My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

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  • My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

    My dream team for Canada: 2014 Olympiad: :)

    Team Captain: Gordon Ritchie
    Honourary Captain: MP Ted Hsu

    Board 1: GM Eric Hansen
    Board 2: GM Bator Sambuev
    Board 3: GM Kevin Spraggett
    Board 4: GM Mark Bluvshtein
    Board 5: To be determined.

    That might be the strongest Canadian lineup ever seen!! :)

  • #2
    Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

    Originally posted by Frank Dixon View Post
    My dream team for Canada: 2014 Olympiad: :)

    Team Captain: Gordon Ritchie
    Honourary Captain: MP Ted Hsu

    Board 1: GM Eric Hansen
    Board 2: GM Bator Sambuev
    Board 3: GM Kevin Spraggett
    Board 4: GM Mark Bluvshtein
    Board 5: To be determined.

    That might be the strongest Canadian lineup ever seen!! :)
    Why is Sambuev board 2? Ahead of Kevin and Mark...

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

      Originally posted by Frank Dixon View Post
      My dream team for Canada: 2014 Olympiad: :)

      Team Captain: Gordon Ritchie
      Honourary Captain: MP Ted Hsu

      Board 1: GM Eric Hansen
      Board 2: GM Bator Sambuev
      Board 3: GM Kevin Spraggett
      Board 4: GM Mark Bluvshtein
      Board 5: To be determined.

      That might be the strongest Canadian lineup ever seen!! :)
      no doubt BC is thinking you hate them as much as me LOL.

      I would put Marc Poulin as the honorary Captian personally.

      Also...in my opinion...if a player has not played in the last year...should they be on the team.

      Personally...I would put Aman on the team...encourage the talented ones who are making the sacrifice!

      This is intended as input not a criticism.

      Larry

      Comment


      • #4
        Re : My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

        Actually, we already 4 GMs that could be interested to play (while it's pretty unlikely that GM Bluvshtein and GM Spraggett accept to play).
        So, our best team would probably be:

        Board 1: GM Anton Kovalyov
        Board 2: GM Eric Hansen
        Board 3: GM Bator Sambuev
        Board 4: GM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
        Board 5 : IM Hambleton

        It would still be, by far, the strongest team we ever had.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

          I chose this board order to reflect recent form, as well as age and experience.

          Eric has played the best for the past several months, and has earned top board.

          Bator is very active, is pretty steady, and rarely has a poor event (2012 Olympiad a rare exception).

          Kevin will be nearly 60 when the event takes place. He has been very good to excellent on top board in the past, but that was many years ago.

          Mark has been inactive for a while, so if he comes back, a lower board makes more sense.

          With a strong young talent on board five, such as IM Nikolay Noritsyn, IM Raja Panjwani, IM Aman Hambleton, or one of several others, this is a fearsome lineup. :)

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

            Currently (in order of FIDE rating) the only players active enough to qualify for the Canadian team would be:

            [Kovalyov - not clear how his game count would be when he becomes "Canadian"]
            Sambuev
            Hansen
            Spraggett
            Hambleton
            Noritsyn
            Cheng
            Porper
            Wang, Richard
            Sapoznikov

            That takes us down to the 28th highest FIDE-rated Canadian player.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Re : My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

              It would seem that Aman deserves the spot. Here is the May 1 Olympiad Selection List:

              Hambleton Aman IM 2472 2584 2528 ≥20 Yes 9
              Noritsyn Nikolay IM 2467 2586 2527 15 Yes 10
              Gerzhoy Leonid IM 2469 2571 2520 0 No 11 Not enough games

              Bob A

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                Originally posted by Larry Bevand View Post
                no doubt BC is thinking you hate them as much as me LOL.
                Larry
                BC had a representative in the last Canadian Olympic team and hopefully will have one in the next edition too.. it's all love Larry! Now if CMA will organize the next Olympiad, things might change.

                :p

                Andrei

                ps

                Congratulation for having CMA the CFC official chess books and equipment seller!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                  Originally posted by Frank Dixon View Post
                  My dream team for Canada: 2014 Olympiad: :)

                  Team Captain: Gordon Ritchie
                  Honourary Captain: MP Ted Hsu

                  Board 1: GM Eric Hansen
                  Board 2: GM Bator Sambuev
                  Board 3: GM Kevin Spraggett
                  Board 4: GM Mark Bluvshtein
                  Board 5: To be determined.
                  First, it would be good to know who required to be in a delegation!

                  902. Team structure
                  The Canadian delegation to the Chess Olympiad shall consist of the following:
                  a) Head of Delegation
                  b) National Team Captain
                  c) National Team Players
                  d) Women's Team Captain
                  e) Women’s Team Players
                  f) Technical Assistants
                  Second, without any disrespect to Gordon Ritchie, the coach must have at least a master level. With all respect, Gordon Ritchie might be ideal for a Head of Delegation :)

                  Third, to start a thread with the grandiose topic, and have no 5 board is just awful. :p

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Re : My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                    Originally posted by Felix Dumont View Post
                    Board 1: GM Anton Kovalyov
                    When will he be transferred finally? It seems it takes ages the whole process. He already missed one Olympiad :/

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re : Re: Re : My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                      Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis View Post
                      When will he be transferred finally? It seems it takes ages the whole process. He already missed one Olympiad :/
                      FIDE said that his transfer should be done this summer, so he should definitely be good for the Olympiads... However, we never know what to expect with FIDE :(

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Re : Re: Re : My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                        Originally posted by Felix Dumont View Post
                        However, we never know what to expect with FIDE :(
                        a fine of 10,000 Euros :D

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                          My Dream Team would be:

                          Board 1-4: Jordan S. Berson - With a Houdini/Stockfish hybrid chip planted in my brain, I should be able to beat every country playing all four boards simultaneously.
                          Board 5: In case I get a migraine, either GM Hansen or IM Hambleton can take over... Come on, surely you have all figured out by now that they both have chips planted in their brains! :D
                          No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Re : My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                            Originally posted by Felix Dumont View Post
                            Actually, we already 4 GMs that could be interested to play (while it's pretty unlikely that GM Bluvshtein and GM Spraggett accept to play).
                            So, our best team would probably be:

                            Board 1: GM Anton Kovalyov
                            Board 2: GM Eric Hansen
                            Board 3: GM Bator Sambuev
                            Board 4: GM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
                            Board 5 : IM Hambleton

                            It would still be, by far, the strongest team we ever had.
                            Hambleton will be a GM by the time the next Olympiads come around... mark my words ;)
                            No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: My Dream Team for Canada -- Norway Olympiad 2014

                              I omitted GM Kovalyov from consideration because of the ongoing issues with his status and nationality change, not due to lack of playing credentials.

                              And, yes, Gordon Ritchie is better off as head of delegation, if the captain is to have a true chess role. Gordon is the best leader we have for something like this. :)

                              Comment

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