Canadian Open - Day 4

Once again the day started out with a shopping excursion through the City Center Mall. The kids had to find a specific Playstation and Wii game but despite endless searching we were unable to find them. They were able to find something else to spend Daddy's money on. I stopped by the tournament room to check out the Bughouse event but was surprised by the low turnout. Some people were scared away but the $20 entry fee. I had no intention to play as I find this chess variant rather confusing. I believe Eric Hansen and Dale Hasseal won the event. Here is a pic of them warming up before the event.

Round 4

The first battle of GM's took place with Shirov vs Zhao (draw)


I thought Eric Hansen had a good position against GM Mikhalevski but he ended up losing.


I was paired up against a WIM, Alisa Melekhina (2315) in this round. I think I played my best game of the tournament up until I stopped calculating tactics near the end. I tried to book up on her but surprisingly I could find few games. She played 1...b6 so my prep was useless and so I tried to play basic opening moves, control the center, develop pieces, etc. I think I had the better position into the middle game. We reached a position with a closed center and she was trying to break through on the Queenside. I thought I could temporarily sac my 'a' pawn and give her doubled 'a' pawns and then later on win back at least one of her pawns. If I could grab the second I thought I would have winning chances. At this point we were getting close to the time control and I was relying more on positional analysis rather than calculating tactics and unfortunately I missed a nice tactical shot she had available. She gave up her 'a' pawn but when I took it she won an exchange and left me in a horrible position. Soon she forced the exchange of queens and won my knight. I enjoyed the game even though I lost.

Game to follow:

4 GM's and one FM remain perfect with 4/4 followed by a bunch of players at 3.5.