5th Edmonton International

[Vlad Rekhson]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

Looks great Vlad! Best of luck with the event.

Thank you Hal. We'll do our best!

[Hal Bond]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

Looks great Vlad! Best of luck with the event.

[Vlad Rekhson]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

Is anyone in this group other than Pechenkin a serious threat to gain an IM norm? Kinda surprising to have an IM norm tourney with only one non IM over 2300.

I think that Vladimir Pechenkin has a decent norm chance (probably the best of the field), but I don't think that he is the only one.

FM Michael Langer already has one IM norm from one of the US championships and he would have had a norm chance in the 2009 Canadian Open, had FIDE not changed the rules right before the tournament took place.

FM Dale Haessel is very unpredictable. He nearly got an IM norm in the 2005 Canadian Open but only missed it on a technicality. He often does a lot better against stronger competition than his rating would suggest, but at the same time he sometimes does worse than expected against weaker opposition.

Richard Wang was definitely on the upswing until he had a couple of pretty routine performances in Ontario. Must be something in the water:)
I don't think that he will be a serious norm contender YET, but his goal should be to gain experience for future norm events.

Rob Gardner and Daniel Van Heirzeele are serious long shots for norm, but who knows!

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

What's the difference? It's usually dates that get carved in the stone and not chess ratings.

Translation: my rating wouldn't get the 5th Edmonton International appreciably closer to being able to offer a GM norm.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

My only regret is that my rating isn't high enough to be worth sacrificing on a norm pyre.

What's the difference? It's usually dates that get carved in the stone and not chess ratings.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

Although, maybe they are the peaceful type of GM who are here for a chess vacation which would help.

I played in a norm event which included a strong IM whom I met in the first round. Against the odds, I played well in the opening and pressed to win, but finally he liquidated into a draw. Probably he saw the road to safety long before I did. Anyway, I thought "This is not the best result, but it is a good result". Imagine my chagrin when he didn't try hard against the other rabbits, and the leaders didn't try hard against him, not wishing to waken the sleeping tiger. He drew all his games. It was a vacation! My first round result turned out to be thoroughly average.

Just guessing, but perhaps the GMs were invited at a time when organizers were still hoping to get enough other high-rated players for a GM-norm event. My only regret is that my rating isn't high enough to be worth sacrificing on a norm pyre.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

That's a good point. No, I don't think anyone else has a realistic chance to get a norm other than Pechenkin but I do hope to be proven wrong. I do think having 3 GM's in a IM norm event rather than 3 IM's is a significant disadvantage; a huge gap between GM's and IM's skill wise usually. Although, maybe they are the peaceful type of GM who are here for a chess vacation which would help. The most realistic result is players may get a scalp that they can remember and share for a lifetime. I also think it's a great tournament to gain experience for the fast improving Richard Wang (12y.o 2300 cfc)

It is much more easy to follow and to root for a one guy pursing the norm :D

A norm tournament would be with really really realistic possibilities to get a norm (First Saturday smth). Now it is a good chess event

[Eric Hansen]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

Is anyone in this group other than Pechenkin a serious threat to gain an IM norm? Kinda surprising to have an IM norm tourney with only one non IM over 2300.

That's a good point. No, I don't think anyone else has a realistic chance to get a norm other than Pechenkin but I do hope to be proven wrong. I do think having 3 GM's in a IM norm event rather than 3 IM's is a significant disadvantage; a huge gap between GM's and IM's skill wise usually. Although, maybe they are the peaceful type of GM who are here for a chess vacation which would help. The most realistic result is players may get a scalp that they can remember and share for a lifetime. I also think it's a great tournament to gain experience for the fast improving Richard Wang (12y.o 2300 cfc)

[David Ottosen]

Re: 5th Edmonton International

Is anyone in this group other than Pechenkin a serious threat to gain an IM norm? Kinda surprising to have an IM norm tourney with only one non IM over 2300.

[Vlad Rekhson]

With the completion of the Canadian Open it is not time to focus on other upcoming major events in Canada. One of them will be the 5th annual Edmonton International. The tournament will take place over 6 days, from July 28-August 2nd in the Edmonton Chess Club.

This year the tournament will once again be a 10 player Round-Robin. Unlike last year, this year the tournament will only be for IM norms, on the other hand, it will allow more Albertans to have an opportunity to participate.

Besides the main event, there will be a reserves section on July 31-August 1, simuls by: IM Edward Porper (July 26) and GM Magesh Panchanathan (July 27), as well as a lecture by GM Jesse Kraai (July 27).

For full details you can go to: http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFHome.html

The full roster of the 5th Edmonton International:

1. GM Magesh Panchanathan (2533, India)
2. GM Jesse Kraai (2502, USA)
3. GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2487, Georgia)
4. IM Edward Porper (2441, Canada)
5. FM Victor Pechenkin (2345, Canada)
6. FM Michael Langer (2280, USA)
7. FM Dale Haessel (2233, Canada)
8. Richard Wang (2190, Canada)
9. Robert Gardner (2151, Canada)
10.Daniel Van heirzeele (2120, Belgium)

Average rating: 2329. IM norm: 6/9