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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 ]
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 ]
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