Issue # 1-8, December 15, 2012 - The Chess Federation of Canada

Transcription

THE “Independent” Voice for Canadian Chess
Covering Toronto Chess News and Beyond!
www.TorontoChessNews.com
“Chess IS Life!” – GM Bobby Fischer
Issue # 1- 8 – December 15, 2012
Anna Ushenina ( Ukraine ) – New Women’s World Chess
Champion!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL & THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR!!
2
Toronto Chess News
Table of Contents
Page
Articles, etc.
Women’s World Chess Championship – An Alternative Format?
Interesting Canadian Chess Personalities – Harmony Zhu
Malmsten on Chess – Chess Club Websites
Ken’s Chess Trivia
TCN Readers Have Questions
TCN’s “Readers’ Opinion” Column
Corrigenda
4
31
58
63
64
64
67
Tournament Reports
Women’s World Chess Championship, Russia
Panama Chess Open II
FIDE 2012-3 Grand Prix # 2 ( Tashkent ), Uzbekistan
London Chess Classic, England
22nd World Senior Chess Championship, Kamena Vourla, Greece
The Battle of Toronto Invitational
Toronto Junior Championship
Toronto Women’s Championship
Toronto Seniors’ Championship
7
11
12
18
27
34
36
37
39
Organizations with News Reports
Chess Federation of Canada ( CFC )
Greater Toronto Chess League ( GTCL )
Scarborough Chess Club ( SCC )
Annex Chess Club ( ACC )
Willowdale Chess Club ( WCC )
Burlington Chess Club
Mississauga Chess Club
Aurora Chess Club
Ajax Chess Club
Hamilton City Chess Club
Kitchener-Waterloo Chess Club
30
39
40
48
49
50
51
52
54
54
55
Tournament Notices
Hart House Winter Open
GTCL League Cup
65
66
Toronto Chess News
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2013 Toronto Closed Championship – Advance Notice
66
NOTE re GAME ANALYSIS
I use Fritz 13 in my game analysis. My research, using Fritz for many years, establishes
that Fritz 13 evaluates 1.e4, 1.d4, and 1.Nf3 as a “ slight “ advantage to White, whereas
historically, these positions were generally considered equal. Many still dispute this
evaluation. Though W has "initiative", some/many ( ? ) feel Bl., with best play, equalizes.
But in my research on the three W openings where Fritz gives +/= after W's first move,
Bl never should equalize, as long as W does not make a mistake (a general operational
principle). And true enough, even into the middlegame of my " perfect " games, Bl.
remains +/=!!. So the computer has now convinced me to switch camps, where I used to
believe in " Black equality ". However, it may be that the "horizon effect" will yet
establish equality for Black when the "perfect game" is taken far enough. But, since I am
using Fritz 13, I therefore follow its lead, and so have felt it necessary to make some note
re these first moves. In the past, I gave this explanation above in annotations to these
three first moves. But, for regular readers of my analyzed games, I know this annotation
became irksome; but people who are new come to my analyzed games on the TCN
Website, or where a TCN newsletter has been forwarded to them, and, for them, an
explanation of this unusual Fritz 13 feature is required, to understand what I am doing.
However, I agree with some readers who suggested a general explanation would be
preferable to the annotation in every game starting with these three moves ( which is
most of them ). I appreciate my repeat readers' patience ‘til this change. I therefore began
using this other format of a general explanation in the table of contents, to explain this
interesting computer phenomenon ( and not insert it into the actual annotated game ). In
the game score, I will just note the symbolic and numerical evaluation by Fritz. I hope
this small change improved the quality of TCN for all subscribers.
NOTE re Next Issue # 1-9 of Jan. 1/13
Your intrepid editor will be on holidays out of town for Christmas through to New Years.
At this point an Issue is still planned, though it will be quite a light-weight one, and it will
be late being sent out, since it will have to be finished soon after Jan. 1. If things really go
south, then you may get an e-mail advising the Issue will be cancelled.
Toronto Chess News
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Women’s World Chess Championship – An Alternative Format?
[ this is an article in the “7th day chess reform issues” series of the Cooperative Chess
Coalition ( CCC ) on their Facebook discussion page, “CCC – Chess Posts of Interest”
(http://www.facebook.com/groups/cooperativechesscoalition/ ):]
FIDE has given the women of the world a 64-player knockout system for
determining the Women's World Champion, to be held every 2nd year ( every alternate
year, the sitting Women’s World Champion plays a title match of 12 games against a “
Challenger “ ). The sitting Champion must play in the knockout, the same as every other
player - no special privileges for being champion. The round consists of only a 2-game
match, with tie-break at faster time control.
This knockout championship is only one of a possible number of championship
formats. Some say its weakness was made startlingly apparent in this year’s 2012
WWCC .
In the second round:
TOP THREE ELIMINATED:
Hou Yifan ( China ), sitting women's World Champion and # 3 woman in the world,
Humpy Koneru ( India ), # 2 woman in the world, and
Anna Muzychuk ( Slovenia ), # 4 woman in the world
In the third round:
4th seed eliminated: Zhao Xue ( China )
By the semi-finals ( the last four ):
only 2 of the 4 were GM’s!
The Champion:
IM/WGM Anna Ushenina – only # 37 in the women’s world rankings, and a nonGM.
As Jack Maguire noted on the Canadian national scholastic chess discussion
board of Chess ‘n Math Association, Chesstalk, re the finals match:
“What arrant nonsense! The #19 ranked woman in the world, Antoaneta Stefanova
(2491), playing the #38 [ became # 37 in Dec. 2012 List ] ranked woman in the world,
Anna Ushenina (2452), for the so-called title of Woman World Champion. Talk about
debasing a title!”
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Such a decimation can only be explained by the lottery format of only 2-game
matches, within the knockout system. Now Scarborough CC secretary, Steve Karpik, has
noted that many sports use a knockout system for determining a champion, and these
tournaments are wildly popular, world-wide: The World Cup for soccer; The Stanley
Cup, for North American hockey; in USA College basketball; etc. So it may be that the
knockout format is fine in and of itself, for determining a champion – but many say
certainly not in chess with only 2-game matches – it too significantly introduces a “
chance “ element into the sport where the final determinate is supposed to be “ skill “.
It is interesting to compare the placement of the knockout system in determining
the World Chess Champion. It is only one of two preliminary phases in the determination
of a “ Challenger “ for the World Title. It is called the World Cup, but only sends 2 of the
8 players who go into the second phase, the Candidates’ Tournament. It’s significance is
much diminished in the World Championship cycle. It also has 2-game matches initially,
and many feel that it is the lottery aspect of this format, that has led to it being
downgraded ( where for a while in the late 1900’s and early 2000’s, FIDE had used it for
their World Championship determination ).
Yet for women, it is the determining format for the Women’s World Champion!??
Some argue that the 2012 Women’s World Chess Championship shows how
“ INFERIOR “ the women’s format is, compared to the open World Championship
format. Some go so far as to say it is evidence within FIDE of “ discrimination “ against
women – failure to give them a system of equal quality. Others say this is going too far.
But the question remains – is there a problem with the Women’s World Chess
Championship??
A second issue also surfaces in this debate, one that has swirled around the World
Chess Championship since it was instituted. By tradition, from the very start, the chess
culture has given great respect to the sitting champion. In the early years, the Champion
actually determined who would be his “ Challenger “ in a match to defend his world title.
Then FIDE took over after WWII, and instituted a series of playdowns ( zonals; interzonals ) to determine a “ Challenger “ for the title. In more recent years we have seen the
introduction of the World Cup and the Grand Prix as preliminary phases.
But the one constant ( except for a few rare occasions ) has been that the
Champion gets to defend his title in a “ match “. Tournaments, with the Champion being
just another player, have not, in chess, been a popular format to determine a world chess
champion.
EXCEPT, as we’ve seen, in women’s chess, where the match format appears
every 2nd year!??
Steve has again noted that chess shares this “ match “ championship format, with
only a few modern sports – boxing and wrestling ( and maybe some others ). But it is
clear that FIDE, and it seems the chess world generally, approve of the historically-based
format of determining a “ Challenger “ by some preliminary system, and then holding a “
Championship Match “.
Yet some ask:
“ Then why has FIDE not done this for women in chess? Why every 2nd year, a
tournament that determines the Women’s World Chess Champion? “
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Is this some evidence of an element of discrimination against women in chess?
Some ask if there is any legitimate reason that can be given for the difference between the
World Championship, and the Women’s World Championship?
If one was going to bring the women’s system more in line with the World
Championship system, what might it look like?
Some list the following problems/ solutions re the current WWCC tournament
every 2nd year:
1. Knockout system to determine a Women’s World Champion – lottery with 2game matches – discriminatory compared to the World Championship system –
need to downgrade its importance substantially;
2. A Candidates’ Tournament ( round robin )
-: Need a multi-system feed in from
a. Women’s Grand Prix – 6 tournaments over 2 years ( as currently ) –
contributes 3 top finishers to Candidates’ Tournament
b. Women’s World Cup – every 2nd year – zonal reps.- contributes 2 finalists
to Candidates’ Tournament
- 8 players – 5 as above; loser of the most recent Women’s World Championship
match, & 2 from rating list. Winner becomes the “ Challenger “ for the title, in a
Championship Match.
3. .Length of WWCC match – go to 16 games from 12 – lessen chance of draw after
regular play. Every 2nd year.
Those wanting reform point to the following schedule for a reformed WWCC:
Time Chart
Year 1 – 2nd half of Women’s Grand Prix // Women’s World Cup
Year 2 – Women’s Candidates’ Tournament // Women’s World Championship Match ll 1st
half of new Women’s Grand Prix
Year 3 - 2nd half of new Women’s Grand Prix // Women’s World Cup
And repeated.
___________________________________________________________________________
It may be relevant that the Chess Federation of Canada ( CFC ) FIDE
Representative, Hal Bond, on Nov. 17, 2012, on the Canadian scholastic chess discussion
board, Chesstalk, posted:
"This [ WWCC ] tournament really hi-lights the difference between the Men's and Women's
World Championships.
Toronto Chess News
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The Men's (Open, Absolute whatever) Champ waits for a match challenger every two years.
The Women's Champ defends her title every year, including this knockout style event every
other year.
Maybe lessons from one system will influence the other. It seems that one is too easy, the
other too tough! "
Is he indicating that he is open to bringing a motion to the CFC Governors'
Meeting, to have Canada endorse a reform proposal such as the above, re the WWCC??
CCC, an all-male organization, except for one supporter ( a former Canadian
Women’s Olympiad team member ), is looking to the women chess players of the world, as
to whether they have any objection to their current system, as provided by FIDE? And if so,
are they moved at all to carry out any kind of protest of the situation? It is a women’s issue,
and they must indicate if they want something to be changed.
If you ( female or male ) solidly support the current WWCC, then advise why! If
not, give reasons. Post if you support this possible proposal to reform the Women’s WCC, so
CCC knows if there is public support for it ( female and male ). If you can’t support it, post
why – maybe some compromise is possible.
Let’s have a thorough debate on the issue, to see if CCC should develop some position
on the proposal!! Let’s find out what the women chess players think!
INTERNATIONAL
New Women’s World Champion – Ushenina!
The Women’s World Championship was held from November 9 –
December 3 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia ( playoffs were on Dec. 1 ). It is a 64-player
knockout with the best women players in the world. Sitting Champion Hou Yifan was
playing, and her title was on the line. When she was eliminated in Rd. 2, the world knew
it was about to have a new Women’s World Champion.
The current ( and past ) Canadian Champion, WIM Natalia Khoudgarian,
Toronto Chess News
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rated 2138, got eliminated in Rd. 1 by fourth seed, Zhao Xue of China, rated 2565.
The criticism of the short-match knockout format that it introduces a lottery
aspect into the Women’s World Chess Championship, seemed true after the devastation
after 3 rounds – 5 of the top 8 seeds had been eliminated! This included the top four
seeds!
The final round saw the following match up in the 4-game match regular play
( regular play games [ 2 of them ] can be seen in our initial report in Issue # 1-7 of Dec.
1, 2012 ( see our website – URL on cover page ):
IM/WGM Anna Ushenina of Ukraine – rated 2452 - # 37 in the women’s rating
list - knocked out Anna Muzychuk, third seed, in Rd. 2.
vs
GM Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, former Women’s World Champion – rated
2491 - # 19 on the women’s rating list
So on Dec. 1, they went into tie-break 2-game matches at ever faster time
controls, with a final Armageddon game if needed ( one player chooses colour, and Black
gets less time in a blitz game, but Bl wins with a draw ).
Ushenina won the first rapid tie-break, 1 ½ – ½ , to become the new Women’s
World Chess Champion.
Here is the first game of the rapid tie-break match ( Annotations by Bob
Armstrong, using Fritz ):
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Stefanova, A (2491) − Ushenina, A (2452) [D45]
FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty−Mansiysk RUS (6.5), 01.12.2012
1.d4² 0.29 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 [3.e3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bf5²] 3...Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6
7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.a3 Rc8 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nge4 Be7 14.Nxf6+?!=
[14.b4 a5 15.Qb3 Nd5²] 14...Nxf6 15.b4 a5 16.Rb1 axb4 17.axb4 Nd5 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.e4
dxe4 20.Bxe4 Bf6 21.Rd1 Re8 22.Be3 Qe7 23.Bf3 Qe6 24.h3 Ra8 25.Rdc1 Red8 26.Qc5 Ra6
27.Re1 Qd6 28.Red1 Bc8 29.d5 Qxc5 30.bxc5 cxd5?!² [30...Bf5 31.Rb4 Bc3=] 31.Bxd5 Bf5
32.Bb7?!= [32.Rbc1 b4 33.c6 Ra5²] 32...Bxb1 33.Rxd8+ Bxd8 34.Bxa6 b4 35.Bc4 Be4?±
Antoaneta gets a " clear " advantage [35...Bc2 36.Bd4 Kf8=] 36.Bd2 Ba5 37.f3 Bc6 38.Kf2 Kf8
39.Ke3 Ke7 40.Kd4 f6 41.Bb3?!² [41.Bd3 Bb7 42.h4 g5±] 41...Bb5 42.h4 Bf1?!± [42...g5
43.Be1 Kd7²] 43.g3?!² [43.g4 Be2 44.Bd5 Bb5±] 43...g5 44.f4 gxh4 45.gxh4 Bb5 46.f5 Bd7?!±
[46...h5 47.Bd1 Bd7²] 47.Bxh6 Bxf5 48.Bf4 Bg4 49.c6?!² [49.Bg3 f5 50.Ba4 (50.Be5?! Kd7²;
50.Bd6+?! Kd7²; 50.Bc4?! Bf3²; 50.Ba2?! Bd1²) 50...Kd8±] 49...Bb6+ 50.Kc4 Bf2 51.Kxb4 Bxh4
52.Kb5?!= [52.c7 Bd7 53.Ka5 Bg5²] 52...Bg5 53.Bb8 Be3 54.Bc4 Bd4 55.Bf4 Bf3?!² [55...Be5
56.Bxe5 fxe5=] 56.c7 Bg4 57.Kc6 Bc8 [57...Bd7+ 58.Kb7 Bc3²] 58.Bd6+ Ke8 59.Bb5 Kf7
60.Kd5?!= [60.Be2 f5 61.Bf4 Bc3²] 60...Bb6 61.Bf4 Bb7+ 62.Kd6 Bc8 63.Bd2 Kg6 64.Be8+ Kf5
65.Kc6
XABCDEFGHY
8-+l+L+-+(
7+-zP-+-+-'
6-vlK+-zp-+&
5+-+-+k+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-vL-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Bxc7! a necessary sac 66.Kxc7 Antoaneta is up B vs P ( passed ) 66...Be6?± [66...Ba6 67.Kd6
Ke4=] 67.Kd6 Bc4 68.Kc5?= [68.Ke7 Ke5 69.Bc3+ Kd5 70.Kxf6 Ba6±] 68...Bb3 69.Kd4 Ba2
70.Bd7+ Be6 71.Bc6 Bb3 72.Be4+ Ke6 73.Bh7 Bd1 74.Ke3 f5 75.Bc3 Bc2 76.Kf4 Kd5
77.Bg8+ Kc5 78.Ke5 Bd3 79.Bd4+ Kc6 80.Bd5+ Kd7 81.Bc5 Be4 82.Be6+ Kc6 83.Kd4 Kb7
84.Bd7 Ka8 85.Bc8 Bb7?± [85...Kb8 86.Ba6 Kc7=] 86.Bxf5 Antoaneta is up a B 86...Bc6
87.Ke5 Bb7 88.Kd6 Bf3?!+− at the very last minute, Antoaneta gets a " winning " advantage
[88...Kb8 89.Bf2 Bf3±] 89.Kc7 Bg2+− 1.60 this is one of those cases where the computer's
weighting of material advantage, obscures the objective evaluation of the ability to mate. The
game is a draw. ½-½
Here is the second game of the tie-break ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using
Fritz ):
Ushenina, Anna − Stefanova, Antoaneta [D45]
FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty−Mansiysk RUS (6.1), 01.12.2012
Toronto Chess News
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1.d4² 0.29 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 [6...c5 7.a3 Nc6²] 7.Bd2 Nbd7
8.Bd3 [8.Be2 0-0 9.Qc2 b6²] 8...0-0 9.0-0 Qe7 10.Qc2 dxc4 11.bxc4 [11.Bxc4 b5 12.Be2 c5²]
11...e5 12.Ne4 Bxd2 13.Nfxd2 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 f5 15.Nc3 e4?!± Anna gets a " clear " advantage
[15...Nf6 16.Bxf5 Bxf5 17.Qxf5 exd4 18.exd4 Rae8²] 16.Be2 b6 17.Rab1 Rb8 18.a4 Nf6
19.Rb2?!² [19.a5 b5 20.d5 Qc5±] 19...Be6 20.Rfb1 Qc7 21.d5 [21.a5 bxa5 22.h3 c5²] 21...cxd5
22.cxd5 Nxd5 Antoaneta goes up a P 23.Nxd5 Qxc2 24.Rxc2 Bxd5 25.Bxa6 material equality
25...Rf6 26.Bb5?!= [26.h4 Ra8 27.Bb5 Ra7²] 26...g6?!² [26...Rd8 27.h4 Kf7=] 27.h3 Bf7 28.Rc7
Bd5 29.Rd1 Rf7 30.Rc3 Be6 31.Rd6 Re7 32.Rcc6 Bb3 33.Rc3 Bf7 34.Kh2 Ra7 35.Kg3
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-+k+(
7tr-+-+l+p'
6-zp-tR-+p+&
5+L+-+p+-%
4P+-+p+-+$
3+-tR-zP-mKP#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
g5?+− Anna gets a " winning " advantage [35...Be8 36.h4 Kg7²] 36.Rf6 Bg6 37.h4 gxh4+
38.Kxh4 Kg7 39.Rcc6 Rd8 40.Rxb6 Anna goes up a P ( passed ) 40...Rd2 41.Kg3 Ra2 42.Rfd6
Kh6 43.Rd7 Ra8 44.Rbd6 Rc8 45.Rd2 Ra1 46.Rd1 Ra2 47.R1d2 2.22 [47.R7d2 Ra3 48.Kf4
Rc7+− 2.21] 47...Ra1 48.Kf4 Rg1 49.g3 Ra1 50.Rd1?+− 2.17 [50.f3 Rh1 51.a5 exf3 52.a6
Be8+− 3.41] 50...Rxd1 51.Rxd1 Rc2 52.Rf1 Ra2 53.Bd7 Bf7?+− 3.77 [53...Ra3 54.Rh1+ Kg7+−
2.36] 54.Bxf5?+− 2.94 [54.Kxf5 Bc4 55.Rh1+ Kg7+− 4.02] 54...Rxa4?!+− 4.15 [54...Bg6 55.Ke5
Kg7+− 3.58] 55.Rh1+ Kg7 56.Rxh7+ Anna goes up 2 P's ( one passed ) 56...Kf6?+− 9.15
[56...Kg8 57.g4 Ra5+− 4.69] 57.Rh6+?+− 4.48 [57.g4 Ke7 58.Bg6 Ra2 59.Rxf7+ Ke6 60.Kxe4
Ra4+ 61.Kf3 Ra5+− 9.81] 57...Kg7 58.Rh2 Bg6 59.Bxg6 Kxg6 60.g4?+− 3.99 [60.Ke5 Kg5
61.Rh8 Kg4+− 5.29] 60...Rb4 61.g5 Rb5 62.Rh6+ Kg7 63.Rh2?+− 2.32 [63.Kxe4 Rxg5 64.Rc6
Rh5+− 5.11] 63...Kg6 64.Kxe4 Kxg5 Anna has 2 connected, passed P's; the game, match and
title are hers, as long as no errors occur 65.Rg2+?+− 4.17 [65.f4+ Kf6 66.Rh6+ Kg7 67.Rc6 Rb4+
68.Kf3 Rb1+− 5.73] 65...Kf6 66.f4 Rb3?!+− 5.60 [66...Rb4+ 67.Kf3 Rb3+− 4.94] 67.Rd2 Rb6
5.69 68.Rh2?+− 4.83 [68.f5 Rb4+ 69.Rd4 Rb5+− 5.78] 68...Rb4+ 69.Kf3 Rb3 70.Rh6+ Kf5
71.Rh5+ Kf6 72.Rc5 Ra3 73.Rd5 Rb3 74.Ke4 Rb4+ 75.Rd4 Rb6 76.f5 Rb5 77.Rd6+ Ke7
78.Re6+ Kf7 79.Kf4 Rb1 80.e4 Rf1+ 81.Ke5 Ra1 82.Rd6 Ra5+ 83.Rd5 Ra7?+− 13.23 [83...Ra6
84.Rb5 Ra7+− 9.63] 84.f6 Kg6 13.58 [84...Ra2?! 85.Rd7+ Kf8+− 14.29] 85.Ke6 Ra8 86.Rd7
Ra6+ 87.Rd6 Ra8 88.Ke7 Ra7+??+− leads to mate [88...Kg5 89.Rd5+ Kg6+− 14.61] 89.Ke6
[89.Rd7 Ra5 90.f7 Ra8+− 14.56] 89...Ra8 90.e5??+− 10.38 missing the lengthy computer mate
line [90.f7 Kh7 91.Kf6 Kh6+− mate in 34 moves] 90...Re8+ 91.Kd5 Kf5??+− again, leads to mate
[91...Rb8 92.Rd7 Kf5+− 13.77] 92.f7 Rf8 93.Rf6+ Kg5 94.Ke4+− Antoaneta resigned. It is mate
in 22 moves; just a matter of technique.. 1-0
Anna will now have to defend her title in 2013 against former champion, Hou
Yifan ( China ), who will be the Challenger ( she won this right by winning the 2011-2
Women’s Grand Prix ).
Toronto Chess News
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Panama Chess Open II
GM-elect Eric Hansen
and newly-minted IM-elect Aman Hambleton
continued their tour of the Americas, after the Mexico UNAM Open II, at this 9 round
swiss, with 7 GM’s and 72 participants. Eric was ranked 6th and Aman 17th. It was played
Nov. 27 – Dec. 3.
The winner was our own Eric Hansen!!
After 4 rounds, Eric had sole possession of first place on 4 straight wins and a
performance rating of 3151 !!! Aman was 3 / 4 pts., and in a 15-way tie for 6th. For this,
he was punished by having to play Cuban GM Walter Arencibia, well-know to Canadian
chess players for his numerous tournaments in Canada.
In round 5, Eric won again to keep the lead ( 5/5 pts.!! ):
Hansen Eric 1-0 Cordova Emilio
Also in Rd. 5, Aman defeated GM Arencibia, to stand at 4/5 pts., leaving him in a
6-way tie for 3rd.
In Rd. 6 Eric maintained his perfect score with a win over Mihail Marin. Aman
drew an IM rated 2510.
In Rd. 7, Eric played Hevia (2508) and drew, so was in first with 6.5/7 pts. Aman
won against Quesada (2604), and stood at 5.5/7 pts., in a 4-way tie for second.
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Round 8 (second last round )
Eric, alone in first, played the second seed on Board 1. Aman faced the third seed on Bd.
3.
Canadian Results:
Round 8 on 2012/12/01 at 17:00
Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
1 6 IM Hansen Eric 2539 6½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Bacallao Alonso Yusnel 2580 2
2 .....
3 3 GM Cordova Emilio 2568 5 1 - 0 5½ FM Hambleton Aman 2404 18
Eric remained alone in first with one round to go. He won the first prize with a round to
go, as he was one point ahead of the second place, and the tie-break one (TB1) was the
progressive score, where he could not be caught!
Aman’s loss meant he was out of the running to get his second GM norm ( even winning
the last round was going to be insufficient ).
Round 9 ( final ) – Results
1 12 FM Obregon Rivero Juan Carlos 2480 6 0 - 1 7½ IM Hansen Eric 2539 6
7 18 FM Hambleton Aman 2404 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ FM Fernandez Cardoso Alexey 2447 15
Our Canadians finished:
Eric – 8.5/9 pts. – first ( alone ) – undefeated!! Only gave up 1 draw! Performance rating
of 2905 – Congratulations Eric!
Aman – 6/9 pts. – 6-way tie for 8th – 8th on tie-break – Performance rating of 2524 -fine
showing Aman! Congratulations!
FIDE 2012-3 Grand Prix # 2 ( Tashkent ), Uzbekistan
This 12-player round robin was played from Nov. 21 – Dec. 5. It is one of 6 major
tournaments in a series, which will qualify players into the Candidates Tournament, a
step in determining a Challenger for the World Championship title.
Playing were: Sergey Karjakin ( Russia ), Fabiano Caruana ( Italy ), Alexander
Morozevich ( Russia ), Peter Svidler ( Russia ), Wang Hao ( China ), Boris Gelfand
( Israel ), Peter Leko ( Hungary ), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ( Azerbaijan ), Ruslan
Ponomariov ( Russia ), Lenier Dominguez Perez ( Cuba ), Rustam Kasimdzhanov
( Russia ), Gata Kamsky ( USA ) (for Vugar Gashimov ( Azerbaijan ) ).
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The co-winners were Wang Hao,
Sergey Karjakin
and Alexander Morozevich
.
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In Rd. 9, Karjakin and Caruana were co-leaders. Wang Hao found an initiative to
beat Caruana in a Slav Exchange and lift himself into a share of 2nd place. Here is the
game ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Wang, Hao (2737) − Caruana, Fabiano (2786) [D10]
FIDE GP Tashkent UZB (9.6), 02.12.2012
1.d4² 0.29 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5?!= [4.e3 Bf5 5.Nf3 e6²] 4...cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6?!²
[5...Qb6 6.Nf3 Qxb2=] 6.e3 a6 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.Nge2 e6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rc1 Bh5 11.Qb3 Na5
12.Qa4+ Nc6 13.Bg3?!= [13.Bg5 Bg6 14.Bxg6 hxg6²] 13...Bg6 14.Nf4 Bxd3 15.Nxd3 Nd7?!²
[15...0-0 16.Bh4 h6=] 16.Qd1 0-0 17.Na4?!= [17.Re1 Rc8 18.Re2 Nb6²] 17...Rc8 18.Ndc5
Nxc5?!² [18...Bxc5 19.dxc5 b5 20.cxb6 Nxb6 21.Nc5 Qe7 22.Nxa6 Qa7 23.Nc5 Qxa2=] 19.dxc5
Na7 20.b4 Rc6 21.h3 a5?+− Hao gets a " winning " advantage [21...Bh4 22.Bh2 Nb5²] 22.b5
Nxb5 Fabiano goes up a P 23.Qb3 Nc7 24.Qxb7 material equality 24...Qa8 25.Rb1 Rc8
26.Qxa8 Nxa8 27.Rb7 Bf8 28.Rfb1 f6 29.Ra7?!± [29.Rb8 e5 30.Rxc8 Rxc8+−] 29...e5 30.f4 d4
31.fxe5 dxe3 32.exf6 gxf6?!+− [32...Rxf6 33.Rxa5 e2±] 33.Kf1 Re8?+− 3.15 [33...Bxc5 34.Nxc5
Rxc5+− 2.24] 34.Ke2?+− 1.73 [34.Rb8 e2+ 35.Ke1 Rxb8 36.Bxb8 Nb6 37.cxb6 (37.Ra6 Bxc5
38.Nxc5 Rxc5 39.Rxb6 Rc2 40.Rxf6 Rxa2+− 4.06) 37...Re6 (37...Rc2 38.Be5 fxe5+− 4.38)
38.Rc7 Bb4++− 4.32] 34...Rcc8?+− 3.27 [34...Bxc5 35.Nxc5 Rxc5+− 1.53] 35.Rbb7 f5 36.Rxa5
Hao goes up a P 36...Rcd8 37.Be1 Bh6 38.Nb2+− 3.15 [38.Raa7 Re6 39.Bc3 Bf4+− 5.83]
38...Rb8 39.Raa7?+− 2.22 [39.Rxb8 Rxb8 40.Nd3 Nc7+− 3.08] 39...Rxb7?+− 3.59 [39...Nc7
40.Rxb8 Rxb8 41.Nc4 Ne6+− 2.22] 40.Rxb7 Rc8 41.Nd3 Nc7 42.Rb6 Bg5 43.Rc6+− 4.86 1-0
Then in Rd.10, Mamedyarov
Shakhriyar
beat the leader Karjakin, to become co-leader with Morozevich. Here is the Mamedyarov
game ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2764) − Karjakin, Sergey (2775) [E15]
[Armstrong, Robert]
1.d4² 0.29 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5?!= [7.0-0 cxd4
8.Nxd4 Bxg2 9.Kxg2 Bc5²] 7...bxc5?± Shakhriyar gets an early " clear " advantage [7...Nc6 8.0-0
Bxc5=] 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Rd1?!² [10.Bf4 h6 11.Rfd1 Qb6±] 10...Qb6 11.Bf4 Rd8 12.Rd2
h6 13.Rad1 d6 [13...Nc6 14.Qb3 Na5²] 14.Qb5 Ne8 15.g4 [15.Ne5! Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Rc8²]
15...Nd7 16.h4?!= [16.Ne1 Bxg2 17.Nxg2 Qxb5 18.Nxb5 Ndf6²] 16...a6?!² [16...Qc7 17.Qb3
e5=] 17.Qxb6 Nxb6 18.b3 Bf6 19.Nb1?!= [19.Rc2 a5 20.g5 hxg5 21.hxg5 Bxc3 22.Rxc3 a4²]
19...d5?± [19...Be7 20.g5 e5=] 20.g5 hxg5 21.hxg5 Be7 22.Ne5 Nd6 23.g6 [23.Nc3 dxc4 24.g6
Bxg2 (24...cxb3?! 25.axb3 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Rac8+−) 25.Kxg2 Nf5±] 23...f6?!+− 1.67 Shakhriyar
gets a " winning " advantage [23...f5?! 24.Nf7 Rd7 25.Bxd6 Bxd6+− 1.99; 23...Rac8 24.gxf7+
Toronto Chess News
15
Nxf7±] 24.Nf7 e5 25.Nxd6?!± [25.Nxd8 Rxd8 26.Bh2 d4+−] 25...Rxd6 26.Bg3 f5 27.Bxe5 Rxg6
28.cxd5 Shakhriyar goes up a P 28...c4 29.Bg3 Bb4
Position after 29…Bb4
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+l+-+-zp-'
6psn-+-+r+&
5+-+P+p+-%
4-vlp+-+-+$
3+P+-+-vL-#
2P+-tRPzPL+"
1+N+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
30.bxc4! Shakhriyar goes up 2 P's, and is sacking the exchange [30.Rb2 a5 31.bxc4 Nxc4±]
30...Bxd2?!+− [30...Rxg3?! 31.fxg3 Nxc4 32.d6 Bc5++−; 30...Rc8 31.Rb2 Rxc4±] 31.Nxd2
Sergey is up the exchange, but Shakhriyar has 2 P's compensation ( being connected, passed,
and on the 4th and 5th ranks ) 31...Rc8 32.e3 [32.e4 fxe4 33.Bxe4 Rg5+−] 32...a5?!± [32...Na4
33.Rb1 Rb6+−] 33.Rb1 Ba6 34.d6 Nd7 35.Kf1 Kf8 36.Bf3 [36.Bd5 Rf6 37.Ke2 g5±] 36...Rf6
37.Kg2?!² Shakhriyar is losing his advantage [37.Bb7 Bxb7 38.Rxb7 Ke8±] 37...g5 38.Bh2?!=
Shakhriyar has lost his advantage [38.Bb7 Bxb7+ 39.Rxb7 Ke8²] 38...Bxc4?± Sergey is up the
exchange, but Shakhriyar has a P compensation, and has gotten back his " clear " adcvantage
[38...Rg6 39.Bb7 Bxb7+ 40.Rxb7 Ke8=] 39.Nxc4 Rxc4 40.Rb7 Ke8 41.Be2 Rc8?!+− Shakhriyar
gets back a " winning " advantage [41...Rc6 42.Bb5 Rcxd6 43.Bxd6 Rxd6± Sergey would have
material equality] 42.Bb5 Rd8 43.Be5 Re6 44.f4 gxf4 45.Bxf4 Rg6+ 46.Kf3 Rg1 47.Be5
Rg6?+− 5.25 [47...Rd1 48.Bd4 Rd2+− 4.11] 48.Kf4 Rh6 5.52 [48...a4? 49.a3 Re6 50.Bxa4
Rg6+− 6.54; 48...Re6 49.a3 Rg6+− 5.26] 49.a4?+− 4.44 [49.Kg5 Rh7 50.Bf6 Rc8+− 6.07]
49...Re6 50.Rc7 Rh6 51.Kg5 Rh7 52.Bf6 Rb8 53.Bc6+− 5.55 1-0
In Rd. 10, as well, Morozevich defeated Leko to join Mamedyarov in the lead.
Here is that game ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Morozevich, Alexander (2748) − Leko, Peter (2732) [A33]
1.c4= c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Nb3 [7.e3 Bb4 8.Bg2 0-0=]
7...Ne5 8.e4 Bb4 [8...h5?! 9.Qe2 a5²] 9.Qe2 d6 10.Bd2 a5 11.f4 Nc6 12.Be3 Qc7 13.Bg2 a4
14.Nd2 Bxc3 15.bxc3 b6?!² Alexander gets the advantage first [15...h5 16.c5 dxc5 17.e5 Nd5²]
16.Rb1 Nd7 17.Qf2?!= [17.0-0 0-0 18.Rb2 e5=] 17...Rb8 18.0-0 0-0 19.g4?!³ now Peter gets the
advantage [19.Rfd1 Ba6 20.Bf3 e5=] 19...Ba6 20.Qh4 [20.Qe2 Nc5 21.h4 f6³] 20...Rfe8?!=
Peter loses his advantage [20...Na5?! 21.Rf3 Nxc4=; 20...e5 21.f5 f6³] 21.Rf3 Nf8?!² Alexander
gets the advantage [21...Na5 22.Rb4 Nxc4 23.Nxc4 Bxc4=] 22.Rh3?³ [22.Bf1 Ng6 23.Qe1 Na5²]
22...b5?!= [22...Na5 23.Rb4 Nxc4 24.Nxc4 Bxc4³] 23.e5 dxe5?+− Peter goes up a P, but
Alexander gets a " winning " advantage [23...bxc4 24.Be4 g6=] 24.Be4 h6 25.f5 [25.g5?! Ng6
26.Bxg6 fxg6 27.gxh6 Qe7±] 25...f6 [25...bxc4 26.Bxh6! f6+−]
Toronto Chess News
16
Position after 25…f6
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+rsnk+(
7+-wq-+-zp-'
6l+n+pzp-zp&
5+p+-zpP+-%
4p+P+L+PwQ$
3+-zP-vL-+R#
2P+-sN-+-zP"
1+R+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
26.Bxh6! a good sac 26...gxh6 27.Qxh6 Peter is up N vs P 27...Qa7+ 28.Kg2 Qg7 29.Bxc6
Alexander is getting back the piece and going up a P 29...Qxh6 30.Rxh6 Red8 31.Ne4 Kg7?+−
5.07 [31...b4 32.Rxb4 Rxb4 33.cxb4 Bxc4+− 1.82] 32.Rxf6 Alexander is up 2 P's 32...Rdc8 6.00
trapping the B [32...exf5 33.gxf5 bxc4 34.Rg1 Kh8+− 5.50] 33.cxb5 Alexander is up 3 P's
33...Rxc6! nice sac 34.bxc6 Rxb1 35.fxe6 Peter is up B vs 4 P's 35...Bd3 36.e7?+− 5.32
[36.Rf7+ Kg6 37.c7 Nxe6 38.c8Q Bxe4+ 39.Rf3 Bxf3+ 40.Kxf3 Kf7+− 7.12 Alexander would be
up Q + 2 P's vs R + N] 36...Bxe4+ Peter is up B + N vs 4 P's 37.Kg3 Ng6 38.e8Q Kxf6
Alexander is up Q + 3 P's vs R + B + N 39.Qd8+?+− 3.71 [39.c7 Bb7 40.c8Q Bxc8 41.Qxc8
Ne7+− 7.04] 39...Kf7?+− 6.24 [39...Ne7 40.c7 Bb7+− 3.76] 40.c7 Rb2?+− 9.63 [40...Ne7 41.c8Q
Nxc8 42.Qxc8 Rd1+− 6.84] 41.Qd7+ Kf6 42.g5++− 10.40 1-0
In Rd. 11, Wang Hao moved up to become co-winner with Karjakin and
Morozevich on a win over the then co-leader Mamedyarov. Here is the game
( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Wang, Hao (2737) − Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2764) [D12]
1.d4² 0.29 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7
9.Bd2?!= [9.g3 Nbd7 10.cxd5 Nxd5²] 9...Be7?!² [9...Nbd7 10.cxd5 Nxd5=] 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.00-0 Nbd7 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Kb1 Qb6 14.Qa4 a6 15.g4 Qc6 16.Qxc6 bxc6 17.Na4 e5?+− Hao
gets a " winning " advantage [17...c5 18.Be2 Rh3²] 18.Be2?² [18.Rc1 Rc8 19.Ba5 Bd8+−]
18...g5?!± [18...exd4 19.exd4 Nf8²] 19.Rc1 Rh6 20.Rxc6 Hao goes up a P 20...Ne4 21.Rxh6
Nxd2+ 22.Kc2 gxh6 23.Kxd2 Hao remains up a P 23...exd4 24.exd4 Bd6?!+− [24...Bf6 25.Nc3
Bxd4 26.Nxd5 Rd8±] 25.h4 Ke7 26.hxg5 Bf4+ 27.Kc2 Bxg5 28.b4 a5 29.Bb5 Nf8 30.Nb6 Rb8
31.bxa5 Hao goes up 2 P's 31...Ne6 32.Kd3 Kd6 33.a4 Nf4+ 34.Kc3 Ne6 35.Kd3 [35.Rb1 Bf6
36.Nxd5 Bxd4+ 37.Kd3 Rd8+−] 35...Nf4+ 36.Kc3 Ne6 37.Re1 Bf6
Toronto Chess News
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Position after 37…Bf6
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-sN-mknvl-zp&
5zPL+p+-+-%
4P+-zP-+P+$
3+-mK-+P+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-tR-+-!
xabcdefghy
38.Rxe6+! nice exchange sac 38...fxe6 Shakhriyar is up the exchange, but Hao has 2 P's
compensation 39.a6 Rh8 40.a7 Kc7 41.a8Q Rxa8 42.Nxa8+ Hao is up N + P 42...Kb7 43.Bd7
e5 44.dxe5 Bxe5+ 45.Kd3 d4 46.a5 Kxa8 Hao is up a P ( passed & on the 5th rank ), and Hao's
B is the colour of the queening square 47.a6+− 3.88 1-0
The final standings were:
FIDE GP Tashkent Tashkent UZB Wed 21st Nov 2012 - Tue 4th Dec 2012
Leading Final Round 11 Standings:
Rk
SNo
Name
Ti
FED
Rtg
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Pts
TB1
TB2
TB3
1
7
Karjakin Sergey
GM
RUS
2775
1
*
½
½
0
½
1
½
½
½
1
½
6½
1
3
34.75
2
8
Wang Hao
GM
CHN
2737
½
½
*
1
1
0
½
½
½
½
½
1
6½
0.5
3
34.50
3
1
Morozevich Alexander
GM
RUS
2748
*
0
½
1
½
½
0
½
1
½
1
1
6½
0
4
33.25
4
2
Caruana Fabiano
GM
ITA
2786
0
½
0
*
½
½
½
½
½
1
1
1
6
3
29.50
5
4
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
GM
AZE
2764
½
1
0
½
*
½
½
1
½
½
½
½
6
2
32.75
6
9
Kasimdzhanov Rustam
GM
UZB
2696
½
½
1
½
½
*
½
½
½
½
½
½
6
1
33.25
7
5
Ponomariov Ruslan
GM
UKR
2741
1
0
½
½
½
½
*
0
½
½
1
½
5½
2
29.50
8
11
Svidler Peter
GM
RUS
2747
½
½
½
½
0
½
1
*
½
½
½
½
5½
1
30.00
9
10
Leko Peter
GM
HUN
2732
0
½
½
½
½
½
½
½
*
½
½
1
5½
1
28.75
Toronto Chess News
18
10
3
Gelfand Boris
GM
ISR
2751
½
½
½
0
½
½
½
½
½
*
½
0
4½
0
26.00
11
6
Dominguez Perez Leinier
GM
CUB
2726
0
0
½
0
½
½
0
½
½
½
*
1
4
1
20.50
12
12
Kamsky Gata
GM
USA
2762
0
½
0
0
½
½
½
½
0
1
0
*
3½
1
19.25
12 players
London Chess Classic, England
( Adapted from TWIC ) The 4th London Chess Classic took place the 1st to 10th
of December 2012. Magnus Carlsen ( Norway – highest rated player in the world – over
2800 ), Levon Aronian ( Armenia – 2nd highest player in the world – over 2800 ), Vishy
Anand ( India – 15th and current World Champion ), Vladimir Kramnik ( Russia – 14th
World Champion ), Hikaru Nakamura ( highest rated player in the Americas ), Judit
Polgar ( highest rated woman player ), Mickey Adams ( England ), Luke McShane (
England ) and Gawain Jones ( England ) played in this 9 round 9 player round robin
event. It uses the Bilboa point system – win – 3 pts.; draw – 1 pt.; loss – 0 pts..
The winner was Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus
Vladimir Kramnik was in second, 2 pts. back.
In Rd. 1, Carlsen and Nakamura won and became co-leaders with Kramnik and
Michael Adams. Here are their games ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
McShane, Luke − Carlsen, Magnus [C67]
4th London Chess Classic London ENG (1.1), 01.12.2012
1.e4² 0.35 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 Magnus is temporarily up a P [4...Bc5² Fritz
first choice 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 a6 (6...Qe7?! 7.dxc5 c6± (7...Qxc5±) ) 7.Be2 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6²]
5.Re1?!= [5.d4] 5...Nd6 6.Nxe5 material equality 6...Be7 7.Bf1 Nf5?!² [7...0-0 8.Nc3 Nxe5
9.Rxe5 Bf6=] 8.Nf3?!= [8.Bd3 Nxe5 9.Bxf5 Ng6²] 8...0-0 9.d4 d5 10.g3 [10.c3 a6 11.Qc2 Bd6=]
10...Bf6 [10...a6 11.Bg2 Re8=] 11.c3 Re8 12.Rxe8+ Qxe8 13.Bf4 Qd8 14.Bd3 Nfe7 15.Na3
a6?!² [15...Bg4 16.Nc2 Nf5=] 16.Nc2 Bf5 17.Bxf5 Nxf5 18.g4 Nfe7 19.Ne3 g6?!± Luke gets a "
Toronto Chess News
19
clear " advantage [19...h6 20.Bg3 Qd7²] 20.Qf1 Qd7 21.Qh3 Bg7 22.Qg3?!² [22.Re1 Nd8
23.Ng5 h6±] 22...Rc8 23.g5 Nd8?!± [23...Nf5 24.Qh3 Nce7²] 24.Be5 Ne6 25.Bf6 Re8 26.Ne5
Qd6 27.Kh1?= Luke has lost his advantage [27.h4 Nc6 28.N5g4 Nf4±] 27...Nxg5 Magnus goes
up a P 28.Bxg5 f6 29.Bxf6 material equality 29...Qxf6 30.Re1 c6 31.Kg2 Nc8 32.N3g4 Qd8
33.Nd3 [33.h4?! Nd6 34.h5 Ne4³] 33...Rxe1 34.Nxe1 Nd6 35.Nd3?!³ Magnus gets the
advantage [35.Qe3 Qe8 36.Nd3 Qxe3 37.Nxe3 Kf7=] 35...Nf5 36.Qh3 Bf8?!= [36...Qe7 37.Kf1
Qe4³] 37.Ne3 Qg5+ 38.Kf1 Nxe3+ 39.fxe3 Kg7 40.Nf4 Qf6 41.Ke2 Bd6 42.Qg4 [42.Qd7+ Qe7
43.Qxe7+ Bxe7=] 42...Kf7 [42...Bxf4 43.exf4 Kf7=] 43.h3?!³ [43.Qc8 Qe7 44.Qh8 Qh4 45.Qc8=]
43...h5?!= [43...Bxf4 44.exf4 Qe6+ 45.Qxe6+ Kxe6³] 44.Qc8 Qe7 45.Nd3 Kf6 46.b3 Kg5 47.c4
Kh4 48.c5 Bg3 49.b4 Qf7 50.a4?∓ Magnus gets a " clear " advantage [50.Kd2 Bh2 51.Ne1
Kg3∓; 50.a3 g5 51.a4 Bh2³] 50...g5 51.Kd2 Bh2 52.Ne1 Kg3 [52...a5 53.b5 Qf2+ 54.Kd1 Bg3∓]
53.Nc2 Bg1 54.Qd8 Kh4 55.Qc8 Bf2 56.Ke2 Kg3 57.Qd8?!-+ Magnus gets a " winning "
advantage [57.Kd2 Kg2 58.a5 Kf1∓] 57...Qf5 58.Kd2 Kxh3 Magnus goes up a P 59.b5 g4
60.bxc6 bxc6 61.Nb4 g3 62.Nd3 g2-+ − 7.51 0-1
Hikaru
Aronian, Levon (2815) − Nakamura, Hikaru (2760) [A30]
1.c4= c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.g3 [5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 Bb4=] 5...e5 [5...Qb6 6.Nb3
e6=] 6.Nb5 Bb4+ 7.Bd2?!³ [7.N1c3 d6 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 0-0=] 7...a6 8.N5c3 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5
10.Bg2 Be6?!= [10...Nb6 11.a3 Bc5³] 11.0-0 Nb6 12.Be3?!³ [12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.Qc2 Be7=]
12...Nc4?!= [12...Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Nc4³] 13.Qc1 0-0 14.Rd1 Qc7?!³ [14...Qa5 15.Nd5 Nxe3
16.Qxe3 Rad8=] 15.a3 [15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Nd4³] 15...Nxe3 16.Qxe3 Ba5
17.Nd2 Bb6 18.Qf3?!∓ Hikaru gets a " clear " advantage [18.Qg5 Rad8 19.Bxc6 f6 20.Qh5
Qxc6³] 18...Rad8 [18...f5 19.Nd5 Qd8∓] 19.Na4 Ba7?!³ [19...Rd4 20.Nxb6 Qxb6∓] 20.Qc3 Rd4
21.Qc2 [21.Bxc6 Qxc6 22.Qxc6 bxc6³] 21...f5 22.e3 Rdd8 23.b4 [23.Nb3?! e4 24.Nbc5 Bf7∓]
23...e4 24.Nb3 Qf7 25.Nbc5 Bd5 26.Rd2?-+ Magnus gets a " winning " advantage [26.Nc3 Bxc5
27.Rxd5 Rxd5 28.Nxd5 Qxd5 29.bxc5 Ne5³] 26...b6
Toronto Chess News
20
Position after 26…b6
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-trk+(
7vl-+-+qzpp'
6pzpn+-+-+&
5+-sNl+p+-%
4NzP-+p+-+$
3zP-+-zP-zP-#
2-+QtR-zPLzP"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
27.Rxd5! a sound exchange sac, but it does not help 27...Rxd5 28.Nxa6 Hikaru is up the
exchange, but Levon has a P compensation. 28...Ne5 29.Rd1 Rfd8 30.Rxd5 Qxd5 31.Nb2?-+ −
4.71 [31.Nc7 Qd7 32.Qb3+ Kh8 33.Ne6 Qf7-+ − 3.44] 31...Qd2 32.Qc7?-+ − 23.73 [32.Qxd2
Rxd2 33.Na4 Ra2-+ − 5.13] 32...Ng4??-+ − 7.90 Hikaru misses the lengthy computer mate, but
Levon resigned. He must sac material to avoid the mate [32...Nf3+ 33.Bxf3 exf3 34.Qc4+ Kh8-+
and Bl mates in 20 moves.] 33.Nd3 forced to stop the mate starting on f2 [33.Qxa7?? Qxf2+
34.Kh1 Qe1+ 35.Bf1 Qxf1#] 33...Qxd3-+ − 8.88 Hikaru would be up a R vs P 0-1
In Round 2, Carlsen and Kramnik won to become the 2 co-leaders. Here are their
games ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Carlsen, Magnus − Aronian, Levon [C77]
1.e4² 0.35 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4?!= [4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Qd6²] 4...Nf6 5.d3 [5.0-0=]
5...b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Nd5 Nxd5?!² [8...h6 9.0-0 d6=] 9.Bxd5 Rb8 10.0-0 Ne7
11.Nxe5?!= Magnus goes up a P [11.Bb3 d6 12.a4 b4²] 11...Nxd5 12.exd5 Re8?!² [12...Bb7
13.Qg4 f5=] 13.d4 Bf8?!± Magnus gets a " clear " advantage [13...Bb6 14.Qf3 f6²] 14.b3?!²
[14.Qh5?! Qe7 15.Bd2 (15.Bf4 Bb7²) 15...f6²; 14.Qf3 Qe7 15.Bd2 f6±] 14...Bb7 15.c4 d6
16.Nf3?!= [16.Nd3 Qd7 17.Nf4 g6²] 16...Qf6?!² [16...bxc4 17.bxc4 c6=] 17.Be3 Bc8?!±
[17...Qg6 18.Qb1 Qh5 19.Qd3 bxc4 20.bxc4 Bc8²] 18.Qd2?!² [18.Rc1 bxc4 19.Rxc4 Rb7±]
18...Qg6 19.Kh1 [19.Rac1 Rb7 20.Rfe1 bxc4 21.bxc4 Bg4²] 19...h6 20.Rac1 Be7 21.Ng1
Bg5?!± [21...bxc4 22.bxc4 h5²] 22.Bxg5 Qxg5 23.Rfd1?!² [23.Qxg5 hxg5 24.cxb5 Rxb5
25.Rxc7 Rxd5±] 23...bxc4?!± [23...Bb7 24.h3 Qxd2 25.Rxd2 bxc4 26.bxc4 Bc8²] 24.bxc4?=
[24.Qxg5 hxg5 25.Rxc4 Bb7 26.Rxc7 Bxd5±] 24...Qxd2 25.Rxd2 a5 [25...Rb4 26.g3 g5=] 26.h3
[26.g3 g5 27.h3 Kg7=] 26...Rb4 27.Nf3 Bf5?!² [27...Kh7 28.Kg1 g5=] 28.c5?!= [28.Kh2 g5 29.c5
Kg7²] 28...Kf8 29.Nh2 Reb8 30.Ng4 Rb1 31.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 32.Kh2 a4?!² [32...Bxg4 33.hxg4
Rb5=] 33.Ne3 Bg6 [33...Be4 34.cxd6 cxd6±] 34.Kg3 [34.f3 Rb4 35.g4 Rb5²] 34...Rb4 35.Kf3
Ke7 36.Ke2 [36.c6?! f5 37.Nd1 Rc4=] 36...Kd7 37.f3 Rb5 38.Nd1 [38.c6+ Ke7 39.Nd1 Rxd5²]
38...Rb4?!± [38...dxc5 39.Nc3 Rb4²] 39.c6+ Kc8 40.Nc3 f6 41.Ke3 Rc4 42.Ne2 a3 43.h4 Rb4
44.g4 Rb1 45.h5 Bh7 46.f4 f5 47.g5 Rh1?!+− Magnus gets a " winning " advantage [47...Kd8
48.Ng3 Re1+ 49.Re2 Ra1±] 48.Ng3 Rh3 49.Kf3 hxg5 50.fxg5 g6?+− 3.27 [50...Kd8 51.Re2 f4
52.Kxf4 Rh4+ 53.Ke3 Bg8+− 1.61] 51.Re2 Kd8 52.hxg6 Bxg6 53.Re6 Bf7 54.g6 Bg8 55.g7 f4
Toronto Chess News
21
56.Kxf4 Magnus goes up 2 P's 56...Rh2 57.Nf5?+− 3.40 [57.Ne4 Rxa2 58.Rf6 Bxd5+− 7.05]
57...Rxa2 Magnus is up a P 58.Rf6 Re2 59.Rf8+ 4.58 1-0
With this convincing win over rating rival Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen broke
the all-time rating record, in “ live ” rating, of Garry Kasparov, of July 1999, which was
2851. Magnus with this win tipped the scales on the live chart at 2856!!
Vlad
Nakamura, Hikaru − Kramnik, Vladimir [C45]
[Armstrong, Robert]
1.e4² 0.35 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4?!= [3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5²] 3...exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6
6.Qe2 d6 7.g3 Be7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.c4 Nd7 11.Be3?!³ [11.Qc2 Bf6 12.Nc3 h5=] 11...Bf6
12.Qc2 [12.Nc3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6³; 12.Re1 c5 13.Rc1 h5³; 12.Rd1 Rb8 13.Nc3 Bxc3 14.bxc3
c5³] 12...Ne5 13.Nd2 Ng4 14.Rae1 Rb8 15.b3 Nxe3 16.Rxe3 c5 17.h3 [17.Nf3 Bd4 18.Ree1
Bb7³] 17...a5 18.Kh2 a4 [18...Bd4 19.Ree1 h5³] 19.f4 Bd4 20.Re2 g6 21.Nf3 axb3 22.axb3 Bg7
23.Rd1 Rb6 24.e5 Bb7?!= [24...Bf5 25.Qc3 Qb8³] 25.Rdd2?!³ [25.Ng5 Qb8 26.e6 f6=] 25...Qa8
26.exd6 Rxe2 27.Rxe2 Rxd6 28.Ne5 Bxg2 29.Rxg2 Bxe5 30.fxe5 Re6 31.Re2 Qf3 32.Qd2
Qxb3 Vladimir goes up a P 33.Qd8+ Kg7
Toronto Chess News
22
Position after 33…Kg7
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wQ-+-+(
7+-zp-+pmkp'
6-+-+r+p+&
5+-zp-zP-+-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+q+-+-zPP#
2-+-+R+-mK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
34.Qxc7?!-+ material equality, but Vlad gets a " winning " advantage. [34.Qd5 Qb4 35.Rf2 Re7³]
34...Qf3 35.Rg2?!-+ − 1.48 [35.Rc2 Qe3 36.Qb8 Rxe5-+ − 1.42] 35...Qe3 36.Qa7 h5 37.h4 Rxe5
Vlad goes up a P 38.Qa1 Kh7 39.Qb2 Rf5 40.Re2 Qf3 41.Qc2 Qf1 42.Qd2 Rf6 43.Qc2 Rf3
44.Qb2 Rf5 [44...Rc3 45.Qxc3 Qxe2+ 46.Kg1 Kg8-+] 45.Qc2 [45.Qd2 Qa1 46.Qe3 Kg7-+]
45...Rf6 46.Rd2 Kg7 47.Qc3 Kh7?!∓ [47...Qe1 48.Qb2 Kh7-+] 48.Qc2?!-+ Qa1?!∓ [48...Rf3
49.Re2 Rc3 50.Qxc3 Qxe2+-+] 49.Rf2 Kg7 50.Rxf6?!-+ [50.Qb2 Qa6 51.Rf4 Qb6∓] 50...Qxf6
51.Qe2 Qd4 52.Kg2 [52.Kh3 Qg1 53.Qe5+ Kh7-+] 52...Kf8 53.Kh2 Qg4 54.Qd3 Ke7 55.Qe3+
Kd6 56.Qd3+ Qd4 57.Qe2 Qe5 58.Qd3+ Ke6 59.Kg2 ( verified depth 22 ) 59...g5?!∓ [59...Qd4
60.Qe2+ Kd7-+] 60.hxg5 Qxg5 61.Qe4+ Qe5 62.Qc6+ Ke7 63.Qb7+ Kf8 64.Qa8+ Kg7 65.Qf3
Kg6 66.Qd3+ Qf5 67.Qd6+?!-+ [67.Qe2 Kf6 68.Qb2+ Qe5∓] 67...f6 68.Qe7 Qc2+ 69.Kh3 Qxc4
Vlad goes up 2 P's 70.Qe8+ Qf7 71.Qe4+ Kg7 72.Qf5?-+ − 4.59 [72.Kg2? Qc7 73.Qf5 c4
74.Qxh5 Qb7+ 75.Kf2 Qb2+ 76.Kf1 Qb1+ 77.Kf2 Qc2+ 78.Kg1 Qc1+ 79.Kf2 Qd2+ 80.Kf1 Qd3+
81.Kf2 Qd4+-+ − 4.14; 72.Kh2 c4 73.Qc6 f5-+ − 2.96] 72...c4 73.Kg2 Qb7+ 74.Kh2 Qb2+
75.Kh3 Qe5 76.Qc8?-+ − 6.30 [76.Qd7+ Kh6 77.Qf7 c3-+ − 4.24] 76...c3 77.Qc4??-+ leads to
mate [the following line also leads to mate, but due to the " horizon effect " the computer cannot
calculate far enough ahead to " see " this, without an inordinate amount of time. But this line
holds out the longest 77.Qb7+ Kg8 78.Qc6 Kf7-+ − 13.44] 77...Qe1 78.Qc7+ [78.g4 ( depth 20)
78...Qh1+ 79.Kg3 Qg1+ 80.Kh3 Qxg4+ 81.Qxg4+ hxg4+ 82.Kxg4 c2-+ mate in 12 moves]
78...Kg6 79.Qc6 Qf1+ 80.Kh4 Qe2 81.Kh3 leads to mate 81...c2 82.g4 Qe3+ 83.Kh4 Qg5+
84.Kg3 Qxg4+ Vlad is ahead 3 P's and has a forced mate 85.Kf2 Qf4+ 86.Kg2 c1Q Vlad is up Q
+ 2 P's, with mate 87.Qe8+ Kg5-+ Hikaru finally resigned. It is mate in 4 moves 88.Qe2 Qc6+
89.Qe4 Qcxe4+ 90.Kg1 Qg3+ 91.Kf1 Qee1# 0-1
In Rd. 4, Carlsen took sole possession of first place, with a win over Jones. Here
is the game ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Carlsen, Magnus − Jones, Gawain C B [B53]
4th London Chess Classic Olympia, London (4.1), 04.12.2012
1.e4² 0.35 1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 5.h3 Nc6 6.Qe3 g6 7.c4?!= [7.Be2 Nf6 8.0-0
Bg7²] 7...Bg7 8.Be2 Nf6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.0-0 Nd7 11.Rb1 a5?!² [11...Nde5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5=]
12.b3?!= [12.Qf4 Nde5 13.Be3 Be6²] 12...Nc5 13.Bb2 f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Rbd1 a4?!²
[15...Qe8?! 16.g4 Bd7²; 15...Qd7 16.g4 Bxg4 17.hxg4 Qxg4+ 18.Kh1 a4=] 16.Ba3 Qa5
[16...Bxc3 17.Bxc5 Qa5² (17...Bf6 18.Bb6 Qd7²) ; 16...axb3 17.Bxc5 bxa2 18.Bb6 Qd7²] 17.Nb5
Toronto Chess News
23
[17.b4 Nxb4 18.Bxb4 Qxb4 19.Nd5 Qa5 20.Nxe7+ Kh8 21.Nxf5 gxf5²] 17...axb3 [17...Rf6
18.Bxc5 Re6 19.Qd2 dxc5 20.g4 Qxd2 21.Rxd2 Rxe2! 22.Rxe2 Bd3 23.Rd2 Bxf1 24.Kxf1 Bf6²]
18.axb3
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+p+-zp-vlp'
6-+nzp-+p+&
5wqNsn-+l+-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3vLP+-wQN+P#
2-+-+LzPP+"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Qxa3?!± An unsound Q−sac; Magnus gets a " clear " advantage [18...Rf6 19.Bxc5 Re6 20.Qd2
dxc5²] 19.Nxa3 Rxa3 Magnus is up Q vs B + N 20.Nd2 Bd4 21.Qg3 Be5?!+− Magnus gets a "
winning " advantage [21...Ra2 22.Bf3 Bc2±] 22.f4 Bf6 23.Bg4 Nd4 24.Kh1 Bc2 25.Rde1 Kh8
26.Re3 h5 27.b4?!± [27.Bd1 h4 28.Qf2 Bxd1 29.Rxd1 Nf5+−] 27...h4?+− 3.57 [27...Nd3 28.Bd1
Nf5±] 28.Qf2 Nd3 29.Qg1 Nf5?+− 4.78 [29...Nb3 30.Nxb3 Rxb3 31.Re6 Nxb4+− 3.57] 30.Bxf5
gxf5 31.Nf3?+− 3.16 [31.Rc1 Nxc1 32.Rxa3 Ne2+− 5.00] 31...Rc3?+− 5.00 [31...Ra2 32.Nxh4
Bxh4 33.Rxd3 Bxd3 34.Qd4+ Bf6 35.Qxd3 Rg8+− 3.96] 32.c5?+− 3.72 [32.g4 Rxc4 33.g5 Bg7+−
5.90] 32...Bb3 33.Ne1 Bd4 34.Nxd3 Magnus is up Q vs B 34...dxc5?+− 7.22 Magnus is up Q vs
B + P [34...Rxd3 35.Rxd3 Bxg1 36.Rxb3 Bd4+− 4.22] 35.Qf2 Rf7 36.Rc1?+− 5.79 [36.Ra1 Rh7
37.Ra8+ Kg7+− 13.00] 36...cxb4?+− 9.09 Magnus is up Q vs B + 2 P's [36...Rxd3 37.Qxh4+ Rh7
38.Qxh7+ Kxh7 39.Rxd3 Ba4 40.bxc5 Bf6+− 5.82] 37.Rxc3 bxc3 38.Qe1+− 7.79 1-0
In Rd. 5, Kramnik maintained his position in second place, behind Carlsen, by
winning over McShane with a nice double exchange sac. Here is the game ( Annotations
by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Kramnik, Vladimir (2795) − McShane, Luke J (2713) [D15]
1.d4² 0.29 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6?!± Vlad gets an early " clear " advantage [4...dxc4
5.a4 Qa5²] 5.g3?!² [5.e3 b5 6.b3 g6±] 5...dxc4 Luke temporarily goes up a P 6.a4 e6 7.Bg2?!=
[7.e3 c5 8.Bxc4 Be7²] 7...c5 8.0-0 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nbd7 10.Nc2 Qc7 11.Bf4 e5 12.Bd2 Nc5
13.Bg5 Be6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.Nce3 Nb3 17.a5 Rc8?!² [17...Nxa1 18.Qa4+ Bd7
19.Qxc4 Rc8 20.Qh4 Rc6 21.Rxa1 f5=] 18.Ra4 Nd4?!± [18...Bc5?! 19.Nxc4 Nd4±; 18...Nxa5
19.Nxf6+ Qxf6 20.Rxa5 e4²] 19.Nb6 Rc7 20.Rxc4! a good exchange sac 20...Bxc4 21.Nexc4
Luke is up the exchange 21...Nb5?!+− Vlad gets a " winning " advantage [21...Be7 22.e3 Ne6±]
22.Qb1 Qd4 23.Rd1 Qc5 24.e3 Be7 25.Qf5 Kf8 26.Bd5 Kg7 27.Qg4+ Kh6 28.e4 Nd4 29.Ne3 f5
30.Qh3+ Kg7
Toronto Chess News
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Position after 30…Kg7
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tr(
7+ptr-vlpmkp'
6psN-+-+-+&
5zP-wqLzpp+-%
4-+-snP+-+$
3+-+-sN-zPQ#
2-zP-+-zP-zP"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
31.Rxd4! a second exchange sac! 31...exd4 32.Nxf5+ Luke is up 2 R's vs 2 N's + P 32...Kf8
33.Qh6+ Ke8 34.Bxf7+ Luke is up 2 R's vs 2 N's + 2 P's 34...Kd8 35.Qg7 Rf8 36.Nxd4 Luke is
up 2 R's vs 2 N's + 3 P's ( 2 passed & connected ) 36...Rc6! the right time to give back one of the
exchange sacs 37.Nxc6+ bxc6?+− 4.59 Luke is up the exchange, but Vlad has 3 P's
compensation [37...Qxc6 38.Qxh7 Qc7+− 3.40] 38.Qg4 Kc7 39.Qd7+ Kb8 40.Qd2?!± [40.Kg2
h6 41.e5 Bg5+− 5.63] 40...Kc7 41.Qd7+?!+− [41.Bc4 Qd6 42.Qc2 Qb4±] 41...Kb8 42.Kg2 Bd6
43.b4 Qd4 44.Qxc6 Luke is up the exchange, but Vlad has 4 P's compensation 44...Ka7 45.Kh3
Qd1 46.Nc8+ Rxc8 Luke has to give back the second exchange 47.Qxc8 Vlad is up 4 P's
47...Qf1+ 48.Kg4 h5+?+− 12.84 [48...Qd1+ 49.f3 h5+ 50.Bxh5 Qd4+− 8.83] 49.Kxh5?+−
12.52[49.Kg5 Qb5+ 50.Bd5 Qb8+− 18.31] 1-0
In Rd. 6, the strongest player on the planet ( male ), Carlsen, defeated the
strongest female on the planet, Polgar. According to @2700chess ( “live” ratings ),
Carlsen had 2863.6 after beating Polgar – he just continues to climb! Here is the game
Carlsen, Magnus − Polgar, Judit [A33]
1.c4= c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.a3 Bc5 7.Nb3 Be7?!² [7...Bb6 8.c5 Bc7=]
8.e4 0-0 9.Be2 b6 [9...a5 10.Be3 a4²] 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Bf4 d6 12.Rc1?!= [12.Be3 a6 13.f4 Nd7²]
12...Rc8 13.Re1 Ne5 14.Nd2 Nfd7 15.Be3 Qc7?!² [15...Bh4?! 16.b4 a6²; 15...Ng6 16.b4 h6=]
16.b4 [16.f4 Ng6 17.b4 a6²] 16...Qb8 17.f4 Ng6 18.g3 Rfe8 19.Bf3 Qa8 20.Bf2 Ngf8?!± Magnus
gets a " clear " advantage [20...Qb8 21.Qc2 h6²] 21.Qe2 Qb8 22.Red1 g6 23.e5 Bc6?!+−
Carlsen gets a " winning " advantage [23...dxe5 24.Bxb7 Qxb7 25.fxe5 Qb8±] 24.Bd4?!±
[24.Bxc6 Rxc6 25.exd6 Bxd6+−] 24...Red8?!+− [24...dxe5 25.fxe5 Bxf3 26.Nxf3 g5±] 25.Bxc6
Rxc6 26.Nf3?!± [26.Rf1 h6 27.Qf3 Rcc8+−] 26...dxe5 27.fxe5 Rdc8?!+− [27...h6 28.h4 a5±]
28.Ne4 Qc7 29.Nfd2?!± [29.Bc3 Rxc4 30.Nfd2 Rc6+−] 29...a6 30.Nf2 Bg5?!+− [30...f5 31.exf6
Bxf6 32.Be3 Bb2±] 31.Rf1 Bxd2 32.Qxd2 Nxe5 Judit goes up a P 33.Bxe5 Qxe5 34.Ng4 Rd6
35.Nh6+ Kg7 36.Rxf7+ material equality 36...Kh8 37.Qf2 Qd4 38.c5 bxc5 Judit again goes
temporarily up a P 39.Qxd4+?!± [39.Rxc5 Qd1+ 40.Qf1 Qxf1+ 41.Kxf1 Rcd8+−] 39...Rxd4
40.Rxc5 material equality 40...Rcd8?!+− [40...Rxc5 41.bxc5 e5±] 41.Rcc7 Rd1+ 42.Kg2 R1d2+
43.Kh3 R2d5 44.Ng4 Rh5+ 45.Kg2 Rd2+ 46.Kf3 Rf5+ 47.Ke3 Rxf7 48.Rxf7 Rd8 49.Nf6
Toronto Chess News
25
Rb8?+− 4.27 [49...g5 50.Ke4 Rd2+− 3.43] 50.Kf4 h6 51.Ke5 a5?+− 4.85 [51...Rd8 52.h4 Rc8+−
4.92] 52.bxa5 Magnus goes up 2 P's 52...Ra8 53.a6+− 4.94 1-0
In Rd. 8 Polgar
bounced back with her first win of the tournament, crushing McShane. Here is that game
McShane, Luke − Polgar, Judit [A37]
1.c4= g6?!² [1...e5=] 2.g3?!= [2.d4 Bg7 3.e4 c5 4.d5 d6²] 2...Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3
b6?!² [5...d6 6.0-0 Bd7=] 6.0-0 Bb7 7.d3?!= [7.Re1?! d6 8.Qa4 Qd7=; 7.h3 Qc8 8.d3 Nf6²]
7...Nf6 8.Bg5 [8.Qa4 Qc8 9.Bd2 0-0=] 8...h6 9.Bd2 d5 10.Qc1 Rc8 11.Rb1 Qd7 12.b3?!³ [12.a3
Qe6 13.b3 d4=] 12...d4 13.Nb5 [13.Na4 e5 14.Rb2 e4³] 13...h5?!= [13...a6 14.Na3 e5³]
14.b4?!³ [14.Qb2 Ng4 15.h3 a6 16.Na3 Nge5=] 14...cxb4 ( verified depth 20 ) 15.Bxb4 a6
16.Na3 Nxb4 17.Rxb4 Nd5 18.Rb3 Nc3 19.Qd2 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 h4?!= [20...b5 21.Rc1 Bh6 22.e3
0-0³] 21.g4?∓ Judit gets a " clear " advantage [21.Rxb6 hxg3 22.hxg3 Qh3=] 21...b5?!³ [21...Qd6
22.e3 Qf6∓] 22.h3?!∓ [22.e3 0-0 23.exd4 Qxd4 24.cxb5 axb5 25.Nxb5 Nxb5 26.Rxb5 Rfd8³]
22...0-0 23.cxb5
[23.Re1 Rfd8 24.cxb5 (24.e3?! dxe3 25.Qxe3 e6-+ − 1.48) 24...axb5∓]
23...axb5 24.Nc2?!-+ Judit gets a " winning " advantage [24.Nb1 Qd6 25.Nxc3 dxc3 26.Qc2 b4∓]
24...Rc5 25.Ne1 Bf6 26.Ng2 Bg5 27.Qb2 Rfc8 28.Kh1 Qd6 29.Ra3?-+ − 6.35 [29.Re1?? Qf6
30.Qa3 Nxe2! 31.Bxe2 Qxf2 32.Rbb1 Qg3 33.Rf1 Qxh3+ 34.Kg1 Be3+ 35.Nxe3 Qxe3+ 36.Rf2
h3-+ − 13.33; 29.Qa3 Kg7 30.Re1 e6-+ − 2.54] 29...Na4 30.Rxa4 a forced exchange sac
30...bxa4 Judit is up the exchange 31.Ne1 Rc1 32.Qb7 − 8.93 [32.Bb7 Rb8 33.Rg1 Qc7-+ −
8.84] 32...Rb8 33.Qa7 Bd2-+ − 10.20 0-1
Going into the final Rd. 9, Carlsen was playing Anand ( precursor of a future
match?).
Vishy
Toronto Chess News
26
If Carlsen drew and Kramnik won, then there would be an Armageddon playoff for 1st
between the two. But Carlsen avoided this since he drew, but Kramnik did too, to come
in second. So Carlsen’s “ live rating” went to 2861. Since he is not scheduled to play
before Jan. 1, this will be his “ official” rating in the FIDE Jan. 1 Regular Rating list.
Here is Carlsen’s game ( Annotations by Bob Armstrong, using Fritz ):
Carlsen, Magnus − Anand, Viswanathan [C65]
1.e4² 0.35 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3?!= [4.0-0 Bc5 5.Nxe5 Nxe4 6.Qe1 Nxe5 7.Qxe4
Qe7²] 4...Bc5 5.Nc3 d6 6.Na4 Bb6 7.Nxb6 axb6 8.c3 Bd7 9.Ba4 Ne7 10.Bc2 Ng6 11.h3 0-0
12.0-0 h6 13.Re1 Re8 14.d4 Bc6 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Qxd8 Rexd8 17.g3 Nd7 18.Be3 Nc5 19.Nd2
Nf8 20.f3?!³ for the first time in the game, Vishy gets the advantage [20.Nc4 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 Nxe4
22.Bxb6 Nd2 23.Bxc7 Nxc4 24.Bxd8 Rxd8=] 20...Nfe6?!= [20...Bb5 21.Nf1 Na4³] 21.h4?!³
[21.Nc4 f6 22.Bxc5 Nxc5=] 21...Bb5 22.a3 Rd7?!= [22...Bd3 23.Bd1 Ra6³] 23.b4 Nd3 [23...Ba4
24.bxc5 Bxc2 25.Rec1 Bd3=] 24.Reb1 Ba4 25.Bxa4 Rxa4 26.Kf1 [26.Rd1 Nb2 27.Rdb1 Nd3=]
26...b5 27.Ke2 Ra6 28.h5 c5?± Magnus gets a " clear " advantage [28...Kf8 29.Rd1 Nb2=]
29.bxc5 Ndxc5 30.Rxb5 Magnus goes up a P 30...Na4 31.Rc1 Rc7 32.Nb1?!² [32.c4 f6 33.Nb3
b6±] 32...f6 33.c4 b6 [33...Nac5 34.Rd1 Rcc6²] 34.Rd5 [34.Kf2 Rc6 35.Kg2 Kh7²] 34...Nac5
35.Rc2 Rc6 36.Rb2 Kh7 37.Rb4 g6 38.hxg6+ Kxg6 39.Rd2 h5 40.Nc3 Rxa3 material equality
41.Nd5?!= [41.Nb5 Ra6 42.Rb1 Kg7²] 41...Kf7 42.Nxb6 Magnus goes up a P again [42.Rdb2
Na4 43.Rc2 Nac5=; 42.Rd1 Nb3 43.Bxb6 Ned4+ 44.Bxd4 Nxd4+ 45.Kf1 Rca6=; 42.Kf1 Nb3
43.Rb2 Na5=] 42...Nb3 43.Rd7+ Ke8 44.Rb7 Nbd4+ 45.Bxd4 Nxd4+ 46.Kd1 Kd8?!² [46...Ra1+
47.Kd2 Nxf3+ 48.Kc2 Ne1+= (48...Nd4+?!²) ] 47.Rd7+?!= [47.f4 Ra1+ 48.Kd2 Ra2+ 49.Kc3
Rg2²] 47...Ke8 48.Rb7 Kd8?!² [48...Ra1+ 49.Kd2 Nxf3+ 50.Kc3 Ng5=] 49.Nd5 Ra1+ 50.Kd2
Ra2+ 51.Rb2 Rxb2+ 52.Rxb2 Nxf3+ material equality again 53.Kd3 Ng5 54.Rb8+?!= [54.Rb7
Ke8 55.Ra7 Kf8²] 54...Kd7 55.Rb7+ Kd6 56.Nxf6 Magnus goes up a P again 56...Ra6 57.Ne8+
Kc5 58.Rc7+ Kb4 59.Rb7+ Kc5 60.Rc7+ Kb4 61.Rb7+= ½-½
Here are the final standings ( from TWIC ):
4th London Chess Classic 2012 London ENG Sat 1st Dec 2012 - Mon 10th Dec 2012
Leading Final Round 9 Standings:
Rk
Name
FED
Rtg
Gms
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Pts
Perf
1
Carlsen, Magnus
NOR
2848
8
*
1
1
3
1
3
3
3
3
18
2994
2
Kramnik, Vladimir
RUS
2795
8
1
*
3
1
1
1
3
3
3
16
2937
3
Nakamura, Hikaru
USA
2760
8
1
0
*
1
1
3
3
3
1
13
2839
4
Adams, Michael
ENG
2710
8
0
1
1
*
3
1
3
1
3
13
2845
5
Anand, Viswanathan
IND
2775
8
1
1
1
0
*
1
1
1
3
9
2749
6
Aronian, Levon
ARM
2815
8
0
1
0
1
1
*
1
3
1
8
2701
7
Polgar, Judit
HUN
2705
8
0
0
0
0
1
1
*
3
1
6
2621
Toronto Chess News
27
8
McShane, Luke J
ENG
2713
8
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
*
3
5
2566
9
Jones, Gawain C B
ENG
2644
8
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
*
3
2511
9 players
22nd World Senior Chess Championship, Kamena Vourla, Greece
This tournament took place in Kamena Vorla, Greece, from Nov. 12 – 25. It was
an 11 round swiss. We reported on it in our last Issue # 1-7 of Dec. 1, and gave the scores
of the 5 Canadians who played:
Placing
8 Leon Piasetski 7.5 ( was in an 8-way tie for 4th )
57 Andre Zybura 5.5
63 William Doubleday 5.5
79 Ian Finlay 4.5
103 Pierre Maheux 3.0
Our Canadian representative, the 2012 Canadian Senior Champion, was Andre
Zybura. One of our readers suggested we approach him re a personal report on the
tournament, and maybe a game. Andre kindly consented to do an article for TCN, and
annotate one of his games. We include them below:
“
There were 106 participants from many countries. A number of players from
Canada and other countries were visiting Greece and also took part in the championship
in addition to zone representatives. Canada was represented by five players; IM Leon
Piasetski, Bill Doubleday, Ian Finlay, Pierre Maheux, and Andre Zybura.
IM Kristiansen finished first with 9,0/11, half a point ahead of the silver medalist
GM Anatoly Vassier and the bronze medalist GM Evgeny Sveshnikov.
Final standings, games, and all other information related to the tournament can be
found at : http://worldseniors2012.chessdom.com/standings-open-r1/ .
The tournament was well organized, with pairing available a night before the
game so there was a day for preparations. One thing become obvious to me that you
really need a week to accommodate the time difference, and in fact the crisis comes on
the third day after arrival to Greece, in my case it was the first game with IM Filipenko.
I was well prepared with all details taken into account. Still, my opponent was a
professional chess trainer of grandmasters, his pupil is Dreev. The game was already
annotated due to an unusual move order in the Petrov defense, which is considered to be
a blunder losing a pawn on move two or something. In fact Black can obtain easy
compensation which actually grows when the opponent tries to keep the pawn. Very
possible that Black side does not have to play those famous boring endgames being
worse, but there is hope for being better. That was my hope, but Filipenko returned the
pawn after some thinking, leaving me with two bishops and better development for a
small structural deficiency.
Toronto Chess News
28
Filipenko, Alexander V (2321) - Zybura, Andre (1977)
22nd WSCC Open (Kamena Vourla), 13.11.2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nc6 8.Nc3
Qxe5 9.Qxe5+ Nxe5 10.Nb5 Bb4+ 11.c3 Ba5 12.Bf4 f6 13.Bxe5 fxe5
That was my hope, but Filipenko did not want to keep the pawn and returned it after
some thinking leaving me with two bishops and better development for a small structural
deficiency.
14.Na3 c6 15.Nc4 Bc7 16.Ne3
At this moment I felt quite confident and wanted to prevent him from having any active
piece, hoping for the Bishop vs. Knight endgame. Reasoning behind it was to avoid rook
endgames so to maintain some winning chances in the late endgame. (My attitude was to
play not for a good result but for winning it; if something is worth of doing it is also
worth of overdoing.)
Be6? 17.Bc4 Bxc4 18.Nxc4 O-O-O 19.Nd2 Rd3 20.Ke2
Here I understood that the position is more difficult to play that I though initially. I had
no good prospects on the open file; still it was a better way of forward.
Rhd8 21.Ne4 h6 22.h4 Bb6 23.h5 R3d7 24.Rh4 Rf8 25.Rg4 Rf4 26.f3 Rxg4
The problem is that it gives his rook the space on the open f-file.
27.fxg4 Kd8 28.Rf1 Ke8
To be able to play Bd8 and take the pawn with it. I finally changed mind and took with
the pawn due to it would allow him to exchange the knight if he wanted to do so and how
anyone could play for the win with only rooks left? But this required long calculation
involving sacrificing a rook for the knight and some pawns.
29.g5 hxg5 30.h6 gxh6 31.Nf6+ Ke7 32.Nxd7 Kxd7 33.Rf6
At this stage it was obvious the pawns and the bishop will not match his rook. So the
game was over after a few more moves.
1-0
So this result set the tone for the rest of games, I was wining with White but
loosing with Black when my opponents were playing quiet and very solid openings
requiring considerable risks on my side.
Here are some pictures I took while in Greece:
The tournament place
Toronto Chess News
29
Leon with one of the beautiful organizers
IM Kristiansen celebrating the win.
Dionysus theatre at Acropolis.
Toronto Chess News
30
Ancient city Agora where democracy was born.
The battlefield in Thermopylae, just behind the corner from Kamena Vourla.
NATIONAL
Organizations
Chess Federation of Canada ( CFC )
Website: http://www.chess.ca/
Chess Discussion Forum: http://www.chesscanada.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2
(by TCN Liaison for CFC, Bob Armstrong, CFC Public Relations Coordinator)
Toronto Chess News
31
The CFC holds its open, on-line Annual General Meeting in July. But three other
times during the year ( Oct. 1; Jan. 1; April 1 ), the CFC Governors hold their quarterly,
on-line meetings. They are a week long, and involve debate and motions. So the next
meeting will be the Jan. 1-7 2013 Winter Meeting. It is an open meeting, as are all
quarterly meetings now, thanks to the governors passing the appropriate motion at the
2012 Fall Meeting. Come see your tax dollars at work!!
Chess ‘n Math Association ( CMA )
National Scholastic Chess Organization
Website: http://chess-math.org/
( by TCN Liaison for CMA, Francis Rodrigues, CMA Toronto Regional Coordinator)
- CMA has decided to take out a “ news report ” section; we are still working out the
details for their first report, which we expect shortly
Profiles
Interesting Canadian Chess Personalities
This is a new series TCN started in Issue # 1-4, where, from time to time ( we are
trying for every 15th of the month Issue ), we will introduce Canadian chess personalities,
past and present, in some detail, and, if possible, have them present to our readers their
chess profile in their own words. Alternatively, we may have biographies of them from
available public and private sources.
Prior Personalities Presented: Howard Ridout; and Zoltan Sarosy.
We are pleased to continue our series with the introduction of an amazing 7-year
old junior girl chess player – she agreed to write a short story about herself, her chess and
her other interests. We understand she did do most of the material herself, with her
parents, Todd and Rayne, helping a bit as editors. We proudly present:
Harmony Zhu
Harmony with her father Todd, and Toronto player Shabnam Abbarin
Toronto Chess News
32
Hello everyone! How are you? I am fabulous! I hope you are fabulous too!
As you all know, I have just been to the World Youth Chess Championships in Slovenia.
I felt great! It’s my first WYCC experience and I’m in my junior year of U8. As Andrew
[ Giblon, Head of the Canadian Delegation ] said, I went into the tournament at one age
and went out at another. I turned 7 on the day of the 10th game which I won!
The most exciting part of WYCC is to get to meet and play with kids from all over the
world! Most of them don’t even speak English. But that’s not a problem as we can still
make friends with smiles and body language. My opponents always became my friends
and we always smiled at each other during other games, making the long games so fun! I
not only made friends with my opponents, but also with an Albanian U8 girl staying at
the same hotel and we played together every time we met in the dining room. I even
made friends with a girl in the washroom in the middle of a game! After we went back to
our boards, we found we were actually only two boards away from each other. So we just
kept smiling at each other for the rest of the game! It was so fun! I hope I can see them
again in next year’s WYCC!
Unfortunately for me, what also made the WYCC unforgettable is that in the middle of
the tournament I got very sick with a high fever and a stomach ache. I felt sleepy all day,
kept throwing up and didn’t eat anything for the last few days, not even a candy! I
couldn’t sleep well because of the stomach ache and throwing up. Before the 8th game
started, I threw up in the waiting room! My mom and dad were horrified because they
had never seen me do that before. My dad even asked me to resign before I entered the
chess hall, which sounds totally ridiculous to me! I didn’t even bother to respond to him
because it was totally out of the question! During the 9th game, guess what, I even threw
up onto the board! A really nice arbiter had to take me out of the chess hall to let my
mom clean me up. They had to change the chess pieces and the board. But still, that was
no big deal because I ended up winning both of the games! Fantastic! The doctors found
it unbelievable that I could still play 3 to 5 hour games with a high fever, an empty
stomach and a sleepy head. But I don’t think it’s anything unique.
I would also like to talk about the wonderful arbiter who took me to my mom for
cleaning up. I liked her so much because she was really nice to me and she was so
beautiful with big eyes and long hair. First she blinked at me a couple of times. Then she
asked me how old I was and when my birthday was. Guess what? She said her friend’s
birthday was on the same day! And she actually remembered my birthday when it came!
Do you want to know which part of the WYCC was my very most favourite? Well that’s
the award ceremony. Because I got to go onto the stage representing Canada, look down
at all of the audience, and most of all, take a picture with the famous Mr. Kasparov! Mr.
Kasparov is a short, nice man with very dark eyes. He is old but still handsome. I didn’t
expect to finish the 8th, so the moment my name was called I was so surprised and
excited, almost more excited than ever! Another good part of the award ceremony is that
I got to go with all my best friends from Team Canada! Our team is such a great team!
We had so much fun together!
Toronto Chess News
33
For those of you who wonder why I didn’t show up at CYCC this year, let me tell you
why. Well, I would love to play at CYCC for sure, but unfortunately, this year’s CYCC
had a schedule conflict with CMC, Canadian Music Competition. CMC is also important,
because it is just like the CYCC in the music world. I was playing Haydn Concerto in D
Major at the final round of CMC in Toronto on July 4th when CYCC was held in BC. I
am so excited that I won the 1st Place of CMC because I am still in my junior year!
Check it out here:
http://toronto.cmcnational.com/en/cmc2012/resultats/details/piano/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8bfmwGJ44E
Plus, I also won a scholarship of $300. I have won many scholarships so far, but this time
is more exciting, because I spent it on my new pet, a guinea pig! His name is
Scrumptious! He is soooooo cute! He purrs when I pet him!
I have always had this kind of schedule conflicts between chess and piano. For example,
during BCYCC, I was late for over half an hour for 2 of the morning games as I had to
rush from the second round of CMC and a concerto competition at downtown on the
same days. But fortunately I played in CYCC 2011 when I was 5 years old and finished
the 3rd, so I was still qualified for the WYCC this year [ Ed. – as a technical point, it was
her piano conflict, and the fact she was top Canadian girl in her section, that led the CFC
Executive to grant her permission to join the Canadian WYCC team ].
I love playing piano because I get to compose my own music composition on the piano.
But it also bothers me so much that I can hardly concentrate on the chess board because
of my own composed music in my head! I just cannot get rid of it. Sometimes I even
think about Tinker Bell, Peter Pan, Snow White and lots of other characters from the
movies I have seen. I guess this is why I always play so slowly and run out of time.
Besides piano and chess, I also love drawing, reading, writing, spelling, science, math,
dancing, singing, all kinds of sports and lots of other things too! I just cannot think of
something that I don't like. Don't ask me what I want to be when I grow up because I’d
tell you I want to be a composer, pianist, chess player, artist, scientist, mathematician,
writer, illustrator, dancer, choreographer, singer... all at the same time!
Anyway, next year at WYCC I’ll try harder and my expectation is that I’ll at least get the
7th place. Thank you everybody, for cheering and standing up for me! You have been so
kind and encouraging to me. I really appreciate it! Thank you! See you soon! Bye-bye!
Ed. - Thank you Harmony for such a delightful read about your experience-filled young
life. We wish you well in all your endeavours, and there certainly are many of them!
Toronto Chess News
34
Provincial Tournaments & Chess Clubs/Organizations
TCN offers chess clubs and chess organizations a “ news section ”. As a
club/organization accepts, TCN is developing “TCN Liaisons” in these groups in
Toronto, the GTA and beyond, whereby one member at each club/organization will take
responsibility for submitting their news to TCN on a regular basis for this section. For
clubs, this will include club games from club tournaments when possible. We have 4
chess organizations and 9 clubs now with news sections of the newsletter opened for
them. We hope to slowly increase this number as time passes. We also intend to extend
coverage outside of Ontario, our starting province.
We also hope to develop ongoing relationships with GTA (and beyond)
tournament organizers, so they will consider sending in reports and some of the more
interesting games from their tournaments. Depending on time available, TCN will try to
annotate some of the unannotated games submitted by organizers and clubs.
ONTARIO
GREATER TORONTO AREA
Tournament Reports
The Battle of Toronto Invitational
( by organizer, Canadian Chess Consulting Service/Bob Armstrong )
Mario MoranMichael Dougherty
Zaki Uddin
Bob Armstrong
1
Venegas
1
Toronto Chess News
35
Tyler Longo
Rob Bzikot
Marcus Wilker
Wajdy Shebetah
( from the Annex CC Website )
This is a FIDE Rating Round Robin of 8-players, 5 FIDE-rated and 3 with no
FIDE rating. It is organized by Canadian Chess Consulting Service, a company of Bob
Armstrong’s, and is being played at the Annex CC ( which is one of the sponsors of the
tournament, by subsidizing the site/equipment rental fee ). Round 1 was played Oct. 15
Results – Round 7 – December 3/12
Armstrong
0
vs 1 Longo ( rescheduled & played Nov. 14 )
Uddin
½ vs ½
Shebetah
Wilker
0 vs 1
Dougherty
Moran-Venegas 1 vs 0
Bzikot
Results – Make-Up from Round 2, Oct. 22 – played December 10, 2012
Bzikot
0 vs 1
Dougherty
Standings with only 1 Rd. 3 Game Outstanding
1 – 6 pts. - Dougherty ( Rd.3 game outstanding )
2/ 3 – 5 pts. – Longo ( Rd. 3 game outstanding); Shebetah
4 – 4.5 pts. – Uddin
5 - 2.5 pts. - Bzikot
6 – 2 pts. - Moran-Venegas
7 / 8 – 1 pt. – Armstrong; Wilker.
The last outstanding game will be played at Annex CC on Monday, Dec. 17 – the game is
critical – If Mike wins, he wins the tournament, and Tyler falls to third on tie-break. If
Tyler wins, he wins the tournament on tie-break, and Mike comes second. Come out and
see a great game.
Toronto Chess News
36
Toronto Junior Championship
Justin Quinn
D’Souza
Zehn Nasir
Mike Ivanov
Mark Plotkin
Daniel Zotkin
John Zhang
Alejandro
Renteria
Alex Florea
( from Annex CC Website )
-
started Oct. 15 at the Annex CC; 8-player round robin.
Mike Ivanov is the new Toronto Junior Champion – he scored 6/7 pts., and cannot
be caught. Congratulations Mike!!
Crosstable from the Annex CC website ( one game still outstanding ):
#
Name
1
Zhang,
John
CFC FIDE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 total
rating rating
1973
× ½
1
0 0 0 1 0 2.5
F
Toronto Chess News
37
2
Zotkin,
Daniel
1865
1775
½ × ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 3.0
3
Renteria,
Alejandro
1364
1693
0
½ × 0 0 0 0 0 0.5
F
1915
1870
1 ½ 1 × 0 1 1 1 5.5
4 Nasir, Zehn
5
Ivanov,
Mike
2270
2050
1 1 1 1 ×
6
Florea,
Alexandru
2179
2013
1 1 1 0
7
D’Souza,
Justin
Quinn
1517
8
Plotkin,
Mark
2092
1
1 0 6.0
F
0
× 1 ?
F
0 0 1 0 0 0 × 0 1.0
1916
1 ½ 1 0 1 ? 1 × 4.5
Toronto Women’s Championship
Larissa Souchko
Zhanna
4.0
Shabnam
Toronto Chess News
38
Sametova
Abbarin
Manuela
Renteria
Mathanhe
Kaneshalingam
Rebecca Giblon
( from the Annex CC website )
-
started Oct. 15 at the Annex CC; 6-player round robin.
Here is the final completed cross-table, showing junior Zhanna Sametova as the
new Toronto Women’s Champion on tie-break.
#
Name
CFC
rating
1
Kaneshalingam,
Mathanhe
1311
× 1
1
0 1 0
F
3
2
Abbarin, Shabnam
1390
0 × 0 0 1 1
2
3
Sametova, Zhanna
1644
0
1 × 1 1 1
F
4
4
Giblon, Rebecca
1662
1 1 0 × 1 1
4
5
Souchko, Larissa
1084
0 0 0 0 × 0
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 total
Toronto Chess News
39
6
Renteria, Manuela
1682
1 0 0 0 1 ×
2
Toronto Seniors Championship
-
see Willowdale CC news report below - Ranking after Round 7
Chess Organization News
From the GTCL Perspective
-
The Greater Toronto Chess League ( GTCL ) has a 6 person executive and
currently a 9 person board of directors (can be larger)
Coordinating chess in the Greater Toronto Area (Toronto, Halton, Peel, York &
Durham)
Website: http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/
(by TCN Liaison for GTCL, Egis Zeromskis)
Recently Toronto got three new champions - Senior, Women's, and Junior.
Dante Zuniga decisively won the Senior Championship with crushing everybody in the
field. 9 points out of 9 games. Results are at http://chessresults.com/tnr82799.aspx?art=4&lan=1
Women's championship saw a tie for the first place between Zhanna Sametova and
Rebecca Giblon with 4 points out of 5. Though Zhanna's win against Rebecca won her a
champion's title too. The tournament webpagehttp://annexchessclub.com/2012/10/2012toronto-womens/
Mike Ivanov won the Junior championship. The tournament
webpage http://annexchessclub.com/2012/10/2012-toronto-junior/
The award ceremonies will be during the Hart House Winter Open on Saturday, January
5 just before Round 3 approximately at 3:50 pm (15:50). Participants will receive chess
books donated by Mr. J. Ken MacDonald too.
Future GTCL tournaments:
In January League championship will take place at the Willowdale Chess Club. Teams
should register by sending an email to Vladimir Birarov [ [email protected] ]
before December 31. Two teams have already registered - Willowdale CC (led by the
international master) and Hart House CC. Details of the competition
athttp://www.torontochess.org/drupal/chesstournament/2013_gtcl_league
Toronto Chess News
40
2013 Toronto Closed will start in April. More details
at http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/chesstournament/2013torontoclosed
Chess Institute of Canada ( CIC )
Photo Credit: Jordynn Colosi
At the Chess Institute of Canada, we bring chess to life!
( by Jessica Yared, TCN Liaison for CIC )
- reported no news for this Issue
Chess Club News
TORONTO
Scarborough Chess Club News
Meets Thursdays – 7:00 – 10:45 PM
Toronto Chess News
41
Location: Birkdale Community Ctre, 1299 Ellesmere Road (between Midland Ave. and
Brimley Road)
SCC e – mail : [email protected]
SCC Website : http://www.ScarboroughChessClub.ca
(by Ken Kurkowski, TCN Liaison for SCC)
Falling Leaves Swiss
This 7-round tournament (with 98 participants) has just completed with junior Joey
Zhong, despite a rating of only 1841, outpacing several experts with 6 points! Expert
David Southam was runner-up with 5.
In the U1800 juniors Kevin Yi-xiao Yie and Kajan Thanabalachandran (perhaps
benefiting from his experience at the WYCC!) tied for first with 5.5, followed by junior
Derick Aghamalian, Dean Ward and Silvano Mesiti with 5.
Finishing clear first in the U1400 section was Patrick Huang with 6, followed by Aldrin
Viado with 5.5.
Games
Round 7
Your TCN editor engages in an entertaining tactical slugfest with one of SCC’s youngest
members ...
Toronto Chess News
42
Armstrong, Robert J. (1606) - Lin, Benjamin (1448) [A20]
Scarborough CC Falling Leaves (U1800) Toronto (7), 13.12.2012
[ Analysis by Bob Armstrong and Fritz ]
Bob
1.g3= d5 2.Bg2 e5 3.c4?! [3.Nf3 e4 4.Nd4 c5=] 3...c6?!= [3...d4 4.d3 Bd6]
4.Qb3 Nf6 [4...d4 5.d3 Nf6=] 5.d3 Be7 6.Bg5?! [6.Nf3 d4 7.0–0 Nbd7=] 6...d4
7.Nd2 0–0 8.Bxf6?! Ben gets a " clear " advantage [8.Ngf3 Nbd7 9.0–0 Qc7]
8...Bxf6 9.Ne4 [9.Ngf3 a5 10.0–0 (10.Qc2 Qc7; 10.c5 Qc7) 10...Nd7] 9...Be7
10.0–0–0?!–+ Ben gets a " winning " advantage [10.Nf3 a5 11.0–0 Qc7] 10...Nd7
11.Nf3 Rb8? Ben is losing his advantage [11...a5 12.h4 a4 13.Qc2 a3–+]
12.g4?–+ Ben gets back a " winning " advantage [12.Kb1 b5 13.c5 Qc7] 12...b5
13.Qc2 - 1.59 [13.Kb1 bxc4 14.Qxc4 Qa5–+ - 1.47; 13.g5 bxc4 14.Qxc4 Qa5–+ 1.53] 13...a5?! [13...bxc4 14.dxc4 Qa5–+] 14.c5 b4 15.g5?!–+ [15.e3 a4
16.Qxa4 Nxc5 (16...dxe3?! 17.fxe3 Nxc5 18.Nxc5 Bxc5 19.Nxe5 Qg5) 17.Nxc5
Bxc5 18.Nxe5 Qf6 19.Nc4 Bxg4 20.Qxc6 Qxc6 21.Bxc6 dxe3] 15...Qc7?!
[15...Rb5 16.Kb1 Nxc5 17.Rc1 b3–+] 16.h4?!–+ [16.Kb1 Rb5 17.e3 Nxc5
18.exd4 Nxe4 19.dxe4 exd4] 16...Qa7?! [16...Rb5 17.Kb1 Nxc5 18.Nfd2 Nxe4
19.Bxe4 Rc5–+] 17.Bh3 [17.g6 a4 18.gxf7+ Rxf7; 17.h5?! a4 (17...Rb5?! 18.g6
Nxc5 19.gxh7+ Kh8) 18.Nfd2 Rb5–+] 17...Qc7?= too defensive/passive; Ben
loses his advantage. My attempted attack may yet have legs?? [Ben needs to
continue his attack 17...a4 18.Bxd7 b3 19.axb3 axb3 20.Qb1 Bxd7 21.Nxe5 Rb5
22.Nxd7 Qxd7 23.Kd2 Bxc5] 18.Rdg1?! [I should have pressed my direct attack
18.h5 b3 19.axb3 Rb5 20.Bxd7 Bxd7 21.g6! Bf5 22.Kb1 h6=] 18...Re8??+somewhat of a blunder by Ben; the R and K can now be forked by my N; for the
first time in the game, I get the advantage, and it is a " winning " one. Now I do
have an attack! [18...Rb5 19.Bxd7 Bxd7] 19.h5 Nf8?+- 3.17 [19...b3! 20.axb3
Rb5+- 2.16] 20.Nf6+?!± not nearly as good as I thought it was while playing! LOL
[20.Qc4 b3 21.a3 Be6 22.Bxe6 Nxe6+-] 20...Bxf6?!+- 4.50 [Ben should go for
the exchange of pieces with material equality 20...gxf6 21.Bxc8 Rbxc8 22.gxf6+
Kh8 23.fxe7 Qxe7±] 21.gxf6 g6 22.Qd2?+- 2.49 [22.hxg6 fxg6 23.Ng5 Rd8+4.22] 22...Qd8 23.Qg5?+- 1.74 [23.Bxc8 Rxc8 24.Qg5 Re6 25.hxg6 fxg6
26.Rxh7! Qxf6! (26...Nxh7?? 27.Qxg6+ Kf8 28.Qg8#; 26...Kxh7?? 27.Qh6+!
Kxh6 28.Rh1#) 27.Ra7 Rd8+- 2.83] 23...e4?+- 9.96 [23...Bxh3 24.Rxh3 Re6
25.hxg6 fxg6 26.Rxh7! Qxf6! 27.Ra7 Rb5+- 1.97]
Toronto Chess News
43
Position after 23…e4?
XABCDEFGHY
8-trlwqrsnk+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+p+-zPp+&
5zp-zP-+-wQP%
4-zp-zpp+-+$
3+-+P+N+L#
2PzP-+PzP-+"
1+-mK-+-tRR!
xabcdefghy
24.hxg6! nice sac offer - in exchange for mate! 24...fxg6! [24...exf3?? 25.gxh7+
Kxh7 (25...Kh8 26.Qg7#) 26.Bf5#] 25.Ne5?+- 7.54 [25.Be6+! Rxe6 26.f7+ Kxf7
27.Qxd8 exf3 28.Qc7+ Bd7 29.Qxb8 fxe2 30.Kd2 h5+- 12.32] 25...Rb7 26.Bxc8
7.61 [26.Nxc6? Qc7 27.Ne7+ Rxe7 28.fxe7 Qxe7 29.Bxc8 Qxg5+ 30.Rxg5 Rc7+8.51] 26...Qxc8 27.f7+ Rxf7 a forced exchange sac 28.Nxf7 I am up R vs P
28...Kxf7?+- 12.35 [28...Re6? 29.Nh6+ Kh8+- 11.63; 28...Qe6 29.Nh6+ Kh8+8.41] 29.dxe4?+- 2.14 I am up the exchange [29.Rxh7+ Nxh7 30.Qxg6+ Ke7
31.Qd6+ Kf7 32.Qh6 Nf6 33.Rg7+ Ke6 34.Qh3+ Kd5 35.Rg5+ Re5 36.Rxe5+
Kxe5 37.Qxc8 a4+- 17.46 I would be up Q + P vs N] 29...Rxe4?+- 7.39 This R
becomes vulnerable, hanging in the centre unprotected [29...Qe6 30.Rg4 Kg8+1.91] 30.Rxh7+! nice R-sac 30...Ke8 31.Rh8 Kf7??+- leads to mate [31...Qf5
32.Qxf5 gxf5 33.Rgg8 Ke7 34.Rxf8 Rf4+- 9.88] 32.Rxf8+! now an exchange sac!
32...Kxf8?+- leads to a quicker mate in 12 moves; there is material equality, but
Ben is mated. [32...Qxf8 33.Qxg6+ Ke7 34.Qxe4+ Kd7 35.Qxd4+ Kc8+- mate in
23 moves] 33.Qf6+ Ke8 34.Qxg6+ Kd7 35.Qxe4 I am up R + P 35...Kc7?+mate in only 7 moves [35...Qf8 36.Qxd4+ Kc7 37.Rg7+ Kb8 38.Qe5+ Ka8
39.Qc7+- mate in 11 moves] 36.Rg7+ Kb8 37.Qe5+ Ka8 38.Rc7?+- I miss the
obviously quickest mating line. This mates in a long 18 moves! [38.Qe7 Qb8
39.Qd7 Qf4+ 40.Kd1 Qc1+ 41.Kxc1 Kb8 42.Qd8#] 38...Qb8?+- the weaker
resistance [38...Qf8 39.Rxc6 Qd8 40.Rc7+- mate in 5 moves] 39.Qd6 Qe8
40.Rxc6 I am up R + 2 P's, and closing in on mate 40...Kb7 41.Rb6+ [41.Qc7+
Ka8 42.Ra6#] 41...Ka8 42.Qc7+- Ben resigned as mate is imminent 42...Qe3+
43.fxe3 dxe3 44.Rb8# 1–0
Round 6
This game features some tricky tactics, with the advantage swinging back and
forth at one point!
Toronto Chess News
44
Kurkowski, Ken - Graham, John [E47]
SCC Falling Leaves Swiss U1800 (6), 06.12.2012
[Analysis by Kurkowski and Fritz 13]
E47: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 5 Bd3 without ...d5 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4
4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 b6 6.Nge2 Bb7 7.0–0 last book move 7...Be7 8.Ng3 [8.e4 e5]
8...d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd2 c6 Covers b5 [10...g6 11.h4=] 11.Rc1 Nbd7 [11...c5
12.Nf5] 12.Re1 Re8 13.e4 A bit hasty. [13.Qf3 c5±] 13...dxe4 14.Ncxe4 c5
15.dxc5 [15.Bc3!?] 15...Nxc5= 16.Nxc5 Fritz likes this move, but it may have
been better not to bring Black's B on a strong diagonal. [16.Bb1] 16...Bxc5
17.Bc4 [17.Rxe8+ Qxe8 18.b4 Bf8=] 17...Rxe1+ [17...Qd6 18.b4 Bxb4 19.Bxf7+
Kxf7 20.Qb3+ Nd5 21.Bxb4 Qxb4 22.Rc7+ Kf8 23.Qxb4+ Nxb4 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8
25.Rxb7 Re1+ 26.Nf1] 18.Qxe1? [18.Bxe1!? is the correct recapture 18...Qc7
19.b4] 18...Ng4–+ 19.Ne4? [19.Be3!? Qh4 20.Nf1] 19...Bxe4 [19...Qc7 it
becomes clear that Black will call all the shots 20.g3 Qc6–+] 20.Qxe4 Nxf2
21.Qf3? [21.Bxf7+ Kxf7 22.Qf3+ Kg8 23.Be3–+] 21...Nd3+ 22.Kf1 Ne5
[22...Nxc1 might be the shorter path 23.Bxc1 Rc8 24.Bxf7+ Kh8 25.Be6–+]
23.Qe4 Qf6+?? weakening the position [23...Rc8 secures the point 24.Bf4 Nxc4
25.Qxc4 Rc6–+] 24.Bf4 Re8?? John turns the advantage over to me... [24...Nc6
25.b4 Bxb4]
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7zp-+-+pzpp'
6-zp-+-wq-+&
5+-vl-sn-+-%
4-+L+QvL-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzP-+-+PzP"
1+-tR-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
25.Ke2?? But I promptly return the favour! [25.Bb5 g5 26.Bxe8 gxf4 27.b4 Be3
28.Rc8 Kg7 29.h3 with a slight advantage for White] 25...Qe7 [25...Kf8 makes
sure everything is clear 26.Kd1 Ng6 27.Bd6+ Qxd6+ 28.Qd3 Qxh2 29.Bb5–+]
26.Qxe5?? causes more grief [26.Bxe5 Qxe5 27.Qxe5 Rxe5+ 28.Kd3 g6]
26...Qxe5+ [26...Qd7 secures the win 27.Re1 g5–+] 27.Bxe5 Rxe5+ Remaining
moves not recorded due to time trouble. The game was eventually drawn in an
opposite colour bishop ending- a lucky escape for me! [27...Rxe5+ 28.Kd3 g6]
½–½
Toronto Chess News
45
Dattani, Dinesh (1419) - Morra, Lui (1642) [B76]
SCC Falling leaves Swiss U1800 (6), 06.12.2012
[Analysis by Dattani and Fritz]
Dinesh
B76: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack, g4 and 9 0–0–0 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
cxd4 4.Nxd4 d6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.Be3 Nf6 8.f3 0–0 9.Qd2 Re8 last book
move. White has an active position 10.0–0–0 Bd7 11.g4 The Nf6 has nowhere to
go after g5. 11...Kh8? DDD: Black makes room for the Nf6, but then comes in
the path of the White Rh1. Also, f7 is not protected. [11...Nxd4 12.Bxd4
(12.Qxd4? Nxg4 13.Qd2 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Rc8–+) 12...Qa5 13.a3±] 12.g5 [12.h4
h5+-] 12...Ng8? [12...Nh5±] 13.Bc4 DDD: With the threat of Bxf7, White is
provoking e6, which would block Bd7 and also Re8. [13.h4 and White can
already relax 13...Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4+ e5 16.Qxd6 Bc6+-] 13...Ne5
[13...Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4+ e5 16.Qd2+-] 14.Bb3 Rc8 [14...a5 15.a4
Qc7 16.h4+-] 15.h4 DDD: f4 would allow the capture of f7, but White is
concerned about Ng4, NxBe3, etc. 15...Nc4 16.Qd3 [16.Bxc4 might be the
shorter path 16...Rxc4 17.h5 Qa5+-] 16...Ne5? [16...Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Qb6+-]
17.Qe2 a6 [17...h5 does not solve anything 18.gxh6! forces the win 18...Nxh6
19.h5+-] 18.h5 b5 [18...Rxc3 cannot change destiny 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.bxc3+-]
Toronto Chess News
46
Position after 18…b5
XABCDEFGHY
8-+rwqr+nmk(
7+-+lzppvlp'
6p+-zp-+p+&
5+p+-sn-zPP%
4-+-sNP+-+$
3+LsN-vLP+-#
2PzPP+Q+-+"
1+-mKR+-+R!
xabcdefghy
19.Bxf7! Discovered attack: h7, h5-g6 19...b4 [19...Nxf7 20.hxg6 Discovered
attack] 20.hxg6 DDD: Mate threat - Rxh7. 20...h6 21.gxh6 bxc3 22.hxg7+ Kxg7
23.Rh7+ Kf8 24.Qh2 cxb2+ [24...Nd3+ doesn't change anything anymore
25.Rxd3 cxb2+ 26.Kb1 e6 27.Bh6+ Nxh6 28.Qxh6+ Ke7 29.Bxe6+ Kf6 30.Rf7+
Ke5 31.Rf5#] 25.Kb1 e6 26.Bxe8 DDD: If Bxe8 then Nxe6! forking the K and Q.
If Qxe8 then Bh6+, Nxh6, Qxh6+ is winning. [26.Bh6+ Nxh6 27.Qxh6+ Ke7
28.Bxe6+ Kf6 29.Qf4+ Kxg6 30.Qf5#] 26...Kxe8 [26...Rxc2 does not save the
day 27.Bxd7 Rc1+ 28.Kxb2 Qxd7 29.Rxd7 Ke8 30.Rxc1 Nd3+ 31.Ka1 Kxd7
32.Qh7+ Ne7 33.g7 Nxc1 34.g8Q Kc7 35.Nxe6+ Kd7 36.Qd8+ Kc6 37.Qe8+ Kb7
38.Qhxe7#] 27.Rh8 Kf8 [27...Qf6 doesn't improve anything 28.Rxg8+ Ke7
29.Qh7+ Nf7 30.gxf7 Rf8 31.Rxf8 Ba4 32.Rb8 Bxc2+ 33.Nxc2 Qxf7 34.Bg5+ Kd7
35.Qxf7+ Kc6 36.Nb4+ Kc5 37.Qc7#] 28.Qh6+ Ke7 [28...Ke8 doesn't get the bull
off the ice 29.Rxg8+ Ke7 30.Bg5#] 29.Qg7+ DDD: Black resigns. It's mate in the
next move. If 29. . . Ke8, then 30. Rxg8 mate. If 29. . . Nf7, then 30. Qxf7 mate.
1–0
Liu, Daniel - Azizi, Hamid [B00]
SCC Falling Leaves Swiss U1800 (6), 06.12.2012
[Fritz 13 ]
B00: Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 g6 last
book move 3.Bc4 [3.d4 d6] 3...Bg7 4.d3 e6 Prevents intrusion on d5 5.Nc3 Nge7
6.Bf4 [6.Bd2 d5 7.Bb3 a6] 6...d6 Controls e5 [6...d5!? 7.Bb3 0–0=] 7.0–0 a6
Consolidates b5 8.Rb1 Nd4 [8...0–0 9.Bb3=] 9.Be3 [9.Nxd4!? Bxd4 10.Bg5]
9...c5= 10.a3 0–0 11.Bxd4 cxd4 Black has the pair of bishops 12.Ne2 b5 13.Ba2
Nc6 14.h3 Re8 15.Ng3 Qa5 Black intends b4 16.Re1 b4 Black threatens to win
material: b4xa3 17.Qd2 Rb8 18.Bb3 [18.Ne2 Bd7 (‹18...bxa3 19.Qxa5 Nxa5
20.bxa3) ] 18...Bd7 19.axb4 Nxb4 [19...Qxb4!? 20.Nf1 Na5] 20.Ra1 Qb6 21.e5
[21.h4=] 21...Qc5?? allows the opponent back into the game [21...Bc6 22.exd6
Bxf3 23.gxf3 Qxd6 24.Ra4]
Toronto Chess News
47
Position after 21…Qc5??
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+r+k+(
7+-+l+pvlp'
6p+-zpp+p+&
5+-wq-zP-+-%
4-sn-zp-+-+$
3+L+P+NsNP#
2-zPPwQ-zPP+"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
22.exd6?? White has let it slip away [22.Ne4 would have made live much easier
for White 22...Qc7 23.Nxd6+-] 22...Qxd6= 23.Ne4 Qb6 [23...Qc7 and Black is
still in the game] 24.Qf4± Nxd3 Deflection: b3 25.cxd3 [25.cxd3 Qb5 Decoy
Double attack(25...Qxb3 Overloading Deflection Discovered attack) ; …25.-- Nxf4
Wins material] 25...Qxb3 26.Nf6+?? gives the opponent counterplay [26.Ne5
and White gets the upper hand 26...Re7 27.Nxd7 Rxd7 28.Nc5+-] 26...Bxf6=
27.Qxf6 Bb5 [27...Rb7 28.Ne5 Rf8 29.h4] 28.Ne5± White threatens to win
material: Ne5xf7 28...Rb7 [28...Rf8 29.Ng4 h5 30.Nh6+ Kh7 31.Nxf7 Bxd3
32.Rxe6 Rb7 (32...Qxb2 33.Re7 Qb7 34.h4 Qxe7 35.Ng5+ Kg8 36.Qxe7 Rf5
37.Qh7+ Kf8 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qxb8 Kd7 40.Qa7+ Kd6 41.Qb6+ Kd7 42.Qxd4+
Rd5 43.Qxd5+ Kc7 44.Rc1+ Kb8 45.Qd6+ Ka7 46.Rc7+ Ka8 47.Qf8#) 33.Ng5+
Kg8 34.Qxd4 Qxb2±] 29.Rad1 [29.Ng4 Qxb2 (29...Qxd3 30.Rad1 Qc2 31.Nh6+
Kf8 32.Rxd4 Qxb2 33.Qh8+ Ke7 34.Qg7 Qxd4 35.Qxd4+-) 30.Rab1 Qc3
31.Nh6+ Kf8+-] 29...Qxb2?? hands over the advantage to the opponent.
[29...Rf8 and Black could well hope to play on] 30.Ng4± Qb4?? cause more grief
[30...Ba4 31.Ra1 Bb5±] 31.Nh6++- Kf8 32.Re4 Qc5 [32...Qd6 is not the saving
move 33.Rf4 Qxf4 34.Qxf4+-] 33.Rde1 [33.Rf4 keeps an even firmer grip
33...Qc7 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Rxf7+ Kd8 36.Rxc7 Rxh8 37.Rxb7+-] 33...Qh5
[33...Qc3 a last effort to resist the inevitable 34.Qh8+ Ke7+-] 34.Rxe6 Rxe6
35.Rxe6 1–0
Club members are invited to submit their games (ideally with analysis!) for possible
inclusion in the SCC report.
Two Scarborough Chess Club junior members, Harmony Zhu and Kajan
Thanabalachandran recently represented Canada at the World Youth Chess
Championships (WYCC) in Maribor, Slovenia. Harmony competed in the Girls Under 8
category and Kajan In the Open Under 14. In recognition of their achievement as WYCC
participants, Scarborough Chess Club has extended their Club membership for one year
and paid for one year’s CFC dues.
Toronto Chess News
48
Club president Maurice Smith presenting certificates of achievement to Harmony and
Kajan.
[ Photos by SCC member Dinesh Dattani ]
The Club will be closed for Christmas break on Dec 20 and 27.
Annex Chess Club News
Meets Monday evenings
Location: 918 Bathurst St., Toronto (north of the Bathurst Subway Station)
Annex CC website: http://annexchessclub.com/
Toronto Chess News
49
(by TCN Liaison for Annex CC, Marcus Wilker)
As we are getting ready to wrap up for the year, we're pleased to be finished, or almost
finished, three special Round-Robins: the Toronto Women's and Toronto Junior
Championships, and the Battle of Toronto. We are honoured to have been able to host
these events.
On December 10, we played the penultimate round of our Roasted Chestnuts Swiss.
In the bottom section, Jim Mourgelas took a bye, allowing Chris Field to catch him. The
two are now tied for first with 3.5/4.
In the middle section, Arkadiy Ugodnikov took a bye, and Ulli Diemer won again! Ulli’s
now in sole possession of first place at 3.5/4.
And in the top section, Geordie Derraugh beat Tyler Longo. At 4.0/4, Geordie stands a
point and a half ahead of the pack going into the last round!
Round Five is next Monday, December 17, at 7:30 pm. Before the round, starting at 6:30,
we'll have brief year-end reports from our outgoing executive as we look forward to brief
elections before the round on Monday January 7, when we return from holiday.
We wish everyone Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and a pleasant holiday! See you
all in the new year!
Willowdale Chess Club News
Meetings: Tuesday, 7:00 – 10:00 PM (generally casual play)
Location: Earl Bales Community Centre (Bathurst St./Sheppard Ave.)
(by interim TCN Liaison for Willowdale CC, Michael Barron, for TCN Liaison, Mike
Ivanov )
On Tuesday, December 11, the 2012 Toronto Senior Chess Championship came to
conclusion!
Congratulations to new Toronto Senior Champion - Dante Zuniga - who won
the Championship with perfect score - 8 out of 8!
Last year's Champion - Sai Vergara - this time came second with 6/8 result.
Third place got Dmitry Chernik - 5.5/8.
Full pairings and crosstable on the Chess-Results Server:
http://chess-results.com/tnr82799.aspx?art=2&lan=1
Thanks to everybody for participation!
Toronto Chess News
50
The next tournament at Willowdale chess club will be 2013 GTCL Team Competition please find details at the GTCL website:
http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/chesstournament/2013_gtcl_league
Please register your Team by the end of December by emailing Vladimir Birarov at
<[email protected]>
Next weekend tournament in Toronto will be January 4-6, 2013 - Hart House Winter
Open - please find details on website:
http://hhchess.sa.utoronto.ca/hhopen
Enjoy Winter Holidays and hope to see you next year at chess events!
HALTON
Burlington Chess Club News
Meetings - Tuesday evenings
Website: http://www.burlingtonchessclub.com/
Email: [email protected]
Location:
The Red Cross Building
262 Guelph Line
Burlington, ON L7R 3K7
(Southwest corner of Guelph Line and 1st Street)
For juniors : the Burlington Junior Chess Club – Wednesdays - at Robert Bateman High
School, 5151 New Street (near Appleby Line). Check website for details.
(by TCN Liaison for Burlington CC, Bob Gillanders)
Burlington concluded its tournament schedule for 2012 this week with the
completion of the Willi Wettengl Memorial. Paul Roschman lead throughout the
tournament and clinched the win with a final round draw against yours truly. It was no
GM draw for sure, I fought tooth and nail for the win, it looked promising, but some poor
decisions in the endgame sabotaged the effort, and a draw was all she wrote.
Congratulations Paul.
SwissSys Standings. Willi Wettengl Memorial 2012
#
Name
ID
Rtng Post Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Tot Prize
1
Paul Roschman
113055 1634 1704 W16 W6
2
Stan Percival
3
Carlos Zubieta
4
Robert Gillanders 108202 1787 1771 D19 W11 W8
D4
4.5
100049 1683 1692 L3
W16 W19 W15 W8
4.0
149510 1492 1570 W2
L9
W7
4.0
D1
3.5
Toronto Chess News
W13 W7
W10 W6
D9
51
5
Morris Knul
141510 1741 1705 L11
6
Long Vo
153541 1587 1570 W18 L1
7
Louay Sakka
151262 1783 1743 H--- W20 W9
L1
L3
2.5
8
Dominik
Krajcovic
101982 1660 1638 H--- B--- L4
W19 L2
2.5
9
Joe Finelli
140379 1597 1601 W20 W3
D4
2.5
10
James E
Lehmann
105108 1537 1525 L13
W12 L3
W17 D11 2.5
11 Benito Surya
153755 1373 1399 W5
L4
L6
B--- D10 2.5
Giuseppe Del
Duca
147289 1270 1311 L15
L10
W14 H--- W17 2.5
12
W17 L15
W20 W9
W11 L3
L7
3.0
W19 3.0
L5
13 Mike Pejovic
106982 1710 1707 W10 W15 L1
U--- U--- 2.0
14 Larry Popa
129950 1569 1508 D17 L19
L12
B--- D16 2.0
15 Justin Swaine
154383 1502 1518 W12 L13
W5
L2
16 Mark Cutler
150478 1444 1445 L1
H--- W18 D14 2.0
17 Rf Puschke
108329 1536 1494 D14 L5
18 Ed Heijm
147288 1295 1285 L6
H--- L17
L16
W20 1.5
19 Eugene Hua
154197 1294 1323 D4
W14 L2
L8
L6
1.5
20 Richard Marais
154280 1180 1164 L9
L7
L18
1.0
L2
W18 L10
B--- L5
U--- 2.0
L12
1.5
The club schedule saw 8 CFC rated tournaments this year. The first 6 tournaments,
attendance ranged between 13 and 15 players; then the last two were 17 and 20 players
respectively. Not earth shattering growth by any measure, but we do have a new table
coming for 2013! The club will be open on Dec 18th for casual chess, then closed 2 weeks
for Christmas.
The junior club has been attracting 10 kids. Rene Preotu and Paul Roschman are doing a
wonderful job with the kids, and would love to see more. Session 1 concludes on
December 19th, and session 2 starts up January 9th.
PEEL
Mississauga Chess Club News
Website: www.mississaugachessclub.ca
Location: U of T – Mississauga Campus (see website for map)
Toronto Chess News
52
Junior club: Thursdays, 6:45 – 8pm, Spiegel Hall
Adult club: Thursdays, 8-11pm, Faculty Lounge, Room 3141
(by TCN Liaison for Mississauga CC, Bob Gillanders)
The club always finishes up the year with the annual general meeting, set for December 13, 2012. For the kids, it means T shirts, hurrah! For the adults, a break from chess per se, replaced with a lively debate about new years’ schedule, amongst other issues. I will have a complete report on our meeting in the next issue of TCN.
Important note: The date of the Mississauga YCC Qualifier has been changed, pushed back one week to accommodate our friends at CMA.
_____________________________________
Mississauga CYCC Qualifier 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Location: University of Toronto (Mississauga Campus)
3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga
Faculty Lounge, 3rd floor
Visit our website for a site map: www.mississaugachessclub.ca
Entry fee: $25, family discount ($10 each for siblings)
5 round Swiss pairings, Time control: 25 minutes each.
Sections: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18, (Boys & Girls)
(Sections will be combined where numbers warrant.)
Medals will be awarded for top 3 finishers in each section.
This is a qualifying tournament for the Canadian Youth Chess Championships 2013.
Players achieving a score of 2.5 or better will qualify (subject to approval of the CFC
Youth coordinator) to participate in the CYCC in Ottawa in July 2013.
Players are encouraged to register in advance at the Mississauga Junior Chess Club any
Thursday evening or by email to [email protected] by January 17, 2013. Space is
limited, so register early. Late entry fee is $5.
Players check in between 12-12:30pm to confirm registration and pay entry fees.
Rounds start: 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, sharp.
Presentation of medals: 6:15-6:30pm
Tournament Director: Bob Gillanders
CFC Quick rated, Mississauga Junior Club rated.
Players are required to maintain a scoresheet.
Refreshments provided.
______________________________________
We will be closed for 3 weeks and open again on January 10th, 2013.
YORK
Aurora Chess Club News
Meetings: Mondays in the Cafeteria of Aurora High School, from 6pm until 10:30pm!
Toronto Chess News
53
Website: www.aurorachessclub.ca
For info: contact founder, Graeme Knight : [email protected]
(by TCN Liaison for Aurora CC, Graeme Knight)
Oh Wow! This is pretty awesome! Aurora Chess Club is well and truly alive! Not
only that, but we have paid up members that keep coming back. To be fair it is silly
season and our last rapid ‘only’ had 22 players but we have an arena for competitive
chess and everyone is getting to know everyone else. Our computer (and operator) is
behaving themselves and we have started to get an efficient flow of running the
competitions. I believe that our members are starting to have a good time! Some of the
quieter members are becoming quite chatty and all seem to walk around on club night
with a smile on their face. It’s wonderful to have a club where everyone is welcome
regardless of who you are and where you come from – and now that we are evaluating
each of our strengths and weaknesses and getting to know everyone the competition is
becoming more meaningful. It was fantastic to hear groans of delight as players who
previously met were repaired for revenge a week later.
Next week we’re taking a break from our Rapids - Egis [ Zeromskis ] has been
forcefully volunteered into holding a Christmas simul for all our members. The secret
we’ve not mentioned to him is that the local TV station is coming in to do a feature on
the club. Hopefully he’ll take a starring role and we’ll get more members.
The Christmas break will be upon us and on the back of the Hart House Holiday
Open we’ll start our five-week swiss. There appears to be great interest in both events
from our members, so we’ll do what we can to keep this new-found chess psych alive in
Aurora. We’ll be pushing hard for participation in events this coming year.
Of course this will hopefully include our own weekend tournament. We’re
seeking a location now, and talking to several organizations that have a good space, as
well as local sponsors. If we can successful hold one CFC rated event this year then we’ll
certainly be making it a regular thing! Hopefully Aurora will be put on the chess-map of
the GTA and we’ll get players from far and wide visiting us. It’s nice to dream.
Here are a couple of pics from our rapid event, taken by Egis (which were posted
on the CMA’s Chesstalk):
Dec. 3 Rapid – Group 1
Toronto Chess News
54
Dec. 3 Rapid - Group 2
DURHAM
Ajax Chess Club News
-
meet every 1st, 3rd and 5th Fridays of the month
7:00-8:30 pm for juniors and adults play up to 11:00 pm.
location: 115 Ritchie Ave, Ajax
currently, tournaments are not CFC-rated: no club members have CFC
membership
For further information, contact David Ho at [email protected]
( from TCN Liaison for Ajax CC, David Ho)
We are having our final club meeting for the year Dec 21. It will be a pot luck social.
SOUTH-WESTERN ONTARIO
Chess Club News
Hamilton City Chess Club News
Meetings: Friday Nights
Website: http://chesshamilton.mygamesonline.org/news.php
Location: Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School
1715 Main Street East (near Parkdale)
Hamilton, Ontario
(by TCN Liaison for Hamilton CC, Bob Gillanders)
The first round of the Holiday Series 2012 tournament got underway November
30th despite the weather. The roads in and around Hamilton/Burlington region that Friday
were hazardous, black ice and roads better described as parking lots. I was meeting up
Toronto Chess News
55
with 3 friends for dinner and chess. Only 2 of us made it to Swiss Chalet (after an hour on
the roads in Burlington), and none of us dared attempt the Skyway bridge into Hamilton.
But undaunted, fearless leader, club president Garvin Nunes did get there to start the
tournament with the one dozen hearty souls that did make it. The club will be closed for
Dec 21 and Dec 28 for Christmas. The tournament will wrap up with rounds 4 and 5 on
Jan 4 and 11, 2013.
We will be booking the room soon for the Hamilton Winter Open 2013. It will be at Sir
Winston Churchill Secondary School. Check our website for dates to be announced.
Kitchener-Waterloo Chess Club News
Meetings: Tuesdays – regular meeting
Sunday afternoons – Youth Club
Location: Kitchener City Hall ( located in the heart of downtown Kitchener at 200 King
Street West ), the 'Conestoga Room' behind the rotunda on the main floor, and in the
'Learning Room' on the 2nd Floor.
Website: www.kwchessclub.com/
( by TCN Liaison for K-W CC, Kai Gauer )
[ Ed. We are pleased to welcome the first news report of the Kitchener-Waterloo CC,
written by Kai Gauer – he made a mad scramble to submit something for this Issue, and
got it in a day BEFORE the deadline! He sets out for us all activities over the last while,
to bring us up to speed on the K-W CC. ]
K-W CC is about to wrap up its annual club championship tonight [ Dec. 11 ]. It's a 5th
round of a 5-rounder (instead of the usual 6). The club was also using a 50 min/player +
30 seconds/move, Bronstein control from move 1 for it. On one of the top boards (not
sure of the colours in the 5th), it was Mahmud Hassain 1-0 Tom McClelland, and at one
point, they were close to the lead. Also finished tonight was Williamson vs young Ethan
Zhang, as well as Mate Milincivic vs Masoud Jizan, and Kai Gauer (at 1.5) lost vs Orjan
Hammarstrom (he finishes with 3). In the end, Scott Kuehl, Dan Raats and Mahmud
Hassain were the 3 winners with 4/5 in the Kitchener club championship.
The annual meeting wasn't held until October. The club had an “ active ” event that can
be looked up from October-November [ Quick Chess CFC rated ]. There was also a blitz
night after 1 of the exec meetings as well ( not sure who won that one – may have been
Tyrone Small ). Brian Clarke and Ralph Deline were also doing weekend pairings when
Ed wasn't around, but it is still to be seen whether [ Chris ] Mallon announces a possible
Ontario Closed at Kitchener between Boxing Day through New Year's Eve at 1
game/day. It is not yet clear whether any side events are planned too, so Hart House
Winter Open seems like the next one to get on before the traditional Guelph and
Toronto Chess News
56
Kitchener winter events nearing in Feb. 2013. In terms of weekend tournaments, K-WCC
is not sure what hamissaugga [ the amalgam of the Mississauga CC and the Hamilton
City CC ] had been doing for winter, nor re any London or Windsor weekend events.
Kai Gauer’s games lately have been finishing early, but he sometimes uses his iPhone on
silent to take a nice resolution photo of a completed or half-completed game sheet
scoresheet. The directors of the club do not seem to mind, and it makes for nice publicity
when the club is able to group some tournament pgn together. Kai sometimes supplies
them to http://www.chessgames.com and writes some of the bios as a biography
administrator there.
Lately this past month or so, a "tool" had been developed there to display by
tournaments: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/tournaments and http://www.chessgames.
com/perl/newtournaments are 2 such resources of pages that the club uses.
A person there that has an account can eventually go along and make a collection of
games by a tournament grouping or tactic (or whatever else - all Kai’s collection file
space there is currently full). An admin can go by later (once they find all the Guelph
2008 summer ProAm games, for instance) and an admin can now make a link to group
them together on there own page - in those new tournaments collections pages that I
referred to earlier. One can also provide player summaries and crosstable links in there,
and refer to external pages such as the SWOCL or GTCL or OCA pages when
appropriate.
So that might give them something to snoop through, and there are "correction slip
pages" linked to the games, players and tournament pages, when a pgn error there had
been spotted. Takes a while, since some of the other admin’s there are in a backlog - but
they would see it.
Our January weekly event is likely an “active”, and then there would be the Kitchener
Winter that would come up soon afterwards. K-W CC hopes to include game in its
reports in future. There are a couple 1000x times of photos on Kai’s computer now. In
Feb./13, Kai may burn for TCN a disc of scoresheets that haven't yet been put in from the
past 12 months or so (probably about 500-1000 photos now of chess related stuff - some
are some blurry Hamilton games from last year and someone would also need to ask their
players or their organizers whether they'd let us publish any of those.). Kitchener and
Guelph organizers are both okay with reproducing (weekend event) games. Permission
has not yet been sought for Kitchener weeknight event games.
K-W CC used to start at 7:30. Now the evening starts with a lecture at 7pm, with games
still starting at 7:30 pm. Ralph Deline can be contacted for a list of lecturers. Often,
they're just showing their favorite game, or something like a catalogue of fortress types of
positions.
Here is the cross-table from our club Fall Tournament:
Toronto Chess News
57
2012 KWCC Fall Regular
Date
Director
Region
Type
2012-10-23
Ed G. Thompson
ON
R
#
Player
Old
Perf
New
High Results
Total
1
Hassain, Mahmud
1986
2205
2040
2120 +16 +4 +9 +3 -0
4.0
2
McClelland, Tom
1754
1869
1775
2000 =0 =15 +16 +23 +5
4.0
3
Forsyth, Garrett
1925
1943
1948
1948 =11 +7 +10 -1 +9
3.5
4
Piccinin, Mario
1866
1852
1895
1895 +26 -1 +20 =0 +10
3.5
5
Verny, Thomas R.
1784
1898
1822
1822 =0 +11 +14 =9 -2
3.0
6
Hammarstrom, Orjan 1620
1786
1642
1723 -14 +26 =0 =0 +25
3.0
7
Milinkovic, Mate
1665
1739
1676
1751 =0 -3 =12 +15 +13
3.0
8
Li, Hongyi
1903
2135
1922
1986 +20 =0 -0 +19 -0
2.5
9
Kiss, Istvan
1774
1748
1782
2083 +24 +14 -1 =5 -3
2.5
10 Gareau, Don
1809
1712
1791
1838 =15 +13 -3 +16 -4
2.5
11 Knechtel, Tim
1683
1554
1667
2087 =3 -5 -23 +24 +20
2.5
12 Thompson, Ed G.
1518
1742
1536
1545 -0 =0 =7 -0 +21
2.0
13 Clarke, Brian
1649
1685
1653
1829 =0 -10 =0 +14 -7
2.0
14 Raats, Dan
1982
1609
1911
2135 +6 -9 -5 -13 +22
2.0
15 Ensor, Tyler
1464
1592
1483
1597 =10 =2 -18 -7 +26
2.0
16 Jizan, Masoud
1656
1588
1642
1819
2.0
17 Gauer, Kai
1203
1462
1213
1357 =0 =0 -0 -0 +24
2.0
18 Elez, Matija
1947
1864
1949
1949 -0 -0 +15 =0 -0
1.5
19 Phillips, Shawn
1842
1661
1831
1933 =0 -0 +21 -8 -0
1.5
20 Forsyth, Barry
1627
1429
1602
1681 -8 +24 -4 =0 -11
1.5
21 Maaser, Andy
1418
1350
1405
1471 =0 -16 -19 +26 -12
1.5
22 Dragasanu, George
1619
1582
1616
1815 =0 =0 -0 -0 -14
1.0
Toronto Chess News
-1
+21 -2 -10 +23
58
23 King, Brian
1291
1564
1373
10
-0 -0 +11 -2 -16
24 Zheng, Ethan
1062
1254
1092
1092 -9 -20 +26 -11 -17
1.0
25 Deline, Ralph
1793
1220
1770
2089 =0 =0 -0 -0 -6
1.0
26 Williamson, James
1184
1086
1148
1637 -4 -6 -24 -21 -15
0.0
TCN Readers’ Section
Malmsten on Chess
( by part-time columnist, Erik Malmsten )
Chess Club Websites
It is important for clubs to have a website to both attract new members and
maintain current ones. But a great website requires skills in several areas: programming,
design, writing, photography, organizing/editing, and marketing in addition to being a
chess arbiter and master analyser. One person can’t excel at everything, so club websites
are often deficient in one of these areas. Also it’s one big project to put up a site, but it
requires a dedicated volunteer(s) to maintain it, post updates. If they quit, the site often
goes down. Who else knows the password? Who owns the website name and pays for it
to be renewed? Just like printed newsletters of yore, it can be difficult to get contributions
from members.
The usual layout is to have a banner across the top with a logo or image on the top
left side; followed by a row of links to secondary pages; news and main content is in a
centre column; links in side column(s). Important information such as the club address
and hours should be visible with no need for scrolling down. There should be no more
than seven secondary pages as too many choices are overwhelming. Text/titles should
only be in a couple of colours, only links underlined, and lots of white space is better than
visual noise.
Every page should have a picture or chart, even if it’s just a chess piece or
diagram (jpeg). Diagrammed positions are eye-catching for chessplayers; PGN game
Toronto Chess News
1.0
59
viewers will keep players on the page. Photos of the club give a human element, the
social interaction missing from online play. Text is easier to read in columns (10 to 18
words) than stretching across a wide screen. Some seniors would find a large font easier
to read.
A website will have the club regulars coming to see the pairings and tournament
results, but also newcomers to the area, internet players, retired players, and parents
whose kids are developing an interest in chess. Maybe media, community groups, and
schools, too. If the club is new, the main page focus should be on attracting new
members, regulars can click to a secondary page.
Googling for chess in your area should bring up your club based on the info on
your main page and description meta tag in the hidden head code. Search engines respond
to keywords in the text on the main page like chess, club, cfc, rated, tournament,
competition, casual, slow, speed, blitz, master, junior, children, kid, youth, adult, senior,
women, lesson, class, course, teacher, school, game, free, bughouse, etc.
It’s valuable to have a tracking service like Google Analytics. The data reveals which
pages are looked at more often, what links and keywords people used to find the site, how
much visitors went up after a newspaper listing or public simul, and a comparison of the
number of visitors year to year.
Before making one's one club website it's a good idea to look at other successful
chess club websites.
Toronto Chess News
60
From Alexa.com exeterchessclub.org.uk is one of the top ranked club sites, 3month ranking of 1,060,209 (lower number has more visitors) with 116 other sites linking
to it. The banner, at the top of all pages, states “A place to enjoy and learn about chess.”
A brief intro/ history info is in a wide centre column, with links along the two side
columns. On the right side are the times of the club and a link to the calendar. Scrolling
down the centre offers a link to sponsors and beginning of chess articles with diagrams.
The left column has links to results (with games) and breaking up articles such as a junior
page and a list of the most popular articles. They have a page listing the books in their
library and have spread chess quotes around. It is a rich site with lots of results and
learning material, over 100 lessons.
This year's ECF website of the year is www.stalbanschessclub.org.uk. Alexa
ranks low 7,947,240 with 14 links. Their welcoming text in the left side contains a
slideshow of photos and the right column has club news links. The pull-down links
include things like history, club etiquette, and how to set a digital clock. Only members
can access the page with the members' database.
The ECF website of 2011 went to www.witneychess.co.uk, a small club. They
have eight links along the top and six pull-down links on the left side, and plenty of news
items in the main column. They have links to tournament rules and have reproduced
newspaper coverage.
The top American club site is saintlouischessclub.org. Alexa.com ranks
1,893,013, USA 341,780, with 265 links to it. They have a mission statement to the left,
sponsor links to the right. Below are a photo slide-show and four photos with links:
Classroom (teaching in over 70 schools), Upcoming Events, Support the Club, and
Friends of the Club (They have videos of over 20 GM lectures). The emphasis is on
teaching over tournaments but the club ladder has 140 players!
Alexa ranked New Jersey club www.kenilworthchessclub.org 2,049,661, USA
538,617, with 211 links. The page is in a box with a limited width, an indication of the
age of the layout, and ugly, too large links in the banner. The wider centre column
contains the history, hours and link to a calendar. The left column links to blogs, the right
column has links to blogs, articles and Internet sites (many dead), an amazing list of links
to sites on openings. The bottom banner has photos of the club. As this site's blogs started
way back in 2006 and have won ACJ awards in 2008 and 2010 it has developed many
links and a following far larger than its 40 members.
Alexa ranks www.chessclub.org 3,766,228 with 90 links. The Mechanics Institute
CC in San Francisco is the oldest continuous club in North America. The top banner has
confusing links, partly to the library. The centre image is a 3 x 3 chessboard with links in
most of the squares, the address in one. The left column has six links including to their
weekly newsletter, now past issue 600! The right column has links to download club
games by year. They have 70 players in their one-section Tuesday night tournament and
weekly lectures which I think should be more prominent.
Alexa ranks akronchessclub.com 4,655,352 with 25 links. They have an animated
banner along the top which changes chess pieces at the ends, with six dropping links.
Study Aides includes a listing of their library holdings. Narrow width with two columns,
upcoming events listed on the right side. At the bottom are four boxes with links.
Alexa ranks New York's www.marshallchessclub.org 5,239,551 with106 links.
This is a very clean site, no clutter. The calendar has details of an event pop-up when you
Toronto Chess News
61
click on it. There are tournaments for over 2100 down to under 1400. Text links on the
left side, a simple three paragraph introduction and a wonderful video on the right.
Membership is $325 a year.
Alexa ranks metrowestchess.org, largest chess club in New England, 7,153,800,
with 67 links to it. This page has nine small links along the top, and five columns of
small-sized text. Has a list of over 100 active members. Lectures before their tournament
game (54 players in four sections) and offer Ask the Expert analysis. They have a page of
the games from a Tal simul in 1988.
I came across the nice, simple site www.daytonchessclub.com which only has five
links across the top including “Who Beat Who.” I haven’t looked at all the chess clubs
but well-organized are http://centralflchess.org, http://charlestonchess.org, www.rccc.us,
www.stpetersburgchessclub.com, http://pdxchess.org, and www.evanstonchess.org.
How do Canadian clubs measure up? Below is my list of best (but not perfect)
club sites.
Alexa ranks www.annexchessclub.com 3-month average 573,263, Canada 25,696,
with 52 links to it. That's ranked twice as high as the above UK and USA clubs! Probably
Toronto Chess News
62
because they have so much tournament activity, running the Toronto Junior and Women's
and the Battle of Toronto. The pleasant-looking site looks simple with only six links, but
it is very full of details, photos and results. It could use with a menu (anchors) for the
secondary pages; however, there is a search box and tags. Somebody new to the club will
have to bypass the news to find basic information and the details of the excellent, but
small, kids' programme. Great having lecture notes, but recently haven’t been showing
many club games.
Alexa ranks www.gpchessclub.com 9,023,728 with four links to it. This small
Alberta club is free for CFC members and meets in a public library. They link to
chessbase news, videos and blogs. What I really love is seeing all previous tournament
games in a game viewer.
Alexa ranks www.mississaugachessclub.ca 16,233,426 with five links to it. Along
the top and left side are eight links. I like the link to a photo of a trophy with a list of
champions that goes back to 1972. They link to club tournament crosstables going back
12 years. There’s an amazing 225 kids on their rating list, but photos are a bit buried.
Grand Prix concept is not explained and years given are confusing, perhaps no longer
running. The flush left layout is difficult on a large screen, better to have a flush left
centre column.
This new club has a professional, business-looking website
www.aurorachessclub.ca, “Promoting chess in our community...” Too many links, 11,
along the top while recent posts and post of interest along the left side. They could use
black instead of gray text and a bright colour for secondary titles as looks bland.
Fantastic annotated!! games are in a game viewer. Wonderful book reviews. I wonder
who the writer is? Club Executive?
www.langleychess.com is laid out in a narrow box with six links, including
bylaws. “Links” is a misnomer as it only goes to the puzzle of the day, which could be on
the main page. It is an easy to read site with a couple of photos.
scc.saskchess.com has 15 links to it. The site has eight links in the top left corner and the
easy-to-read content stretches to fill the screen. There’s casual chess in a mall and coffee
shop. There is a discussion forum and links to old games, old videos and old newsletters.
It’s unfortunate that it’s not more active.
www.kwchess.com has animation changing chesspieces to KW chess. Too many
links, 11, in the left column, and a weather report in the right. The centre column gives
basic info and could use a photo. It is easy to see the whole year’s CFC-rated
tournaments and club schedule. Pages can be slow to load and the Game Player page was
never implemented.
www.londonchessclub.ca, 10 links to it, banner has funny pieces and states “chess
is for everyone. It’s your move!” They have seven links along the top, then links to three
streams: about the club, learning and their game database (nothing recent). Address and
schedule are highlighted in the left column. They sell products. The old pictures could be
put in a slide show and there are no tournament results. Positive comments by visitors are
nice.
www.brantchess.ca has their logo below their banner. Six links along the top, four
in the left column. The right column show links to major chess websites by using
colourful icons. Only a couple of games, which are hard to view, and no tournament
Toronto Chess News
63
results. The couple of great photos could be elevated to the main page. As it was
established in 1920, would be nice to see some history.
www.victoriachess.com divides into two pages, one for a very interesting
clickable rating list of 78 active players, 111 inactive. The chess club page I find difficult
to read, difficult to focus. The club logo is not on most pages and there are games and
rules somewhere. There are nice photos on the Victoria Junior Chess site and on the Club
History page.
A new concern in website design is how does it look on a phone and how fast
does it load? I think this makes the top left side the most important area. The
www.annexchessclub.com first appears as a colour bar. Taking an online test,
www.aurorachessclub.ca and www.kwchess.com load the slowest, taking 22 sec.
If your club has a webmaster you should thank them for their excellent effort and think of
ways you can contribute so that your club, and perhaps your results and games, can
remain part of the Internet chess universe.
Ken’s Chess Trivia
(questions/presentations researched by columnist Ken Kurkowski,
Scarborough CC Treasurer, and TCN Liaison for SCC)
Last Issue’s Chess Trivia was the Question:
Who once wrote “The nasty part of me thinks this is why Benko likes the [Benko] gambit
– ten moves for a pawn!” ?
The Answer is:
GM Bent Larsen – Wikipedia - (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess
Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of
play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's
dominance of chess.[1] He is considered to be the strongest chess player born in Denmark
and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
Larsen was a six time Danish Champion and a candidate for the World Chess
Championship on four occasions, reaching the semi final three times.
Toronto Chess News
64
TCN Bragging Rights: Though no one got the right answer ( Ed. - congratulations Ken,
on stumping the TCN Readers’ Team on your first outing! ),TCN is willing to give
“honourable mention” to CFC President, Michael von Keitz, who wondered if it might be
USA GM Walter Browne, a well-known expert in the Benko Gambit. Though that is not
the right answer, Michael is correct about Walter Browne’s expertise in this opening, so it
was a good try. Thanks for playing Michael.
Today’s Trivia Question is:
What former participant in the Canadian Closed has the distinction of having defeated
Bobby Fischer in a serious game?
You can use any resource available to answer the question ! Just find it fast and send it in
as fast as you can, by e-mail, to Ken: [email protected]
The first correct e-mail received wins, and gets bragging rights. Also, we will publish the
honoured winner’s name in the next newsletter, along with a few details they provide as
to their chess experience ( if they wish ), along with the researched answer.
Thanks for playing !!
Chess History is fun !!
Also write Ken if you have any chess trivia questions or presentations you’d like him to
consider for his column. We will give credit to the author if we use your suggestion.
TCN Readers Have Questions
This column invites readers to submit to TCN any type of chess question they wish (e.g.
What does FIDE stand for?), and TCN will try to find the answer.
TCN’s “Readers’ Opinion” Column
Got a chess issue that has been bothering you for a while? Got a favourite chess
topic that you’ve always wanted to share with other chess players? Read something in
TCN that you profoundly agreed with, or maybe (surely not !) disagreed with?
We are very open to publishing freelance articles and comments from our readers.
Drop us a line, and we’ll read it over, and let you know if we’d like to use it.
Also, if you would like us to cover some topic, send us your idea, and we’ll see if
we can write something up on it.
Toronto Chess News
65
Tournament Notices
Hart House Winter Open
January 4th, 5th, 6th (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Great Hall, Main Floor, Hart House, University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle
Style:
5 round Swiss in 4 sections: Open & U2200 (FIDE Rated),
U1900 & U1600
6pm Friday, 10am & 4pm Saturday & Sunday
Rounds:
120 mins + 30 sec increment for Open & U2200 Sections; 30
Time Control:
moves in 90 minutes, with 1 hour added after move 30 for
U1900 & U1600 Sections
In advance by January 2nd by cheque or email.
Registration:
Registrants after January 2nd are not guaranteed to be paired
Round 1.
In advance (arrival by January 2nd) by mail to:
Hart House Chess Club – 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto,
ON M5S 3H3
Make cheque payable to Hart House Chess Club. No postdated
cheques please.
Email registration to [email protected] (by January 2nd –
otherwise considered late). Email registrants must arrive onsite
before 5:30pm
January 4th to pay or will be charged onsite fee.
Registrants must be current CFC members or bring payment
Membership:
prior to playing.
$70 in advance, $90 cash only on site. Extra $20 to play up
Entry Fees:
each section.
Free for players new to CFC rated tournaments, eligible for
prizes in Open Section only.
$10 less for juniors (born after January 4th, 1995), seniors
Discounts:
(60+), women, FM’s and University of Toronto students (show
ID card). One discount per player.
Free for IMs by December 28th, $60 afterwards, $80 on-site.
Maximum of 2 in rounds 1-4 if requested in advance.
Byes:
10 minute walk Southeast from St. George subway station or 5
Hart House:
minute walk
Southwest from Museum subway station.
PRIZES: $5,000
(Based on 110 players)
1st place in Open Section - $800 minimum Guaranteed!
Prize distribution
1
2
Open
$1000
$700
U2300
$250
U2200
$300
$250
U1900
$300
$250
Toronto Chess News
U1600
$300
$250
Team
$400
66
3
$400
$200
$200
$200
Please bring chess sets and clocks.
For parking and access information, please visit our
website.
http://hhchess.sa.utoronto.ca/hhopen
Website:
Alex Ferreira, Hart House Chess Club
Organizer:
Bryan Lamb
Arbiter:
Other Info:
GTCL League Cup
Four-on-four matches for Toronto chess teams.
Format: Round Robin tournament for 4-player teams, team board decided by the team
captain.
Dates: Tuesdays, starting from January 8, 2013 - as long as necessary.
Location: all matches at Willowdale Chess Club, 4169 Bathurst, Toronto.
Arbiter: Fred Kormendi
Organizer: Vladimir Birarov
Time Control: game in 60 minutes, with 30-second increment from move 1.
Registration: By email to [email protected]; teams of 4 players and unlimited
number of reserves, should be registered by December 31, 2012.
Entry Fee: FREE
Prizes: trophies for winning team (to be provided by GTCL)
CFC-Rated: To be rated with the CFC – CFC Membership Required (GTCL to cover
rating fees).
2013 Toronto Closed Championship – Advance Notice
April 15 to June 10, 2013
GTCL Event: The Toronto Closed is sanctioned by the Greater Toronto Chess League,
which also pays rating fees and provides the trophy
Championship Format: an 8-player round robin comprised of the highest rated Toronto
players who apply - but the defending Toronto Champion and the 2012 Reserve winner
qualify automatically
Reserve Section: eight additional players – and the winner qualifies for next year’s
Championship
Time Control: game in 90 minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one
CFC & FIDE-rated: Championship section rated by the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC)
and the World Chess Federation (FIDE)
Chief Arbiter: Alex Ferreira
Prizes (based on 16 players):
o First Place – $400 and trophy
o Second Place – $200
Toronto Chess News
67
o Reserve 1st – $180 and qualify for next year
o Reserve 2nd – $100
Entry Deadline: Entries
must be received online or at
Annex Chess Club by April 1 @
7:00 pm Location
Annex Chess Club @
918 Bathurst
just north of Bloor (near
Bathurst subway)
•first set of lights north of
Bloor
•one block from Bathurst
subway
Game Time
Monday nights @ 7:30 pm
Entry Fee
seven rounds, April 15 to June 10
$90 ($10 discount for ACC members) up-todate CFC membership is required
Corrigenda
1. In our last Issue # 1-7 of Dec. 1, 2012, we wrote on pg. 14, in the article on the
WWCC:
“Russian GM Natalia Pogonina points out in a tweet that it's the first WWCC since 2004
(Stefanova (!) – Kovalevskaya [ became Canadian and just recently deceased ]) with no
Chinese players in the final.”
We were in error about Kovalevskaya. She was a player in this year’s WWCC who got
eliminated in Rd. 1 by Galliamova. We got her confused with Elena Akhmilovskaya
Donaldson, who was American, not Canadian, we just found out, and who recently did
die. She was well-known, though, in Vancouver chess circles, because she lived in
Seattle and played in Canada sometimes. In 1986, she lost a women's world
championship match with another Soviet player, Champion Maya Chiburdanidze. Then
there was a dramatic elopement with US team captain John Donaldson at the 1988
Thessaloniki Olympiad. She went on to win three United States women’s championships,
in 1990, 1993 (a shared title with Irina Levitina) and 1994. She later divorced Donaldson,
and married Georgi Orlov. We apologize for the error.
2. Issue # 1-7 – WYCC – Harmony Zhu background – we stated:
“Her participation at WYCC this year is as a result of last year’s [ 2011 ] bronze medal,
since she did not play in the 2012 CYCC.”
The CFC Handbook sets out that if a junior does not play in the CYCC, and wants to play
on the Canadian Team that year at the WYCC, they must be in the top three in their age
group, and have an “exceptional circumstance” for not playing. Our presentation of the
situation, which was speculative, and had been presented by one of the BC chess players,
was incorrect. The proper facts were provided by the CFC President, Michael von Keitz,
who wrote us:
Toronto Chess News
68
“Harmony Zhu's participation in this year's WYCC had nothing to do with her CYCC
bronze in 2011. She had a valid conflict with the 2012 CYCC - a major piano
competition of similar stature to the CYCC (she's gifted in both chess and music) - and,
as top 3 in her age group, the executive granted her application for an exemption.”
_____________________________________________________________________
NOTES:
A - Contact Bob Armstrong, editor. , at Canadian Chess Consulting Service
([email protected]) to :
1. Be added to the free e-mail list;
2. Submit content (fact, opinion, criticism, recommendations!).
B – The opinions expressed here are those of the editor, and not necessarily those of Canadian Chess
Consulting Service;
C - To review this newsletter after it has been deleted, or some of the archived newsletters, visit our own
TCN official website at: www.TorontoChessNews.com
D – Please notify us if you wish to be removed from the free subscription list..
Editor: Bob Armstrong.
Publisher: Canadian Chess Consulting Service.
Canadian
Chess
Consulting
Service
Coordinator: Bob Armstrong
[email protected]
Bob’s LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top
CCCS Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Chess-Consulting-Service/164065437044857
Toronto Chess News

Issue # 1-8, December 15, 2012 - The Chess Federation of Canada

Transcription

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