Canadian Closed...

... was a disaster.

Canadian Closed: Rounds 1-4

Draw against Igor Divljan (2412), Round 1
Lost against Shiyan Thavandiran (2464), Round 2 (silly blunder)
Lost against Erwin Caseranos (2264), Round 3
Win against Micheal Humphreys (2170), Round 4

1.5/4

CYCC and Canadian Open

I did well at Canadian Open, playing exceptionally poorly against one opponent (Alex Martchenko), where I blundered a piece on move 12. I also beat my first IM, IM Leon Piasetski (2406). I won a bit of money on the side.

At CYCC, I qualified for WYCC.

Summer 2009 Schedule

This summer will be long, but interesting.

PHILLY INT June 25 - 29
WORLD OPEN June 29 - July 5
CAN OPEN July 11 - 19
CYCC U18 July 21 - 24

I will be playing 34 games in one month, so I hope that I don't die from exhaustion. The Canadian Closed will be held in August and I'd like to attend that tournament as well, but we'll see if I can make it.

Round 9

After my Round 8 loss, I was not in the mood to play at all. I played Black, and I resigned my game against IM Sandor Kustar (2335 FIDE) in a relatively equal position.

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bd7 7. Bg2 Rc8 8. Nc2 g6 9. b3 Bg7 10. Bd2 O-O 11. O-O Be6 12. e4 Nd7 13. Rb1 a5 14. Qe2 Nc5 15. Rfd1 Qb6 16. Be1 Rfe8 17. h3 Qa6 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Ne5 20. Nd4 Ned7

1-0

Round 8

I lost a tough game to Victor Kaminski (2301 CFC, 2244 FIDE) in the eighth round. I felt that this was the only game in the tournament where I got outplayed by my opponent. Here's the game:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. h3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Qa5 11. Nb3 Qd8 (White is better here) 12. f4 Be6 13. Bf3 Bc4 14. Rfe1 Nd7 15. Nd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 e5 17. Bf2 exf4 18. Qxd6 Ne5 19. Qxd8 Rfxd8 20. Rad1 Nxf3+ 21. gxf3 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Bxa2 24. Ra1 Be6 25. Rxa7 Rxa7 26. Bxa7 Bxh3 27. c4 Bd7 28. Bd4 g5 29. c5 h6 30. c3 Kh7 31. Kg2 Kg6 32. Kf2 Bc6 33. Be5 f5

0-1

Round 7

In round 7, I was paired against Daniel Kazmaier (2135 FIDE, 2287 CFC) with Black. We entered a Trompofsky (spelling), in which my opponent achieved a slightly superior position. After a miscalculation on my part, he managed to convert his positional advantage into an extra pawn. However, he could not find a way to make progress in the middlegame, and three-fold repition was reached.

The game will be posted shortly.

1/2 - 1/2

Round 6

In round 6, I was paired against David Peng of Toronto (2245 FIDE, 2358 CFC) with the Black pieces. Again, I played a variation of the Sicilian that I have never played before as Black, however I managed to play with strong tactics in the middlegame, and I quickly converted the win.

I played an interesting novelty, however in post-game analysis, we were unsure if the line was strong or not for Black. Regardless, I was 3.5/4 in rounds 3-6 against some decent opposition!!

I will be posting the game shortly.

Round 5

In round 5, I was paired against my first International Master ever! I was paired with white against a very strong player; IM John Donaldson (2409 FIDE, 2518 CFC). Donaldson employed an Accelerated Dragon, and I decided to play the Maroczy Bind against it. I have never attempted to play this opening, so I am very happy with how it turned out. I reached a solid middlegame (for the first time this tournament), and my opponent found no way to gain an advantage. With some accurate defense, I secured a draw in my first game against an International Master (a strong one at that)!!.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 d6 9. O-O Bd7 10. Rc1 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc6 12. Qd3 a5 13. Rfd1 Nd7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qe3 a4 16. Nd5 e5 17. Rd2 Nc5 18. Rcd1 Qh4 19. Nc3 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Qxe4 21. Qxe4 Bxe4 22. Rxd6 Rfc8 23. f3 Bc6 24. Kf2 Kf8 25. Ke3 Ke7 26. R1d2 Rc7 27. R6d3 Bd7 28. b3 Be6 29. Bd1 axb3 30. axb3 Ra1 31. Rb2 g5 32. Rdd2 f5 33. Ra2 f4+ 34. Kf2 Rc1 35. Rac2 Rb1 36. Rb2 Rxb2 37. Rxb2 h5 38. Rd2 b6 39. Ke2 g4 40. Kd3 gxf3 41. Bxf3 Rd7+ 42. Kc3 Rxd2 43. Kxd2 h4 44. Kd3 Kd6 45. b4 Bf5+ 46. Be4 Bg4 47. h3 Be6 48. Bf3 Bf5+ 49. Be4 f3 50. gxf3 Bxh3 51. Ke3 Be6 52. c5+ 1/2-1/2

I was incredibly happy at this point! I had 2.5/3 in rounds 3-5, with an average opposition of about 2300 FIDE, and 2350 CFC.

Round 4

In round 4, I was paired against Nenad Ristovic (2252 FIDE, 2274 CFC) with Black. He played d4 against me, which I was expecting. However, I did not know how to continue in the opening, and I got a slightly worse position entering the middlegame. However, my middlegame play once again proved reliable, and I managed to win a pawn for some compensation. After some accurate defensive moves, I found a very nice tactic to seal the game. My first win against a FIDE Master!

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 d6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5 Re8 8. O-O Na6 9. h3 Nc7 10. a4 a5 11. e4 Nd7 12. Be3 Na6 13. Qe2 Nb4 14. Ne1 Nb6 15. f4 f5 16. e5 dxe5 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. Bxc5 Bxg3 19. b3 Bd6 20. Bf2 Nd7 21. Nb5 Ra6 22. Nf3 Bc5 23. Nbd4 Nf6 24. Ng5 Bxd4 25. Bxd4 e6! 26. Rae1 exd5 27. Bxf6 Qb6+!! 28. Qf2 Qxf2+ 29. Kxf2 Nd3+ 30. Kg1 Rxe1 31. Rxe1 Nxe1 32. Bxd5+ Kf8 33. Nxh7+ Ke8 34. c5 Nd3 35. Bc4 Nxc5 36. Bxa6 bxa6 37. Bc3 Nxb3 38. Nf6+ Kf7 39. Nd5 Bd7 40. Nb6 Be6 41. Kf2 g5 42. Kf3 Kg6 43. Be1 Nd4+ 44. Kg2 Nc6 45. Kf3 Nb4 46. h4 g4+ 47. Kg3 f4+ 48. Kxf4 Nd3+ 0-1

Round 4 further improved my confidence about my play, however I have realized (during the tournament) that my openings are by far the weakest aspect of my game.

Round 3

In round 3, I was paired with White against Knut Neven (2199 FIDE, 2287 CFC). Knut used to live in Saskatchewan as well, but decided to move to Alberta to pursue the "Albertan Dream". Neven has authored several books for Chessbase. I entered the game playing for a draw, because at this point my confidence was low from losing my first two rounds. Knowing that he was a French expert, I decided to employ the Exchange variation against his French. I hoped to play for a draw. However, he made some minor positional inaccuracies, and I continued to consolidate and form an advantage. Eventually, I managed to activate my king and place my rooks on strong squares.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Qf3 c6 6. Ne2 Qf6 7. Qxf6 Nxf6 8. O-O Bg4 9. f3 Bh5 10. Bf4 Bxf4 11. Nxf4 O-O 12. Nd2 Nbd7 13. Rae1 Rfe8 14. Nb3 Bg6 15. Bxg6 hxg6 16. Kf2 b6 17. c3 a5 18. a4 g5 19. Nd3 g4 20. Ne5 gxf3 21. gxf3 Nxe5 22. dxe5 Nd7 23. f4 Nc5 24. Nxc5 bxc5 25. Kf3 Rab8 26. Rf2 Rb3 27. Kg4 g6 28. h4 Kg7 29. h5 d4 30. hxg6 fxg6 31. cxd4 cxd4 32. Rc1 Rc8 33. Rc5 Rc7 34. Rd2 d3 35. Kf3 Kf8 36. Rxa5 c5 37. Ra6 c4 38. Rxg6 Rbb7 39. f5 Rg7 40. Rc6 Rbc7 41. Rxc7 Rxc7 42. Rh2 Rc5 43. Ke4 Ra5 44. f6 Kf7 45. Kf5 Rd5 46. Rh7+ Kg8 47. Kg6 1-0

This win gave me some confidence, and I went into the next game scared, but also tenacious.

Round 2

In round 2, I was paired with Black against Greg Huber (2245 FIDE, 2322 CFC). Huber played a line that I was again unacquainted with in the Sicilian Defense. I found myself in a hard position, but using my intuition, I managed to steer the opening into a tactical middlegame, where my opponent sacrificed a pawn. I correctly accepted the sacrifice, and then went on to blunder a whole piece! Any player with a rating over 1300 CFC could have seen that the move I played clearly lost a piece. My opponent then went on to easily convert the extra piece. At the 2250+ FIDE level, a piece almost always means the game.

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. f4 g6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O Nf6 8. d3 Rb8 9. Qe1 Qb6 10. Kh1 O-O 11. Qh4 Bg4 12. f5 gxf5 13. e5 Bxf3??? Equal was Nd5. 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Qg3+ Bg4 16. Rxf5 Kh8 17. Qxg4 Rg8 18. Qh3 Rg7 19. Rh5 Qb4 20. a3 Qb6 21. Ne4 Bxb2 22. Rb1 Bxc1 23. Rxb6 Rxb6 24. Qc8+ Rg8 25. Qf5 Rg7 26. h4 f6 27. g3 Bxa3 28. Ng5 Rb1+ 29. Kh2 fxg5 30. Qf8+ Rg8 31. Qxe7 Rg7 32. Qf8+ Rg8 33. Qf6+ Rg7 34. Rxg5 1-0