Sunday, October 30, 2011

Update to Alberta Junior Chess Championship

The Alberta Junior Chess Championship 2011 will be held at Calgary Chess Club on November 5-6. We will have three sections: (1) Championship  (2) Reserves and (3) Girls. The Championship section is open to all Alberta juniors regardless of ratings. Winner from this section will recieve ACA sponsorship to the Canadian Junior Chess Championship which will be held in Calgary on Jan 5-8, 2012. The Reserves is open to any Alberta juniors with 1400 CFC rating or below.

Both the Championship and Reserves will be 5 rounds swiss (the girl section will probably be round robin). Time control is Game in 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.

The deadline to enter this tournament will be on November 1st at 6 P.M. You can pre-register by email to T.D/organizer Simon Ong (simong89 at gmail dot com).

Pre-registered list (players are arranged in no particular order):
1.       NM Richard Wang
2.       David Zhang
3.       David Miller
4.       Nicka Kalaydina
5.       Tony Cai
6.       Krish Singh
7.       YueKai Wang
8.       Diwen Shi
9.       Raymond Ong
10.   Jeff Anthony De Guzman
11.  Brady Jahraus
12.   Nicholas Lee
13.   Chenxi Zhao
14.       Mark Ting
15.       David Yao
16.       Zeling Li
17.       John Vaganov
18.       Derek Zhang
19.       Makar Chenetsov
20.       Seth Lalla
21.       Xuyuan Zhang
22.       Kaixin Wang
23.   Mickail Hendi
24.   Ian Zhao
25.   Raphael Libre
26.   Lenard Grossmann
27.   Daniel Kostek
28. Kaining Lin
29. Chen Wu
30. Wayne Babiuk
31. Zehan Li
32.   Rachael Gagne
33.   Hope Gagne
34.   Jyaree (Chantel) Bustos
35.   Jane Wang

All pre-registered players must sign-in from 9:00 a.m. to 9:40 a.m (the latest) at the Calgary Chess Club.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

2011 Alberta Junior Championship & Reserves


All participants must pre-registered by November 1st @ 6 P.M. You may pay your entry fees on site.

The Alberta Junior Championship and Reserve 2011 will be held at Calgary Chess Club on November 5-6, 2011.

Both sections will be 5 rounds swiss. The winner of the "Championship" section will recieve ACA sponsorship to the next Canadian Junior Chess Championship. Cash prizes and/or trophies will be available for both sections.

Time control is Game in 90 minutes + 30 second increments per move. The round times will be 10:00am / 2:30pm / 6:30pm on Saturday and 9:30am / ASAP on Sunday (may change to give time to player to get lunch and dinner).

All byes must be requested before round 1 (with last 2 rounds counting as 0 point bye).

The full details for this tournament can be found on the following website:
https://sites.google.com/site/2011albertajunior/

Sponsors:
Alberta Chess Association
Calgary Chess Club
Calgary Junior Chess Club

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Calgary Youth Chess Championship Report

Calgary Youth Chess Championship Report- Organizers Roy Yearwood T.D Simon Ong


On January 2nd, the 3rd annual Calgary Youth Chess Championship took place at the Calgary Chess Club. There were a total of 17 players participating in the tournament. They were grouped into sections where they battled against players their own age. Winner of each age section will be awarded a medallion, an official Calgary YCC T-shirt, and funding to play at the Alberta Youth Chess Championship. Funding is provided by the Calgary Chess Club.

There were two age sections with one player: Under 8 and Under 18. Even though both of these players won the tournament by default, they played against relatively strong oppositions and performed very well. The Under 8 and Under 18 champions were Ian Zhao and Raymond Ong, respectively. Ian managed to score 2/3 against U10 players, whereas Raymond scored 3/3 against U16 players.

There were 3 players competing in the Under 10 section. The overall winner was John Vaganov, a new player from Russia. John scored flawlessly. The other two players were Albert Lambino and Jonas Alcantara who scored 0/2 and 1/2, respectively.

Winners of the other sections were Diwen Shi (Under 12 Champion), Chenxi Zhao (Under 14 Champion), and Yuekai Wang (Under 16 Champion).

Thanks to all participants for playing the first Calgary tournament of the New Year and congratulation to all the section winners and good luck in Edmonton.

There will be regular chess lesson for youth at the Calgary Chess Club starting January 14th. See Calgary chess club website for details.

Annotations done by NM Roy Yearwood.



YueKai Wang- Tony Cai

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 This is the Shevesnikov variation of the Sicilian. It features the backward pawn on the d-file and the question of whether black will have enough counter-play to compensate for this weakness. 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Qd2 Better is Bd3 or c3. 11...Bg5 Diagram

12.Ne3 0–0 13.0–0–0 This is an aggressive plan for white. 13...Qb6 14.h4 Bh6 15.Be2 Be6 16.g4 Bf4 17.Kb1 Na5 18.c3 Rfd8 19.Bf3 Black has comfortable position because of white's inaccuracy on move 11. 19...Nc4 20.Naxc4 Bxc4 21.Nxc4 bxc4 22.Qc2 a5 23.Rdg1 Rdb8 24.g5 Better is a4. 24...Rb7 25.Ka1 a4 26.a3 Rab8 27.Rb1 Diagram
Unfortuately, black lost on time. After Qc5 with the idea of Rb3, black has small but persistant initiative. I guess you have to play theoretical position quickly to avoid time pressure. 1-0



Zeling Li- Nicholas Lee

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bxf7+?? This is a terrible error. White should know better. If you going to play theoretical openings, you should know what to do. 5...Kxf7 6.Qf3+ Ke8 7.Nh3 Nc6 8.e6 dxe6 9.Ng5 Qd5 10.Qf7+ Kd8 11.0–0?? Qxg5 12.d4 Qf6 13.Qh5 cxd4 14.Bg5 White tries to play like Tal but does not know enough about the principles required to play in this manner. 14...Qg6 15.Qxg6 hxg6 0–1



Stanley Wang-Raymond Ong

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bg5 Bd6 7.h3 0–0 8.Bd3 Better is Re8. 8...Nbd7 9.0–0 Qc7 10.Re1 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Bxg3 13.fxg3 Qxg3 While black has won a pawn, he has lost some control of his kingside's light squares and control the b1–h7 diagonal. White must act quickly as the pawn plus will soon tell. 14.Re2 Nh5 Better would have been 14. Ne2 in order to transfer the knight to the kingside. Also, it makes way for the pawn to go to c4 for some initiative in the center. 15.Qe1!? Qxe1+ 16.Raxe1 Nf4 17.Re3 Nxd3 18.Rxd3 Nf6 19.Rde3 Better might be Be6 closing e-file. One of the way to win when you're up material is to shut down all of your opponent's counter-play. 19...Rb8 20.Na4 Ne4 This is an easy position for black to play. He can make different mis-steps, but because of his material superiority and pawn plus and solid position, white finds it very hard to make an impression in order to gain counter-play. 21.Ne5 f6 22.Nd3 Bd7 23.Nac5 Bf5 24.Nxe4 Bxe4 25.c3 Bxd3 26.Rxd3 Rfe8 27.Rde3 Kf7 28.g4 Rxe3 29.Rxe3 Re8 30.Rxe8 Kxe8 31.Kf2 Ke7 32.Ke3 Ke6 33.b4 b6 34.a4 a5 35.bxa5 bxa5 36.Kf3 f5 37.gxf5+ Kxf5 0–1



Diwen Shi-Nicholas Lee

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 This is the Torre attack. This is an excellent opening for white. The former Alberta Champion for youth, Richard Wang, make this a standard part of his opening theory. This opening poses some difficult problems for juniors. 3...c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Be7 6.e4 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Re1 Rc8 10.Bf1 d5 11.h3 cxd4 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 Better is e5 according to Diwen Shi. 13.cxd4 Nxd4 14.e5 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Bg5 16.Nb3 Qd7 17.Bd3 Rc7 18.h4 Be7 Nicholas is outplaying Diwen quite easily thus far. 19.Nd4 f6 20.Qh5 g6? Better is f5. g6 gives white at least a draw, but of course, he wants more. 21.Bxg6 hxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kh8 23.Qh6+ Kg8 24.Re3 Bc5 25.Rg3+ Kf7 An unfortuate turn of events for black. Unfortuately, white's growing inititative starting move 19 has resulted in the loss of a queen. Oh well, sometimes an accident will happen. 26.Rg7+ Ke8 27.Rxd7 Kxd7 28.exf6 e5 White makes good use of the overloaded bishop on c5 to advance his kingside pawns. 29.Nb3 Bd6 30.Qh7+ Ke6 31.Nd4+ exd4 32.Re1+ Be5 33.Qxc7 1–0

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Thanks to all the particpants who played in our November 13th event. While many of the games were of uneven quality there were a few that had some interesting moments. This game from round 4 for example. White:Yaroslav Babich Black:Chenxi Zhao

1e4 e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3Bc4 Nf6 Black offers up the 2kts defence. White takes up the challenge and plays the fried liver attack. 4Ng5 d5 5exd5 Na5 6Bb5+Bd7 Black prefers not to enter the complications that would ensue after 6...c6 whether this because of a knowledge of the current state of theory or not is unclear. 7a4 this is weak soft etc. better is 7Qe2 when White makes an attempt to hold onto his pawn plus. 7...Nxd5 8d3 Be7 9Qf3 An interesting moment White defends by counterattacking against the f7 and d5 squares sharp tactics indeed. 9...Nf6 Black blocks the f7 attack while at the same time moving his attacked d5 kt. 10 Bd2 Nc6 11Bc4 0-0 120-0 h6 13Ne4 Nxe4 14Qxe4 Bf6 15Nc3 this is ?! according to Babich perhaps 15c3 with an eventual d4 after some preperation to follow is a better try. 15...Nd4 16Rfc1 Bc6 17Bd5 Ne2+!? Black plays a deflecting forcing chess move. 18Qxe2 Bxd5 19Nxd5 Qxd5 20Qg4 Rfe8!?Black overlooks White's Bxh6 threat and develops his own initiative. 21Re1!? White in his turn does not ignore his responsibility towards the centre. If 21Bxh6 it's possible that the response 21...e4 might cause some problems as both ...exd3 and ...Bxb2 are threatened and if in response to 21...e4 22 dxe4 is played then a rook capture on e4 presents some trouble for the White Queen and bishop. 21...Qd4 Black now attends to the Bxh6 threat. 22Qxd4 exd4 23Bf4 c6 24 g3 Rad8 Babich thought that 24...g5 would have presented more trouble for White. 25Bc7 Rc8 26Ba5 Kf8 27Kg2 Re5 28Bb4+ c5 29Ba3? this is too decentralizing better 29Bd2. 29...b6 30Rxe5 Bxe5 31Re1 Bf6 32Re4 Re8 33Kf3 Be5 34Kg4 White's moves give the impression of someone who is playing to prey on his opponents time pressure a poor strategy 34...g6 35Kf3 Kg7 36Ke2 f5 for wich he's properly punished. 37Rxe5 Rxe5+ 38Kf3 Re8

And soon 0-1. An interesting game. The Calgary Junior Chess Club's next event is on December 4th for 1 day starting at 9:00 am full details can be found at the Alberta Chess Association's website http://www.albertachess.org/. Roy Yearwood

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

University Blitz Tournament


Adie Todd
UofC President
T.D./Organizer of U of C Blitz Tourney

Hello All,

The president of University of Calgary, Adie Todd, ran another successful blitz tournament on February 27th. It was held at the Rozsa Centre at the U of C. We had 28 players showed up including three masters: Victor Kaminski, Dan Kazmaier, and Alex Yam. The format of the blitz tournament was similar to the CCC's blitz tournament: double round robin. However, clock move was used instead of touch move to accomodate beginner players.

Alex Yam, a well-known CCC's attacking player, won the event giving 1.5 points to Dan Kazmaier who took second with 14/16. Victor Kaminski took 3rd with 13.5/16.

Other prizes were given to the following individuals:
Best Junior: YueKai Wang 10/16
2nd Best Junior: Andre Angelo Tolentino 8/16

Under 1600
1st: Curtis Goforth 9.5/16
2nd: Michael Wanless 8.0/16

Unrated
1st: Danial Cormeau 8.5/16

Complete crosstable can be found belew:
Standings. Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Tot
1st place
Alex Yam 138357 2222 $6 $13 $9 $8 $3 D2 $7 $4 14.5

2nd place
Daniel Kazmaier 131382 2268 $11 $5 $4 D3 $9 #1 $13 $7 14.0

3rd place
Victor Kaminski 127461 2315 $14 $7 $8 #2 L1 $4 $5 $13 13.5

4th place
Yuekai Wang 147881 1929 $17 $22 L2 $13 $5 L3 $8 L1 10.0

5th-6th place
Steven Blahitka 101574 1602 $23 L2 $20 $6 L4 $11 L3 #10 9.5
Curtis Goforth 149035 904 L1 $27 $28 L5 W20 W12 $21 #11 9.5

7th place
Vassily Vins 146917 1819 $19 L3 W12 $15 $10 $9 L1 L2 9.0

8th-11 place
Avelino Angelo Tolentino 149964 1940 $16 $28 L3 L1 #12 $18 L4 W9 8.5
Simon Ong 144016 1828 $24 $10 L1 $22 L2 L7 #12 W8 8.5
Michael Wanless 149077 1460 $21 L9 $23 W12 L7 $24 W14 D5 8.5
Daniel Cormeau 1400 L2 $19 L13 $23 $21 L5 $20 D6 8.5

12th-17th place
Adie Todd 125156 1692 W20 $15 W7 W10 D8 W6 D9 W16 8.0
Rogelio Lozano 1500 $27 L1 $11 L4 $17 $20 L2 L3 8.0
Deweese Wood 145476 1412 L3 L20 $24 W19 W15 $22 W10 W17 8.0
Devin Davis 1300 B--- L12 $25 L7 W14 L21 $27 $22 8.0
Andre Angelo Tolentino 149031 827 L8 $26 L22 L21 $27 W17 $18 W12 8.0
Nicholas Lee 150588 815 L4 W25 %21 $26 L13 W16 $19 W14 8.0

18th place
Clive Robertson unr. H--- H--- H--- H--- #22 L8 L16 B--- 7.5

19th-21st place
Lee Ma 148096 668 L7 L11 B--- W14 L24 $23 L17 $26 7.0
Patrick Angelo Tolentino 149030 667 W12 $14 L5 $28 W6 L13 L11 W21 7.0
Blake McConville unr. L10 W24 %17 $16 L11 $15 L6 W20 7.0

22nd-23rd place
Eric Limacher 149080 1468 $25 L4 $16 L9 D18 L14 $26 L15 6.5
Jackson Prather 149419 644 L5 B--- L10 L11 #26 L19 W25 $27 6.5

24th-25th place
Bill Xu 149405 738 L9 W21 L14 $25 $19 L10 U--- U--- 5.0
Steven Cawdry unr. L22 W17 L15 L24 B--- W27 W23 U--- 5.0

26th place
Eric Beaudoin unr. L28 L16 $27 L17 D23 B--- L22 L19 4.5

27th place
Aneesha D'Cruz unr. L13 L6 L26 B--- L16 W25 L15 L23 3.0

28th place
Robert Goforth 1500 $26 L8 L6 L20 U--- U--- U--- U--- 2.0

WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ALL PLAYERS TO OUR NEXT BLITZ TOURNAMENT AT THE U OF C ON MARCH 27th.

PLEASE EMAIL ADIE TODD AT chess@ucalgary.ca NOW!!

TD/Organizer: Adie Todd; Report: Simon Ong

Friday, January 8, 2010

UBOA Open 2010 Pre-Registered List

Hello all,

The University Battle of Alberta Open 2010 will start next Saturday, January16th. Details of this tournament is posted on the ACA, CJCC, and CCC Blog website.

As of January 8th, we have more than 40 players signed up for the tournament. Afriendly reminder that this tournament will be OPEN to everybody!! If youhaven't pre-register for this tournament, then please send me an email at simong89 @ gmail . com

We are giving $5 discount to FIDE master and $10 discount to juniors. So, theentry fee for these individuals will be $20 and $15, respectively. As foreverybody who are not university students/staffs will be $25.

For update pre-register list, please check the following website:http://sites.google.com/site/calgaryjuniorchessclub/tournament-schedule-3/university-battle-of-alberta

Thanks. Hope to see you there.
Simon Ong

Saturday, December 12, 2009

University Battle of Alberta Open 2009 Pictures

JOIN THE UNIVERSITY BATTLE OF ALBERTA 2010!!

Take a look of these pictures. Hopefully after looking at these pictures you will pre-register for this event!!
Pre-registration: Email simong89@gmail.com


2009 UBOA Open Set-Up. Please suggest on how we should set up the 2010 UBOA Open (something similar to national or international FIDE event). Let me know as I am running out of ideas...lol.


More than 35 players showed up. It does not matter if you are university students, professors, or staffs. Community members are welcome!!



Experts and masters playing in the 2009 UBOA Open.


Juniors are welcome to participate in this event.
I remembered a few juniors who took on university students and won their games.
Look forward to see upset victories from our juniors in the 2010 UBOA Open.


Overall winners of the event. FM Pechenkin and Expert Karmali.
Who will be the overall winner of the 2010 UBOA Open?
I guess I have to wait and see...can't wait though lol.

2009 UBOA Team Champion
lol...I wasn't in the picture even I am on the team :(
Too busy directing.
We went to Joey Tomato to celebrate the success of this tournament. You can see we have a great time playing in the 2009 UBOA Open with a thumb-up given by National Master Roy Yearwood. We are planning to do the same in the 2010 UBOA Open.
SO WHAT YOU ARE WAITING FOR...
RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW!!