FIDE level chess in Canada

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

You're correct, I should have said 2000+ FIDE level tournaments, since that's the range that appeals to me.

It would still be nice to see FIDE tournaments at the other levels too.

My suggestions: contact local chess players and you may find 5-7 interested to play. chess.ca provides names who are CFC members (less hassle with fees) http://www.chess.ca/players?player_search_prov=QC

[Denton Cockburn]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

What do you call a "FIDE level tournament"?
FYI: FIDE ratings starts at 1200.

You're correct, I should have said 2000+ FIDE level tournaments, since that's the range that appeals to me.

It would still be nice to see FIDE tournaments at the other levels too.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

Third, There aren't many FIDE level tournaments. It would be nice to have at least 1 FIDE level tournament per week in the big provinces.

What do you call a "FIDE level tournament"?
FYI: FIDE ratings starts at 1200.

[Jean Hébert]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

As a chess organizers, I can tell you that each and every amateur willing to pay membership dues and entry fees are most precious.

That is exactly what I said. Their value for you is essentially financial... and for you there is little beyond the figures...

[Hal Bond]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

FIDE rated events are on the rise in Canada Gary - Alberta and Ontario in particular. Norm tournaments and beyond - that's another matter.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

On the topic of FIDE ratings, I can't see any reason more event can't be rated by FIDE. It must be at least 25 years since I played in an event which was not rated by the ICCF. Some rated by the Canadian CCCA as well.

International ratings are the "in" thing.

[Hal Bond]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

Easy to talk if you are not a GM... Chess in Canada, atleast to my opinion, seems getting worse each year. Only one open a year that can be called professional: Quebec open (good conditions, nice playing hall, good prizes, excellent norm opportunities, fide rated) which of course is not enough to make a living just by playing. But at the same time I understand that not much can be expected if most of the organizers haven't any support by the national federation or the gouverment.
The only way a professional could try to make a living by playing is Europe, but the flight tickets hurt a lot.
So there really shouldn't be much surprise... even I don't have any ambitions anymore and have to offer lessons to try to compensate at least a bit all the time and hard work spent to become a GM.
So of course there can't be really strong and ambitious chess players in a country where 90% of the tournaments have no guaranteed prizes, no descent conditions for titled players and are not rated fide.

Best regards, Anton.

Thanks for posting Anton. I'm not sure chess is getting worse, but it remains true that professional chess tournaments in Canada are too expensive for most organizers to deliver. A decent 10 player round robin, with an appearance fee of $1000 per player plus accommodation and a modest $10,000 prize fund carries a price tag of $30-40K. This should be easily raised in a wealthy country like Canada but the reality is quite different. I hope I live to see the day when Canada can stage a few such events per year.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

The average amateur dropping out is a negligible loss chesswise. His loss is financial : one less entry fee to come in. That loss is easily made up for with just about anybody else willing to pay a membership card and entry fees.

I would have to disagree here, Jean. As a chess organizers, I can tell you that each and every amateur willing to pay membership dues and entry fees are most precious. They are not some limitless commodity as you suggest.

[Kovalyov Anton]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

There are many FIDE rated tournaments in Alberta and some local players are getting very strong. Richard Wang might be the best talent that I have ever seen come out of Alberta. Eric Hansen is the only other player that is close. We also have strong players like Edward Porper, Vlad Pechenkin and masters like Alex Yam and Dan Kazmaier are still improving.

I like how some players love criticizing the few chess organizer's there are in the country while they themselves couldn't be bothered to do anything for chess in the country. Spraggett should be ashamed of himself for talking an enormous amount of trash without doing anything to change the situation. Instead he writes posts for his moronic blog bemoaning the conditions as if it is a realistic expectation for organizer's to show up at his door step with big bags of money begging him to play in their tournament.

Here's the reality of the situation, some strong players love complaining about the the lack of strong tournaments, fundraising, sponsors in chess and so forth, and these same people almost never help organize a tournament or attract sponsors. This may be a revolutionary idea, but maybe professional chess players have to work hard (same as any other profession) in order to make money. I'm not talking about just playing chess, but also about educating, organizing tournaments and attracting sponsors. I'm sorry if they feel that their chosen profession is so intrinsically valuable that people should be lining up at their door to pay them to play, however the reality is that this will never happen. If complaining on the internet could change anything this world wouldn't have problems.

Easy to talk if you are not a GM... Chess in Canada, atleast to my opinion, seems getting worse each year. Only one open a year that can be called professional: Quebec open (good conditions, nice playing hall, good prizes, excellent norm opportunities, fide rated) which of course is not enough to make a living just by playing. But at the same time I understand that not much can be expected if most of the organizers haven't any support by the national federation or the gouverment.
The only way a professional could try to make a living by playing is Europe, but the flight tickets hurt a lot.
So there really shouldn't be much surprise... even I don't have any ambitions anymore and have to offer lessons to try to compensate at least a bit all the time and hard work spent to become a GM.
So of course there can't be really strong and ambitious chess players in a country where 90% of the tournaments have no guaranteed prizes, no descent conditions for titled players and are not rated fide.

Best regards, Anton.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

I like how some players love criticizing the few chess organizer's there are in the country while they themselves couldn't be bothered to do anything for chess in the country. Spraggett should be ashamed of himself for talking an enormous amount of trash without doing anything to change the situation. Instead he writes posts for his moronic blog bemoaning the conditions as if it is a realistic expectation for organizer's to show up at his door step with big bags of money begging him to play in their tournament.

No point in taking it out on the messenger.

He merely put Canadian Chess on the international map with his hgh placings, consistency and dedication to the game. I don't think it's too much for him to request chess be kept on that level.

[Nicolas Haynes]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

There are many FIDE rated tournaments in Alberta and some local players are getting very strong. Richard Wang might be the best talent that I have ever seen come out of Alberta. Eric Hansen is the only other player that is close. We also have strong players like Edward Porper, Vlad Pechenkin and masters like Alex Yam and Dan Kazmaier are still improving.

I like how some players love criticizing the few chess organizer's there are in the country while they themselves couldn't be bothered to do anything for chess in the country. Spraggett should be ashamed of himself for talking an enormous amount of trash without doing anything to change the situation. Instead he writes posts for his moronic blog bemoaning the conditions as if it is a realistic expectation for organizer's to show up at his door step with big bags of money begging him to play in their tournament.

Here's the reality of the situation, some strong players love complaining about the the lack of strong tournaments, fundraising, sponsors in chess and so forth, and these same people almost never help organize a tournament or attract sponsors. This may be a revolutionary idea, but maybe professional chess players have to work hard (same as any other profession) in order to make money. I'm not talking about just playing chess, but also about educating, organizing tournaments and attracting sponsors. I'm sorry if they feel that their chosen profession is so intrinsically valuable that people should be lining up at their door to pay them to play, however the reality is that this will never happen. If complaining on the internet could change anything this world wouldn't have problems.

[Bindi Cheng]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

Hi David:

Seems you are right - Look at last year's Toronto Closed ( this year, the tournament is so wobbly that GTCL doesn't even have a bid for the 2012 tournament as far as I've heard ). The Championship section is an 8-player round robin over 7 consective weekends ( not sure but I think it was played on Sunday afternoons ). I believe the prize fund is quite modest:

2011 Toronto Closed Ch
Date Director Region Type
2011-04-03 Vladimir Birarov ON R

# Player Old Perf New High Results Total

1 Plotkin, Victor 2403 2475 2422 2436 X = 1 1 = 1 0 1 5.0
2 Kleinman, Michael 2246 2440 2279 2299 = X 0 = 1 = 1 1 4.5
3 Sapozhnikov, Roman 2459 2353 2443 2477 0 1 X 0 = 1 = 1 4.0
4 Birarov, Vladimir 2257 2325 2267 2267 0 = 1 X 1 = 0 = 3.5
5 Guo, Josh 2263 2324 2272 2272 = 0 = 0 X = 1 1 3.5
6 Aronov, Yuri 2313 2317 2313 2320 0 = 0 = = X 1 1 3.5
7 Barron, Michael 2340 2256 2328 2377 1 0 = 1 0 0 X = 3.0
8 Moffat, Andrei 2248 2040 2220 2321 0 0 0 = 0 0 = X 1.0

5/8 players over 2300, which is not too shabby. But in Toronto, one would hope for much better.

Here are the potential top players ( from the 2012 top Ontario list, active in the last five years ):

1 Noritsyn, Nikolay Richmond Hill, ON 2661 2012-02-20
2 Bluvshtein, Mark Toronto, ON 2632 2011-07-17
3 Gerzhoy, Leonid Toronto, ON 2592 2011-12-18
4 Samsonkin, Artiom Toronto, ON 2568 2012-02-20
6 Sapozhnikov, Roman Richmond Hill, ON 2528 2012-02-20
7 Zugic, Igor Toronto, ON 2516 2008-09-02
8 Thavandiran, Shiyam Toronto, ON 2501 2012-01-15
11 Teplitsky, Yan Markham, ON 2473 2010-09-06
12 Quan, Zhe Richmond Hill, ON 2462 2009-07-19
13 Tayar, Jonathan Toronto, ON 2462 2011-09-05
15 Cummings, David Toronto, ON 2439 2012-01-23
17 Kleinman, Michael Toronto, ON 2415 2012-02-20
18 Hambleton, Aman Toronto, ON 2414 2012-02-20
19 Livshits, Ron Pickering, ON 2412 2009-08-16
20 Martchenko, Alexander Etobicoke, ON 2412 2011-07-30

Now some of these are university students away from Toronto for school, and would not be able to attend a regular Toronto weekly tournament. And maybe a few have weekend commitments that would prevent them playing, and a few are semi-retired at least. But all are over 2400! GTCL only attracted 2 from this list: Roman Sapozhnikov and Michael Kleinman ( who wouldn't have been on the list last year ). So obviously top players don't play if there is no money. So much for attempting strong-player FIDE tournaments on a shoe-string.

Bob A.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but personally I looked at the proposed tournament for a brief moment. What turned me off from attending was
1) 1 game a week?... I can't come to toronto for 7 straight weeks just to play chess on a sunday afternoon - I have classes on monday and I would not be mentally prepared to play at my best
2) I think there was some kind of an entree for this which came out to the prize fund. I didn't think it was worth the travel expense to win some small prize fund when I'm not even the clear favorite
3) When I play a weekend tournament, it's not just about the chess - I also like hanging out with the hart house crowd and socializing. Pure chess is too intense and there's no point being all that serious when I'm not a 2600 GM

[Bob Armstrong]

2012 Toronto Closed - Top Players??

Hi Egis:

Getting old! No memory anymore ... and I as GTCL Bd. member voted re this bid! - lucky if I can find my way to Scarborough CC tonight!

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The ChessTalk post was Feb. 13 ( about 3 weeks now ). The tournament starts March 26 - I think ( on 7 consecutive Monday nights this year ).

Is there a pre-registration list that can be published NOW - are the top Toronto players rushing to sign up?? What is the first prize this year ( based on how many entries in the Championship and Reserves )? Will it be high enough to attract the money players?

Bob A

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

this year, the tournament is so wobbly that GTCL doesn't even have a bid for the 2012 tournament as far as I've heard )

Bob, your knowledge are too old. The bid was approved and a registration started.
At the GTCL - http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/c...toronto_closed
At chesstalk - http://chesstalk.info/forum/showthre...toronto+closed
At the Annex CC - http://annexchessclub.com/2012/02/re...toronto-closed

(all those posts have the same message - a call for players.)

[Jean Hébert]

Re: FIDE level chess in Canada

All my chess life, people have been worrying about why the strong players drop out. It's not the problem.

You fail to grasp that a high rated player dropping out of chess is a big loss for the community, especially if he writes, teaches and shares his knowledge and experience in many ways. All that is lost for further generations of players, especially the young and up and coming ones.
The average amateur dropping out is a negligible loss chesswise. His loss is financial : one less entry fee to come in. That loss is easily made up for with just about anybody else willing to pay a membership card and entry fees. The strong ones dropping are much harder to be replaced. How is it possible to make up for LeSiege and Bluvshtein's losses ?