U1800 Canadian Open Blog Rd. 1

Bob (and others) are doing a nice job describing their experiences at this CO, so I will try not to duplicate their writings too much while focusing on a sub-1800 player’s perspective.
First of all, it’s a joy to play in an attractive environment like this – makes you feel that chess is not a second-class sport/game! The complementary shirts, the spacious, quiet, air-conditioned playing room, the standard pieces and digital clocks (allowing all players, not just the top boards, to play with time increments) all contribute. I liked Erik Malmsten’s posters of results from past Opens- got to check out my results from way back when: Fredericton 1977; Hamilton 1978; Scarborough 1988.
Secondly, as pointed out by Bob, the social aspect of the tournament is a large part of the enjoyment. My club, Scarborough, is out in force here but I have renewed acquaintances with fellow players from the old Dutton Chess and Bayview Games clubs. For example, my first round opponent, Julian McRoberts, used to play at BGC but has been working overseas the past few years.
Finally to my game. I reacted a bit too passively to my opponent’s Exchange Variation against my French Defence and had the worst of it for a while, but kept the major pieces on to maintain some complications. It worked- Julian missed a little tactic that allowed me to win his Queen for a Rook and I got my first point.