Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 Earl Rosenbloom Memorial has been rated by FIDE

https://ratings.fide.com/tournament_report.phtml?event16=147447


Name Previous K*change New
  Gentes, Kevin 2296  -22.6 2273
  Rutter, Blair 1822  84.4 1906
  Bince, Rolando 1955  48 2003
  Boron, Anthony 1830  34.6 1865
  Valentino, Marcos 2056  -13.6 2042
  Clark, Jeff 1974  1.6 1976
  Wiebe, Isaac 2017  13.2 2030
  Magnusson, Saul 1993  -8 1985
  Wolchock, Theo 1790  -6 1784
  Dawa, Arvin 2130  -61.2 2069
  Prince, Colin 1838  -18 1820
  Baron, Gustav L 2033  -77.6 1955

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 24, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Loyd)
1. Qa8

Thursday, December 22, 2016

2016 Memorials have been rated by the CFC

See the crosstables here:

2016 Gary Campbell Memorial

2016 Earl Rosenbloom Memorial

Congratulations to the following who achieved new established peak ratings:

Blair Rutter 2073
Ken Marshall 1479

Monday, December 12, 2016

Cecil's Satuday Puzzle - December 10, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 2 (Loyd)
1.Rxh3

Friday, December 2, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - November 26, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Loyd)
1. Nf7

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

2016 November Weekend Tournament has been rated by the CFC

The 2016 November Weekend Tournament has been rated by the CFC (It was rated last week, however the CFC site was off-line until very recently.
http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201611054

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Collin Anderson 1977

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - November 12, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 - (Loyd)
1.Ke8

Sunday, November 13, 2016

2016 Manitoba Junior, 2016 Manitoba Senior, November Rating Tournament – Nov 19, 20

 Registration for all - 9:30 am - 10 am   Room 4CM42 - University of Winnipeg

2016 Manitoba Junior Championship
4 round Swiss System
$ 15 entry fee
CFC rated
University of Winnipeg – Room 4CM42
Open to all Manitoba Juniors born after January 1, 1997,
Time Control: 90 minutes + 30 second increment
Round Times:  10 am and 2:30 p.m (Rounds 2 and may be advanced if Previous round’s games end early and there is mutual consent between paired players to start earlier.)
Players under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
First Prize – Minimum $ 50

2016 Manitoba Senior Championship
4 round Swiss System
CFC Rated (CFC Membership required)
$ 15 entry fee
University of Winnipeg – Room 4CM42
Open to all Manitoba players born before 1967
Time Control: 90 minutes + 30 second increment
Round Times:  10 am and 2:30 p.m (Rounds 2 and 4 may be advanced if Previous round’s games end early and there is mutual consent between paired players to start earlier.)
Minimum prizes –   Top Senior
Top Over 65 –  Born before 1952

2016 November Rating Tournament
4 round Swiss System
CFC Rated (CFC Membership required)
$ 5 entry fee  – No prizes will be awarded
University of Winnipeg – Room 4CM42
Open to all Manitoba players born between Jan 1 1967 and Dec 31 1996
Time Control: 90 minutes + 30 second increment
Round Times:  10 am and 2:30 p.m (Rounds 2 and 4 may be advanced if Previous round’s games end early and there is mutual consent between paired players to start earlier.)

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - October 29, 2016

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


This is a corrected version of the diagram that appeared in the Winnipeg Free Pres.
1,Bd3

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Saturday, October 29, 2016

2016 Memorial tournaments start Tuesday, November 1

Two tournaments start Tuesday, November 1, running in parallel:
The Tournament of Champions / Earl Rosenbloom Memorial Tournament (the Rosenbloom), and the 2016 Gary Campbell Memorial Tournament, Both will run for 7 Tuesdays (Nov 1 to Dec 13. Details are below, but in brief, both tournaments will be CFC rated, but the Rosenbloom will also be FIDE rated. Tournament of Champions will open to all; the Frank Milord Memorial Tournament is restricted to those CFC rated Under 1800.

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] FIDE Rule Appendix G4 will also be in effect.

(Players may take up to 2 half-point and any number of zero-point byes. Half-point byes for rounds 6 and 7 must be requested before Round 4.)

Registration for both tournaments - November 1 - approximately 6:30 pm to 6:50 pm.

Late Registration for tournament - November 8 or 15 - approximately 6:30 pm to 6:45 pm - you will receive a 1/2 point bye for each of the first two rounds missed.

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).

Top 2 Manitoba Finishers in the 2016 Earl Rosenbloom Memorial qualify to the 2017 Manitoba Championship

Entry Fees:
2016 Earl Rosenbloom Memorial $ 25

Great opportunity to Start, add to, or complete your FIDE Rating requirements.
Tentative Pairings to be Published prior to Rounds 2-6

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

(These are not knockout tournaments, players will play all 7 rounds)(If you can not play on one or more weeks, please contact the TD BEFORE the round.)

facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/178247284305/

2016 October TNT has been rated by the CFC



See the crosstable here:
http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201610064&key=161029

The following achieved a new peak established rating:

Harshana Konara  1916


Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - October 15, 2016

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

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - October 1, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Mansfield)
1. Be4

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

2016 September TNT has been rated by the CFC

Please see the crosstable here.

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings.

Marcos Valentino  2224
Harshani Konara 1871
Cory Letain 1740
Ken Marshall 1456

Sunday, September 25, 2016

FM Kevin Gentes wins Langley Open

From BCCF Bulletin:

Now in its eleventh year after moving to Langley from Victoria, this traditional Labour Day weekend
event is the last qualifying event for the upcoming provincial championship. As a result the
competition is perhaps a bit keener than in the average event. This year there was a record turnout
of sixty-one players, up from the previous record of sixty in 2012. Among them were nine players
over 2000, including former BC Champions Tanraj Sohal, Mayo Fuentebella, and Brian McLaren,
2015 Manitoba Closed Champion Kevin Gentes who has been living in Surrey since February, and
more recent arrivals Javier Cortes and Xie Qiu. After five rounds Tanraj and Kevin were leading,
having drawn with each other and beaten everyone else. Gentes defeated Joe Roback in the last
round but Sohal lost to Cortes, leaving Gentes the sole winner. Cortes, the only other undefeated
player (he gave up two draws) tied for second on 5.0 points with two juniors who had excellent
events, Andrew Hemstapat and Michael Su. Somewhat surprisingly the qualifying spot for the BC
Closed went to the sixth-placed player, Daniel Salcedo; everyone ahead of him had either already
qualified or didn’t meet the residency or rating requirements for the Closed. There was a four-way
tie for the U1700 prizes between Callum Lehingrat, Elliot Lupini, Ulvi Ibrahimov, and Daniel Wang,
all with 4.0 points; Lupini and Wang are actually only rated 1090 and 1360 respectively. Finally
Joshua Imoo was recipient of the upset prize for beating Xie Qiu in the first round, a difference of
some 823 points. The tournament was organized by the Langley Chess Club (Hugh Long,
President), promoted by Andrew Hoyer, and directed by Brian Davidson. Standings

Friday, September 23, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 17, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to Mate in 2 (Meredith)
1.Qd2

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Isaac Wiebe vs. Magnus Carlsen - Thursday, Sep 22

Seriously ! Isaac Wiebe won a random draw related to playing the PlayMagnus app, and will enjoy a once in a lifetime experience in New York to play in a simul against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

 From the organizers: On September 22, Magnus Carlsen will host 10 players from his app, as well as guests from the Liberty Science Center, in the “Play Live Challenge.” The event will be hosted at the Liberty Science Centre in New York, and will be built around a timed simul. Magnus will have 30 minutes, and so will each of the contestants. We expect Magnus will have to make a run for it with only 30 minutes for all boards combined. After the simul Magnus will do a game analysis with each of the players. In cooperation with the Norwegian newspaper VG, we (PlayMagnus) will broadcast the entire event.

The broadcast will start at 10:30 (Central), and last approx. 2,5 hours.

Complete Dashboard: The broadcast will contain live commentary in English, TV feed and graphics with all the boards. http://direkte.vg.no/studio/play-live-challenge

 TV feed of the broadcast, including English commentary and graphics:



 In studio: The studio guests will include Fabiano Caruana and Paul Hoffman.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Bridging Villages / MCA Active Tournament – Sunday, September 18


Bridging Villages / MCA Active Tournament – Sunday, September 18


Bridging Villages



Together with
the Manitoba Chess Association (MCA)present a
FUNDRAISER CHESS TOURNAMENT
Sunday, September 18
10:00am – 4:00pm
University of Winnipeg (Rm 3L08)
Prize Fund: $200 (donated by MCA)
5 round Swiss
Time control:  20 minutes plus 10 second Bronstein delay
Two sections:  Open and U1600
https://www.facebook.com/events/1271051882929260/

Entry fee: $15 (tax receipts provided)
All proceeds will be donated to Bridging Villages, and will contribute to the building of a school for orphaned children in Uganda.
Additional donations are welcomed, and tax receipts will be provided.
RAFFLE PRIZE: Handmade stone Ugandan chess set!




King is 5.25 in.
Registration: 9:30AM – 9:45AM
For more information or for early registration please contact Blair Rutter from MCA (blairrutter@shaw.ca) or Anais Hacault  from Bridging Villages (anais.hacault@gmail.com)

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 3, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Bettman)
1. Rec2

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - August 20, 2016

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

Monday, September 5, 2016

2016 September TNT starts Tuesday, September 6


2016 September TNT - 
CFC  rated.

 $ 15 entry fee  -   Prizes will be based on entries. A

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42

4 rounds - September 6, 13, 20, 27,   - (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 4 rounds) 
(Players may take up to 1  half-point and any number of zero-point byes.  Half-point byes for round  4 must be requested before Round 1.

Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 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 approx. 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]. We will also be using FIDE Rule Appendix G.4 for situations with players having under 2 minutes remaining.
.

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, or $ 16 for a one-tournament 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, or $ 8 for a one-tournament membership]

Registration for tournament -Tuesday,September 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.  Tournament Director will be Blair Rutter  reachable  at 204-256-2353 or blairrutter@shaw.ca

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, August 11, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - August 6, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Bettmann)
1. Qh5

Thursday, August 4, 2016

2016 Abe Yanofsky Blitz Championship - Tuesday, August 9

2016 Abe Yanofsky Blitz Championship

Open to all


Tuesday, August 9
University of Winnipeg, Portage Avenue Room 4CM42
Registration 6:35 - 6:55

Time Control - 3 minutes + 2 second increment.
(same time control as used in the World Blitz Championship)

Format likely to be 2 Sectioned Round Robins, or 2 Sectioned (Open, approx U1800) Swisses depending on number of entries.

Current estimate is that there will be approximately 9-10 double rounds (2 game matches) ie. 18-20 games per player.

Entry fee - $ 10,  $ 5 for 2016 Abe Yanofsky Memorial entrants.

Prizes - Entries to 2016 Abe Yanofsky Memorial (transferable)

Monday, August 1, 2016

2016 Winnipeg Open - Joe Dreman Memorial has been rated by FIDE



Name New Rating Change
  Kernetsky, Myron 1999
79
  Campbell, Jamie 1779
51
  Rutter, Blair 1822
42
  Atem, James 1842
17
  Babb, Jeff 2112
16
  Bonness, Will 1825
1
  Wolchock, Theo 1758
-7
  Wiebe, Isaac 2017
-13
  Bince, Rolando 1955
-25
  Boron, Anthony 1840
-26
  Baron, Gustav L 2025
-27
  Magnusson, Saul 1993
-44
  Prince, Colin 1863
-55




New FIDE rating


  Czypinski, Jaroslaw 1954
 

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - July 23, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 2 (Shinkman)

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

2016 Joe Dreman Memorial - Winnipeg Open has been rated by the CFC

see the crosstable here:

http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201607045&key=160727

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Myron Kernetsky 2126
Will Bonness 1912
Carter Marshall 1381
Ken Marshall 1377


Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - July 9, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Gamage)
1.Qb1

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - June 25, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to move and mate in 2 (Gamage)
1. Rh4

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Gary Campbell - Memorial Service - Thursday, June 23 at 2:00



Gary Campbell - 2011 Abe Yanofsky Memorial - photo by Greg Swift
GARY DAVID CAMPBELL
Gary Campbell of Winnipeg, MB passed away on Wednesday June 12, 2016 when his heart could no longer contain the love that filled it. He is predeceased by his first wife Shirley, his parents Clifford and Olga, his brother Kenneth, his wife of 43 years, Ruth and his son Rodney. Gary was extremely loving and proud of his children: Rodney Campbell and his wife Kim; Linda Hurrie and her husband Alvin and children Crystal (Keith) and Shawn; Brad Campbell and his wife Cathy and their children Scott (Becky) and Caitlin; Deborah Campbell and her children Michaela and Owen, and Laura Campbell and her husband Les. He is also survived by his sisters Carole and Suzie and his brother Don (Diane) as well as his many loving nieces, nephews and other friends. Gary was a kind and gentle man who enjoyed cooking, art, chess and gardening.

A memorial service in his honour will be held in the chapel at Bethel Place, 445 Stafford St., on June 23 at 2:00 p.m., with reception to follow at Rockwood Army Navy and Airforce, 341 Wilton St.

As published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 18, 2016

Monday, June 20, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - June 11, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Meredith)
 1. Qd8


Thursday, June 9, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - May 28, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2 (Shinkman)
1. Rf1

Monday, June 6, 2016

Strange Coincidence - Nine Years in the making - Korchnoi and Ali

I was just informed that former World Championship contender Viktor Korchnoi has passed away.

In June 2007, I traveled to Las Vegas to attend the National Open Chess Tournament (I played in all since then, except 2011, and will pass on this year).  I can't recall if I knew Viktor Korchnoi was going to be playing, but there he was, on the stage at the Riviera.

Korchnoi - Gurevich - National Open - Las Vegas 2007





Petra, Korchnoi's companion, in pink





That's the scowl we'll remember !
I started this blog in late 2007, so I did not publish anything about that trip.  Searching for the pictures that I took,I realized I had forgotten that I also had a picture taken with "Ali" at a Madame Tussaud's display

Rest in peace, warriors !



2016 Winnipeg Open (Joe Dreman Memorial) starts Tuesday, June 7

016 Winnipeg Open – Joe Dreman Memorial  ( a special Tuesday Night Tournament)
CFC and FIDE rated.
$ 20 entry fee  –   Prizes will be based on entries. Approximately $ 200 will be added to the prize fund through the Joe Dreman legacy

Location: University of Winnipeg – Room 4CM42  (Round 2 only – Room 5L24)

8 rounds – June 7, 14, 21, 28, July 5, 12, 19, 26 – (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 8 rounds)
(Players may take up to 2  half-point and any number of zero-point byes.  Half-point byes for rounds 7 and 8 must be requested before Round 3.

Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 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] + FIDE Rule G4 – player may request increment clock at under 2 minutes.
.
$ 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 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.  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. 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.
check the Calendar listing for any changes

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

2016 May TNT has been rated by the CFC

Please see the crosstable here:

http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201606010

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Theo Wolchock  2049
Will Bonness 1878
Phil Le Dorze 1871

Monday, May 23, 2016

2016 Canadian Chess Challenge

being played in Regina this long weekend.

http://www.chess-challenge.chess-math.org/national/results/2016/English/index.xml 

Manitoba usually finishes no worse than 5th - but were edged out this year for 5th by the hosts.

It looks like Derek Ma may have tied for 3rd in Grade 8.

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - May 12, 2016

from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in 2
1. Kf7

Sunday, May 22, 2016

2016 Gibraltar Challengers B - Round 1

I played a young fourteen year-old Norwegian fellow, Daniel Nordquelle, rated 2102.
(He had a rougher time than me, ELO-wise, dropping 50 points in Challengers A, forty points in the Masters, and 37 in the Challengers B.  But his K=40, so, will gain those points back with a few wins here and there.)

The game was quite double-edged, but I prematurely pushed my h-pawn and eventually lost it.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - April 30, 2016


from the Winnipeg Free Press
White to mate in two (Slesarenko)
1. Qh7



Saturday, April 30, 2016

2016 May TNT chess tournament starts Tuesday, May 3

CFC (Chess Federation of Canada)  rated. CFC Membership required (see below)

$ 15 entry fee  –   Prizes will be based on entries.

Location: University of Winnipeg – Rm 4CM42

5 rounds – May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31   – (This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 5 rounds)   (Players may take up to 1  half-point and any number of zero-point byes.  Half-point byes for round  5 must be requested before Round 2.)

Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. 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 approx. 3 hours and 40 minutes maximum]. We will also be using FIDE Rule Appendix G.4 for situations with players having under 2 minutes remaining.

$ 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, or $ 16 for a one-tournament 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, or $ 8 for a one-tournament membership]

Registration for tournament -Tuesday, May 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.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

2016 Jack Boardman Memorial has been rated by the CFC


See the crosstable here:
http://chess.ca/crosstable?tournament_check_number=201604099&key=160427

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:

Jeff Clark 2123 (+106)
Will Bonness 1777
Mike Skop 1699
Carter Marshall 1340
Ken Marshall 1328

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

2016 Gibraltar Congress - the flatmates

As I mentioned in a previous post - I shared a flat with four people I did not know previously. Well, as it turned out, I had met one of them before!    My flatmates were Padmini Rout, and Nisha Mohota of India, and father/daughter from Iceland, Magnus Kristinsson and Veronika Magnusdottir.  We all got along very well, and I am happy to have 4 new friends.

Magnus and Veronika squinting into the sun, waiting for the bus at Casemates.

Nisha Mohota and Padmini Rout en route to the playing site.  To Nisha's right is Yasser Saber of Morocco, who defeated GM Bellon Lopez in Round 9.  Waiting for and taking the bus was a great way to meet fellow players.   


 I had met Nisha at the 2005 Canadian Open during the post mortem with Jonathan Zaczek. http://www.365chess.com/view_game.php?g=3190808.  She became an IM in 2011.  Padmini is also an IM, and notched a GM norm at the 2015 Gibraltar Masters.

Another new friend is John Zachariassen.  We were paired near each other for most rounds in the Masters.  He was staying at the Cannon Inn, near my flat, so we stopped for dinner one night at the Star Bar, Gibraltar's oldest bar.

Fish and chips for me  ! and a pint of course.


Monday, April 25, 2016

2016 Manitoba Closed Championship Qualifying Update

 Update April 25:
The final 8 re-sorted based on Jan 1. ratings according to the regulations are:
Baron Gustav 2197
Dawa Arvin 2161
Clark Jeff 2057
Bince Rolando 1976
Boron Anthony 1951
Wolchock Theo 1950
Prince Colin 1920
Ma Derek 1891

 The pairings for the quarterfinals are:
Baron-Ma
Dawa-Prince
Clark-Wolchock
Bince-Boron


Update: April 24 - Arvin Dawa and Derek Ma won the second games of their matches, winning both matches.

Update: April 9 - Arvin Dawa and Derek Ma won the first games of their matches, both having White.

Update: Feb 24  -   Gustav Baron, Theo Wolchock, Rolando Bince, Anthony Boron, James Atem, and Colin Prince, Jeff Clark Derek Ma have confirmed their entry. Kevin Gentes, Isaac Wiebe, Jeff Babb, Leor Wasserman have declined. We will give Marcos Valentino a deferral to 2017.

Jim Green and Ethan Eckert were successful in were successful for the at-large bids. Update, April 5: Jim has had to withdraw due to medical issues.  Arvin Dawa will replace Jim.

The play-in round will consist of the following match pairings:

Derek Ma vs. Ethan Eckert
James Atem vs.Arvin Dawa

the first named will have choice of colour in Game 1.


2016 Manitoba Closed Championship Qualifying -
Manitoba Closed 2016 format : 8 player knockout 

(Note: on February 23, 2014 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 forward) 

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 2015 in order to qualify. In order of preference - if the qualifying player does not want to participate or the qualifier is redundant, we continue down the list until there are 8 willing participants.

     1. Previous Year's Champion (KEVIN GENTES)
     2. Winner of the Reserve (not held)
     3. MB Junior Champion (if rated above 1900)  - 
     4. Top Manitoban in AY Memorial (Kevin Gentes)
     5,6. Top 2 finishers in the Tournament of Champions (GUSTAV BARON, ISAAC WIEBE
     7. Player with the best MTPPS (Kevin Gentes) 
     8. Player with the 2nd best MTPPS (Isaac Wiebe) 
     9. 2nd Manitoban in the AY Memorial (Jeff Babb, Moncal, Baron tied for 2nd, Moncal has only played 4 games)
    10. Player with the 3rd best MTPPS  (Gustav Baron)
    11. Player with the 4th best MTPPS  (Marcos Valentino)
    12. etc.from the MTPPS  (Anthony Boron, Theo Wolchock, Rolando Bince)

The above players will be contacted in early January 2016 to determine their willingness to participate in the knockout.  If any of the players decline, invitations will be provided to next players on the list below.  Then there will be a short period when wild-card bids (as described above) will be entertained.

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 November 1. are as follows:
(Tournaments scored included all Manitoba CFC Standard rated tournaments, Canadian Closed,  Montreal Open, National Open, World Open, Millionare Open, etc.) If you believe a result has been missed or is incorrect, please contact me.

 
Name Perf
Kevin Gentes 23950
Isaac Wiebe 22984
Gustav L Baron 22531
Marcos Valentino 22135
Anthony Boron 21761
Theo Wolchock 21638
Rolando Bince 21617
Myron Kernetsky 21463
Leor Wasserman 21447
Jeff Clark 21134
James Atem 20820
Colin Prince 20772
Derek Ma 20661
Waldemar Schulz 20638
Jim Green 20521
Blair Rutter 20465
Brock Beach 20231
Jamie Campbell 19909