2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

[Dave Southam]

Re: Day 3/Rd. 4 – Mon., July 15 (Blog # 5): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Testing...1,2,3 (Never posted since the 'New and Improved' Chesstalk was born!

[Dave Southam]

Re: Day 3/Rd. 4 – Mon., July 15 (Blog # 5): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

End bracket!)

Hey Bob---YES, I too read your blog---I thought you said the Second Cup opened at 7:00AM?! Btw, I must admit I felt sad to read your "Ex-blogger" sign off...I guess for you that was eons ago now! Anyway, your 'baby' is coming along nicely now---I guess you've broken in the laptop now?! Lol re the birds eating from your hand; I tried that once with a chipmunk in Florida, but the damn thing preferred meat to bread (OUCH!). I'm glad you are 'on the board' now--as far as I'm concerned you are giving odds to the rest of your competition, what with doing your blog and non-sleep mode, etc!!! Whatever happened about the 'anti-sandbagger' rule?! Did they tell you in advance of Rd.1 what their final ruling would be? I find it highly suspicious that 2 Vietnamese players would be 'only' 1475 each (brothers? Father and son?)--btw, I think you listed them as 1775 apiece---there's some other rating errors too, but I'll let you off THIS TIME!!!

[Dave Southam]

Re: Day 3/Rd. 4 – Mon., July 15 (Blog # 5): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Hmmmm...not sure what's going on---I had typed the above, and much more, on my iPhone while watching the MLB All Star game from the comfort of my couch. Then I clicked on "preview post" and I lost EVERYTHING!!! It said I couldn't post because I wasn't logged in (which I WAS! It must have timed out or something). So then I came on here (my laptop, which I use as a desktop), re-logged in, clicked some weird button (something about 'retrieve former post??) and at least recovered the above partial post. WEIRD man---just when I had typed "I am at the hight of frustration!!! F1CK!! etc.

ANYWAY, I enjoy your blog immensely, Bob---reading it has become a nightly ritual of MY non-sleep mode!! Say hi to Mario from me. Cheers and all the best,

DAVE

P.S. Harmony has graduated to the top section at the Annex Club! She lost a tough game to Daniel Wiebe in Round 1.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Day 3/Rd. 4 – Mon., July 15 (Blog # 5): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

End bracket!)

Whatever happened about the 'anti-sandbagger' rule?! Did they tell you in advance of Rd.1 what their final ruling would be? I find it highly suspicious that 2 Vietnamese players would be 'only' 1475 each (brothers? Father and son?)--btw, I think you listed them as 1775 apiece---there's some other rating errors too, but I'll let you off THIS TIME!!!

Hi Dave:

I have never had a response. The tournament is well-run, and it isn't worth giving them a headache over. I'll just accept whatever happens to be the case.

As to the two U 1600 Vietnamese, the post rd. 5 results no longer list them - maybe it was decided they were in fact "no-shows".

Thanks for the encouragement on the blog!

Bob A

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Day 3/Rd. 4 – Mon., July 15 (Blog # 5): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Bob, am I reading the standings correctly?
What happened in round 5? Instead of playing another kid from BC with .5 points, you got paired up against David Cohen with 1.5 points!

Anxiously awaiting your blog report! Do tell.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Day 3/Rd. 4 – Mon., July 15 (Blog # 5): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Bob, am I reading the standings correctly?
What happened in round 5? Instead of playing another kid from BC with .5 points, you got paired up against David Cohen with 1.5 points!

Anxiously awaiting your blog report! Do tell.

This blog is soooo suspenseful!!!! All will be revealed in a few hours, when Tuesday's blog is posted! Can you survive 'til I get it typed up (on this laptop, with which I am all thumbs) and posted? Hang in there.

[Bob Armstrong]

Day 4/Rd. 5 – Tues., July 16 - Pt. I (Blog # 6): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Day 4/Rd. 5 – Tues., July 16 - Pt. I (Blog # 6)

The Wee Hours of the Morning

When Mario and I got back to the residence early Tuesday morning, he let me use his laptop to make a couple of corrections to my Sunday blog – there were 6 co-leaders, not 3 as I stated at one place. Then I went to bed and Mario used the computer for a while before he went to bed.

Late Morning

I woke up after only 2 ½ hrs. sleep (tournaments do this to me). But I persisted and lay in bed for about ½ hr. and eventually went back to sleep ‘til 8:00 AM. I soon called my wife at our country home, where she goes when I take my summer chess holiday – under pain of death – to wish her…..(drum roll)….a very happy 66th birthday! Of course, I made her day!! She was going to garden a bit before it got hot, and then play with her sister’s dog, on a sleep-over, and then read for the day. She said this was an OK birthday. Boy….I certainly hope our two adult kids remember to call…….or there’ll be hell to pay!
Mario and I had made plans to go to breakfast together this morning, and he was to call, by 9:00 AM or earlier if he wanted. He’d tried a few times while I was on the phone. But he got through at 9:00 AM and we agreed to meet in the nice air-conditioned residence lobby. We then went to our now-favourite $ 5.00 breakfast place.
When we returned, we entered my Rd. 4 game against Annika Zhou, to find out if I should have agreed to a draw, with her with 13 seconds left, and me up a P (I had managed to work myself almost into a zugzwang position). Houdini confirmed that we both played pretty well for our ratings. And when I agreed, I had only a “slight” advantage, up a P. I’m OK with the draw, and Annika seemed pleased.
After this Mario again kindly let me use his laptop computer to finish and post Monday’s blog. He went for his “rejuvenation” sleep in the cooler floor lounge – doing heavy-duty prep work for Mr. Stijn de Kerpel in Rd. 5 tonight!

The Afternoon

When I had posted Monday’s blog, Mario returned. But he said he could go do some book studying in the lounge, if I wanted to continue doing the first part of Tuesday’s draft blog. This was great, and so that’s what we did – by now it was about 1:00 PM.
Then he went to the floor’s lounge, which was cooler than the room, to do some “chess training”. I started typing up the first half of this blog (July 16). Mario actually did study this time. But…..how serious is he….he started visiting with Canadian IM Artiom Samsonken, who was staying in the residence on the same floor as Mario.
While I was still typing today’s blog draft, the two of them came into Mario’s room. Artiom had driven down, and it appeared he had now one soft tire. Mario had a pump in his car, so they headed down to the university parking to see what they could do. I checked the blog on Chesstalk, and found that we U 1600's had an additional co-leader who had been under the radar (had taken 3 byes, and was rated 1231). So I assured Miles Duggal that I now had him in the blog.
Mario returned saying Artiom had a slow leak in his tire and he was going to have it looked at. Mario was able to pump it up to last a while again. Mario then showed me Houdini's analysis of my Rd. 4 game with young Annika Zhou. The best continuation for me, when I agreed to a draw, was to offer a P-sac (which I would never have seen). But she didn't have to take it, and the game would continue with me with only a slight advantage. I then arranged to go for a dinner today, about 3:00 PM. Then it would be on to the playing hall. I then returned to my room to again look at a couple of my games, and Mario finally got his computer back.

Late Afternoon

Today, we went for dinner to the Rideau Centre food court close by – satisfied with more pedestrian fare than yesterday. About 4 PM Mario said he was heading for the playing hall. Since we would be there 2 hours before the round, I toyed with the idea of returning to the residence to do a few things for an hour, and then walk to the hall. Mario said he wanted the air-conditioning (our rooms are not air-conditioned). I thought....good analysis. I joined him. Since we were getting there early, I grabbed a Timmy's on the way over. When we got there, we chatted with one of the arbiters for a while, Frank Dixon from Kingston. There had been the Canadian Blitz Championship that morning (about 40 players), and the skittles room where we were headed was still locked from the morning. So Frank kindly came and opened it for us.

The Skittles Room

I went in first and was soon joined by former CFC Executive Director, and Ottawa RA CC member, David Gordon. We chatted pleasantly for a while, and then Mario came in. He found on the table a game scoresheet from some higher rated players and started playing it over. Almost immediately junior expert from Calgary, Diwen Shi, came in and sat opposite Mario, ready to kibitz. The junior expert Francisco Dunne came in and sat beside Mario. And so the analysis started. So I went to check something on the lobby wallchart. There I met floater David Cohen (1866 - who is currently working in Ottawa). I was slated to play young Neil Doknjas (1228) in Rd. 5. Dave advised that Neil was sick, and if I wanted, I could play him. I readily agreed. Then Neil's mom, Victoria joined us to confirm Neil was sick. She apologized for the late notice and said Neil was quite fine to foreit if that was needed. I advised that all was fine, I was happy to play David (we've known each other about 40 years and never played), and I'd fight for my point. Halldor Palsson, arbiter, came along and confirmed he was happy, if I was. So, Bob Gillanders – there you have it how come I ended up with my fourth being paired up out of 5 rounds, with only ½ point to my credit – Bob G had raised this in a post on the blog on Chesstalk.
So I went back to check in at the skittles room. Immediately junior expert Mark Plotkin entered and advised my pairing had been changed – he had just talked with Victoria. And I confirmed I had known. Mark then proceeded to play some blitz chess with David Gordon.

R & R Before the Round 5

About 6:00 PM, I went to sit in one of the big, comfortable arm-chairs in the hotel lobby, to relax before the round. Immediately chief organizer, Les Bunning, who I've now known for a few years, joined me. We chatted about a few things, and he updated me on the possible FQE bid for the 2014 CYCC. Then arbiter Halldor Palsson joined us briefly, and he had an extra set of standings, so he kindly said I could have it. They then left, and I went in for Rd. 5 against my new opponent, Dave Cohen.

[continued in Pt. II below]

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Day 4/Rd. 5 – Tues., July 16 - Pt. II (Blog # 6): 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Day 4/Rd. 5 – Tues., July 16 - Pt. II (Blog # 6)

[ continued from Pt. I above]

U 1600 Co-Leaders' (after 4 rounds) Rd. 5 Pairings/Results

2 points - 4

Danail Donev (2023) 1 – 0 Maurice Smith (1494)
Phat Nguyen Quoc (1775) and Ky Nguyen Quoc (1771) – taking 5th consecutive bye
Miles Duggal (1231) 0 vs 1 Vlad Drkulec (1988 – CFC President)

1 ½ points - 6

Edward Selling (1579) 0 – 1 Alex Danilov (1767)
Mackenzie Hardie (1838) 1 – 0 Melissa Lee (1534)
Brendon Lee (1830) 1 – 0 Jatinder Dhaliwal (1461)
Guy Piche (1745) 1 – 0 Brian Murray (1459)
Rinna Yu (1301) 1 – 0 Alan Tomalty (1764)!!!!
Clark Zhang (994) 0 – 1 Luc Gauthier (1740)

Here’s how the others are doing that we are following, after 5 rounds:

Favourites (1500’s):

1.Macneil, Conrad (1598) – NS - 1
2.Armstrong, Robert J. (1590) – ON - ½
3.Ding, Jill (1585) – BC - 2
4.Eyre, Keven (1536) – ON - 1
5.Thomson, Bruce (1528) – ON - ½
6.Zhang, Jeff (1500) – ON – 1 ½

“Dark Horses” (1400’s):

7. Kevin Low (1484) – BC - 1
8. Ashley Tapp (1481) – BC – 1 ½
9. Lee, Frank (1471) – ON - 2

My Rd. 5 Game

I played a very strong KID (Samisch) against David Cohen (Black). I had him on the defensive with a K-side attack. But, my chess is erratic, and I then blundered a minor. He had an N trapped in the corner, so I played on for a while to see if I could do anything, but he eventually unwound his position, and I could resign (in the ending I was on increments, and he mated me).

Post Post Mortem

I then went out into to the hall, and met BC CFC Governor, and rating auditor, Paul Leblanc. So we chatted a bit about the tournament and the CFC rating system. The last game in the top players' hall finished, and so Mario joined us. Then FM Victor Plotkin joined us. A conversation ensued about whether the rather large gap among elite Canadian players between their CFC ratings, and their FIDE ratings, was a problem. Some people had raised it with Paul, and he was willing to at least try to put some facts together, and maybe get Canadian elite players' opinions. He did not at this point have any determined solution, if it was determined this was a problem CFC needed to fix. There were numbers of possible options, and this issue was a bit complex.

After the Post Post-Mortem (whew!)

Mario and I headed back to the Ottawa U residence where we’re staying. The round 6 pairings weren't up yet, and Mario did some computer work and I returned to my room to do some blog notes.

U 1600 Rd. 6 Leaders’ Pairings

2 ½ points

Gilles Jobin (1942) - Rinna Yu (1301)

2 points

Wenyang Ming (1851) – Jill Ding (1585)
Maurice Smith (1494) – Joshua Doknjas (1848)
Miles Duggal (1231) – Patrick Scantland (1838)
Lyle Creamer (1838) - Frank Lee (1471)

Note: Phat Nguyen Quoc (1775) and Ky Nguyen Quoc (1771) – have taken 5 byes – they have now disappeared from the charts – no-shows I expect.

My Rd. 6 Pairing

Bob Armstrong (1590) – Aiden Zhou (1136)

Some Random Thoughts, Half Way Through the Tournament

1.Most enjoyable tournament so far (though I do feel the results don't really match the quality of my play generally, against 4 stronger players). I've enjoyed being able to do my U 1600 Blog this year, though the technical side of it has been somewhat frustrating.
2.I feel the organizers have run an effective tournament, given some of the last minute change of plans beyond their control. The next round pairings have generally been up in a reasonable time after the round. The playing conditions are fine.
3.With the shortest FIDE-accepted time control, I find I still have had some time to wander a bit and look at other games in my own hall, but I woudn't risk trying to go all the way to the top players' hall to watch parts of GM games.
4.Mario has been a most accomodating chess friend to be hanging around with during the tournament. He has been quite generous in sharing laptop time with me to do my blog.
5.I've enjoyed the socializing with my chess friends and acquaintances, and some of the discussions have been very interesting, and more in-depth on the topics than one might generally expect.

Invitation

I hope you enjoy my musings and fact reporting over the course of this Canadian Open. It will help to make this blog even more interesting if viewers post their responses, facts they may know, their own stories, in response to my daily material. I hope to hear from many of you as the week passes! I will try to respond whenever it seems appropriate. And thanks again to all who have encouraged me on in this fun project – glad you are enjoying it, and I hope it gives you a laugh from time to time.( at the time of typing this, my first 5 blogs have generated about 2,700 views, or over 500 views/day! Are you all sure you want to encourage me??).

Bob A, Blogger

[Wilf Ferner]

Re: Day 2/Rds. 2 & 3 – July 14, 2013: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Hi Bob: Thanks for the blog! Glad to see you move up in the ranks(saw your win in the standings of Rd.6) Enjoy!

Wilf Ferner

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Day 2/Rds. 2 & 3 – July 14, 2013: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Congrats Bob on your win yesterday!
It looks to me like your opponent was Annika’s younger brother Aiden? I wonder if she prepped him at all for the game!

Now that you have survived your encounters with some underrated BC juniors, your next opponent Ken Douglas from Ontario, and from the CFC membership number, I presume he is an adult. Ken is listed last on the wallchart as an unrated. A bit of a mystery man, eh! Anyhow, don’t underestimate his Bob, he has three draws against players rated 1598, 1762, and 1951. I hope you got some sleep last night!

Good luck!

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: The “Day Prior” – Friday, July 12 (Blog # 2) - Pt. I: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 B

There was a strong junior (well...1700 or so was considered "strong" for a junior then) named "K. Douglas" in Montreal in the mid-70's. I haven't seen him since - either in person or on rating lists. I wonder if he's the same guy?

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Day 2/Rds. 2 & 3 – July 14, 2013: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Hi Wilf:

Hope you are still enjoying your chess retirement. Miss your happy face here in Ottawa - we did a fair amount of analyzing together when we were both here in Ottawa for the Can. Open in 2007.

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Day 2/Rds. 2 & 3 – July 14, 2013: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

Hi Bob G:

Yes Aiden is Annika's brother. And I had black again against him. And yes they did prep for me - same Pirc, except I varied a move earlier than with Annika. I had a nice double-sac win - and Aiden is not a bad little player - look for the game in Toronto Chess News (TCN), Aug. 1 Issue.

Ken is an adult, and I watched some of his game yesterday (at the board beside me), and he's OK. Will be a challenging game.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Bob A

[Ken Kurkowski]

Re: Day 2/Rds. 2 & 3 – July 14, 2013: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

I wonder if Annika plays golf too
:)

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Day 2/Rds. 2 & 3 – July 14, 2013: 2013 Canadian Open U 1600 Blog.

I wonder if Annika plays golf too
:)

I believe she said (I think it was her) she also plays piano (I think has won national championships). So she knows Harmony Zhu of our Scarborough CC, this years U 8 Girls Canadian Champion, who is also a classical piano player. Recently qualified to go to a contest in USA, playing at Carnegie Hall.

Bob A