Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

[John Upper]

Olympic Waive Active Tournament.
Saturday, June 23, 1pm-5:30. RA Centre, Ottawa.

An Olympic Waive tournament is a fund-raiser for the Canadian Chess Olympic team(s): $20 from each entry goes to the Olympic fund. If that isn't a good enough reason for you then here's another:
GM Nigel Short has agreed to play!
Unless you have been invited to play in the top section at the Edmonton International or the London Classsic, this is your best chance to play Nigel one-on-one in a tournament. And, to give everyone (including unrated players) an equal chance to play him, Nigel's opponents for Rd.1 and 2 will be selected at random from the bottom half of his score group. Normal Swiss pairings everywhere else.

Tournament Info:

Date: Saturday, June 23, 2012; Rd.1 @ 1pm. Remaining rounds ASAP.
Rds: 5
TC: 20 min + 5 sec
EF: $45 for non-RA Members; $40 RA Members.
Register at RACC Thursday nights, or on site between 12:15pm and 12:45 pm
Prizes: $20 per entry goes to Canadian Olympic fund, the remainder goes to the winner. CFC caps or "Bobby Fischer Live" DVD to best score from bottom and middle 1/3.
TDs: John Upper, Stijn de Kerpel.
Note: CFC Membership is not required. Nigel's opponents for Rd.1 and 2 will be selected at random from the bottom half of his score group. Normal Swiss pairings everywhere else. If necessary a TD will play as floater to guarantee no forced byes. Sets and Clocks supplied by RACC.

Updates and Other Events, visit the RACC website

[Ken Craft]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

That is incredibly gracious of Short.

[Hal Bond]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

Great stuff John! I was talking to Nigel about his Canadian tour and he is generally quite upbeat about playing these days.

[John Upper]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

Olympic Waive Active Tournament.
Saturday, June 23, 1pm-5:30. RA Centre, Ottawa.

With his win in a rapid match over GM Granda Zuniga in Peru two weeks ago, Nigel showed he's ready for our Olympic Waive Active. ;)
So far we have two FMs entered, but there's still room for everyone, and to give non-titled players a shot at playing him, GM Short's opponents in rds 1 and 2 will be chosen at random from the bottom half of his score group.

Entries so far:

rank; name; active rating
1 Short, Nigel 2683 GM
2 Hamilton, Robert 2447 FM
3 Hambleton, Aman 2417 FM
4 Djerkovic, Miladin 2287
5 Kirby, Patrick 2178
6 Upper, John 2174 (TD+floater)
7 Marinkovic, Mate 2159
8 De Kerpel, Stijn 2153
9 Doubleday, Bill 2107
10 Sadeghi, Saeid 2064
11 Palsson, Halldor 2031
12 Donev, Danail 1953
13 Balazadeh, Kamal 1837
14 Ritchie, Gordon 1815
15 Krolczyk, Jacob 1692

Contact Gordon Ritchie or me to reserve your place in this tournament.

Also, don't forget about Nigel's Saturday evening lecture following the Active: "How (not) to Prepare".

[Aman Hambleton]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

With his win in a rapid match over GM Granda Zuniga in Peru two weeks ago, Nigel showed he's ready for our Olympic Waive Active. ;)
So far we have two FMs entered, but there's still room for everyone, and to give non-titled players a shot at playing him, GM Short's opponents in rds 1 and 2 will be chosen at random from the bottom half of his score group.

Entries so far:

rank; name; active rating
1 Short, Nigel 2683 GM
2 Hamilton, Robert 2447 FM
3 Hambleton, Aman 2417 FM
4 Djerkovic, Miladin 2287
5 Kirby, Patrick 2178
6 Upper, John 2174 (TD+floater)
7 Marinkovic, Mate 2159
8 De Kerpel, Stijn 2153
9 Doubleday, Bill 2107
10 Sadeghi, Saeid 2064
11 Palsson, Halldor 2031
12 Donev, Danail 1953
13 Balazadeh, Kamal 1837
14 Ritchie, Gordon 1815
15 Krolczyk, Jacob 1692

Please correct #2 & #3 and seed me ahead of Robert Hamilton as I should be. Thanks :)

[John Upper]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

Please correct #2 & #3 and seed me ahead of Robert Hamilton as I should be. Thanks :)

those are active ratings, downloaded from the CFC today. If the Active ratings change between today and June 23, I will change them.

[John Upper]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

Here are the entries (so far) for Saturday's RACC Nigel Short Olympic Waive Active

#	Name			Rtng	
1	Short, Nigel	  GM	2683
2	Hamilton, Robert  FM 	2447	
3	Hambleton, Aman   FM	2417
4	Djerkovic, Miladin	2287
5	Kirby, Patrick		2178	
6	Marinkovic, Mate	2159
7	De Kerpel, Stijn	2153
8	Doubleday, William G	2107
9	Sadeghi, Saeid		2064
10	Palsson, Halldor Peter	2031
11	Donev, Danail		1953	
12	Kalra, Agastya		1914	
13	Kuttner, Simon		1865	
14	Balazadeh, Kamal	1837
15	Ritchie, Gordon		1815	
16	Kuttner, Amos		1810
17	Krolczyk, Jacob		1692
18	Best, Garland		1450

A couple of the people listed above have not paid yet, but I'll be at the RA Centre (Courtside A) collecting late entries Saturday June 23, from 12:15 - 12:45 pm.

Rd.1 starts at 1pm.

The evening lecture --- "How (not) to Prepare" --- begins around 7pm.

Updates and Other Events, visit the RACC website[/QUOTE]

[John Upper]

RACC Olympic Waive Active - RESULTS

A Good day for chess in Ottawa.

21 players registered for the RACC-Nigel Short Olympic Waive Active, raising $420 for the Canadian Olympic team(s).

In the end our star guest --- Doctor Grandmaster Nigel Short, MBE --- posted a perfect 5/5 to take first place. Nigel defeated FM's Robert Hamilton and Aman Hambleton, inflicting what AFAIK is Aman's first ever loss at the RA Centre. It would have been a little less than perfect if his last-round opponent Miladin Djerkovic had not blundered away a drawn Q v p ending; hopefully this near miss will encourage Miladin to wear off some of his rust by playing Thursday nights at the RACC.

Special thanks to J. Ken MacDonald, who donated and mailed the DVD "Bobby Fischer Live", which was selected by our low-scoring but civilizing influence Marga De Villier.

Extra Special Thanks to Gordon Ritchie, who hosted Nigel's stay, and played as paying floater when needed today.

A full report with pix will be posted on the RACC website next week. For now, here is the X-table.

RACC Nigel Short Olympic Waive Active: RACC-Nigel Short Olympic Active 
#	Name			Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Tot	
1	Short, Nigel		2683	W10	W9	W5	W2	W6	 5.0	
2	Hambleton, Aman		2417	W13	W8	W6	L1	W5	 4.0	
3	Marinkovic, Mate	2159	D20	W14	L7	W15	W11	 3.5	
4	Ritchie, Gordon		1815	W16	H---	H---	H---	W22	 3.5	
5	Hamilton, Robert	2447	W12	W7	L1	W8	L2	 3.0	
6	Djerkovic, Miladin	2287	W19	W11	L2	W9	L1	 3.0	
7	De Kerpel, Stijn	2153	W15	L5	W3	W10	U---	 3.0	
8	Doubleday, William G	2107	W17	L2	W12	L5	W14	 3.0	
9	Palsson, Halldor Peter	2031	W22	L1	W14	L6	W15	 3.0	
10	Donev, Danail		1953	L1	W20	W17	L7	W12	 3.0	
11	Sadeghi, Saeid		2064	W18	L6	L15	W20	L3	 2.0	
12	Wan, Kevin		1948	L5	W16	L8	W18	L10	 2.0	
13	Arseneau, Peter		1902	L2	L17	L18	W22	W19	 2.0	
14	Balazadeh, Kamal	1837	X21	L3	L9	W17	L8	 2.0	
15	Glew, Richard		1779	L7	W22	W11	L3	L9	 2.0	
16	Holmes, Michael J	1752	L4	L12	W22	D19	D18	 2.0	
17	Krolczyk, Jacob		1692	L8	W13	L10	L14	W20	 2.0	
18	Best, Garland		1450	L11	D19	W13	L12	D16	 2.0	
19	Kuttner, Simon		1865	L6	D18	D20	D16	L13	 1.5	
20	Kuttner, Amos		1810	D3	L10	D19	L11	L17	 1.0	
21	Kirby, Patrick		2178	F14	U---	U---	U---	U---	 0.0	
22	De Villier, Marga	UR	L9	L15	L16	L13	L4	 0.0

[Aman Hambleton]

Re: RACC Olympic Waive Active - RESULTS

inflicting what AFAIK is Aman's first ever loss at the RA Centre.

Fact.

Thanks to everyone involved in organizing, hosting, and accommodating this event. I really appreciated the chance to play one of the top players in the world in a game where there were no "odds" whatsoever, unlike a simul for example. A chance to do that comes few and far between, and I was humbled to be able to.

I know Nigel Short along with Alexei Shirov frequent the RA Chess Club fairly often, if not annually - keep up the great work. :)

[Normand Arsenault]

Re: RACC Olympic Waive Active - RESULTS

I really appreciated the chance to play one of the top players in the world in a game where there were no "odds" whatsoever, unlike a simul for example. A chance to do that comes few and far between, and I was humbled to be able to.

That is quite a rare occurrence. The fact that the RA Club was able to accomplish such a feat speaks volumes about the Club.

Norm

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

Did Nigel (or anyone) record his (Nigel's) games?

[Aris Marghetis]

the guys behind the RA club

Fact.

Thanks to everyone involved in organizing, hosting, and accommodating this event. I really appreciated the chance to play one of the top players in the world in a game where there were no "odds" whatsoever, unlike a simul for example. A chance to do that comes few and far between, and I was humbled to be able to.

I know Nigel Short along with Alexei Shirov frequent the RA Chess Club fairly often, if not annually - keep up the great work. :)

Over the years, I have played a few times at the RA club, and in my humble opinion, the people who run this club are tremendously good for chess. They are all nice classy guys, working their butts off behind the scenes, making the RA club an awesome chess place.

I hope I am not forgetting anyone, but in alphabetical order, these gentlemen rule :
Garland, Gordon, Halldor, John, Stijn !!!!!

[John Upper]

Re: Nigel Short in RACC Olympic Waive Active

Did Nigel (or anyone) record his (Nigel's) games?

I have copies of most of Nigel's games, though they're not all complete -- time trouble in an active event where you're not required to record the moves.

I'll post them on the RACC website sometime next week.