Canadian Open

Half way point of Canadian Open.  I must admit I wasn't paying attention until I saw the website last night.  I followed the Wang - Hebert game live.  It went into a Q+6p vs Q +7p ending.  I was hoping Richard would be able to hold the draw, and at times I thought he might, but in the end the Hebert's experience won the day.  Other Alberta players I noticed playing are Rick Pedersen, Brad Willis, R. V. Kalaydina and Sardul Purewel in  the open section and Chris White and Adie Todd in the under 2000 section.  There might be others I missed.  I did not notice any Saskatchewan players.

I expect Richard Wang to end up as the top Albertan.  He seems to improve in dramatic spurts and he is due for another jump.   He could even get a norm depending on good play and lucky pairings.  A draw vs Irina Krush in round 2 is his highlight so far.

As far as highlights go for Alberta, the big one so far is the round 1 upset Brad Willis (2094) vs GM Bojkov (2544) (1-0).  Brad is a strong player who has only recently began playing chess seriously again after retiring.  Not many can say they beat a GM in a regular game.  Kevin Spragett even analysed the game on his blog here.

I also see Justin Gulati from PEI is playing and had an interesting game vs GM Arencibia in round 2.  I don't know what happened to him in round 3 though - it looks like he has a forfeit.