'The Toronto area has a series of popular tournaments that are well run and often well attended. I want to touch on two that were held in February. The Guelph Winter Pro Am Feb 9&10 was the first of a series of 4 tournaments to be held in 2013.
The tournament was stopped from breaking a record turnout by a wicked winter storm on Friday but 95 attended anyways, although several were forced to cancel including popular Canadian star player Aman Hambleton and popular TD Aris Marghetis both from Ottawa.(More)' chesstalk
The Final Standings
IM Bindi Cheng had a great result winning clear first with 4.5/5. Cheng also has his own Youtube Channel Barkyducky
 |
| IM Bindi Cheng Photo-Chess.com |
| # | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheng, Bindi | 4.5 |
| 2 | Preotu, Razvan | 4 |
| 3 | Noritsyn, Nikolay | 4 |
| 4 | Sambuev, Bator | 4 |
| 5 | Plotkin, Victor | 3.5 |
| 6 | Stevens, Christian | 3 |
| 7 | Shebetah, Wajdy | 3 |
| 8 | Derraugh, Geordie | 3 |
| 9 | Cormier, Adam | 3 |
| 10 | Peev, Pavel | 3 |
| 11 | Dougherty, Michael | 3 |
| 12 | Ivanov, Mike | 3 |
| 13 | Peng, Jackie | 3 |
| 14 | Zhang, Yuanchen | 3 |
Here is the feature game won by Preotu,Razvan who had just played in the Canadian Junior Championship. His opponent was the tough GM Sambuev who plays in every tournament possible in Canada.
Sambuev is the reigning Canadian Champion and was board 1 in the Istanbul 2012 Olympiad. The national team consisted of
- Grandmaster Bator Sambuev, 2011 Canadian Chess Champion
- International Master Leonid Gerzhoy
- International Master Nikolay Noritsyn, 2007 Canadian Chess Champion
- International Master Eric Hansen
- International Master Edward Porper, 2009 Canadian Open Chess Champion
- Captain FIDE Master Victor Plotkin
Hansen has of course just exploded in strength recently and is a story all by himself. More on him at HansenChess.
Canada's next one to watch is the Super-IM Hambleton, see more of him at AmanHambleton
Preotu,Razvan at the Canadian Junior 2012
Photo CJCC
Preotu,R (2535) - Sambuev,B (2300)
French Tarrasch 3.Nd2 c5[C06]
Guelph Pro-Am (3), 10.02.2013
Position 1
Black has the extra passed pawn and needs to consolidate. What do you suggest for black?
Black to Play
Black to Play
26.Kh2
