Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba is the highest rated player in the International tournament, just ahead of Nigel Short by a few points. Twenty-two players took on the challenge of trying to take a point from the grandmaster.
Early in the opening phase. (notice the high rated spectator)
Nigel Short strolling around the boards.
I make my move 7...Ngf6
...thinking..
...after a few seconds...
...and he replies
7.Ned2
My game. I noted the time of every move. You can see the first moves took about 4 min for Lazaro to make it around the room. Then it was up to 15 min and as players dropped out he was coming around every minute or two.
When I finished there was one game remaining. They placed a clock with 10 minutes next to the board and the game continued. The young junior Lenard Grossman lasted the longest but he quickly lost a piece and was down to a lone king within minutes.
The Nigel Short lecture was well attended with players ranging from age 10 to 70. Like all good chess players he was a couple of minutes late. His excuse was that he had taken a half hour nap at his hotel and didn't wake up until 4 hours later. He was still a bit jet lagged having just arrived from Tanzania!?. He had found that tournament on Facebook and decided to try playing in East Africa. I think he holds the record for winning tournaments in the most countries. Maybe he's trying to make sure nobody beats his record.
Assembled crowd waiting for GM Short
Micah Hughey introducing the Star
Short was awarded his Trophy for winning last years tourney
Lecture (after 10...g6)
At the critical position (prior to 15...d5)
His lecture was about a game from the previous tournament prior to the one in Tanzania. His opponent was Loek Van Wely and the tournament was the 21st Sigeman & Co in Malmo, Sweden. I found the game in chessgames.com and tried to annotate it with what I remembered from the lecture.
I was gone on vacation for a couple of weeks so I will comment now about the Candidates tournament. It was exciting and unpredictable to say the least. Carlson was the favorite and won in the end but not without being pushed to the finish. Some people are saying that Carlson showed weaknesses in his opening preparation and his nerves under pressure that could be exploieted by Anand in the world championship but I think he is just to strong and will still win. His openings my not be as strong but his middle game and endgame more than make up for that. His domination in tournament play over the last two years demonstrate that he can handle pressure.
I must admit I was cheering for Ivanchuk throughout the tournament just because he is so unpredictable. Losing 5 games on time and then beating the two leaders in the final rounds is typical for him. Kramnik and Svidler also impressed me. Aronian had a great start but a horrible finish and must be disappointed Gelfand did better than I expected him to do.
I haven't played much over the last month and don't have much interest either but I am thinking of entering the Calgary International Reserves next month so I better start playing soon if I want to continue improving my play and rating
The March of Kings tournament is taking place this weekend
in Calgary.I was planning on playing in
it and expecting to get at least 1 FIDE rated opponent so that I would complete
the nine games needed to get an official FIDE rating.My wife and kids had Thursday and Friday off from
school, so I took the two days off work.We planned to go down to Banff and do some skiing.Then we could stop off in Calgary for two
days for some chess and shopping.Wednesday
night “we” changed our minds and decided to go to the West Edmonton mall
instead.Oh well, I guess I will just
have to wait to get my FIDE rating.
While I was in Edmonton I remembered their regular Thursday night
tournaments, so I went down to the Chess Club hoping to get a rated game
in.I paid my $5 and was paired against
Rob Gardner (2340) on board 2 for the first round of the Capablanca Classic
which continues throughout March.I
played a good game and was able to draw!Rob is now the highest rated person I ever was able to score a half
point against.If the game was FIDE
rated I would now have an official FIDE rating of 2002!!, but unfortunately they
don’t FIDE rate their weekly tournaments.I should get a boost to my CFC rating to ~1930 when the tournament is completed
and rated at the end of the month.
The Edmonton Championship final playoff games were taking
place at the same time between IM Edward Porper and IM Richard Wang.This created some excitement near my
game.First they played two rapid games
with 25 min w/ 10 sec increments.In
game 1 Richard was down a pawn in a 2 B’s vs 2 B’s endgame but refused a draw
only to lose.In game 2 Richard came
back and won with the white pieces.Then
they played blitz games with 10 min w/ ? sec increments.In the end it was …….IM Proper
I had been very optimistic about my chess recently.In addition to feeling I was playing better
OTB, my online blitz rating had broken through the 2000 barrier, my CFC rating
reached a new high of 1916, and I am on the verge of getting an official FIDE
rating that will likely be somewhere between 1925 and 2025, depending on my
next FIDE rated game.Ivan Wijetunge has
an interesting blog called “Getting to 2000”, about his struggle to achieve this
milestone as an adult player.It has
also been one of my goals since I started playing rated chess as a teenager
many, many years ago.I originally hoped
to achieve it by the year 1988, which happened to be my cfc#, but It was impossible to
do on PEI at the time when my average opponent was only 1600. The way I have been playing recently, I was beginning to think it might actually happen
this year.
Then I went into Edmonton last weekend and played in the
University Battle of Alberta.The tournament
was an unrated ten round active tournament over two days.There were teams from U of Alberta, U of Calgary,
and U of Lethbridge, but it was also open to all non-university players.The time control was game/ 25 min with 5 second
increments.I thought it would be a good
chance to get 6 games in on Saturday and I was hoping for a good result. I’ll
post some positions and and let the reader decide for themselves what my level
of play was.
Game 1 was against an unrated player. After 29...c5 I played 30. Rf5? missing that cxb5 31 Rxb4 cxb3+ 32.Kxc3 axb5 loses a pawn. I was still able to win the game,
Game 2 I was paired against 14 year old IM and future GM Richard Wang (2475). Richard gave me a chance when he didn't take my Knight before sacking his bishop with 15. Bxh5. I should have played Nd3+ and then taken on b2 but I thought my N would get trapped. Instead I played 15...f4 and forced 16.Bxc5 and after that Richard continued his attack and won as expected.
Game 3 was against unrated Login McLeod who played 16.Nxg4? I replied 17.Ndf3? which loses. 17.Ndf5! wins because it doesn't block the Q from getting to h5 and after Nxf2 creating threats for white. I don't blame myself too much for this move though because it is not that easy to see.
Game 4 was against David Yao. I played 13...e4! (diagram) and after 14.fxg6 I played 14...hxg6? instead of 14...exf3! I was still able to win the game.
Game 5 was against Armine Arzumanyan (1600). I had the game under control when she played 30...Rxc1. I should have played 31.Qxc1 and won easily but instead I played 31.Rxc1? which loses to 31...Re2! 32.Qb4 Rxg2+ 33.Kxg2 Qxd5.
Game 6 was against an unrated player ? Zhang. After he played 10...Nxe4 I played 11.Bxa8? instead of 11.fxe4! The game was full of blunder on both sides. I made the last blunder when I lost a piece with 10 sec left on my clock but won when he misshit his clock with 2 seconds left and his time ran out.
After game 6 I drove back to Lloyd. I had told the TD that I wouldn't play rounds 7-10 before the tournament started. I probably played at a 1500 ??
Round 1
I took a bye in round 1 so that I wouldn't have to get up early to make the 2.5 hr drive into Edmonton or spend Friday night in a hotel. 0.5/1
Round 2
One of the advantages of taking a half point bye in round 1 should be that a player like me in the middle won't have to play an IM or beginner in the first round and in round 2 should be paired with lowest rated winner or highest rated loser from round 1 - either way it should be someone close to my rating. But in this tournament FM Vladimir Pechenin (2439) also took a bye in round 1, so I was paired with him in round 2. He played the French Defense and I played a very good game. I had the better position until move 27 when I missed a tactic. Even after that Vlad didn't play completely accurately and showed me after the game where I had a winning move on move 30 (see position below and find White's winning move!). I missed it and played an inferior move that left me behind. After that Vlad converted his advantage and I resigned after the 40th move. We were the last game to finish and were both down to under 2 min on the clock. 0.5/2
After 29...Ng5. White to play - what is the correct move?
Round 3
Paired against Carlita Romero, an unrated player from 10 hrs north of Edmonton. I played the French Defense !? and was able to get a big advantage in the opening and won quite easily in about an hour. After the game I started calling hotels looking for a room but was having little success. It seems there was a concert, a hockey game and a wine festival in Edmonton this holiday weekend. I considered driving home and returning in the morning but eventually found a hotel in Nisku (a half hour away). 1.5/3
Round 4
My stay in the trucker hotel was interesting, with the the wafting scent of mary-jane through the ventilation, the ringing of the VLT's and blackjack tables and the "peelerz" all under the same roof. I got to the chess club 15 min before the start of the round and was sitting at the board at 10 AM and made my first move 1. e4. Then I waited for an hour for my opponent (an unrated player) who never showed up. It was bad enough to be paired twice in a row against an unrated player but then for the player to not show up made it worse. I was hoping to have at least 3 good games against FIDE rated players this tournament, but now that is impossible. 2.5/4
Round 5
In my final round I was hoping to be paired against another one of the players sitting at 2.5, which would probably be a 2100 player, but since there were 7 players with 2.5 and I was the lowest rated, I got paired down to play against Bill Bentley. He played the French so that makes it a clean sweep for the opening in my games at this tournament. I didn't play the opening very well and Bill decided to close the center with c4. After that I was able to create something on the kingside but my pieces always seemed to be in each others way. I turned down a draw but after all the major pieces were traded I didn't see any way to make progress so I offered a draw and he accepted. 3/5
A summary of the Tourney Can be found on the Alberta Chess Association website here. I ended up tying for the Best under 2000 prize and winning $40.
I played in the Red Deer Open last weekend.I had to travel to Calgary for meetings on
Monday so I was able to go down one day early and play.I left home at 8:30 AM on Saturday, drove for
4.5 hours, had some lunch, and was ready for round 2 at 2 PM.
My round 2 game was as black against an unrated opponent
Harry Peralta.It was his first
tournament but he was obviously a strong player tactically.He had beaten Bill Bently (1859) in round 1
and finished with 3/5 and will probably have an initial rating of close to 1900.He made a mistake in the opening that I
should have seen and have been winning after 4 moves but I missed it.Then I just played passively and badly and
had a hopelessly cramped position.Luckily he made a mistake while playing quickly and I was able to equalize
and then sac some pawns to free myself then force a checkmate.1.5/2.
My round 3 game was as white against Adam Harris
(1772).I tried to play a Closed
Sicilian too aggressively and Adam was able to force the exchange of pawns in
the center.After that it was an open
Sicilian and he played the position much better than me and eventually
won.After the game it was obvious
talking with him that he had a lot of theoretical knowledge on the Sicilian lines.He had a great tournament beating the top
rated Vlad Rekson (2189) in round 1 and finishing with 3.5/5 with a bye and
should gain many points.1.5/3.
My round 4 game was as white against Neyef Daher (1804).It was an even game throughout until we got
down to a same color bishop and pawns endgame.I turned down two draw offers and pressed on until he made a mistake.I was able to win a pawn and then two and won
soon after.2.5/4.
My round 5 game was as black against Aaron Sequillion (2080)
who was having a good tournament and tied for 1st with 3.5/4.I have played Aaron before and was surprised
when he played 1.d4.We played a Kings
Indian and I ended up with the better position after the opening.After that the game went back and forth
several times and was very tactical.My
king was completely exposed but I was up a pawn.Near the end he had a completely won position
but we both missed the winning move.The
computer says that it was a draw on the last move when Aaron blundered his Rook
into a mate in 2.
So I finished with 3.5/5 and tied for second with Aaron
Sequillion and Adam Harris.Lukas
Beaudry won with 4.5/5.Itohan Gold, Atheer Jawad and
Harry Peralta had 3/5.This was probably
my best result but I felt that I missed a lot at the board.I feel I played better in my last tournament than
this one overall but only scored better because luck was with me and not
against me – then again there is no luck in chess.
Once again I entered a tournament at the last possible
moment.The Weekend Before Xmastournament is the last tournament of the year in the Alberta chess calendar. The format is different than all the other
tournaments because it is a team tournament. I have never participated in a team event
before and I was curious as to what it would be like.Teams are made up of three players with an
average rating of 2000.A couple of days
before the start there were two players that still needed a board two player around
my rating so I volunteered and joined Rocket Rob Gardner and David Yao on team “???”-
we never got around to agreeing on a name.
Round 1:
Friday night the round one pairings were posted and I saw we
were paired against the top rated team consisting of Jack Yoos (2360), Micah
Hughey (2084), and Zach Kirsch (1563) so I would be playing Micah Hughey as
white. Micah was the highest rated board
2 player so it he would be my toughest opponent.I have
played him several times before and he always played aggressive openings
against me so I decided to try something aggressive against him – The King’s
Gambit!?I was pleased with how I played
and I was happy with the result – a draw.Unfortunately my teammates both lost so the result was 0.5-2.5.
Round 2:
We were paired against IM EdwardProper’s (2487) team with
Jamil Kassem (1917) and Armine Arzumanyan (1490).I played young Jamil in July and was lucky to
beat him.He definitely has the
potential to be a great player.I have
noticed that during this game and the previous game he spends a lot of time not
looking at the board while it’s his turn.Either he analyzes moves in his head or he is getting distracted.I played another good game and was able to simplify
the position into what I knew should be a winning king and pawn endgame for me.Unfortunately, due to poor understanding of
how to play the position, I wasn’t able to convert and had to take a draw.My teammates both lost their games so the
result was another 0.5-2.5 and overall 1.0-5.0.
Round 3:
We were paired against the lowest rated team of Terry
Seehagen (1753), George Sponga (1797), and Andu Mihulescu (1632).My wife had come with me to Edmonton to do
some Christmas shopping on the weekend.I
asked the organizer if he knew of anyone that could fill in for me on Saturday
night so my wife and I could have a night on the town.He was able to get Ron Erikson (1886) to fill
in.Unfortunately Ron's opponent, George, had to go to
the hospital that night and so some rearranging to the pairings had to be done. I found out the next day that George
had to withdraw from the tournament but I hear he is fine now.I think we ended up winning both games that
were played.2.0-0.0 and overall 3.0-6.0.
Round 4
Paired against the team of Richard Wang (2454 and Canada
Junior champion), Harris Wang (1855), and Tristan Tan-Ly (1500).I was feeling pretty good about my play but
cautious of my opponent as he is Richard’s brother and probably stronger than
his rating. I played a good game down to an equal Knight and pawns
endgame.At that point I was confident
it was a draw and honestly I stopped thinking.My opponent didn’t and I blundered into a
loss.Both my teammates also lost so it
was 0.0-3.0 and overall 3.0-9.0
Round 5:
We were paired against FM Vladimir Pechenkin (2438), Rob
Brazeau (1825), and Joseph Young (1665).I played the opening horribly against Rob and I spent all my time
unsuccessfully trying to remember lines that I had studied 3 months earlier.When the middle game came I was short on time
and down a pawn.I tried to open up the
Kingside and was successful. I even managed
to get a winning position but was too short of time and too frustrated to see
the winning lines.I think if I was
playing online blitz I would have played the position better.The Rocket drew his game against Vlad but
David lost so we were once again 0.5-2.5 and overall finished at 3.5-11.5
My last game was frustrating and a couple of late game blunders
spoiled what could have been a good result for me (possibly 3-1 instead of 1-3)
but I can’t say I was disappointed with my level of play.Our team result was pretty bad (we ended up second last out of ten teams) but I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the experience.Having teammates definitly puts a different feel into your
games - more than I expected. You are not only fighting for yourself but also for your teammates.I would definitely do it again.
The Tourney was won by my fellow Lloydminster-ite Jamin
Gluckie’s (2200) team of Lukas Beaudry (2047) from Calgary, and Jason Danner (1702) from Saskatoon with
11.0 points.I didn’t find out until
Sunday that Jamin and Jason were in a roll-over on Friday on their way
into Edmonton. The accident wrote off Jamin’s
truck and sent them both to the hospital for X-rays.They were in pain all weekend with multiple bruises
but still were able to play great chess.My wife and I gave them a ride back to Lloydminster on Sunday night and she was amazed that they still played in the tournament after a serious accident. I am glad she got to see that I am not the most chess-crazy person she has met. lol.
Any comments are welcome - especially critical comments about my games.
