Tweet
I’m back home again and looking forward to a full night’s sleep.
How about that story book finish? Six Canadians were playing on the top six boards and we managed to score 50%, including 2 victories over the top 2 GMs. Yoos won an exciting game over top seeded Pentala, who now joins countrymen Anand, and Kunte Ganguly on the list of GM scalps at the hands of much lower rated Canadians. My favourite result of the round was Nikolay’s win over the second seed Eduardis Rozentalis, thereby winning clear second! Nikolay earned 4 IM norms at my tournaments before winning the IM title outright at the 2007 Closed in Kitchener. His climb stalled for a while due to outside commitments but he told me he is now free and able to focus on his game again. Great news for our Olympic team!
Stephen and Jonathan have said it all regarding Aman Hambleton’s fantastic performance. FIDE’s new rules about a second unrated player being deemed a 1200 opponent is ridiculous. He still came within 2 rating points of an IM norm. I will plead his case nonetheless but no promises!
I was quite proud of our Arbiter team. We had no appeals. Each of them was on double duty throughout the event. Aris Marghetis was a rock – helping with the pairings until 2am each round and getting up at 7:30 to work with Ted Winnick’s day camp. Aris is an excellent “people person” and he kept me sane during the rough spots. Brian Lamb was also an asset to the squad - enduring the double shift as a student in the Arbiter seminar from 9 till 5 and then hitting the floor from 6pm until midnight. Newly elected OCA President Michael von Keitz also performed admirably in his first arbiting assignment of the scale. Like Brian, Michael took the FIDE Arbiter seminar and wrote the gruelling 4 hour exam. He and his 13 classmates will have their results in about 2 weeks. The FIDE lecturer Stephen Boyd also pinch hit as an arbiter in the tournament during the first round and when he was introduced he was amply lauded. Many players remember his work in Toronto back in the day. I really enjoyed working with him.
By the way, regarding the Bharat - MacKinnon game in rd 9, I misunderstood Mr. Zator's initial question. He was one of scores of people who asked me if I had seen this game or that one becasue the games were interesting. Generally I don't follow the games at all, so I may have appeared dismissive. When he implied an irregularity I checked the pairing and dismissed any wrong doing based on my knowledge of the players. Unfortunately, before I could report back to Mr. Zator I was deflected by another issue.
I haven't looked too much at all the threads. Although I may be biased I think the negative posters really need to remember that unconstructive criticism is self defeating - it kills sponsorship and drives away the people who move heaven and earth to make these events possible. Zvonko Vranesic's first remarks in his wonderful address at the closing banquet were directed at organizers large and small because without them we have no tournaments.
I did read Mr. Fairbairn's comments with interest. Very good. I have never played in the high end European events but I would love to get more feedback on what it would take to create a "first string" calibre tournament in Canada.
Next up - the Kitchener Chess Festival July 30 - August 2! This year we are staging the Canadian Senior (60+), seeding a player to the World Championships in Italy, the Ontario Closed for players above 2100, and the 4th Annual Canadian Amateur. All 3 events are 7 rounds and FIDE rated. More details at www.chessfest.ca
How about that story book finish? Six Canadians were playing on the top six boards and we managed to score 50%, including 2 victories over the top 2 GMs. Yoos won an exciting game over top seeded Pentala, who now joins countrymen Anand, and Kunte Ganguly on the list of GM scalps at the hands of much lower rated Canadians. My favourite result of the round was Nikolay’s win over the second seed Eduardis Rozentalis, thereby winning clear second! Nikolay earned 4 IM norms at my tournaments before winning the IM title outright at the 2007 Closed in Kitchener. His climb stalled for a while due to outside commitments but he told me he is now free and able to focus on his game again. Great news for our Olympic team!
Stephen and Jonathan have said it all regarding Aman Hambleton’s fantastic performance. FIDE’s new rules about a second unrated player being deemed a 1200 opponent is ridiculous. He still came within 2 rating points of an IM norm. I will plead his case nonetheless but no promises!
I was quite proud of our Arbiter team. We had no appeals. Each of them was on double duty throughout the event. Aris Marghetis was a rock – helping with the pairings until 2am each round and getting up at 7:30 to work with Ted Winnick’s day camp. Aris is an excellent “people person” and he kept me sane during the rough spots. Brian Lamb was also an asset to the squad - enduring the double shift as a student in the Arbiter seminar from 9 till 5 and then hitting the floor from 6pm until midnight. Newly elected OCA President Michael von Keitz also performed admirably in his first arbiting assignment of the scale. Like Brian, Michael took the FIDE Arbiter seminar and wrote the gruelling 4 hour exam. He and his 13 classmates will have their results in about 2 weeks. The FIDE lecturer Stephen Boyd also pinch hit as an arbiter in the tournament during the first round and when he was introduced he was amply lauded. Many players remember his work in Toronto back in the day. I really enjoyed working with him.
By the way, regarding the Bharat - MacKinnon game in rd 9, I misunderstood Mr. Zator's initial question. He was one of scores of people who asked me if I had seen this game or that one becasue the games were interesting. Generally I don't follow the games at all, so I may have appeared dismissive. When he implied an irregularity I checked the pairing and dismissed any wrong doing based on my knowledge of the players. Unfortunately, before I could report back to Mr. Zator I was deflected by another issue.
I haven't looked too much at all the threads. Although I may be biased I think the negative posters really need to remember that unconstructive criticism is self defeating - it kills sponsorship and drives away the people who move heaven and earth to make these events possible. Zvonko Vranesic's first remarks in his wonderful address at the closing banquet were directed at organizers large and small because without them we have no tournaments.
I did read Mr. Fairbairn's comments with interest. Very good. I have never played in the high end European events but I would love to get more feedback on what it would take to create a "first string" calibre tournament in Canada.
Next up - the Kitchener Chess Festival July 30 - August 2! This year we are staging the Canadian Senior (60+), seeding a player to the World Championships in Italy, the Ontario Closed for players above 2100, and the 4th Annual Canadian Amateur. All 3 events are 7 rounds and FIDE rated. More details at www.chessfest.ca
) but for the third round the 3-point group was also wrong. Players who had not been in the top quartile were now considered to be.
Comment