Hi all,
This event never gets old! Best atmosphere :)
A big thanks to all the organizers of this event, particularly Neal Pan & Iulia Lacau-Rodean of Waterloo, and Michael von Keitz of Guelph. Arbiter Hal Bond always ensures the event takes place in the highest professionalism and no problems occur. Kuddos to Kai Gauer for games and photos.
Next year, University of Western Ontario will be host.
Congratulations University of Waterloo!
Hosts UW took both section prizes, sweeping at least the top section.
Always a contender, they had Kevin Chung, Avinaash Sundar, Iulia Lacau-Rodean & Neal Pan.
At the top section, University of Toronto took second place. Returning from a couple years absence, McGill was clear third.
A University of Toronto View:
Bindi Cheng led the team and took the best Board 1 prize, with an impressive 3.5/4 -- Haizhou Xu scored 3.0/4 and took the same medal on tie-breaks. Jon Yu returned to chess with a good showing, whereas I... blundered.
Our B team was composed of 5 players, with an alternate. Stuart Brammall, Robert Kleinman, Adrienne Todd, Siang Khor & Abeer Rahman. At the bottom of the seeding on the A section, they gave all comers a challenge, with some good individual scalps
Some of us just never learn. Hart House Chess Club Friday until midnight, 'dinner' until 2am, trying to convince Rob Roller to participate until 3am, getting home some time after that, and catching the bus at 7am.
Off the Board:
Many of us ended up going to the famous Bobby O' Brian's pub / restaurant just across City Hall, after the Saturday games. Half-price appetizers, all kinds of platters, interesting people, and awesome stories. Few chess specifics were discussed, a breath of fresh air when away at a tournament.
However at some point, several of us participated in a conversation regarding the misuse of 'chess lingo' in real life situations, completely inappropriately.
And how you can describe almost any situation using this diseased language.
A post-grad student even commented on how after proof-reading an essay, chess lingo had to be removed before submitting it.
Most teams stayed at the Walper Terrace Hotel in Kitchener.
I must say many guests at the hotel were louder than this tournament's participants. The hotel seemed like a party all weekend. No complaints there.
Having one of the biggest rooms at the Walper (though I must say most are quite roomy), UT invited everyone to join us in post pub hours for more socializing over drinks and bughouse. Joining us were members of the Waterloo, Ottawa, Carleton, Queens & Guelph Universities. Some people may have fallen asleep well after 4am.
During a brief escapade from the hotel party, a few of us went in search of an open convenience store in downtown Kitchener. No luck. However, the downtown was well alive. Many special characters could be encountered, and making new friends was not a problem.
The below deserve mention:
Sorely Missed: (by Michael von Keitz, Andrew McMillan & Christian Stevens): Rob Roller
Missed: Benjamin Davidson, Johnny Hsiao, Amir Ghandari, Travis Li
Sore: Tyler Longo, Bindi Cheng
Best represented team where mattered: Ottawa
Best bar tan: Bindi Cheng
Most interactive with the locals: Adie Todd
Best dressed in pink: John Mangold
Winner of the Travis Li "I have a game tomorrow" award: Gold by Jon. Yu, Silver Michael von Keitz, Bronze Dingchao Zhang. -- Top seed Jonathan Farine was disqualified on a technicality.
Best chess set misplaced by: Tyler Longo
Best story to convince Rob to come (by Andy): Rob, think of the look on the eyes of a three-legged dog. The sense of pity the world has for it. That is University of Toronto. You can make that dog whole.
Thank you all for a memorable event!
Alex Ferreira
This event never gets old! Best atmosphere :)
A big thanks to all the organizers of this event, particularly Neal Pan & Iulia Lacau-Rodean of Waterloo, and Michael von Keitz of Guelph. Arbiter Hal Bond always ensures the event takes place in the highest professionalism and no problems occur. Kuddos to Kai Gauer for games and photos.
Next year, University of Western Ontario will be host.
Congratulations University of Waterloo!
Hosts UW took both section prizes, sweeping at least the top section.
Always a contender, they had Kevin Chung, Avinaash Sundar, Iulia Lacau-Rodean & Neal Pan.
At the top section, University of Toronto took second place. Returning from a couple years absence, McGill was clear third.
A University of Toronto View:
Bindi Cheng led the team and took the best Board 1 prize, with an impressive 3.5/4 -- Haizhou Xu scored 3.0/4 and took the same medal on tie-breaks. Jon Yu returned to chess with a good showing, whereas I... blundered.
Our B team was composed of 5 players, with an alternate. Stuart Brammall, Robert Kleinman, Adrienne Todd, Siang Khor & Abeer Rahman. At the bottom of the seeding on the A section, they gave all comers a challenge, with some good individual scalps
Some of us just never learn. Hart House Chess Club Friday until midnight, 'dinner' until 2am, trying to convince Rob Roller to participate until 3am, getting home some time after that, and catching the bus at 7am.
Off the Board:
Many of us ended up going to the famous Bobby O' Brian's pub / restaurant just across City Hall, after the Saturday games. Half-price appetizers, all kinds of platters, interesting people, and awesome stories. Few chess specifics were discussed, a breath of fresh air when away at a tournament.
However at some point, several of us participated in a conversation regarding the misuse of 'chess lingo' in real life situations, completely inappropriately.
And how you can describe almost any situation using this diseased language.
A post-grad student even commented on how after proof-reading an essay, chess lingo had to be removed before submitting it.
Most teams stayed at the Walper Terrace Hotel in Kitchener.
I must say many guests at the hotel were louder than this tournament's participants. The hotel seemed like a party all weekend. No complaints there.
Having one of the biggest rooms at the Walper (though I must say most are quite roomy), UT invited everyone to join us in post pub hours for more socializing over drinks and bughouse. Joining us were members of the Waterloo, Ottawa, Carleton, Queens & Guelph Universities. Some people may have fallen asleep well after 4am.
During a brief escapade from the hotel party, a few of us went in search of an open convenience store in downtown Kitchener. No luck. However, the downtown was well alive. Many special characters could be encountered, and making new friends was not a problem.
The below deserve mention:
Sorely Missed: (by Michael von Keitz, Andrew McMillan & Christian Stevens): Rob Roller
Missed: Benjamin Davidson, Johnny Hsiao, Amir Ghandari, Travis Li
Sore: Tyler Longo, Bindi Cheng
Best represented team where mattered: Ottawa
Best bar tan: Bindi Cheng
Most interactive with the locals: Adie Todd
Best dressed in pink: John Mangold
Winner of the Travis Li "I have a game tomorrow" award: Gold by Jon. Yu, Silver Michael von Keitz, Bronze Dingchao Zhang. -- Top seed Jonathan Farine was disqualified on a technicality.
Best chess set misplaced by: Tyler Longo
Best story to convince Rob to come (by Andy): Rob, think of the look on the eyes of a three-legged dog. The sense of pity the world has for it. That is University of Toronto. You can make that dog whole.
Thank you all for a memorable event!
Alex Ferreira
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