Calgary International 2013 Rd7-GM Wesley So(PHI)

More on GM Perelshteyn




TWIC 967
GM So played out a tense ending in enterprising fashion to earn the victory. GM Perelshteyn tried the 5.Bd2 exchange Grunfeld variation(Smyslov's line) but got nothing special. There was some excitement in the ending as Perelshteyn got a mass of queenside passed pawns for a piece in the R-RN ending.

Perelshteyn,Eugene (2517) - So,Wesley (2705)
Grunfeld 5.Bd2[D85]
2013 Calgary International Calgary, Alberta (7), 18.05.2013

Position 1
The RRN-RRN ending is tense. What do you recommend for black?

Black to Play

18.Rc2

Chess and Math-Vancouver Style

Ho Math Chess
A Vancouver math tutor is using the ancient game of chess to help students checkmate problems with math. Frank Ho is the founder of Math + Chess, a tutoring company headquartered in Kerrisdale that offers once-a-week sessions to students from Grades K-12, although he mostly deals with elementary school children.

Ho said his unique teaching method combines the elements of fun and competition with the mathematical principles required to play chess. "The goal is to checkmate your opponent, but to do that you need to devise patterns and visualize a chess diagram and come to a numerical conclusion," said Ho, adding that students compete against each other or an instructor.



Ho Math and Chess is the world only children education franchise dedicated to teaching children math (as young as 4 years old) using math, chess, and puzzles integrated workbooks. Ho Math and Chess has many innovative math and chess related inventions.

(in Mandarin language)



From a student

Calgary International 2013 Rd8-GM Wesley So(PHI)

More on Calgary and the Red Mile
Calgary loves its hockey.



It's hard to go wrong looking at Wesley So's games.

GM So went with 4.Qc2 against the Nimzo-Indian and deflected Jason Cao's attempt at active defence. The endgame went smoothly with the grandmaster nursing a better ending up a pawn. 

So,Wesley (2705) - Cao,Jason (2026)

Nimzo-Indian 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 [E35]

2013 Calgary International Calgary, Alberta (8), 19.05.2013

Position 1

Black is a pawn down and has chosen active defence with 30...Ba4. What do you recommend for white?

White to Play

30...Ba4

Chesstalk Still Down! 2013-05-26

Chesstalk Still Down!

MESSAGE
'Our Web hosting provider updated their software causing many problems with our old programming. A technician is working on that problem and all should be ok by Friday.

Notre fournisseur d'hébergement Web a mis à jour leurs logiciels causant de nombreux problèmes avec notre ancienne programmation. Un technicien travaille sur ce problème et tout devrait être ok d'ici vendredi.'

University of Alberta Chess Club

This looks like fun!

Canadian Scholastic Chess-Background

Windsor Chess Challenge
The 2013 Windsor Chess Challenge is being held at the Ciociaro Club in Tecumseh, Ont. More than 1000 students will take part in the two-day event.



Windsor in a hotbed of scholastic chess activity.



Ontario Chess Challenge 2012
An inside look at the chess adventure.

Canadian Chess Challenge 2013-Results by Grade(1-6)

Results by Grade From Chess and Math.

More about Ottawa
The event was held in Ottawa so here is a bit of background.



Grade 1
Unrated Lucian Wu(BC) steamrollered the opposition with a perfect 9-0 scored to earn the gold medal.

Team	Name	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
BC	Lucian Wu	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
ON	Nameer Issani	1396	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
AB	Khino Angelo Tolentino	788	1	0.5	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	6.5
QC	Tony Cai	762	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	5
MB	Alexander Loukine	451	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	4
NB	Alex LeBlanc	355	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	4
PE	Seamus MacEachern	592	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	4
NS	Alexander Brown	717	1	0.5	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2.5
NL	Sebastian Locke	674	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
SK	---	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Grade 2
Qiuyu Huang(QC) scored a perfect 9-0 for the gold medal while Patrick Huang(BC) did very well to get the silver with 8/9.

Team	Name	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
QC	Qiuyu Huang	1446	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
BC	Patrick Huang	830	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
AB	Andi Superceanu	1188	1	1	1	1	1	1	0.5	0	0	6.5
ON	David Gan	988	1	0	1	1	0.5	1	0.5	1	0	6
NB	Alexandre Xavier-LeBlanc	818	1	1	1	1	0.5	0	0	0	1	5.5
MB	Itay Amrom	787	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	3
NL	Peter Dormody	649	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
NS	Jerjis Kapra	768	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2
PE	Connor Pierce	592	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
SK	Anastasia Sasata	282	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

Grade 3
Ian Zhao(AB), Victor Zheng(BC) and Nicholas Vettese(ON) shared first with 7/9. Zheng did very well to show that ratings don't win games-players do. 

Team	Name	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
AB	Ian Zhao	1358	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	7
BC	Victor Zheng	877	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
ON	Nicholas Vettese	1448	1	1	0.5	1	0	1	1	1	0.5	7
QC	Robert Liu	1396	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	0.5	5.5
SK	Alexander Sasata	1119	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0.5	5.5
MB	Joshua Huston-Earle	1037	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	4
NL	Norman Chen	974	0	0	0.5	1	0	0	0	1	1	3.5
PE	Arnab Kundu	894	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0.5	3.5
NB	Terry Michaud	475	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
NS	Callum Brown	931	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Grade 4
Kaixin Wang took the gold with 8.5/9 but second lowest rated Ethan Low(BC) did superbly and took the bronze with 7.5/9.

Team	Name	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
AB	Kaixin Wang	1811	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0.5	8.5
ON	Wenyang Ming	1639	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	8
BC	Ethan Low	641	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0.5	7.5
QC	Ziyu Guan	1256	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	6
SK	Daniel Wei	1056	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	5
NB	Thomas Myatt	540	0.5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.5
PE	Karla Lynn McCallum	984	0	1	0	0	0	0	0.5	1	0	2.5
NL	Brett Russell	1141	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
MB	Ethan Eckert	809	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0	1	1.5
NS	Benjamin Koshi	836	0.5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.5

Grade 5
Mali-Jade Ouellet(QC) scored a perfect 9-0 for the gold while Yue Tong Zhao(ON) took the silver with 8/9.

Team	Name	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
QC	Mali-Jade Ouellet	1710	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
ON	Yue Tong Zhao	1703	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	8
MB	Derek Ma	1376	1	0	1	0	1	0.5	1	1	1	6.5
SK	Benjamin Lortie	1260	0.5	1	1	0	1	0.5	0	0	1	5
NS	Sahejpreet Singh	1130	1	0.5	0	1	0	0	1	0.5	0.5	4.5
NL	Xingbo Huang	1297	0.5	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0.5	4
AB	Jeff Wang	992	0	0.5	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	3.5
BC	Brian Butchart	595	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	3
NB	Leonardo Cui	794	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
PE	Ian Kerr	1072	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0	0.5

Grade 6
Top seed Kevin Wan(ON) took the gold with a perfect 9-0 but
Matthew Geng(BC) did excellently to claim the bronze with 7/9.

Team	Name	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
ON	Kevin Wan	2106	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
QC	Ananda Saha	1734	1	1	0.5	1	1	1	1	1	0	7.5
BC	Matthew Geng	983	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
AB	Chenxi Wu	1390	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	5
NS	Lucas Dorrance	1509	1	0	0.5	0	1	0	0.5	1	1	5
PE	SoumyaDeep Chowdhury	1212	0	1	0.5	0	0	0	1	0	1	3.5
SK	Andrew Li	777	1	0	1	0	0	1	0.5	0	0	3.5
NB	Adam Makarov	646	0	1	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	1	2.5
NL	Ryan Pickard	1107	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2
MB	William DeFehr	1102	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Canadian Chess Challenge May19-20, 2013: Sohal Wins Again(!)

Chess Wiz-Kid Sohal Just Keeps Winning!
Story and photo-The Link

Sohal,Tanraj Grade 11 National Champion

Tanraj Sohal has won the 2013 Canadian Chess Championship held in Ottawa, Ontario on May 19-20, 2013 in his grade level.

Opening Ceremony(With Bagpipes)
Video by Chess and Math.



Sohal, a sixteen-year old Grade 11 student from Surrey, has won won the Canadian Chess Championship trophy in his grade level for the eighth time. He earlier won the 2013 Fraser Valley Regional in Surrey and BC Provincial Chess Championship held in Richmond, BC.

The Canadian Chess Challenge is the annual event where each province is represented by their 12 Provincial Champions (one player from Grades 1 to 12).

Canadian Chess Challenge is organized and sponsored by the Chess’n Math Association, Canada’s National Scholastic Chess Organization. Each player plays 9 round robin matches over two days in their respective grade against each of the provincial champions.

Results-Chess and Math
Ontario finished first overall, Quebec 2nd and BC third.

 

Province		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
Ontario	ON	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
Quebec	QC	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	8
British Columbia	BC	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7
Alberta	AB	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	6
New Brunswick	NB	0.5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.5	4
Newfoundland and Labrador	NL	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4
Nova Scotia	NS	0.5	0	0	0	0.5	0	1	1	0	3
Manitoba	MB	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	1	0	0.5	2.5
Saskatchewan	SK	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0	0	1	1.5
Prince Edward Island	PEI	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Calgary International 2013 Rd8-GM Hansen E(CAN)

More on Alberta-The Beef Industry





From Rd8
GM Hansen gets back on the winning track with a attacking game against the French Winawer.

Hansen,Eric (2577) - Ebrahim-Shirazi,Behrooz (2063)
French Winawer 4…b6 5.a3 Bf8 6.Bb5+ [C16]
2013 Calgary International Calgary, Alberta (8), 19.05.2013

Position 1
The black king is running to safety. What do you recommend for white?

White to Play

22..Kf8

Calgary International 2013 Rd7-GM Hansen E(CAN)

More on Alberta
The feature game was played in Calgary, Alberta. Here is some background on the oil sands industry.

Rd7

GM Hansen played the aggressive Grunfeld but overplayed the equal ending.

Porper,Edward (2423) - Hansen,Eric (2577)
Grunfeld g3 6.Ne5 Ng4[D78]
2013 Calgary International Calgary, Alberta (7), 18.05.2013

Position 1

Black's king has been pushed back. What do you recommend for white?

White to Play

26...Kd7

Calgary International 2013 Rd5-GM Wesley So(PHI)

More on Calgary
Here's more on Calgary's NHL team-The Calgary Flames




TWIC 967
GM So needed a bit of luck in rd5 as white played very strongly in the early part of the game and held a clear advantage.

Here is the feature game.

Jayakumar,A (2336) - So,W (2705) 
Open Catalan 5…a6[E04]
2013 Calgary International Calgary CAN (5), 17.05.2013

Position 1
Black has just attacked Na6 with 24...Ra8. What do you recommend for white?

• 25.Nxc7
• 25.Rxc7
• Something else

White to Play

24...Ra8

Ashley Tapp at the Keres 2013-05

Canadian Hopeful at the Keres Memorial
[All photos by Sophia Hague]

Ashley Tapp played in the under 2000 and finished with 1.5/6. She played up a  section to gain valuable experience rather than the under 1600 where she would have had a chance for a high finish.

Tapp's rating has climbed from the 1300s from the WYCC 2012 in Maribor to a peak of 1659 before dropping back to 1503.

The playing hall

She plans to play in the CYCC July 10-13 and the Canadian Open July 14-20 later in the summer. 

Her fundraising activities keep her busy and include a big fundraiser combining chess and Martial Arts with a local school-Dojang Martial Arts. More details coming soon.

Tapp(left) Ashley is shaking hands with IM Orlov,G(USA) 
IM Raymond Kaufman is in the background.

Ashley getting ready to play

Coach Stephen Wright(left) working with Ashley(right)

Final Standings Under 2000

#	Name	Rating	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Total
1	Joe Soliven	1995	W22	W9	W7	W2	W6	D4	5.5
2	Hiva Menbari	1946	W30	W10	W11	L1	W17	W12	5
3	Joshua Doknjas	1809	D27	W35	W5	L18	W26	W17	4.5
4	Marionito Jose	1635	L14	W38	W8	W11	W18	D1	4.5
5	Robert North	1948	W24	H---	L3	H---	W32	W16	4
6	Neale Monkhouse	1863	D17	W27	W15	W14	L1	D9	4
7	Eugenio Alonso Campos	1860	W12	W26	L1	W23	D16	D10	4
8	Philip Harris	1770	W36	L16	L4	W25	W33	W18	4
9	Paul Leblanc	1763	W28	L1	W30	D26	W27	D6	4
10	Peter Yee	1752	W33	L2	D31	W15	W14	D7	4
11	Mau-seng Lee	1732	W38	W19	L2	L4	W34	W20	4
12	Andrew Toi	1546	L7	W40	W29	W21	W20	L2	4
13	Richard Ingram	1977	L23	W32	L17	D30	W36	W22	3.5
14	Jofrel Landingin	1894	W4	D15	W23	L6	L10	W26	3.5
15	Hector Rathburn	1751	W34	D14	L6	L10	W28	W27	3.5
16	Kent Cronin	1702	W39	W8	W18	L17	D7	L5	3.5
17	Michael Su	1616	D6	W21	W13	W16	L2	L3	3.5
18	Richard Lapenna	1876	W31	W29	L16	W3	L4	L8	3
19	Constantin Rotariu	1825	W25	L11	L22	L32	W38	W31	3
20	George Kosinski	1822	W32	L---	W24	W22	L12	L11	3
21	Karl [lizhe] Cui	1790	D35	L17	W36	L12	D31	W34	3
22	Sylvain Gaudreau	1693	L1	W28	W19	L20	W23	L13	3
23	Houshyar Ghandi	1677	W13	W---	L14	L7	L22	W33	3
24	Gilles Bruneau	1664	L5	W34	L20	D28	D30	W32	3
25	Jill Ding	1544	L19	W39	L26	L8	W29	W30	3
26	Payam Mousavi	1713	W40	L7	W25	D9	L3	L14	2.5
27	Nathaniel Knox	1535	D3	L6	W35	W31	L9	L15	2.5
28	Kevin Low	1470	L9	L22	W38	D24	L15	W36	2.5
29	Chris Johnston	1735	W37	L18	L12	L34	L25	W39	2
30	Kai Richardson	1645	L2	W33	L9	D13	D24	L25	2
31	Luke Pulfer	1622	L18	W37	D10	L27	D21	L19	2
32	Robert Hamm	1539	L20	L13	W37	W19	L5	L24	2
33	Stewart Paulson	1342	L10	L30	W---	W35	L8	L23	2
34	James Chometa	1328	L15	L24	W40	W29	L11	L21	2
35	Brian Sullivan	1513	D21	L3	L27	L33	L39	W40	1.5
36	Ashley Tapp	1503	L8	H---	L21	W37	L13	L28	1.5
37	Rinna Yu	1324	L29	L31	L32	L36	D40	W38	1.5
38	Frank Hou	1195	L11	L4	L28	W40	L19	L37	1
39	Kennedy Rojas	unr.	L16	L25	U---	U---	W35	L29	1
40	Annika Zhou	1049	L26	L12	L34	L38	D37	L35	0.5