Hamilton Winter Open 2011

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

Hi Mikhail:

fixed - nice pics.

Bob

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

You have made Canadian chess look decent to a distinguished foreign visitor.

Thank you Jean. We are quite pleased with the success of our tournament. A record attendance of 81 players and a strong lineup of titled players. GM Bator Sambuev and GM Wesley So were class acts and a rare treat for a local swiss weekender.

In case my previous message was unclear,

The policy of the Hamilton crew organizers is to negotiate in private any special considerations we wish to extend to any specific player. We find this preferable to "negotiating" on chesstalk, and we suspect most players agree with us. :)

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

Thank you Jean. We are quite pleased with the success of our tournament. A record attendance of 81 players and a strong lineup of titled players. GM Bator Sambuev and GM Wesley So were class acts and a rare treat for a local swiss weekender.

In case my previous message was unclear,

The policy of the Hamilton crew organizers is to negotiate in private any special considerations we wish to extend to any specific player. We find this preferable to "negotiating" on chesstalk, and we suspect most players agree with us. :)

I would think that would also imply that any player who participated in those private negotiations would respect the privacy of the dialogue and not complain about the outcome in public (if it did not work out).

We can all agree that improving the conditions and arrangements for chess tournaments is a clear goal, but unless a big sponsor suddenly appears, small steps are better than no steps.

I didn't have a chance to drop by the Hamilton Open tournament, but from all the pictures I saw, it seems like a very well organized event - congratulations to all the people who put in a lot of work for the usual fee <g>.

[Mikhail Egorov]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

Hi Mikhail:

fixed - nice pics.

Bob

Hi Bob,

Thank you!.

Here are more videos from 2011 Hamilton Winter Open.

Wesley So analyses:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-oCp4FAzlM

Part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7G2dQRZIss

Pat 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCh3jp2IQsU

Hamilton Winter Open general videos:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIqwC...eature=related

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5aPS...eature=related

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

Are any games available? (my usual question)

http://canbase.fqechecs.qc.ca/index.htm

[Kai G. Gauer]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

http://www.gmwesleyso.com/index.php?...pose&Itemid=67 has a few more Hamilton photos in his album.

[Jean Hébert]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

Here are more videos from 2011 Hamilton Winter Open.

Wesley So analyses:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-oCp4FAzlM

Part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7G2dQRZIss

Pat 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCh3jp2IQsU

Hamilton Winter Open general videos:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIqwC...eature=related

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5aPS...eature=related

Apparently from what I can tell from the videos the tournament looked held in some sort of storage room basement or in a hallway. GM So's "analysis" seems to happen "illegally" in the playing area while other games are still in progress. No other room available ?

[Jean Hébert]

Re: Hamilton Winter Open 2011

In case my previous message was unclear,

The policy of the Hamilton crew organizers is to negotiate in private any special considerations we wish to extend to any specific player. We find this preferable to "negotiating" on chesstalk, and we suspect most players agree with us. :)

No one is questionning the need to negociate in private. What I question is the need to negociate entry fees for GMs on a case by case basis. Shouldn't you on principle advertise that GMs don't pay entry fees and then start the real negociating ? This would send a clear (and quite inexpensive) message that you care and respect strong players, beyond empty words.