Sunday, December 28, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 27, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Funk)
1.Qb6

Friday, December 26, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 13, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Funk)
1.Be8

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Cecil Rosner visits Washington Square Park in 2000


Cecil Rosner visits Washington Square Park to take on the chess hustlers: part of a segment on CBC's It's a Living Show in 2000.

http://youtu.be/nwFC8xN_dF0

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - November 29, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
Withe to mate in 2 (Funk)
1.Qb8

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Earl Rosenbloom 1948 - 2014


Earl Rosenbloom passed away last Sunday. .He was  Manitoba Junior Champion in 1966 and Manitoba Open Champion in 1977. He also came in second in the 1976 Ontario Open.
More later, after I research some old tournaments.

 Obituary for EARL ROSENBLOOM

http://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-219316/name-Earl_Rosenbloom/min-run-date-1416981600/order-publish_date|DESC,last_name|ASC/

Jack Boardman - 1930 - 2014

Jack Boardman passed away in October.  The obituary indicates that he was President of one of our associations; Keith Czarny seems to think that was in the 80's.
I met Jack at the old Winnipeg Chess Club (on Selkirk), probably around 1973 or so. More later, if I find anything in old CFC magazines.

http://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-219242/name-Arthur_Boardman/run-date-2014_11_22/classification-id-1/order-publish_date|DESC,last_name|ASC,first_name|ASC/

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - November 15, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Funk)

2014 November Quads have been rated by the CFC

Mick Liebzeit  and Jim Green won their respective Quads.

Please see the crosstables here and here.

Congratulations to the following who achieved new established peak ratings:

Mick Liebzeit  1947
Jim Green       1888
Jason Evans    1515

Sunday, November 23, 2014

2015 Manitoba Closed Qualifying Update

2015 Manitoba Championship Qualifying Update

2015 Manitoba Championship Qualifying -

Manitoba Closed 2015 format : 8 player knockout 

(Note: on February 23, 2013 the MCA board approved the adding up to two spots to the the Manitoba Championship at discretion of the Board; if the Board add the two spots, qualifiers 7 and 8  (ordered by CFC rating, along with the new 2 additions will play in a preliminary knockout round, producing two winners who then play with the top six qualifiers by CFC rating. On November 23, 2014, the Board approved continuation of this procedure for 2015) 

Qualifiers -
Players must be Manitoba Permanent residents.
 
(Persons  who are not citizens or permanent residents, but who have been a resident of Manitoba for a twelve-month period immediately preceding the tournament, may be admitted to the Tournament provided they can clearly demonstrate to the MCA Board of Directors that they have a settled intention to continue to reside in Manitoba. The admittance to the Tournament of such exceptions shall be entirely at the discretion of the MCA Board of Directors.)
 

Qualifiers must play 10 standard rated games (somewhere in the world) during calendar 2014 in order to qualify. In order of preference - if the qualifying player did not want to participate or the qualifier is redundant, we continued down the list until there were 8 willing participants.

     1. Previous Year's Champion (KEVIN LI)
     2. Winner of the Reserve (non scheduled this year thus far)
     3. MB Junior Champion (if rated above 1900) to be determined
     4. Top Manitoban in AY Memorial (KEVIN GENTES)
     5,6. Top 2 finishers in the Tournament of Champions (Nov-Dec)tbd
     7. Player with the best MTPPS (Modified Tournament Performance Point Score)
     8. Player with the 2nd best MTPPS (Modified Tournament Performance Point Score)
     9. 2nd Manitoban in the AY Memorial (SAM LIPNOWSKI (on tiebreak)
    10. Player with the 3rd best MTPPS 
    11. Player with the 4th best MTPPS 
    12. etc.from the MTPPS

MTPSS -  Modified Tournament Performance Point Score
MTPPS is calculated as follows:
A Loss = 0 points
A Draw = the rating of the opponent
A Win = the greater of [your opponent's rating + 200] or [your rating]

The top ten performance scores for each player are counted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The current top MTPPS scores as of Novemeber 21. are as follows:
(Tournaments scored included all Manitoba CFC Standard rated tournaments, Canadian Open,  USCF Tournaments, Polish FIDE tournaments ) If you believe a result has been missed or is incorrect, please contact me.

Kevin Gentes 23807
Kevin Li
23149
Samuel Lipnowski 22572
Jonathon Zaczek 22571
Jeff Babb
22477
Gustav Baron 22214
Leor Wasserman 22210
Felix Andraschko 21960
Anthony Boron 21762
Theo Wolchock 21655
Jeff Clark
21652
Myron Kernetsky 21315
Gustavo Melamedoff 21306
Blair Rutter 21182
James Atem 21147
Waldemar Schulz 20768
Isaac Wiebe 20101
Rolando Bince 19987
Jim Green
19292
 























































































Saturday, November 22, 2014

Ken Einarsson ties for first in Bloomington (MN) U1800


Ken scored 4.5 to tie for first in the Bloomington Open Reserve (U1800) section in Minnesota, Nov 8-10.
See the crosstable 2014 Bloomington Open.  Jim Green participated in the Open section. Jim and Ken tell me that the organizers plan to have the 2015 edition a couple of weeks earlier, so that should lessen the chances of travellers encountering a blizzard as they did this year.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Kevin Li has won the 2014 Manitoba Closed

 Kevin Li has won the 2014 Manitoba Closed.  He won the final match, Saturday, November 15 1.5 -.5 over Chandrashekhar Iyer.

The CFC has rated the 2014 Manitoba Closed.

Monday, November 17, 2014

2014 Sunday November Quads - CFC Rated - November 23


A QUAD (short for quadrangular) is simply a group of four players arranged by rating. Each player in a particular QUAD plays one game against each of the other three players. The winner is the player with the best score.

The first thing The Tournament Director will do is to sort the players in order of their CFC ratings.
Then the players are broken into groups of four.  The lowest grouping may have more than 4 players - this section will be run as a Swiss.

In each Quad Group - the pairings will be something like this:
 
White* Black*

Round 1
1 vs 4
2 vs 3
 
Round 2
3 vs 1
4 vs 2
 
Round 3
1 vs 2
4 vs 3

*Colors in the third round are determined by coin toss/computer

Each 4-player section is a separate event for pairing purposes. (There will be no prizes for this event)

Time Control:  Game / 50 + 10 second increment

Entry Fee: $ 4  (to cover CFC rating fees)
Approximate Round times - (Rounds will commence immediately at the end of the previous round)
Round 1: 12:00 pm
Round 2: 2:00 pm
Round 3:  4:00 pm

All players in the tournament must also be Chess Federation of Canada members.
CFC Membership information:
(membership can be purchased at the tournament site)
Former/returning members:
$ 20 for a one-tournament membership or $ 49 for 12 months, Juniors - one
tournament membership $ 10, $34 for 12 months.
New members pay only $ 16 for a one-tournament membership or $ 36 for 12
months, Juniors - one tournament membership $ 10, $24 for 12 months.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - November 1, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to Mate in 2 (Meredith)
1.Qh8

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

2014 October TNT has been rated by the CFC

See the crosstable here.

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:
Mick Liebzeit  1902
Max Korenbaum 1356
Jason Evans 1490

2014 Tournament of Champions / Barry Rasmussen Memorial and 2014 Memorial (U1800) Tournaments start Tuesday, November 4

Two tournaments start Tuesday. November 4, running in parallel: the traditional  Memorial Tournament, and the  Tournament of Champions / Barry Rasmussen Memorial. Both will run for 6 Tuesdays (Nov 4 to Dec 16, excluding Nov 11). Details are below, but in brief, the Tournament of Champions is restricted to those over 1800 rating ; the   Memorial Tournament is restricted to those rated U1800.


Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42


Both tournaments are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hours 50 minutes to complete their moves, the game will be be 3  hours, 40 minutes maximum]

Registration for both tournaments - November 4 - approximately 6:30 pm to 6:50 pm.

Late Registration for tournament - November 18 - approximately 6:30 pm to 6:45 pm - you will get a 1/2 point bye for the missed first round.

 All players must be CFC (Chess Federation of Canada) members (can be obtained during registration on-site) $20 for a one-tournament adult membership or $ 49
for 12 months- new adult members pay only $ 36 for a twelve-month CFC membership; Junior (under 20) members pay $ 10 for a one-tournament membership, $ 34 for a twelve-month CFC membership, new junior members pay only $ 24 for a twelve month CFC membership).

2014 Tournament of Champions. CFC and FIDE rated.
Top 2 Manitoba Finishers Qualify to the 2015 Manitoba Championship

Restricted to those Rated 1800 and above.
Graduated Entry Fees:
Qualifying 2014 (Top Section) Standard Tournament Winners Entry Fee $ 15
 (Sam Lipnowski, Alex Platt, Tony Boron, Leor Wasserman, Felix Andraschko, Gustav Baron, Kevin Gentes, Kevin Li, Isaac Wiebe )
FIDE rated Players - $ 25
All Others - $ 30

Great opportunity to Start, add to, or complete your FIDE Rating requirements.
Tentative Pairings to be Published prior to Rounds 2-6
  Tuesday, November 4 is the start of the six-round Swiss Tournament.

(This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 6 rounds)(If you can not play on one or more weeks, please contact the TD BEFORE the round.)

 Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42
 
The Memorial Tournament is restricted to those rated Under 1800. CFC rated.
Entry Fee $ 20.  CFC Membership is required as indicated above.

(This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 6 rounds)(If you can not play on one or more weeks, please contact the TD BEFORE the round.)


Last year's crosstables are posted http://www.chessmanitoba.org/tournaments/2013/2013TOC.htm
 http://www.chessmanitoba.org/tournaments/2013/2013Mem.htm
for your reference.



The tournaments may require a 'house-player(s)'

The 'house-player' fills in when there are an uneven number of players for any round. The addition of the 'house player' avoids the situation where a player
is awarded a bye. There is no guarantee that the house player would be required in any given week - I would say it is roughly a 50% possibility.

If you are interested in acting as a 'house player' please contact me (Tony) - chessmanitoba at  gmail.com
ideally you are a CFC member - No entry fee for the tournament is required, but  in the circumstance that you win a prize - an entry fee will be deducted from the prize.  So, in essence, the 'house player' is free-rolling.

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - October 18, 2014

From the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 - Shinkman

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - October 4, 2014

From the Winnipeg Free Press
a help double stalemate in 12 1/2 moves. (Bodnar)
Cecil Rosner writes:
  "I'll admit: this may be the the most unusual problem I have ever published.
  It is composed by Zoltan Bodnar of Winnipeg as a tribute to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen on the occasion of Cohen's 80th birthday last month. Bodnar, a prolific problem composer, calls it Five Queens for Mr. Cohen.
  The idea is for White to move first (the first move is forced) and then to help Black reach a position where nothing can move - effectively, a double stalemate.
  I do not expect anyone to be able to solve this one..."

Oct 18 column indicates Answered by Myron Samsin. 1 Kxb3 Rxa4 2. Bxc3 Rxa5 3.Bxa5 Qf5xa5 4. g8B Qc3 5. Kxc3 Qd4 6. Kxd4 Qe5 7.Kxe5 Qf6 8. Kxf6 Kh4 9, Kg7 Kg5 10. Kh8 Kf6 11. f4 Ke7 12. f5 Kf8 13. f6




Sunday, October 5, 2014

2014 October TNT Tournament starts Tuesday, October 7

2014 October TNT Tournament  $ 15 entry fee  -   Prizes will be based on entries.
Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

4 rounds - October 7, 14, 21, 28  - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds)
Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Tuesday Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for November and December when things are organized a little differently).

There is one game per week.

All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hour 50 minutes  to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]

The TNTs are typically 4 round events (one game for 4 consecutive Tuesdays in the month).

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs
$ 15 entry fee and CFC membership required.

All players must be CFC members (can be obtained during registration on-site)
[$ 20 for a one-tournament adult membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new adult members pay only $ 36 for a twelve-month CFC membership;
Junior (under 20)  members pay $ 10 for a one-tournament membership, $ 34 for a twelve-month CFC membership, new junior members pay only  $ 24 for a twelve month CFC membership]

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, October 7 - approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm

Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email to
chessmanitoba 'at' gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic) . Players can join in Round 2, they will receive a half-point bye for Round 1.

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

Easiest way to get there is to take the elevator at the north end (Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating) Otherwise, there is an elevator just to the west of the old Bookstore location.  Our goal is to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

2014 September TNT has been rated by the CFC

See the crosstable

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Isaac Wiebe  1790
Rayan Roy 1586
Mick Liebzeit  1867
Joshua Huston-Earle 1437


Saturday, September 27, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 20, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Wurzburg)

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 6, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to Mate in 2 (Boswell)
1. Qa8

Sunday, September 7, 2014

2014 September TNT starts Tuesday September 9

2014 September TNT Tournament $ 15 entry fee – Prizes will be based on entries. Location: University of Winnipeg – Rm 4CM42
4 rounds – September 9, 16, 23, 30 – (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds) Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.
Tuesday Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for November and December when things are organized a little differently).
There is one game per week.
All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes player has 1 hour 50 minutes to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum
The TNTs are typically 4 round events (one game for 4 consecutive Tuesdays in the month).
Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs $ 15 entry fee and CFC membership required.
All players must be CFC members (can be obtained during registration on-site) 20 for a one-tournament adult membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new adult members pay only $ 36 for a twelve-month CFC membership; Junior (under 20) members pay $ 10 for a one-tournament membership, $ 34 for a twelve-month CFC membership, new junior members pay only $ 24 for a twelve month CFC membership
Registration for tournament -Tuesday, September 9 – approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm
Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email to chessmanitoba ‘at’ gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic) . Players can join in Round 2, they will receive a half-point bye for Round 1.
Location: University of Winnipeg – Rm 4CM42
Easiest way to get there is to take the elevator at the north end (Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating) Otherwise, there is an elevator just to the west of the old Bookstore location. Our goal is to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

2014 Abe Yanofsky Memorial has been rated by the CFC

The 2014 Abe Yanofsky Memorial has been rated by the CFC

Open Section

U1800 Section

Congratulation to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Jim Green 1882
Mick Liebzeit 1833
Keer Keer 1626
Joshua Huston-Earle 1383


Saturday, August 30, 2014

Did you know it is the 40th Anniversary of 1974 Pan-Am ?

Did you know it is the 40th Anniversary of 1974 Pan-Am ? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator
Friday, 27 August 2004
Many of you may have been too young, not in the country, not in chess, or you just may not realize it, but the latter half of August represents the 40th Anniversary of the 1974 Pan American Championship. Held in Winnipeg from August 17 to September 6, the tournament brought together representatives from several countries in the region. It was a 16 player round robin – (trivia query - is this the highest player count for a Canadian held international round robin ?).

I remember attending several of the rounds, but at the time I did not appreciate what a unique event it really was. Therefore it is more appropriate to provide the verbatim report of the Tournament Director and wunderkind, Jonathan Berry, who wouldn’t turn 22 until just after the tournament.


From CFC Bulletin

PAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT
August 17th – September 6, 1974

From the Director’s Chair – by Jon Berry

It all started for me while I was visiting Cecil Rosner in August 1973. He was relating all the plans for the Pan American Individual Championship, to be held the following year. The only problem was that they needed a Tournament Director who could speak both Spanish and English. Who could they get ? Well…

The first “Pan Am” was a team tournament held in Tucuman, Argentina in 1971. With the North Americans absent, the Argentina team ran away with the event. The top first board player was Pedro Donoso of Chile, who was to be that country’s representative at Winnipeg, the second Pan Am event. Don’t get these mixed up with the Pan Am Championships previously held in Cuba. Those tournaments were organized by the Cuban Chess Federation. Winnipeg and Tucuman came directly under the auspices of FIDE, just like, say, an Interzonal tournament.

RESULTS:
Browne, W. 2575 USA 13.5
Sanguineti, R. 2530 Argentina 12
Biyiasas, P. 2420 Canada 11
Segal, A. 2350 Brazil 11
Jimenez, E. 2340 Cuba 10
Castro, O. 2330 Columbia 10
Lipnowski, I ---- Canada 9.5
Garcia, Gildardo 2335 Columbia 7.5
Donoso, P. 2395 Chile 7.5
Frey, K. 2275 Mexico 7
Nurmi, P. ---- Canada 6
Juliao, Cesar ---- Dominican Republic 5
Lozano, T. ---- 4
Ochoa, H. ---- 2.5
Thompson, C. ---- 2
Scherman, A. ---- U.S Virgin Islands 1.5

The games were played in a large lounge-study area at the University of Winnipeg. Walter Browne was quick to point out that the lighting was “no good” in the original spot. After two rounds, the whole tournament was shifted to another part of the room !
The boards were set up in an L-shape, with the demonstration boards leaning against the walls behind them. Spectators, about fifty each night, were situated on the other side of the players. Throughout the tournament, my main problem was keeping the noise at an acceptable level. The spectators – and players ! – would occasionally get over-exuberant about some position.

The tournament continued. Segal, Sanguineti, and Biyiasas went into the lead at first, with Browne in hot pursuit. Such was the nature of the tournament that even by winning game after game one could still not pull away from the field. With four rounds to go, the race was quite tight. The key game between Biyiasas and Segal was adjourned. The general opinion was that Biyiasas stood better, but this was not so. In an attempt to win and keep up the pace, Biyiasas over-pressed and lost.

Just when Browne seemed to have the tournament in the bag, his opponents put up herculean efforts. Castro, Juliao, and Garcia all had excellent positions, but all lost in the end. Thereby, the irrepressible Walter Browne won the tournament by 1.5 points.

It was unfortunate that the strengths of the players were so diverse. Scherman and Thompson, for example, are both about 1700 players (TB note: Yes, I can vouch for that, I can remember playing some speed with Andy Scherman, and I was about 1700 at the time). Of course, there is the factor of having each nation in the Americas represented, but this certainly doesn’t do much for the competitiveness of the tournament. Normally 10 out of 15 would win an international tournament. Winnipeg 1974 had six such winners.

I will dispense with the customary recapitulation of the how each player played. Each player’s score generally indicated how well he played. Only Frey, and perhaps Donoso might have done better had the “breaks” been different.

I have indicated some of my own problems in directing the tournament, but have said nothing about the players’ own problems. Some players arrived with visas which expired while the tournament was in progress; Jimenez, the Cuban, had to get a transit visa to go through Mexico… Some of the players seemed to be cursed with insomnia, spending the whole night playing cards. The same players, if they finally did get to sleep, would sleep round the clock if allowed. Frey, at one point, slept 17 hours and had to be sent for fifteen minutes after the games had begun ! The explanation is that Winnipeg is much more tranquil than Mexico City …

To make a tournament successful, a lot of people must work hard behind the scenes. Just so these heroes won’t be “unsung”, I’ll sing them. John Burstow, who produced the tournament bulletins; Boyd Winsor, who directed the other events and constructed the demonstration boards.; Jack Filkow, who provided food and entertainment; David Woodbury, my assistant; Abe Yanofsky and Joe Dreman, who raised the necessary money; and, last but not least Cecil Rosner, who did all the necessary dirty work in advance of the tournament. Heroes, sung and unsung, the chess world salutes you for a job well done !

Thursday, August 28, 2014

12th Annual Abe Yanofsky Memorial Chess Tournament starts Friday

12th Annual Abe Yanofsky Memorial Chess Tournament starts Friday

12th Annual Abe Yanofsky Memorial Chess Tournament
This tournament is the signature event of the Manitoba Chess Association. It is named in honour of Abe Yanofsky, the first chess player in the British Commonwealth to be awarded the Grandmaster title.
Mr. Yanofsky, who died in 2000, was a prominent Winnipeg lawyer and city councillor.
Dates: Friday, August 29 to Sunday,August 31, 2014

Location: Room 3L08 – University of Winnipeg - 

Prize Fund: $ See below
Format: 5 round Swiss System, Two Sections
Open Section (CFC and FIDE rated)
U 1800 Section (CFC rated)
Round Times: Friday 7:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m
Time Control: Round 1 G/ 110 ; Round 2-5 Game/90 + 30 second increment
Entry Fee: Entry Fee: $ 40, $ 10 discount if paid by July 15
Also, second and subsequent entries from immediate family members receive $ 5 discount.
Free entry to FIDE Masters or higher (Entry must be paid up front, but will be refunded after completion (playing) of all five rounds)
CFC Membership also required (available on site) Annual Fee – Adults $ 49, Juniors $ 36. (First time members – Adults $ 36, Juniors $ 24) -or One-Tournament CFC Memberships for Adults of $ 20; or Junior (under 20)  $ 10.


Rules to be noted:
Anti-draw rules will be in effect (no agreed draws before move 31)
New FIDE Zero tolerance forfeit rule NOT in effect -old rule in effect; players will not be forfeited for non-attendance until one hour after scheduled start of round.
Half-point byes OK, any of first four rounds, limit 2, must commit before rd 2.
Registration: on site, Friday, August 29 at 6:15 – 6:50 p.m., or -
cheques payable to:
Manitoba Chess Association
c/o Blair Rutter
76 Newcroft Rd.
Winnipeg, MB R2J 3M8

or see Tony Boron / Steve de Groot/ Blair Rutter  on Tuesday nights at the TNT tournaments.
If you wish to pay by PayPal – please send an email to chessmanitoba@gmail.com and an “Invoice” will be sent to you.

Prizes:
Prizes will be based on entries – but minimum guaranteed

Prizes:
Open Section: 1st $ 250 , 2nd $ 140, 3rd $ 80
Top A Class – $ 100, 50, 30

U 1800 Section 1st $ 100, 2nd $ 50
Top U1600 $ 60, $ 30
Top U1400 $ 50, 30
Top Manitoban in the Open Section qualifies for the 2015 Manitoba Championship Candidates Tournament.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - August 23, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in three (Vallejo)
1. Ne6
e.g.  1...Nd5 2. Qe5+ Nxe5 3. Nd6#

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - August 9, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Kipping)
1. Qa1

Sunday, August 10, 2014

One night Active Tournament - Tuesday, August 12

4 round Active Tournament - . Open Section and Under 1800 section.
One night Active Tournament - Tuesday, August 12
University of Winnipeg  -  Room 4CM42

Players will play all 4 rounds
Time Control - Game 20 + 10 second delay (Bronstein mode setting 5B on Saitek clocks)

 $ 10 entry -

Prizes - 2 Entries (or equivalent portion thereof, if ties) to the 2014 Abe Yanofsky Memorial Tournament  in each Section.


(More prizes may be awarded depending on entries)

 4 rounds

Not CFC rated - CFC Membership note required.



Registration 6:35 - 6:55 pm

First round to start at 7 pm

Normal tournament rules apply - touch move, etc.

Entry fee $ 10

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - July 26, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Gerbec)

Thursday, July 31, 2014

2014 Winnipeg Open has been rated by the CFC


See the crosstable
http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201407056&key=140731


Congratulations to the following who achieved new established peak ratings:

Gustav Baron - 2129 !

Blair Rutter - 2061

Keer Keer - 1566

Rayan Roy - 1543

Max Korenbaum - 1326

Saturday, July 26, 2014

2014 Junior Chess Camp

Manitoba Chess Association

Junior Chess Camp   -

Tuesday August 5 – Friday August 8, 9:30-3:30
University of Winnipeg
Details at
http://chess.chessmanitoba.org/?page_id=177

Chess Camp Brochure 2014      (Right click to download pdf)

Manitoba Chess Association

Junior Chess Camp   -

Tuesday August 5 – Friday August 8, 9:30-3:30
University of Winnipeg

Do you know what Kobe Bryant, Dominic Haseck, Anna Kournikova, Will Smith, Jay Z, Bill
Gates, Jude Law, Ben Affleck, Christina Ricci, Salma Hayek and Carmen Kass have in
common?
They all play chess.
Manitoba Chess Association – Junior Chess Camp wants to meet the future stars to rock the
boards in the province this summer.
Open to all junior chess players under the age of 19
Intermediate (all day) – $175
Throughout the week chess is presented in many different ways to enhance the participants
understanding and enjoyment of the game. Activities include classroom instruction,
tournaments , simultaneous exhibitions, bughouse, giveaway chess, blitz tournaments, chess
lectures.
Players should have some experience playing organized tournaments
Beginner (morning only) – $90
For participants with little or no chess experience to come and learn the moves and basic
strategy.
Limited seating available for each section. Be sure to register early. Special pricing for siblings.
Ask for details.
Instructor: Dave Ross, IM (International Master)
Chess has many benefits, improving math, reading, overall academic performance, creative
and critical thinking, memory, verbal reasoning, concentration, and most of all self esteem.
Visit http://www.psmcd.net/otherfiles/BenefitsOfChessInEdScreen2.pdf for a collection of case
studies on the benefits of chess

Friday, July 25, 2014

Manitobans at the 2014 Canadian Open - Round 7

Open section:
Round 7
IM Bindi Cheng .5 - FM Kevin Gentes .5

Round 8
FM Kevin Gentes .5 - WGM Sabina Francesca Foisor .5

Round 9
IM Rodney Oscar Perez Garcia .5 - FM Kevin Gentes .5

FM Kevin Gentes ended up with 4.5 points, holding has own against an assortment of titled players.


U2400 Section:
Round 7
IM Mikhail  Klenburg (2368) .5  -  Kevin Li .5
Jonathan Turcotte (1971)  .5 - Jeff Babb .5
James Currie 0 - Cedric Lepine (2113) 1

Kevin Li is still tied for second, 1 point behind Jean Hebert

Round 8
Kevin Li  0 - Nikita Kraiouchkine 1 (2232)
Jeff Babb 1- Gilbert Lebeau 0 (1998)
Nikola  Anastasovski .5 (2059) - James Currie . 5

Kevin Li and Jeff Babb have 5.5 points; with only 7 players ahead of them.

Round 9
Derick Joshua  Twesigye (2023) .5 -  Kevin Li .5
Adam Dorrance  (2018) - Jeff Babb
James Currie  0 - Emile Trottier (2168) 1

 Kevin Li and Jeff Babb finished with 6 points -  tied for 8th-20th.
James Currie finished with 4 points.

http://echecsmontreal.ca/co/standing.html

Monday, July 21, 2014

Manitobans at the 2014 Canadian Open - Rounds 4 - 6

Open section

Round 4
FM Kevin Gentes  .5 -  GM  Reynaldo Vera Gonzalez-Quevedo .5
Round 5
GM Nick De Firmian 1 - FM Kevin Gentes 0
Round 6
FM Kevin Gentes 1 - FM Sam Kleinplatz 0

U2400

Round 4
Kevin Li 1 - Stephane Drolet (2066) 0
Jeff Babb .5 - Bob Holliman .5
James Currie 0 - Daniel Brouleau (2066) 1

Kevin Li is tied for first with 11 others on 3.5 points.

Round 5
Adam Dorrance .5 - Kevin Li .5
James Chan 0 - Jeff Babb 1
Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux 0 - James Currie 1

Round 6
Kevin Li 1 - Galbadrakh Enkh-Amar  (2140) 0
Jeff Babb .5 - Thierry Le Duin (2062) .5
James Currie 1 - Massimo De Barberis  2070 0

Kevin Li has 5 points with 2 others,  .5 point behind the leader Jean Hebert.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Manitobans at the 2014 Canadian Open - Rounds 1-3

Continuing our annual tradition of covering the Manitobans' progress at the Canadian Open.
(Ratings indicated below are FIDE)

FM Kevin Gentes is playing in the Open Section.

Round 1

GM Eric Hansen    1  -  Gentes 0

Round 2

Gentes  .5  - Ramachandran (2153) .5

Round 3

Zhou Qiyu (2029) 0 - Gentes 1


Kevin Li, Jeff Babb, and James Currie are playing in the U2400 section.

Round 1

Holliman (1976)  0  - Li (2152)  1 (PS: Holliman defeated me in the US Open last year)
Robidas  (1935) 0 - Babb (2111) 1
Rob Gardner (2164) .5 - Currie (1987) .5

Round 2

 Kevin Li  1 - Daniel Dubé  (1839) 0 (strange pairing - looks like they missed pairing one or both players in the original pass)
Babb 1 - Stephan Tonakanian (1922) 0
Currie 1 - Stijn De Kerpel (2183) 0

Round 3
FM Vahagn  Voskanyan (2225) 1 -  Babb 0
Mike Ivanov  .5 (2137) -Kevin Li - .5
Sam Son (2030) 1 - Currie 0

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Kevin Li at the CYCC

http://chess-results.com/tnr140130.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7&wi=821


After 4 rounds he has an undefeated 2.5 points.


After 6 rounds  he has an undefeated 4 points.
One round remaining.

Kevin finished tied for 2nd.

See the rated crosstable here:

http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201407049&key=140731


Monday, July 14, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - July 12, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Zanger)
1. Kf6

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Rocker Chess at Central Park

 Mark Jenkins reports on Rocker Chess at Central Park.
http://rockerchess.ca/report-and-blitz-from-central-park/

Next gathering is scheduled for July16.  Check the Rocker Chess web page for updates.
http://rockerchess.ca/


Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - June 28, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to Mate in 2 (Morse)
1. Be3

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - June 14, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Van Eelde)
1. Qa6

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - May 31, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Tuxen) 


1. Nf3







Monday, June 2, 2014

2014 Winnipeg Open starts Tuesday, June 3 ( 8 round TNT)

2014 Winnipeg Open - Remember the '74 Pan-Am  ( a special Tuesday Night Tournament)
 $ 20 entry fee  -   Prizes will be based on entries.

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

8 rounds - June 3, 10, 17, 24, July 8, 15, 22, 29 - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 8 rounds) NO GAME on JULY 1
(Players may take up to 3  half-point and any number of zero-point byes.  Half-point byes for rounds 7 and 8 must be requested before Round 4.

Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. There is one game per week.

Tuesday Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for November and December when things are organized a little differently).

All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hour 50 minutes  to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs

$ 20 entry fee and CFC membership required.

All players must be CFC members (can be obtained during registration on-site)

[$ 20 for a one-tournament adult membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new adult members pay only $ 36 for a twelve-month CFC membership;

Junior (under 20)  members pay $ 10 for a one-tournament membership, $ 34 for a twelve-month CFC membership, new junior members pay only  $ 24 for a twelve month CFC membership]

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, June 3  - approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm

Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email to

chessmanitoba 'at' gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic) . Players can join in Round 2, they will receive a half-point bye for Round 1.  Additional bye information will be added.

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

Easiest way to get there is to take the elevator at the north end (Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating) Otherwise, there is an elevator just to the west of the old Bookstore location.  Our goal is to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

2014 May TNT has been rated by the CFC

See the crosstable here

Felix Andraschko's first rating is 2181

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Leor Wasserman 2084

Monday, May 26, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - May 17, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Meisner)
(Hint:  Play for a mate in 2, as if the bishop wasn't on the board, and stalemate was not in effect)
1. Rh8

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Good Luck Team Manitoba!

From: Blair Rutter, President, Manitoba Chess Association

Good Luck Team Manitoba!
The National Scholastic Chess Championship, entitled the Canadian Chess Challenge, will be played this Sunday and Monday at University College at the University of Manitoba.  Students from all 10 provinces will be competing.  Best wishes to the Manitoba team:
Grade 1:  Alex Korenbaum
Grade 2:  Tyler Huston-Earle
Grade 3:  Max Russo
Grade 4:  Joshua Huston-Earle
Grade 5:  Amirkhan Mukhamedshin
Grade 6:  Derek Ma
Grade 7:  Darian Chakhmouradian
Grade 8:  Rayan Roy
Grade 9:  Ben Mazur
Grade 10:  Ryne Swift
Grade 11:  Kevin Li
Grade 12:  Leor Wasserman

Here’s a link to follow the round-by-round results.
http://www.chess-math.org/ccc/national/results/2014/English/index.xml

Blair Rutter
President
Manitoba Chess Association

Friday, May 16, 2014

Chess Books for Sale


Your blogger is selling a few books from his library.  If interested in any or if you wish to receive a pdf of this list (with pictures of the books' covers), please email chessmanitoba@gmail.com

Please see http://chessmanitoba.blogspot.ca/p/the-bloggers-chess-books-for-sale.html

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

2014 Canadian Chess Challenge Special Events


Josh Henson  would like to share an invitation to the general chess public for the following events:

What: Canadian Chess Challenge Blitz
Where: Great Hall, University College, University of Manitoba
When: Saturday May 17, 2014
Registration: 1-130pm. 
Start time: Round 1 at 2pm.
Style: 5 double round swiss. Match style results. 
Entry: $10 per player
Prizes: Depends on # of entries. May include books/equipment prizes.
Time control: 5 minutes per player per game.
Who: The event will feature Provincial Chess Champions from across Canada. Anyone else who wants to play is welcome (kids & adults).
Other rules: Touch move. The king cannot be captured.

What: Canadian Chess Challenge Bughouse
Where: Great Hall, University College, University of Manitoba
When: Monday May 19, 2014
Registration: After the awards ceremony for the Canadian Chess Challenge. Approximately 2pm.
Start time: Round 1 at 230pm.
Style: 5 double round swiss. Match style results. 
Entry: $5 per player - teams welcome, individuals without partners will be paired with other individual players.
Prizes: Depends on # of entries. May include books/equipment prizes.
Time control: 5 minutes per player per game.
Who: The event will feature Provincial Chess Champions from across Canada and everyone else who wants to play!!
Other rules: Clock move. Pawns cannot be placed on 1st or 8th ranks. Partner assistance is ok. Non-vulgar trash talking is ok. The king can be captured.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

2014 May TNT starts Tuesday, May 6

2014 May TNT starts Tuesday, May 6

2014 May TNT Tournament  $ 15 entry fee  -   Prizes will be based on entries.
Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

4 rounds - May 6, 13, 20, 27 - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds)
Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. There is one game per week.

Tuesday Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for November and December when things are organized a little differently).

All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hour 50 minutes  to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]

The TNTs are typically 4 round events (one game for 4 consecutive Tuesdays in the month), with the occasional exception for months with 5 Tuesdays.

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs
$ 15 entry fee and CFC membership required.

All players must be CFC members (can be obtained during registration on-site)
[$ 20 for a one-tournament adult membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new adult members pay only $ 36 for a twelve-month CFC membership;
Junior (under 20)  members pay $ 10 for a one-tournament membership, $ 34 for a twelve-month CFC membership, new junior members pay only  $ 24 for a twelve month CFC membership]

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, May 6  - approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm

Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email to
chessmanitoba 'at' gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic) . Players can join in Round 2, they will receive a half-point bye for Round 1.

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

Easiest way to get there is to take the elevator at the north end (Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating) Otherwise, there is an elevator just to the west of the old Bookstore location.  Our goal is to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - May 3, 2013

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Guarini)
1.Rd4+
Black can take rook 4 different ways -  all leading to mate in one!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

2014 April TNT has been rated by the CFC

Please see the crosstable here

Congratulations to Theo Wolchock who achieved a new peak rating:  1969

Thursday, April 24, 2014

2014 Manitoba Closed Update

Manitoba Closed 2014 format : 8 player knockout 

(Note: The MCA board approved the adding up to two spots to the the Manitoba Championship through an at-large bidding process.  Players who did not otherwise qualify can provide a minimum $ 50 bid in order to play.  The two highest bids over $ 50 will get spots #9 and # 10 in the seeding. Qualifiers 7 and 8  (ordered by CFC rating), along with the new 2 additions will play in a preliminary knockout round, producing two winners who then play with the top six qualifiers by CFC rating).  If interested, please submit your bid to chessmanitoba@gmail.com by April 17
, 2014

Qualifiers -
Qualifiers must play 10 standard rated games (somewhere in the world) during calendar 2013 in order to qualify. In order of preference - if the qualifying player did not want to participate or the qualifier is redundant, we continued down the list until there were 8 willing participants.

     1. Previous Year's Champion TREVOR VINCENT
     2. Winner of the Reserve (no event)
     3. MB Junior Champion (if rated above 1900) KEVIN LI
     4. Top Manitoban in AY Memorial (TREVOR VINCENT)
     5,6. Top 2 finishers in the Tournament of Champions (Nov-Dec) Kevin Li, JEFF BABB
     7. Player with the best (not qualified otherwise) MTPPS (Modified Tournament Performance Point Score) SAM LIPNOWSKI
     8. Player with the 2nd best MTPPS (Modified Tournament Performance Point Score) LEOR           WASSERMAN
     9. 2nd Manitoban in the AY Memorial (KEVIN GENTES (on tiebreak), but did not play 10 games.
    10. Player with the 3rd best MTPPS  Les Mundwiler
    11. Player with the 4th best MTPPS  GUSTAVO MELAMEDOFF
    12. Player with the 5th best MTPPS  WALDEMAR SCHULZ
    13. Player with the 6th best MTPPS  ANTHONY BORON
  14. Player with the 6th best MTPPS  MYRON KERNETSKY

The players above will be contacted to determine their desire to play in the championship.

MTPSS -  Modified Tournament Performance Point Score
MTPPS is calculated as follows:
A Loss = 0 points
A Draw = the rating of the opponent
A Win = the greater of [your opponent's rating + 200] or [your rating]

The top ten performance scores for each player are counted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The  top MTPPS scores are as follows:

1 Trevor Vincent 125311 23653
2  Samuel Lipnowski 105377 22928
3  Kevin Li 152422 22886
4  Jeff Babb 102141 22621
5  Leor Wasserman 139153 22129

 Les Mundwiler 103336 21818
6  Gustavo Melamedoff 136900 21484
7  Waldemar Schulz 106687 21309
8 Anthony Boron 101126 21255
9  Myron Kernetsky 101127 21226
10 Ryne Swift 143093 21016
11 Gustav L Baron 152320 20816
12  Steven de Groot 137876 20776
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following qualifiers have accepted:

KEVIN LI   2285
SAM LIPNOWSKI  2238
JEFF BABB 2160
GUSTAVO MELAMEDOFF 2098
ANTHONY BORON 2021
LEOR WASSERMAN 2020
RYNE SWIFT 1929
GUSTAV BARON  1876

 Arvin Dawa 2139  has entered via bis
C Iyer 2096  has entered via bid.  

IYER will play BARON in the playin ound
DAWA will play SWIFT in the playin round.

Players will be reseeded based on the ratings above - after the play-in round



The following qualifiers have declined:
Trevor Vincent
Myron Kernetsky
Waldemar Schulz

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - April 19, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Carpenter)1.Qxd4+

Monday, April 21, 2014

Rudolf Rocker Chess Club

Mark Jenkins writes:

Greetings folks into chess,

As mentioned before, I'm starting a chess club. It's going to be most Saturdays, noon-4pm on the third floor of 91 Albert St starting next Saturday, April 26.

http://rockerchess.ca

Unfortunately this location lacks an elevator -- but it does have heritage charm, space for about 40 people, and reasonable rent. As the club develops, I envision us also including folks who can't make it there through remote methods (phone, internet, SMS) and club members meeting up with folks at other locations.

We'll be running an optional ratings system for bullet, blitz, rapid, standard times, over the board untimed games (with sealed move adjournment allowed) and correspondence.

We're open to all ages and levels of ability, but my goal is to provide a fun, casual drop in setting for a broad community of adults. Most of the organized chess community in Winnipeg right now is young scholastic players (and their parents/relatives) and strong adults who play CFC rated events held by MCA.

My view is that both of these existing cohorts can contribute to my goal of making semi-organized club chess a part of Winnipeg again. If this succeeds, we'll get more than a strong community of "old patzers" out of this -- we'll also directly develop more stronger players who will attend tournaments and more advocates of the game to spread it to young people.

On our website, http://rockerchess.ca club members will have the opportunity to contribute to the site by posting game analysis, announcements of local events, and personal reflections on the world of chess.

To encourage this drop-in spirit, we're operating admission on a "pay what you can" basis. We'll also need folks to join me and chip in their organizing energies. Even something as simple as picking up edibles for sale from a wholesaler can be a real help.

At some point I'd like to attempt something big and splashy to create some local buzz and press coverage. I've got some crazy ideas up on http://rockerchess.ca/promoideas/ . Want to make any of these happen? Got your own ideas? Let me know.

These ideas would do best if co-organized with MCA and Scholastic chess folks with the goal of promoting local chess as a whole and raising the profile of all of us.

I've got a 8x11" and 11x17" poster designed.
http://rockerchess.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/RockerChessPoster8x11.pdf

http://rockerchess.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/RockerChessPoster11x17.pdf
Feel free to print and post.

Mark Jenkins
member #1

Friday, April 18, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - April 5, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Wormald)
1. Qh1

Monday, March 31, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - March 22, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 2 (Holloday)
1.Nf4

Thursday, March 27, 2014

CFC has rated the 2014 March TNT

See the cross table here
http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201403046&key=140328


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - March 8, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Loyd)
1.Qg3

Saturday, March 1, 2014

2014 March TNT starts March 4, 2014

 2014 March TNT Tournament  $ 15 entry fee  -   Prizes will be based on entries.
Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

4 rounds - March 4, 11, 18, 25 - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds)
Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Tuesday Night Tournaments are held every month of the year, (except for November and December when things are organized a little differently).

There is one game per week.

All of the TNTs are Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /110 minutes [Each player has 1 hour 50 minutes  to complete their moves, the game will be be 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]

The TNTs are typically 4 round events (one game for 4 consecutive Tuesdays in the month).

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs
$ 15 entry fee and CFC membership required.

All players must be CFC members (can be obtained during registration on-site)
[$ 20 for a one-tournament adult membership or $ 49 for 12 months- new adult members pay only $ 36 for a twelve-month CFC membership;
Junior (under 20)  members pay $ 10 for a one-tournament membership, $ 34 for a twelve-month CFC membership, new junior members pay only  $ 24 for a twelve month CFC membership]

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, March 4 - approximately 6:35 pm to 6:50 pm

Registration will be cut off at 6:50 pm. (If you think you may be late, please send an email to
chessmanitoba 'at' gmail.com) before 5 pm (you can try later, but the wireless access at the U may be problematic) . Players can join in Round 2, they will receive a half-point bye for Round 1.

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

Easiest way to get there is to take the elevator at the north end (Ellice) to the 5th Floor(if that Elevator is operating) Otherwise, there is an elevator just to the west of the old Bookstore location.  Our goal is to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 

Thursday, February 27, 2014

2014 February TNT has been rated by the CFC

2014 February TNT has been rated by the CFC.
Please see the crosstable.

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak ratings:

Alex Platt            2068
Daniel Raihman  1806
Jamie Campbell  1810
Theo Wolchock   1947


Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - February 22, 2014

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Meredith)
1. Qb4