, a bit entertaining, and a worthwhile read.
For the late afternoon, a funny coincidence happened. OCA President, Michael von Keitz, asked me a few months ago, if I would volunteer to review the OCA Constitution and update it ( I had done this with a committee earlier in the year for the Greater Toronto Chess League, though they were not particularly happy with our somewhat radical re-working of their constitution ). Michael asked Ottawa master, and CFC Rating auditor, Bill Doubleday, if he would sit on the committee with me, and he agreed. So we’ve been progressing, slowly, by e-mail. Well, since we were both going to be at this Open, we decided we’d get together to hash over some stuff, over sushi yesterday afternoon. So we were meeting at 4:00 PM to go for dinner. Well, after Rd. 5 on Wednesday night, in the playing hall, Bill and I bumped into each other, and I asked how many points he had, and he had 2.5, just like me. I quipped that maybe we’d be paired in Rd. 6………..You guessed it! When I saw the pairings early yesterday morning when the arbiters finished it, who am I playing? - my second master in a row ( in Rd. 5 I played David Filipovich ), Bill Doubleday. Good thing we’re friends – the dinner was enjoyable; the game I have to tell you about..
Some of My Games from Prior Rounds
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 on the website now ( click on the heading link “ public games “. and you get a list of games posted this month so far ). I have posted my second game ( my first one was posted Wednesday ):
Rd. 2 – Yves Ber ( 1914 ) 1/2 Armstrong, Robert ( 1800 )
If you have some time, go play it over – it’s sort of interesting, though nothing dramatic.
The U 2000 Group
There are 56 players in our prize group. Going into Rd. 6, our top 4 players were: Derick John Twesigye, Robert Roller, David Itkin, and Ferdinand Supsup. These players faced tough opposition in Rd. 5. Here is what happened:
21 Derick Joshua Twesigye (1990 : W : 3.5) 0-1 Keith MacKinnon (2280 : B : 3.5)
22 Kevin Chung (2280 : b : 3.5) 1-0 Robert Roller (1937 : B : 3.5)
24 David Itkin (1966 : w : 3.5) 1-0 David Filipovich (2218 : B : 3.5)
26 Ferdinand Supsup (1851 : W : 3.5) 0-1 Mikhail Egorov (2179 : B : 3.5)
As a result, the standings in our group have shifted somewhat after 6 rounds. Here are the new leaders:
4.5 pts. – David Itkin ( 1966 )
4 pts. – James Fu ( 1978 ); David Miller ( 1871 ); Arjun Baharat ( 1841 )
I lost my game against Bill….miserably, as I explain below. This left me with 2.5/6 pts., slightly below 50 %. I am a little off target for my goal of exceeding 50%.
[ Continued in Pt. II below ]
Last edited by Bob Armstrong; Friday, 16th July, 2010, 03:12 AM.
Re: Day 6, Thursday, July 15: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog Pt. II
The U 2000 Canadian Open Blog - Pt. II
Day6/Rd. 6 – Thursday, July 15
The 8 Scarborough Chess Club U 2000 Results:
3.5 points - Michael Song ( 1866 )
3 points - Robert Bzikot (1984 ); Alex Rapoport ( 1838 ); Ferdinand Cale ( 1806 ); Pino Verde ( 1800 )
2.5 points –Bob Armstrong ( 1800 )
2 points –Jim Paterson ( 1889 ).
1.5 points – Pepin Manalo ( 1932 )
My Game
I think I can say that I probably played one of my worst games in recent years against Master Bill Doubleday. Odd, since I felt quite good, and comfortable playing Bill. But I made 2 terrible blunders consecutively on the opening moves 12 & 13, losing an N for a P, and my game was a disaster, though I played 4 more moves before I resigned. As one of my friends said though : “ you lose the game, but you gain the night ! “. So, admittedly a bit discouraged ( I don’t mind losing, but playing just badly is frustrating ), I tried to decide what would now be the most enjoyable use of the evening. I decided on doing some analysis of my earlier round games ( not so much this round 6 game! ), since I had only had time so far to analyze my first game, and post it. So home I went, got myself a big bowl of butterscotch ripple ice cream ( comfort food ), and settled in for a few enjoyable hours of analyzing.
Some Random Thoughts After Day 6
I know I am repeating myself, but it is amazing how fast the time is flying – we are now through 2/3 of the tournament – only 3 rounds left to garner glory ! I have thoroughly enjoyed this “ chess holiday “ ( though Rd. 6 not as much ), and I will be sorry to see it come to an end ( though I don’t think I’m saying I’d like a 15 round swiss! ).
I do enjoy reviewing Constitutions ( might have something to do with me being a retired lawyer – not always good to disclose that though – lots of jokes you know ). It’s sort of like a chess game – there are lots of moving parts, and you have to make the individual units make sense, but then they’ve got to coordinate well with all your other pieces. I like to think of a good, revised Constitution, as something like a work of art – sigh! ( what? This doesn’t excite many of you? Can’t understand that! ).
I admit I have not been following the standings very closely, because my schedule has been a bit tight for the first 2/3 of the tournament. But I had a bit of time yesterday. I was interested in finding out how my fellow SCC members were doing in other class groups. Here are their pairings and results for Rd. 6, with their point totals after 5 rounds ( there are 30 of us in this tournament, including the 8 of us in the U 2000 class ! ):
36 David Southam (2165 : W : 3.0) 1-0 Ralph Deline (1869 : B : 3.0)
39 Erwin Casareno (2105 : W : 3.0) 1-0 Pino Verde (1800 : B : 3.0)
41 Alex Rapoport (1838 : w : 3.0) 0-1 Alexandru Florea (2076 : B : 3.0)
44 Michael Rogers (1576 : W : 3.0) 0-1 Ismail Ibrahim (2062 : B : 3.0)
45 Alex T. Ferreira (2054 : W : 3.0) 1-0 Mei Chen Lee (1552 : BB : 3.0)
47 Aaron Wu (2030 : w : 3.0) 0-1 Matthew Scott (1506 : B : 3.0)
51 William G. Doubleday (2206 : W : 2.5) 0-1 Robert J. Armstrong (1800 : B : 2.5)
55 Roy Posaratnanathan (1731 : W : 2.5) 0-1 Elias Oussedik (2154 : B : 2.5)
57 Mario Moran-Venegas (1704 : W : 2.5) 0-1 Andrew Picana (2117 : b : 2.5)
59 Ralph Gregorz (2048 : W : 2.5) 1/2 Juliaan Posaratnanathan (1768 : B : 2.5)
68 Rod Hill (1934 : W : 2.5) 1-0 Michael Perez (1716 : B : 2.5)
69 Mike Ivanov (1928 : W : 2.5) 1-0 Nathan Farrant-Diaz (1716 : b : 2.5)
74 Michael Song (1866 : W : 2.5) 1-0 Jiaxin Liu (1460 : B : 2.5)
76 David Poirier (1855 : W : 2.5) 1-0 Joe Bellomo (1715 : B : 2.5)
78 Bill Peng (2254 : W : 2.0) 1-0 Bryan Morgan (1700 : B : 2.0)
80 Yevgeni Nahutin (2083 : W : 2.0) 1-0 Peter Xie (1629 : B : 2.0)
82 Doug Gillis (1680 : W : 2.0) 0-1 Peter Bokhout (1992 : B : 2.0)
90 Pierre Maheux (1897 : W : 2.0) 1-0 Andrew Philip (1556 : b : 2.0)
91 Ken Kurkowski (1616 : W : 2.0) 1-0 John W Chidley-Hill (1897 : B : 2.0)
92 Jim Paterson (1889 : WW : 2.0) 0-1 Patrick Yu (1572 : B : 2.0)
96 Ferdinand Cale (1806 : W : 2.0) 1-0 Steven Sokalsky (0 : B : 2.0)
101 James Mourgelas (1436 : W : 2.0) 0-1 Michael D. Sharpe (1726 : B : 2.0)
102 Vilas Karmalkar (1716 : W : 2.0) 0-1 Zhanna Sametova (1428 : b : 2.0)
115 Ted Termeer (1546 : W : 1.0) 0-1 Stephen Yu (1314 : B : 1.0)
118 Claudio Sottile (1516 : W : 1.0) 1/2 Eric Wang (992 : b : 1.0)
120 Pepin Manalo (1932 : w : 0.5) 1-0 Michael Gomes (964 : B : 1.0)
½ Robert Bzikot (1984 : W : 2.5) BYE
Good luck to all my fellow ( & 1 female ) members in Rd. 7.
Round 7 – Friday, July 16
So who are our top 4 U 2000 players playing tonight? Here are the pairings and they face some stiff opposition :
15 GM Joshua Friedel (2527 : w : 4.0) David Itkin (1966 : B : 4.5)
21 James Fu (1978 : w : 4.0) Yuri Aronov (2301 : b : 4.0)
26 Arjun Bharat (1841 : w : 4.0) David Southam (2165 : b : 4.0)
27 Felix Barrios (2162 : w : 4.0) David Miller (1871 : b : 4.0)
As a result of my three losses in a row now ( to a 2100 expert, and 2 2200 masters ), I got paired down again for Rd. 7, having only 2.5 pts.. Here is my pairing:
88 Robert J. Armstrong (1800 : WW : 2.5) - Jatinder Dhaliwal (1577 : B : 2.5)
Invitation
Finally, I'd like again to invite everyone to join into the discussion - any comments, suggestions, 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; Friday, 16th July, 2010, 03:17 AM.
Re: Day 6, Thursday, July 15: The U 2000 Can. Open Blog Pt. II
Dear Robert,
Thanks again to collect so many game information, especially the paring/list for U2000 and SCC players. It makes players and parents more clear where they are now and try harder next round. I have the same feeling that the event passed so fast with only three rounds left. Cannot image the long waited tournament is almost over.
I was so sorry to hear your lost of yesterday's game. You are right, lost game itself is not problem, but the way to lost does counts more. I understood your frustration. If because of my yesterday's reply made you too confident in yesterday's game, I apologize for it. :)
Go for it, with still 1/3 remaining games. I hope your rating can catch up to 1850-1900 soon.
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.
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..
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)
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.
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!
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