2010 Manitoba Chess Championship Qualifier

Last chance to qualify to the the 2010 Manitoba Closed 'Candidates' 8 player knockout tournament.

University of Winnipeg
Room 3C14

4 round Swiss System

Players must have played at least 4 CFC games since
January 1, 2009 and be resident in Manitoba for 6 months as at May 1, 2010.

CFC rated

CFC Membership required

Saturday May 1 and Sunday May 2

Time Control Game / 120

Rounds at 10:00 and 2:30 pm each day.

Entry Fee $ 15, and CFC Membership required.

(50% of entry returned as prizes - 50% CFC/Club fee/MBclosed)

Prizes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd

(If uneven number of players - lowest scoring/rated players get full point bye)

Half point byes available for Rounds 1-3 if requested before first round.

(zero point byes available anytime)

Winner:
If co-winner has qualified otherwise, the remaining co-winner will be deemed the winner.)

Otherwise cascading tie-breaks will determine first place.

Head-to-Head within tournament (if only two winners) (Black draw = win)

Cumulative Score

Modified Median

Update: Manitoba Chess Championship (match knockout) qualification

Update:
The following qualifiers have confirmed their participation (at least tentatively) for the 8 -player knockout: Trevor Vincent, Paolo Araullo, Jay Khedkar, Sam Lipnowski.
Rolando Bince has declined, and Kevin Gentes is believed to be residing in Ontario.
So that leaves 4 spots, including one from the qualifier this weekend.
That means at least 3 spots will be filled from the rating list on May 5.
Nothing substantive has changed from the rating listed below, other than Babb and Dawa pulling further ahead of the followers.
I would say Jeff Babb is unlikely to be fall out of the top 3, so is very likely a lock. Dawa, Zaczek and Nikouline could all change positions depending on who plays on the weekend, and the results of course. Boron or Kaptsan could catch Zaczek or Nikouline with good performances.

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Here is approved regulations for the the 2010 Manitoba Chess Championship (match knockout), approved at the April 11 board meeting. The new format gives everyone a chance to compete for the championship regardless of most time constraints/commitments. The previous format, where the winner of the Albert Boxer Memorial is deemed the champion, is quite restrictive.

I want to mention that one of the provisos for qualifying is that all candidates must have played at least 8 standard rated CFC games between Jan 1,2009 - May 3, 2010. There are 8 rounds of play available before May 3; the April TNT and the May 1-2 qualifier.

The 2010 cycle is not terribly important as there does not appear to be a Canadian Closed scheduled in 2010. The 2010 winner however would be one of the players seeded into the final 8 in 2011. The 2010 Albert Boxer, effectively becomes a qualifier for 2011, not the championship it has been in the past few years.

Just a word on the below - it is not 'scientific'; I was basically making it up as I went along - with no reference to actual results.
I then went back and penciled in the 2010 qualifiers to see what it would look like. Of course, it is quite retroactive, but I don't think anyone can legitimately complain. I think you will agree it is a system that should qualify the best player.

Manitoba Closed 2010 Championship

8 player knockout

3 rounds of 2 game matches to be played at G/120 , no increment.
Tiebreaks at 2 games at G - 25 plus 10 second increment. Further tiebreaks at Blitz 5 minutes plus 3 sec increment

Matches to be played at player's convenience (they will submit dates they are available)

approximately:
Round 1 - Approx May 6 - June 7
Round 2 - Approx June 8 - July 15
Final -Approx Jul 15 - Aug 15

(I would prefer that these days be compressed - but I don't think there is any hurry for 2010. 2011 will be a different story.)

Qualifiers -

All players must have played at least 8 standard rated CFC games between Jan 1,2009 - May 3, 2010. and be a full CFC member at time of knockout start.

2010 Qualifiers in order of preference - if the qualifying player does not want to participate or the winner is redundant we continue down the list until there are 8 participants.

1. Previous Year's Champion

2. Winner of the Reserve (2009 Albert Boxer Memorial top section - the Boxer top section will be a qualifier going forward)

3. MB Junior Champion (if rated above 1900)

4. Top Manitoban in 2009 AY Memorial top section

5. Winner of Grand Prix A

6. Winner of Qualifier May 1,2 (tiebreak required if necessary)

7,8. Top 2 CFC rated (established) players who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year (after May 2 qualifier)

9. 2nd Manitoban in the 2009 AY Memorial top section

10. Third highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year.

11. Fourth highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year.

12. Second place in the 2009 Albert Boxer Memorial top section

13. Fifth highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year.

14--onward. 6th etc. highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year.

So now, let's see who is eligible as of this moment.
1. Previous Year's Champion [Trevor Vincent]

2. Winner of the Reserve (2009 Albert Boxer Memorial) [Trevor Vincent]

3. MB Junior Champion (if rated above 1900) [Paolo Araullo]

4. Top Manitoban in 2009 AY Memorial [Trevor, Paolo, Rolando Bince]

5. Winner of Grand Prix A [Sam Lipnowski]

6. Winner of Qualifier in April [TBD]

7,8. Top 2 CFC rated (established) players who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year (after May 2 qualifier) Trevor Vincent, Kevin Gentes

9. 2nd Manitoban in the 2009 AY Memorial [Trevor, Paolo, Rolando Bince] n/a

10. Third highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year.Sam Lipnowski

11. Fourth highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year. Paolo Araullo

12. Second place in the 2009 Albert Boxer Memorial [Sam/Jay Khedkar]

13. Fifth highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year. Jeff Babb (2193)

I understand Gentes is not residing in Manitoba and may be unlikely to play in the knockout.

So I will list the next few potential qualifiers:
14--onward. 6th etc. highest CFC rated player who have played at least 8 CFC rated games in the previous year.

14. Bince (has already qualified)
15. Dawa (2135)
16. Zaczek (2101)
17. Nikouline (2092)
18. Kaptsan (2045)
19. Khedkar (has already qualified)
20. Boron (2024)

So, with the possible exception of the one qualifying spot remaining to be filled from the qualifier May 1-2; all other contestants are likely to be rated at least 2040.

The 2011 tentative scheme is weighted toward more qualifiers from tournaments and less from the rating list.

For the 2010, the entry fee will be $ 10 and there will be a small prize for the winner, in addition to automatic qualification to the 2011 final 8 (provided they play 8 CFC games in 2010)

2010 April TNT has been CFC rated

2010 April TNT has been CFC rated. Please see details here

Congratulations to the following who achieved new high ratings:

Arvin Dawa 2135
Richard Ott 1640
Leor Wasserman 1736
Gary Crawford 1463
Sashika Kumaragamage 1392

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - April 10, 2010

From the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Healey)

see discussion here

2010 Spring Active

MCA Active Rating	Old	Perf.	New	Change
Campbell, Jamie	1572	1936	1646	+74
Czypinski, Jaroslaw	1907	2015	1927	+20
Dawa, Arvin	2106	2179	2118	+12
Evans, Brian	1588	1684	1599	+11
Kaptsan, Aron	2025	1967	2016	-9
Lipic, Stephen	1812	1903	1828	+16
Magnusson, Saul	1798	1691	1780	-18
Mousseau, Chuck	1846	1823	1844	-2
Nikouline, Alexandre	2100	1807	2056	-44
Ochate, Edward	1500	1653	1522	+22
Ott, Richard	1554	1359	1512	-42
Pang, Michael	1701	1882	1727	+26
Raihman, David	1500	1544	1498	-2
Raihman, Igal	1968	2081	1988	+20
Schulz, Waldemar	2017	1688	1969	-48
Trueman, Francis	1470	1413	1460	-10

Top Rated Manitobans

Below are the top rated Manitobans who have played at least 8 CFC standard rated games since
January 1, 2009

NAME	RATING
Vincent, Trevor	2304
Gentes, Kevin	2254
Lipnowski, Samuel	2232
Araullo, Paolo	2187
Babb, Jeff	2134
Bince, Rolando	2117
Dawa, Arvin	2106
Zaczek, Jonathon	2101
Nikouline, Alexandre	2092
Kaptsan, Aron	2063
Khedkar, Jay S.	2063
Boron, Anthony	2040
Mundwiler, Les	2027
Kernetsky, Myron	2021
Schulz, Waldemar	2017
Oberton, Daniel	1993
Wiebe, Daniel	1973
Green, Aaron	1972
Raihman, Igal	1968
Czypinski, Jaroslaw	1927

The importance of this list will become clearer tonight when I post the draft regulations for 2010 Manitoba Closed qualification.

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle March 27, 2010

from the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Matousek)
(Note: the h pawn should be on h4)

1. Rf6