Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 19, 2009

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

1. Bxc4
1...exd1(Q) 2. Rxe7 Kxg6 3. Bf7#

Zaczek wins 2009 Winnipeg Blitz Championship

I already reported at http://www.chessmanitoba.com the results of the 2009 Winnipeg Blitz Championship held December 15.

Here are few more pictures taken by Greg Swift.

Blitz Chess (5 minute) Night ! Touch Move

I had expected a flood of comments regarding the proposed Touch move rules for the
Blitz championship. But perhaps our players have been watching the videos from the recent World Blitz Championship in Moscow, or the BNbank Blitz Norway tournament.



So elegant !

Blitz Chess night - Tuesday, December 15

We will be having a special Blitz Chess (Five minute) night on Tuesday, December 15 at the University of Winnipeg, Room 4CM42.

As GM Boris Alterman says in his lectures on ICC, "Now, pay attention".

The event will have two sections - The main event will be the 2009 Winnipeg Blitz Championship - a knockout tournament (seeded Wimbledon style). So, I am projecting the top 16 entrants will play in the knockout.

But all players will also be simultaneously entered in a Swiss tournament. So, if a player is knocked out of the Championship section, they will continue to play in the Swiss section, carrying over the match points they earned in the knockout section.

Each round will consist of a 2 player match - alternating colours. If the match is tied after two games, an Armageddon one-game playoff will occur. White 5 minutes, Black 4 minutes with draw odds (that means the Black player "wins" if the Armageddon game is a draw). Higher rated player gets to choose which colour he will play in the Armageddon.

If there are 16 players in the knockout section - only 4 rounds will be required to determine the Champion - at a max of 30 minutes per round - that is only two hours. If there is closer to 32 players - an extra round will be required.

The Swiss will have the same number of rounds.

After those tournaments are over, we will have a "fun" (no prizes - just bragging rights) Swiss Blitz tournament that will use up the time to say 10:30 or so - so probably a 4 or 5 round single game per round - approximately an hour.

Entry fee $ 10 - for the night

See the proposed rules here

Grand Prix and Shpan has been rated

See Mike Shpan Crosstable
See Grand Prix Crosstables


New established high ratings for

Leor Wasserman (1723)
Steven deGroot (1801)
Stephen Lipic (1799)
Richard Ott (1601)

Congratulations !

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 5, 2009

From the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press

White to Mate in 3 (Wainwright)

1. Rc6
...Bb8 2. Rb6 Bd6 3.Bxd6#
...Kd5 2. Rc5 Kd6 3.Rd5#

2009 Thank Gibbons Open has been rated

Congratulations to the following who achieved new high ratings:

Stephen Lipic
Saul Magnusson
Clifford Goodman

#	Name	Old	Perf	New	High	Results	Tot
1	Lipic, Stephen	1710	1866	1751	1751	W 8 W 5 W 2 L 3	3.0
2	Manicdao, Tomas	1706	1784	1738	19	W 7 W 4 L 1 W 6	3.0
3	Swift, Ryne	1808	1745	1802	1836	L 5 W 8 D 4 W 1	2.5
4	Magnusson, Saul	1738	1743	1751	1751	W 6 L 2 D 3 W 8	2.5
5	Goodman, Clifford	1684	1759	1694	1694	W 3 L 1 D 0 D 0	2.0
6	Letain, Cory	1594	1450	1578	1622	L 4 W 7 D 8 L 2	1.5
7	Gibbons, Lorne	1292	1258	1288	1446	L 2 L 6 D 0 D 0	1.0
8	Williams, Eric	1466	1413	1454	12	L 1 L 3 D 6 L 4	0.5

Thank Gibbons Open - November 28-29

Thank Gibbons Open
(sub-titled - Be Home by Saturday Supper)

University of Winnipeg
Room 5L24
wish to start earlier)

Update: A very competitive set of eight entrants are battling it out in essentially an under 1800 section.
Ryne Swift  (1808)
Saul Magnusson  (1738)
Stephen Lipic  (1710)
Tomas Manicdao  (1706)
Clifford Goodman (1684)
Cory Letain  (1594)
Eric Williams  (1466)
Lorne Gibbons  (1292)

Standings and games at chessmanitoba.com

Note: Saturday's two rounds were over by 2:30 p.m. !

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle November 21 2009

from the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Densmore)
Solution is 1. Qa2 !

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle November 7, 2009

from the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Dobbs)
1. Kg2
One line is
1...Ne3+ 2.Rxe3+ Kxe3 3.Nf3#

Manitoba Junior has been rated

See crosstable here
New high ratings achieved by:

Paolo Araull0 2187
Igal Raihman 1968
Leah Green 1304

Congratulations !

ND Chessnuts Results 2009

GM Alex Yermolinsky

See the Open results here

and the U1900 results here

Ken Einarsson playing Black in the U1900 Section

In Match scores, we defeated Minnesota, but lost to North Dakota. (I will have to confirm the scores with Blair Rutter), but from what I can determine - Stephen Lipic and Blair Rutter both contributed a +2 score against Minnesota.

I scored 3 / 5 - clear 5th overall and good enough for a piece of some U2100 prize - apparently $ 100.

But the titled players kept avoiding me :-)

Yermolinsky took a first round bye, IM Victor Adler fell ill earlier in the week, and thus on Friday night I was paired with IM Sandor Kustar on first board.


After half an hour or so it was determined that he was not going to be able to play in the tournament, so Brian Thompson filled in and I was fortunate to win a see-saw endgame.

Mike Sailer (Black) vs. Blair Rutter (White)

In the second rd I drew Aron Kaptsan. In third round I beat an expert, Nikita Barabanov and found myself with a surprising 2.5. I thought that I may have a crack at "Yermo" in round 4, but I assume the colours didn't work.

Aron and Zaczek both got to play Yermo. Aron lost in an interesting endgame, I saw Zaczek in the "private" skittles room analyzing with Yermolinsky after round 5, so that must have been fun for Jonathon.

Zaczek-Rutter

Yermolinsky drew Okechukwu Iwu of Duluth.
These two, Mike Sailer and Dmitri Babarbanov tied for first with 4 points
Iwu and Waldemar Schulz

Stephen Lipic was in the running for an under 1900 prize in the Open section; I am sure he will let me know the result.

GM Yermolinsky provided a lecture and Q & A.

Connections

As you have read below - Aron Kaptsan won the 2009 Manitoba Senior Championship on Sunday.
It then occurred to me that the World Senior had just ended a few days earlier with Jānis Klovāns of Latvia tying for first. (Klovans has won the event on three previous occasions. )

On the way home Sunday, I asked Aron if he knew Klovāns. Yes, he replied, and related some stories.

What he didn't tell me was this !-

Championship of Latvia- 1969
Rk	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	P
1	Petkevich J.	*	1/2	1/2	1/2	1	1/2	1/2	1	1	1/2	1/2	1/2	1	1	1	10.0
2	Shmits A.	1/2	*	1/2	1/2	1	1	1/2	1	1	1/2	1	1/2	1	1/2	1/2	10.0
3	Peterson A.	1/2	1/2	*	0	1	1/2	1/2	1	1	1	0	1	1/2	1	1	9.5
4	Zhuravliov V.	1/2	1/2	1	*	0	0	1/2	1/2	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	9.0
5	Gutman L.	0	0	0	1	*	1/2	1/2	0	1/2	1	1	1	1	1	1	8.5
6	Kirilov V.	1/2	0	1/2	1	1/2	*	1/2	1	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	1	1	1/2	8.5
7	Klovans J.	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	*	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2	1	1	1	8.5
8	Abrosimov A.	0	0	0	1/2	1	0	1/2	*	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	7.0
9	Kaptsan A.	0	0	0	0	1/2	1/2	1/2	1	*	1/2	0	1	1	1	1	7.0
10	Kirpichnikov V.	1/2	1/2	0	0	0	1/2	1/2	0	1/2	*	1/2	1	1/2	1	1	6.5
11	Kliavinsh J.	1/2	0	1	0	0	1/2	1/2	0	1	1/2	*	0	1	0	1	6.0
12	Chembaev E.	1/2	1/2	0	0	0	1/2	1/2	0	0	0	1	*	1/2	1/2	0	4.0
13	Matvik N.	0	0	1/2	1	0	0	0	1	0	1/2	0	1/2	*	0	1/2	4.0
14	Osipov I.	0	1/2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1/2	1	*	1	4.0
15	Daudzvardis J.	0	1/2	0	0	0	1/2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1/2	0	*	2.5
16	Vitolinsh A.															*	3.5(of 9)

2009 Manitoba Senior

Five players contested the inaugural Manitoba Senior Chess Championship.

Aaron Kaptsan, John Wierda, Gary Campbell, Andy Kohalmi, Lorne Gibbons.

Round 1 saw Campbell hold Kaptsan to a draw, and Kohalmi flagging in a won ending against Wierda.

Kaptsan - Campbell

Kohalmi-Wierda

Round 2 saw rating favorite Kaptsan on Board 1 defeat Wierda in what turned out to be the pivotal game of the tournament.

Round 3 saw Wierda with the bye - and pairings Gibbons-Kaptsan and Campbell-Kohalmi both had Black winning.

Round 4 pairings Wierda-Gibbons and Kaptsan-Kohalmi, had both rating favorites win.

The result is that Aron Kaptsan is the 2009 Senior Chess Champion of Manitoba at the young age of 80.

TD Tony Boron congratulates Aron Kaptsan

Other prizes:

2nd place - John Wierda

Top over 75 - Andy Kohalmi

Top over 65 - Gary Campbell

Top D - Lorne (Camera Shy) Gibbons

2009 Manitoba Senior Championship

2009 Manitoba Senior Championship (60 and over)

Format: Four round Swiss system (players play all four games
- win or lose)
Time Control: Game/60
Location: University of Winnipeg - Room 3C14
Dates:  November 8, 2009

Eligibility:
Open to those born before November 7, 1949

Registration: 9:30 am to 9:50 am - Sunday, November 8, 2009

Schedule:

Round 1 at 10:00 a.m.,
Rounds 2, 3, 4 tentatively scheduled for noon, 2:30, 4:30,
however if games are
finished in less than two hours rounds may start earlier.

$ 5 entry fee
Time Control: Game/60

Chess Federation of Canada membership not required
Class/Age prizes.

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle October 24, 2009

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

1. Rf7

Mike Shpan Memorial Tournament

Tuesday, November 3 is the start of the six-round Swiss Tournament that is played on 6 consecutive Tuesdays ending December 8.

(This is not a knockout tournament, players will play all 6 rounds)
Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

The "Shpan" is a Swiss (pairing) style tournaments with a time control of G /120 minutes [Each player has 2 hours to complete their moves, the game will be be 4 hours maximum]

Start time is 7:00 pm and the TD will confirm costs ( $ 20 entry fee and CFC membership required)
Registration for tournament - November 3 - approximately 6:30 pm to 6:50 pm

Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 4CM42
4CM42 <-click here for map
This is very near our old room of 5L24 and is in fact on the same floor.

Easiest way to get there is the same way to 5L24 - 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 Bookstore.

Contact: Lorne Gibbons, TD

Grand Prix Finals

TD Lorne Gibbons is in the process of contacting players eligible for the final.
Jaroslaw Czypinski, please contact Lorne.

October 2009 TNT has been rated

See the rated crosstable here

New high ratings acheived by:

Arvin Dawa 2107 (provisional)
Aaron Green 1980
Stephen de Groot 1787
Leor Wasserman 1684
Brian Evans 1632
Shashika Kumaragamage 1361 (provisional)

Congratulations !

Manitoba Junior Championship

"Ole Hellsten Award"

Location: University of Winnipeg Room 5L24
Dates: November 14 & 15, 2009

Eligibility: Open to Manitoba residents under 20 years of age as of December 31, 2009.
Tournament - In 2 sections:

Players in the Open Section will compete for the "Ole Hellsten Award" and be declared the Manitoba Junior Champion. The Champion is eligible to represent Manitoba at the Canadian Junior Championship.

The Reserve Section is only open to players rated under 1000 in the 'Chess and Math' system.

Registration: 9:00 am to 9:45 am - Saturday, November 14, 2009

Schedule:

The Open Section is a two-day event
Rounds at 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 pm on each of November 14 and 15.
Time Control: Game / 120 minutes

The Reserve Section is a one-day event - November 14 only.
Rounds at 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm
Time Control: Game / 25 minutes

Entry Fee:
Open Section: $ 15 (and CFC required)
Reserve Section: $ 5 (no CFC Membership required)

Other:
Tie Breaker, if necessary, in Open Section:

One game with Game /15 minutes
followed by Game / 5 minutes
until Champion is declared.

Reserve section tiebreaker, if necessary, will be Game / 5 minutes.

Further information will likely be posted at:
http://www.manitobajrchess.blogspot.com/

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - October 10, 2009

From the Saturday Free Press
White to mate in 3 (Densmore)

The surprising answer is 1.Qa1
if 1...Rxa1 2. Bxa1 and the rest is easy.
If 1...R moves off the first rank, 2. Qh1 is mate
If 1. Other Rook moves 2. Be8 leads to mate

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle , September 26, 2009

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Buchwald)
1. Ne4 Ng1 (...Nc1 is a mirror image, 2. Rd2 etc.)2. Rf2 Ne2 3. Nf3#
1. Ne4 Ng3 (...Nc3 is a mirror image) 2. Nc3 and Rd1 to follow.

September TNT has been rated

Congratulation to new high ratings achieved by:

Aaron Green 1976 (+75 !)
Arvin Dawa 2074 (provisional)
Saul Magnusson 1738 (+90 !)
Brian Evans 1622
Ryne Swift 1836
Michael Pang 1701
Leor Wasserman 1672

September 2009 TNT

#	Name	Old		Perf		New		Results
1	Green, Aaron	1901		2238		1976		W 17 W 5 W 9 D 2		3.5
2	Dawa, Arvin	2072		2049		2074		W 13 W 20 W 3 D 1		3.5
3	Magnusson, Saul	1648		2142		1738		W 23 W 7 L 2 W 15		3
4	Rutter, Blair	1878		2126		1911		W 21 D 0 D 11 W 9		3
5	Zaczek, Jonathon	2126		2024		2119		W 15 L 1 W 16 W 8		3
6	Green, Jim	1762		1845		1781		L 9 D 21 W 18 W 20		2.5
7	Schulz, Waldemar	2000		1768		1972		W 14 L 3 D 15 W 16		2.5
8	Boron, Anthony	2003		1904		1995		W 10 L 9 W 14 L 5		2
9	Lipnowski, Samuel	2272		1886		2248		W 6 W 8 L 1 L 4		2
10	Evans, Brian	1588		1788		1622		L 8 L 12 W 20 W 21		2
11	Swift, Ryne	1831		1760		1836		W 19 D 0 D 4 L 0		2
12	Lauritson, Jim	1923		1722		1906		L 18 W 10 W 13 L 0		2
13	Pang, Michael	1696		1677		1701		L 2 W 19 L 12 W 18		2
14	Milord, Frank	1630		1635		1636		L 7 W 17 L 8 W 19		2
15	Lipic, Stephen	1722		1714		1723		L 5 W 18 D 7 L 3		1.5
16	Wasserman, Leor	1671		1631		1672		D 0 W 22 L 5 L 7		1.5
17	Gibbons, Lorne	1294		1366		1293		L 1 L 14 W 0 D 0		1.5
18	Ott, Richard	1482		1576		1499		W 12 L 15 L 6 L 13		1
19	Green, Leah	1242		1458		1268		L 11 L 13 W 21 L 14		1
20	Greenberg, Harley	1750		1445		1714		W 22 L 2 L 10 L 6		1
21	Trueman, Francis	1474		1318		1452		L 4 D 6 L 19 L 10		0.5
22	D'arcangelo, Joseph	1071		1311		1170		L 20 L 16 L 0 L 0		0
23	Kernetsky, Myron	1985		1248		1958		L 3 L 0 L 0 L 0		0

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 12

From the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press - September 12, 2009

White to mate in 3 - (Wurzburg)
I didn't have time to look at this, but the answer is
1. Kb3

Abe Yanofsky Memorial has been rated

But not available at the CFC site. I got the info from the CFC and created crosstables with the new rating info; see U 1800 here, and the Open here.

Congratulations to those who achieved new high ratings:

Trevor Vincent (2304 !)
Paolo Araullo (2148)
Jonathon Zaczek (2126)
Rolando Bince (2117)
Igal Raihman (1953)
Aaron Green (1901 !)
Steven de Groot (1774 +84 !)
Ryne Swift (1831)
Saul Magnusson (1648)
Leor Wasserman (1671)
Michael Pang (1696)
Keer Keer (1474)
Clifford Goodman (1684)

Yanofsky Memorial results

Yanofsky Memorial results at

http://aymemorialchess.blogspot.com/

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - August 29, 2009

From the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press
White to move and mate in 2
(Jacob Funk)

Okay solvers, this is an easy one, I found it within a minute. All the clues are quite transparent.
1. Bb3

September TNT starts Tuesday, September 1

September TNT starts September 1 4 rounds - September 1, 15, 22, 29 - (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. Note that there is no game on September 8. 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 /120 minutes [Each player has 2 hours to complete their moves, the game will be be 4 hours 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) Registration for tournament - August 4 - approximately 6:40 pm to 6:50 pm Please note that we intend to start the first round at 7:00 p.m. sharp. Location: University of Winnipeg - Rm 5L24 Contact: Lorne Gibbons, TD

August TNT has been rated

August TNT has been rated:

Congratulations to the following who have achieved new rating highs:
Jonathon Zaczek 2125
Ken Einarsson 1800
Ryne Swift 1802
Michael Pang 1679 (+67 !)
Gary Crawford 1439 (+54)
Steven de Groot 1690
Saul Magnusson 1578
Justin Villeneuve 1356 provisonal

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle August 15, 2009

From the Winnipeg Free Press, Saturday, August 15, 2009

White to mate in 2 (Jacob Funk)

Solutions: Apparently there is a 'cook', unless I got the position wrong.

Stephen in the comments hit on both of them but rejected 1. Nf3 because of 1...Nc6, but then 2.Bxf7#

But 1. Rxc3 apparently mates in two also.

1. Nf3

August 2009 TNT Standings after 3 rounds

#	Name	Rtng		Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Tot
1	Aron Kaptsan	2027		W25	W23	W12	3.0
2	Myron Kernetsky	2009		D29	W17	W15	2.5
3	Jay S Khedkar	2008		W30	D8	W16	2.5
4	Igal Raihman	1905		H---	W29	W20	2.5
5	Blair Rutter	1810		D20	W18	W19	2.5
6	Aaron Green	1779		W26	W9	H---	2.5
7	Ryne Swift	1779		H---	W14	W21	2.5
8	Jonathon Zaczek	2121		H---	D3	W23	2.0
9	Rolando Bince	2086		W24	L6	W26	2.0
10	Jim Lauritson	1939		L19	W32	W27	2.0
11	Waldemar Schulz	2027		D18	L15	W29	1.5
12	Anthony Boron	2015		W28	D19	L1	1.5
13	Harley Greenberg	1782		L21	W33	H---	1.5
14	John Klokow	1774		D31	L7	W28	1.5
15	Ken Einarsson	1768		H---	W11	L2	1.5
16	Arie Wasserman	1698		W33	H---	L3	1.5
17	Steven De Groot	1680		H---	L2	W30	1.5
18	Keith Czarny	1626		D11	L5	W31	1.5
19	Michael Pang	1612		W10	D12	L5	1.5
20	Brian Evans	1579		D5	W31	L4	1.5
21	Saul Magnusson	1564		W13	H---	L7	1.5
22	Lorne Gibbons	1238		H---	D30	H---	1.5
23	Stephen Lipic	1717		W27	L1	L8	1.0
24	Clifford Goodman	1678		L9	L26	W32	1.0
25	Gary Campbell	1651		L1	L27	W33	1.0
26	Richard Ott	1483		L6	W24	L9	1.0
27	Gary Crawford	1385		L23	W25	L10	1.0
28	Leor Wasserman	1650		L12	H---	L14	0.5
29	Frank Milord	1647		D2	L4	L11	0.5
30	Cory Letain	1622		L3	D22	L17	0.5
31	Keer Keer	1433		D14	L20	L18	0.5
32	Alex Iomdina	unr.		H---	L10	L24	0.5
33	Justin Villeneuve	1306		L16	L13	L25	0.0

August 2009 TNT Round 3 Results

There is a glitch with the chessmanitoba.com server so I will post results here.

No draws ! No upsets ! Boron disappointed the rest of the pack with 1.5 by failing to stop Kaptsan who now sits alone 3-0. It will likely be Khedkar's task next week to create a tie for first.
The August auditions for "So You Think You Can Play Chess", conclude on August 25.

Bd		Res	White		Black	Res
1		0	Anthony Boron		Aron Kaptsan	1
2		0	Ken Einarsson		M Kernetsky	1
3		1	Jay S Khedkar		Arie Wasserman	0
4		0	Brian Evans		Igal Raihman	1
5		1	Blair Rutter		Michael Pang	0
6		1	Ryne Swift		Saul Magnusson	0
7		0	Stephen Lipic		Jonathon Zaczek	1
8		0	Richard Ott		Rolando Bince	1
9		0	Gary Crawford		Jim Lauritson	1
10		1	Waldemar Schulz		Frank Milord	0
11		0	Leor Wasserman		John Klokow	1
12		1	Steven De Groot		Cory Letain	0
13		0	Keer Keer		Keith Czarny	1
14		0	Alex Iomdina		Clifford Goodman	1
15		1	Gary Campbell		Justin Villeneuve	0
		½	Lorne Gibbons		BYE
		½	Aaron Green		BYE
		½	Harley Greenberg		BYE

Please send your games ! Early thanks to Michael Pang, Blair Rutter, Steven De Groot, and John Klokow !