Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

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  • Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

    The (Pan American) Continental Championship will be in Mexico this year, much closer than the usual South America. It is being tacked on to Mexico's annual Mexican Open, Easter Week (19-24 April 2011) with their standard 9 game in 6 day schedule. Prize fund is over $30,000 (Canadian dollars) for the Continental. There are other sections too.

    The 7-page tournament announcement (Convocatoria) in Spanish is available at:
    http://chessapatzi.wordpress.com/201...rto-de-toluca/.

    I played in the Mexican Open once, and directed a similar tournament once. It is likely to be the largest adult chess tournament you've ever seen, if you haven't been to an Olympiad or a World Open. Playing conditions are difficult to predict. TDs will do the best with what is available, but sometimes that means a lot of noise and not much light.

    Because this qualifies for the World Championship thingie, the event has traditionally attracted lots of GMs from all over the Americas.

    Toluca is close (63 km) to Mexico City. Anybody who has been to Mexico City airport will know that the word "convenient" does not necessarily apply. If you lose, lightheadedness is a ready-made excuse: Toluca's altitude is 2,680 metres (8,793 ft) above sea level. By comparison, Morelia, co-site of some famous Linares tournaments, is only 6,300 feet in elevation, which for most participants, in Morelia, would not be a factor. On the good side, the temperatures in Toluca can be quite cold (not freezing in April, but cold) by world standards, so Canadians may have a competitive advantage over tropical lowlanders (but not the locals!).
    Last edited by Jonathan Berry; Tuesday, 22nd February, 2011, 04:03 AM.

  • #2
    Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

    Yeah I heard about this event about a month ago. I'm planning to go, staying with a friend from Mexico who lives in D.F. It's too bad so many tournaments are on the same weekend. Airfares are down a lot because of the violence but I'm not too worried, I still intend to go have fun down there.

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    • #3
      Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

      Originally posted by Eric Hansen View Post
      Yeah I heard about this event about a month ago. I'm planning to go, staying with a friend from Mexico who lives in D.F. It's too bad so many tournaments are on the same weekend. Airfares are down a lot because of the violence but I'm not too worried, I still intend to go have fun down there.
      According to the ACC website, Mark Bluvshtein will play. Kevin Spraggett is a maybe. A player from Calgary (ahem!) would have an elevation advantage over any other major city in Canada. "Personally", I've had good results at 5,000 feet (Guadalajara), but 12,000 feet (La Paz, Bolivia) made me ill. Fortunately I wasn't attempting to play chess at that altitude. Toluca at 8,750 feet is in the middle... but I'd say that--with the intense schedule--physical conditioning and altitude adaptation will play crucial roles. Flying away from La Paz, a frequent visitor from the lowlands of Brazil told me the preparations he took when visiting that elevated location...

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      • #4
        Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

        Anyone know where we can get games/updates?
        Marcus Wilker
        Annex Chess Club
        Toronto, Ontario

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        • #5
          Mark's Game - Rd. 1

          http://www.fenamac.org.mx/mac/nuevaP..._abierto_2011/

          Bluvshtein,Mark (CAN) - Martínez Ocampo,Fernando (MEX)
          Continental Absoluto de América (1), 20.04.2011

          1.d4 Cf6 2.c4 g6 3.Cc3 Ag7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0–0 6.Ag5 Cbd7 7.Ae2 e5
          8.d5 a5 9.g4 Cc5 10.Dc2 Ad7 11.Cf3 De8 12.0–0–0 a4 13.Cd2 Ca6
          14.a3 Cc5 15.Tdg1 c6 16.Ae3 cxd5 17.exd5 Dc8 18.Rb1 Dc7 19.h4
          Tfc8 20.h5 b5 21.hxg6 fxg6 22.g5 Ce8 23.Cxb5 Db7 24.Ag4 Axb5
          25.cxb5 Tc7 26.Ce4 Cb3 27.Ae6+ Rh8 28.Txh7+ Rxh7 29.Cf6+ Cxf6
          30.Th1+ 1–0

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          • #6
            Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

            Nice work on the link, Bob! Thanks.
            Marcus Wilker
            Annex Chess Club
            Toronto, Ontario

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

              I've been waiting weeks for a great website to turn up, but I guess it's not going to happen. At least there are bulletins :-)

              I'm not sure why Kovalyov's game didn't make it in.......

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              • #8
                Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                There's ranking/pairings/results page as well, though it's not easy to find:

                http://www.fenamac.org.mx/mac/nuevaP...ntinental.html

                Click on "Pareos/Resultados" on the right side of the screen.

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                • #9
                  Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                  Originally posted by chris View Post
                  There's ranking/pairings/results page as well, though it's not easy to find:

                  http://www.fenamac.org.mx/mac/nuevaP...ntinental.html

                  Click on "Pareos/Resultados" on the right side of the screen.
                  Yup. They've been working on that site for some time (obviously). Only a day late :-)

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                  • #10
                    Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                    Mark got a full point as black in round 2 and is now the third highest-rated player with a 2-0 record. There are two Cuban GMs ahead of him.

                    1 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro 2.0 CUB M 2668
                    2 Corrales Jimenez, Fidel 2.0 CUB M 2597
                    3 Bluvshtein, Mark 2.0 CAN M 2589
                    4 Felgaer, Ruben 2.0 ARG M 2577
                    5 Lafuente, Pablo 2.0 ARG M 2572
                    6 Nogueiras, Jesus 2.0 CUB M 2566
                    7 Lenderman, Aleksandr 2.0 USA M 2548
                    8 Leon Hoyos, Manuel YUC 2.0 MEX M 2546
                    9 Ibragimov, Ildar 2.0 USA M 2545
                    10 Yermolinsky, Alex 2.0 USA M 2530

                    I posted some info and photos on the Annex Chess Club site, too.
                    Last edited by Marcus Wilker; Thursday, 21st April, 2011, 01:57 PM. Reason: added photos
                    Marcus Wilker
                    Annex Chess Club
                    Toronto, Ontario

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                      We invited Fidel Corrales from the 2006 Canadian Open in Kitchener. He was a rising 2500 IM at the time. We reconnected in Khanty Mansiysk at the Olympiad. The girls still adore him!

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                      • #12
                        Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                        1 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro 3.0 CUB 2668
                        2 Lafuente, Pablo 3.0 ARG 2572
                        3 Leon Hoyos, Manuel YUC 3.0 MEX 2546
                        4 Friedel, Joshua E 3.0 USA 2529
                        5 Barrientos, Sergio E 3.0 COL 2499
                        6 Cori, Jorge 3.0 PER 2485
                        7 Gurevich, Dmitry 3.0 USA 2475
                        8 De La Paz Perdomo, Frank 3.0 CUB 2473
                        9 Rios, Cristhian Camilo 3.0 COL 2409
                        10 Almeida Saenz, Alfonso 3.0 MEX 2349
                        11 Vescovi, Giovanni 2.5 BRA 2634
                        12 Kovalyov, Anton 2.5 ARG 2629
                        13 Corrales Jimenez, Fidel 2.5 CUB 2597
                        14 Bluvshtein, Mark 2.5 CAN 2589

                        15 Felgaer, Ruben 2.5 ARG 2577

                        "The Continental in Toluca, México"
                        Marcus Wilker
                        Annex Chess Club
                        Toronto, Ontario

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                        • #13
                          Tied for the lead after 8 rounds!

                          Mark has surrendered only 3 draws and sits tied for the lead at 6.5. One round to go. Awesome job Mark! If I read the site correctly, the four 6 pointers drew each other in round 8 and a few 5.5's won their games. Kovalyov lost in round 8 and sits at 5.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                            Try this link
                            http://www.fenamac.org.mx/mac/nuevaPagina/index.html
                            Click on the rectangle and you should get the live games

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                            • #15
                              Re: Continental Championship in Toluca, Mexico

                              Mark has won his last round game and finished tied for 1st, taking a spot in World Cup.

                              The game is available at the site in the previous post.

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