Cedric Davies vs Ed Urquhart
Inside this Issue:
On Saturday, November 15, at the Nova Scotia Youth Chess Festival, Steve Saunders met with CFC Governors Glenn Charlton, David Kenney and Kim Tufts to discuss plans for the Nova Scotia Chess Association (NSCA) and to determine what should be set as the goals for 1998. There were numerous suggestions put forward during this meeting. However, due to our limited resources (money and volunteers) everyone realized that all worthy suggestions would have to be prioritized. The following are the initiatives that the NSCA would like to pursue during 1998. We welcome your comments on these initiatives as well as any other suggestions you would like to provide.
1.) National Event. We decided that we would investigate the possibility of holding the Canadian Junior Championship in Halifax in December 1998-January 1999. Our ability to hold this event depends, a great deal, on being able to provide billets to the participants and/or generating donations. It is a weeklong event and we would be required to provide food and lodging for all the participants.
Steve Saunders has agreed to look into funding that might be available from the provincial government and other sources. But most important, we really need your support, especially if you can provide a billet for one of the players. We feel this would be the best type of "national event" we could manage due to the limited size and funding requirements. It was felt that this type of event could be used to promote chess in Nova Scotia by capturing media attention.
2.) We discussed the possibility of holding back a small percentage of the entry fees in Nova Scotia tournaments to help fund such events as the provincial scholastic team. No decision was made on this issue during the meeting.
3.) We discussed publicity for chess. Newspaper advertising, articles and ads in En Passant, bulletin board flyers and a charity event was discussed. A "Mall" event, providing a simultaneous exhibition by one or more of the stronger players in the city seemed to be a good idea. However, a final decision to proceed on this suggestion will depend on whether a "Mall" would provide space and the availability and interest of the local chess players. We need your help on this one.
4.) The Newsletter and its contents were discussed. We'll continue planning on four Issues a year. We would like to include some chess problems from local games, cartoons and a welcome to new members. In addition we would like to provide more games from the tournaments together with additional diagrams. David Kenney has agreed to be our new newsletter editor, taking over from Kim Tufts.
5.) David Kenney will look into the possibility of reviving the Nova Scotia High School Chess Team Championships. David requests help from any High School teachers or principals in the province who would like to assist with this initiative. It was noted that some of our current "experts" cut their teeth on this event in the past.
6.) We would also like to promote chess by providing assistance to new chess clubs. There have been several new ones established during 1997- see our web pages - and a listing in this issue. We would like to help the new Chapters store in establishing a club as it could help both organizations.
7.) We would like to promote more chess tournaments in areas that have been inactive during the last few years but clearly have potential. Kim Tufts is to be commended for organizing a tournament in the Truro area. The Sydney-Glace Bay area is one area in which we would like to establish some chess activity.
If you would like to provide any comments on the proposed initiatives, please contact either Steve Saunders or any of the CFC Governors.
Halifax, NS October 10-14, 1997
National Chess Master Ed Urquhart of St. Mary's University won the Maritime Open played over the Thanksgiving weekend at Dalhousie University in Halifax, scoring six wins while allowing only two draws. This year the event was extended to a grueling eight rounds from the normal six round events held in the past. Forty seven players from the three Maritime Provinces competed for the title. I believe everyone who took part in this tournament would agree that this event was a major success.
Junior Cedric Davies of Halifax (and also attending Saint Mary's) surprised many with a strong second place finish with 6.5/8, beating many more experienced opponents, including a win and a draw against two chess masters.
Chess veteran Mike Eldridge of Falmouth, NS was clear third. It's believed that this result, coupled with a convincing match win earlier will boost Mike's rating over 2000 for the first time as a CFC member of nearly thirty years! Congratulations Mike from Chess Nova Scotia!
Other fine results were by Paul Hake (U1900 with 5.5), Kyung-Oh Ko (5.0), and Brian McGrath (U1500 4.0).
The players would like to thank the organizers, Albert Ede and Jim Brennan for their hard work.
Cedric Davies vs Ed Urquhart
Ed Urquhart (2216) - David Kenney (1969) Round 6 (Maritime Open) Pirc (Byrne Variation)
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 Bg7 5.Qd2 Nbd7 6.f4 O-O 7.O-O-O c5 8.d5!? (Nf3 perhaps) 8...a6 9.Nf3 h6 10.Bh4 b5 11.Re1! b4 12.Nd1 Bb7 13.c4! bc3 14.Nc3 Nb6 15.h3 Qc7 16.Bd3 Rab8 17.g4
Position after 17. g4
17. … Rfe8? (Committing himself to playing e6, which as we will see is a bad plan. Perhaps 17...Nbxd5!? 18.exd5 Nxd5 would produce better attacking chances.) 18.g5 hg5 19.Ng5! e6?? 20.de6 fe6 21.Rhg1 Nbd7 22.f5 c4 23.Ne6 Re6 24.fe6 Ne5 25.Bb1! (Be2?) Nf3 26.Qf4! Ne1 27.Bf6 Nd3+ 28.Bd3 cd3 29.Rg6 Rf8 30.Qg5 (e7 also wins) (1-0)
*** Notes by Urquhart, and edited by Tufts
Cedric Davies (1898) - A. Howarth (2294) Round 5 (Maritime Open)
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.f4 Bg7 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.Bd3!? d6 7.Nd4 Bd4?! (cd4 is much better) 8.Ne2 Bg7 9.c3 Nf6 10.Bc2 O-O 11.O-O Qb6 12.d3 e5 13.Rb1 c4+ 14.d4 Bg4 15.Be3 Bh6?? (Leaving the knight undefended.) 16.Qd2 Qc7!? (Qd8!? White still wins a pawn but his position doesn't look as solid after 17. fxe5 Bxe3+ 18.Qxe3 dxe5 19.dxe5 as it does after the text.) 17.fe5 Be3+ 18.Qe3 Nh5 19.ed6 Qd6 20.Nf4 (With a pawn up and a huge centre I attempt to simplify. Black doesn't oblige me
but in doing so pushes his pieces further back) 20...Ng7?
Position after 20. ...Ng7
21.h3! (The beginning of an interesting combination. Nd5 would completely wreck his position if it weren't for the reply f5, due to the threat of Nf6+ , Qh6, Qh7#. therefore I want to play e5 to clamp down on the f6 square while tempoing his queen. Problem is it might move to d7 covering the d5 square which brings me to h3! This displaces his bishop and unless he wants to play the undeveloping Bc8 he is forced to place it on d7 getting in the way of his queen.) 21...Bd7 22.e5 Qa6? (A draw offer. Qb8 may have been better since it stops the fork but 23.Nd5 f5 24.exf6ep Nh5 25.f7+ Kg7 (Kh8 loses to Bxg6) 26.Qe7 Qc8 27.Nf6 Nf6 28.Qf6 Kh6 29.Rf4 seems to win.) 23.Nd5 f5 24.ef6ep Nh5 25.f7+ Kh8 26.Qe5+ Ng7 27.Nc7 Qc6 28.Na8 Qc8 29.Nc7 Bh3 (Desperation.) 30.gh3 (Ne8! wins on the spot) Qh3 31.Rf2 Qg4+ 32.Rg2 Qd7 33.Bg6 Qh3 34.Bh5 Rf7 35.Bf7 (1-0)
***Notes by Davies, edited by Tufts
Jim Brennan (1857)- C. Drummond (1716)
Round 5 (Maritime Open) Torre Attack
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O c58. c3 h6 9. Bh4 Re8 (This is the first Dubious Move as Black won't get in e5 and the rook is misplaced) 10. Ne5 a6 (Black should take on e5 and play b6 and Bb6 with only a slightly better game for white) 11. a4 Qc7 12. f4 Bd6 (black clearly doesn't have a good plan. After the game we looked at Ne4 for Black which at the time I thought was fishy but did not refute in the post mortem. After looking at home however I found Nxe4 Bxh4 Nxc5 and now if Nxc5 and Black can't take on c5 because of the cute Qh5! highlighting the misplaced rook! for instance Qxc5 Qh5 Qxe3+ Kh1 and f7 and the Bh4 hang. I love the quiet combos that allow a capture with check!)13. Rf3 ( white can also play for a pawn storm with g4 etc.) b6 14. Rg3 Rf8 (This is a blunder but Black is most likely lost anyway. After a normal move like Bb7 white has 15. Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Qg4 Bf8 17.f5 with a vicious attack)15. Nxd7! Nxd7 16. Qg4 g5 ( I remember Eddie taking a look at this point with a horrified expression as Carlos played g5 but Black's position is way beyond help now)
Position after 16. ... g5
17. Bxg5 f5 18. Qh5 Rf7 19. Bxh6+ Kh8 20. Bg7+ Kg8 21. Qh8#. ***Notes by Brennan
Surname T ACF 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sco
1. HOWARTH,A 2294 W21 W14 W12 L4 L9 W18 D19 D11 5.0
2. URQUHART,E 2216 W22 D13 W19 W26 W4 W6 W5 D9 7.0
3. MCKIM,F 2132 W23 L16 D20 W32 W29 L19 W10 D12 5.0
4. MAYO,A 2067 W24 W15 W18 W1 L2 L9 L11 W20 5.0
5. GULATI,J 1994 W25 L18 W23 W33 W11 W7 L2 D6 5.5
6. KENNEY,D 1969 W27 D17 BYE W16 D7 L2 W13 D5 5.5
7. SAUNDERS,S 1949 W28 W20 D16 W13 D6 L5 W21 L19 5.0
8. DUFF ,K 1916 L29 W25 D28 W48 D* L21 D24 D26 4.0
9. DAVIES,C 1898 0.5 D48 W22 W18 W1 W4 W12 D2 6.5
10. ARMSTRONG,B 1892 1.0 L29 D30 W32 W28 L3 D24 4.0
11. HAKE ,P 1885 W30 L12 W43 W15 L5 W23 W4 D1 5.5
12. BRENNAN ,J 1857 W31 W11 L1 D19 W20 W26 L9 D3 5.0
13. DUFFY,S 1848 W32 D2 W34 L7 D21 W14 L6 D29 4.5
14. FRENETTE,F 1846 W35 L1 W24 L29 W25 L13 W30 D18 4.5
15. PHILLIPS,F 1840 W36 L4 W30 L11 D24 D29 W25 D21 4.5
16. REDDY,T 1832 W37 W3 D7 L6 L26 D31 W33 W23 5.0
17. BURGESS,B 1813 W38 D6 1.5
18. EDE,A 1801 W39 W5 L4 L9 W33 L1 W31 D14 4.5
19. ELDRIDGE,M 1787 W41 W29 L2 D12 W28 W3 D1 W7 6.0
20. DRUMMOND,C 1780 W42 L7 D3 W31 L12 D30 W35 L4 4.0
21. HAYWARD,J 1779 L1 D32 W40 W34 D13 W8 L7 D15 4.5
22. PHILLIPS,G 1749 L2 W38 L9 L37 W47 D34 W48 D32 4.0
23. FLEURY,B 1724 L3 W35 L5 W41 W37 L11 W34 L16 4.0
24. KLAPSTEIN,J 1712 L4 W41 L14 W42 D15 D* D8 D10 4.0
25. KEUNECKE,E 1710 L5 L8 W39 W43 L14 W42 L15 L* 3.0
26. UUETOA,H 1709 0.5 W40 W48 L2 W16 L12 L29 D8 4.0
27. BEALS,G 1692 L6 L43 L41 L47 W39 W45 W36 L34 3.0
28. BERNARD,G 1690 L7 W39 D8 W36 L19 L10 L32 W47 3.5
29. KO,K 1674 W8 L19 W10 W14 L3 D15 W26 D13 5.0
30. POIRIER,D 1649 L11 W42 L15 D10 W38 D20 L14 W35 4.0
31. LEGACY,L 1628 L12 D36 W45 L20 W40 D16 L18 L42 3.0
32. GATES,D 1602 L13 D21 W46 L3 L10 W47 W28 D22 4.0
33. TOTH,S 1542 0.5 W45 D* L5 L18 W37 L16 W43 4.0
34. KENNEY,J 1525 0.5 W47 L13 L21 W48 D22 L23 W27 4.0
35. DIGGINS,P 1491 L14 L23 L42 W39 W43 W46 L20 L30 3.0
36. SHEA,J 1467 L15 D31 W47 L28 D* D* L27 W38 3.5
37. MACLEAN,J 1404 L16 D* D* W22 L23 L33 L42 W41 3.0
38. KAADOU,N 1397 L17 L22 D* W45 L30 D* L43 L36 2.0
39. CONLEY,M 1384 L18 L28 L25 L35 L27 BYE W45 L46 2.0
40. KIMBER,D 1380 0.5 L26 L21 W46 L31 L48 L41 W45 2.5
41. LANDRY,S 1373 L19 L24 W27 L23 L42 L43 W40 L37 2.0
42. MCGRATH,B 1350 L20 L30 W35 L24 W41 L25 W37 W31 4.0
43. PEEL,N 1256 L48 W27 L11 L25 L35 W41 W38 L33 3.0
44. MAHAR,I 1100 0.5 D* 1.0
45. KENNEY ,B 1059 0.5 L33 L31 L38 L46 L27 L39 L40 0.5
46. GESHELIN,I 830 0.5 D* L32 L40 W45 L35 L47 W39 3.0
47. TANG,C 0.5 L34 L36 W27 L22 L32 W46 L28 2.5
48. HENSEL,G 1670 W43 D9 L26 L8 L34 W40 L22 D* 3.0
1.e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 e6 6.cxd4 b6 7.Nc3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Bb7 10.Bd3 d6 11.0-0 Nd7 12.Re1 dxe5 Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Rxe5 Bd6 15.Rh5 g6 16.Rh3 0-0 17.Qg4 f5 18.Qe2 Rae8 19.Bb5 Bc6 20.Re1!? Qd7 21.Bc4 Bd5 22.Bb5 Bc6 23.Bxc6 Qxc6 24.Bh6 Rf7 25.Re3 Bf8 26.Bxf8 Kxf8 27.c4!? (trying for more complications since 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Qxe6 Qxc3 29.d5 didn't seem to offer many winning chances.) Rc8 28.Rxe6 Qxc4 29.Qe5 (Because 29.Re8+ Rxe8 30. Qxe8+ (30.Qxc4?? Rxe1+) 30… Kg7 looks drawish.) Kg8 30.d5 Qb5 (To exchange queens in reply to d6, but 30…Qxa2 also came into consideration) 31.h4 Rd8 (The following sequel is very instructive for cooperation Tim achieves with his heavy pieces against the weakened Black kingside, using his d4 pawn as a decoy.) 32.h5 g5!? (Probably an error. 32…gxh5 may be best as after 33.Re3 (33.Qf4!?) 33…h4 there is no obvious route to a win for white.) 33.Qd4 (Centralizing and unpinning the Pawn, this asks Black what he will do, instead of trying to force the pace by direct threats that can be met.) Qc5 (Certainly not 33. Qxd5?? 34.Re8+ nor 33…Rxd5?? 34.Re8+ Rf8 35.Rxf8+ Kxf8 36.Qf6+ and if 33…g4?! 34.d6 Qc6 35.Qf4 Kh8 36.Re7 Qd5 37.Qh6 Rg8 38.Rxf7 39.Re7+-. However, 33…Qd7 may be a better defensive try.) 34.Qd2 f4 35.R1e5 Rg7 36.Qe1 (avoids checks by his Q. Now that Black can't interpose on f8, an upcoming Re8 double check looks nasty.) Rf8 37.h6 Rg6 38.Rxg6 hxg6 39.Re7 Qd6 (If 39…Rf6 40.Re6 Rxe6 (40…Rf7 41.Rxg6+) 41.Qxe6+ Kh7 42.Qf6; or 39…Qd4? 40.Qe6+ Kh8 41.Qxg6) 40.Re6 Qxd5(…Qd7 41.Rxg6+ Kh8 (41…Kh7 42.Rg7+)) 41.Qa1! 1-0
The first PEI Open in several years was held on Oct 25-26 in the Library of the Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown. The playing site was considered to be one of the best tournament locations available for the sixteen players who arrived for this event.
When the smoke had cleared, Steve Saunders from Nova Scotia walked away with first place with a perfect 5.0/0 score. Congratulations Steve ! Fred McKim placed second with 4 points. Tied for third with 3 points were Alvah Mayo, Justin Gulati, Brian Burgess, Ken Cashin, and David Paulowich (a former Bluenose Chess Club member).
Here is a game from Round "2".
White: McKim, Fred
Black: Saunders, Steve
Result: 0-1
WhiteElo: 2100
BlackElo: 1945
[Annotator "Saunders, Steve"]
1. d4 f5 2. Qd3 {While this strange looking move breaks opening principles, it does focus on Black's inherent weaknesses - g6, f7 and h7 - in the Dutch Defence } 2... d5 {best } 3. g4 fxg4 4. h3 Nf6 (4... g3 5. Qxg3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bf5 7. Bf4 Na6 8. O-O-O e6 9. Be5 Qd7 {Vegh - Horvath 1993}) 5. hxg4 Bxg4 6. Bg5 ( 6. Bh3 Qd7 7. Bf4 Nc6 8. Nc3 O-O-O 9. O-O-O e6 { with the edge to black in Jepson-Thallinger 1993}) 6... Qd6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Bh3 (8. Nd2) 8... Bxh3 9. Nxh3 Nc6 10. c3 O-O-O 11. Nd2 e5 12. e3 { now black is winning } (12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Qd4) 12... exd4 13. cxd4 Nb4 14. Qb1 Qc6 (14... Re8) 15. Qf5+ (15. Kd1 g6 16. a3) 15... Kb8 16. Kd1 g6 17. Qb1 Qf6 18. a3 Nc6 19. b4 Bd6 20. Qd3 Ne7 21. Nb3 {better is } 21... Qf5 (21... g5 { is better}) 22. Qxf5 Nxf5 23. Ng5 Rd7 24. Ke2 Re7 25. Rag1 h6 26. Nf3 Rg7 27. Nh4 Nxh4 28. Rxh4 h5 29. f4 Be7 30. Rh2 g5 31. fxg5 (31. Nc5 g4 32. Ne6) 31... Rxg5 (31... h4 {stronger }) 32. Rxg5 (32. Rgh1 $17) 32... Bxg5 33. Nc5 c6 34. Rg2 Be7 35. Nd7+ Kc8 36. Ne5 Rh7 37. Kf3 a5 {a sloppy effort to create queen side play better would have been to proceed immediately with 37...h4} 38. bxa5 Kc7 (38... Bxa3 39. Ra2 Bd6) 39. a6 (39. a4) 39... bxa6 40. Rg6 (40. Rc2 Rh6) 40... Bd6 41. a4 (41. Kg3) 41... h4 42. Kg2 h3+ 43. Kh2 Rh5 44. Re6 a5 45. Kh1 Rf5 46. Re8 (46. Kh2) 46... Bxe5 47. dxe5 Kd7 48. Ra8 (48. Rh8 {also loses }) 48... Rxe5 49. Rxa5 Rxe3 50. Ra7+ Kd6 51. a5 Ra3 52. Ra8 Kc5 53. a6 Kb6 54. Rb8+ Ka7 55. Rh8 Rc3 (55... Rxa6 56. Rxh3 Ra2 57. Rb3 { also works}) 56. Kg1 Kxa6 57. Kf1 (57. Rb8 c5) 57... Kb5 58. Ke1 Kc4 59. Kd2 Ra3 60. Rh4+ d4 61. Kd1 h2 62. Kc2 Ra2+ 63. Kb1 Rg2 64. Rh3 Rg1+ 65. Kc2 h1=Q 66. Rc3+ {one last cheapo} 66... Kd5 (66... dxc3?? {stalemate}) 0-1.
CFC TOP '50' NS LIST
Name Rtg Active
1. Coakley, Jeffrey 2274 2213 *
2. Urquhart, Ed 2219 1754
3. Villeneuve, Robert 2167 1914
4. Charlton, Glenn 2133 1948
5. Mathers, Jim 2103 -----
6. Beed, Brian 2078 2055 *
7. Lomond, Gerald 2070 2070
8. Davies, Cedric 2058 1599
9. Wysocki, Antoni 2053 1827
10. Saunders, Stephen 2039 1770
11. Mayo, Alvah 2028 1558
12. Miletic, Damir 2022 -----
13. Pentz, Brian 2013 1905
14. Giacomin, Gordon 2002 2064 *
15. Cooper, John 1992 1992 *
16. Paterson, John 1982 1721 *
17. Eldridge, Michael 1969 1873
18. Kenney, David 1955 1749
19. Hake, Paul 1940 1972
20. Kustudic, Dusan 1918 1795
21. Brennan, Jim 1901 1630
22. Naugler, Rex 1891 1901 *
23. LeBlanc, Gerald 1888 -----
24. Cosman, Tom 1877 1819
25. Armstrong, Brad 1866 1688
26. Duffy, Stephen 1859 1758
27. Reddy, Tyler 1851 1451
28. Ede, Albert 1844 1549
29. Burgess, Brian 1841 1784
30. Phillips, Fred 1838 1790
31. Tufts, Kim 1830 1596
32. Clair, Joe 1811 1768
33. Van Ryswyk, Tony 1805 1805 *
34. Steele, Leighton 1802 1771
35. Googoo, Alan 1793 -----
36. Kenney, Jason 1788 1386
37. Scallion, Calvin 1783 1737
38. Hayward, James 1781 1645
39. Ko, Kyung-Oh 1776 ------
40. Gibson, Jamie 1768 1595
41. Bernard, Gilbert 1764 1302
42. Fleury, Bruce 1760 1368
43. Berkman, Brian 1740 1714
44. Drummond, Carlos 1735 1468
45. Klapstein, John 1730 1374
46. Ormston, Ron 1728 1702
47. Fraser, Alex 1712 1483
48. Uuetoa, Harold 1708 1618
49. Phillips, Gary 1693 1564
50. Beals, George 1692 -----
* = inactive during last 12 months
The Halifax Open was held on November 7-9 at St. Mary's University and run as a two section event. Twenty one people competed in the "Open Section" while only seven players entered the "Under 1800" section. Since the u1800 section was small, the players were apparently not dissuaded by a higher entry fee for the open section. It appears the players just want to get the best games they can and therefore prefer to play in the "open" section.
Playing conditions were ok but not great with a small room and no skittles area but that hardly seemed to matter to the players. At the end, there was a two way tie for first, with both Alvah Mayo and Cedric Davies scoring four points in the five round event. The Under 1900 prize went to Tyler Reddy who had 3.5 points. The most improved prize went to Jason Kenney with three points. As a result of Jason's performance, his rating is expected to climb to 1720 from his current rating of 1594 The top Junior prize was awarded to Cedric Davies.
In the Under 1800 section, both John Hynes and Garrett Keddy tied for 1st-2nd with four points out of the five rounds.
For the most part, it appears the younger players took the majority of the prizes. Alvah is about 22, Cedric 18, Tyler 14, and Jason 15 years old. Alvah Mayo did most of the work by TD'ing but was assisted by Cedric Davies and Ed Urquhart. The players would also like to thank Brian McGrath and Tim Horton Donuts for supplying muffins and donuts for most of the tournament.
Open Section Player Rating rd1 rd2 rd3 rd4 rd5 total 1.Justin Gulati 2065 +11 -6 +5 -7 wd 2 2.Cedric Davies 2056 =12 +20 +6 =3 +13 4 3.Alvah Mayo 2040 +13 +8 +4 =2 =7 4 4.Mike Eldridge 2001 +14 +9 -3 -13 wd 2 5.Dave Kenney 1969 +15 =17 -1 =21 =9 2.5 6.Steve Saunders1949 +16 +1 -2 =9 +17 3.5 7.Tyler Reddy 1847 -17 +14 +12 +1 =3 3.5 8.Albert Ede 1828 +18 -3 -13 +14 +16 3 9.Brian Burgess 1813 +19 -4 +20 =6 =5 3 10.Bruce Fleury 1724 -20 =15 =16 +12 -21 2 11.Gary Phillips1713 -1 =16 +15 -17 =19 2 12.Harold Uuetoa1709 =2 =21 -7 -10 -14 1 13.G.Bernard 1692 -3 +19 +8 +4 -2 3 14.David Poirier1662 -4 -7 +18 -8 +12 2 15.Steve Karis 1650 -5 =10 -11 -19 -18 0.5 16.Ken Cashin 1639 -6 =11 =10 +20 -8 2 17.Jason Kenney 1596 +7 =5 =21 +11 -6 3 18.Pat Diggins 1485 -8 -0 -14 -0 +15 1 19.B.McGrath 1467 -9 -13 =0 +15 =11 2 20.Phil Boyle 1450 +10 -2 -9 -16 -0 1 21.B.Armstrong 1864 =0 =12 =17 =5 +10 3 U1800 Section 1.M.Furrow 1626 +4 -3 +6 -5 +2 3 2.George Beals 1617 +6 -5 +4 +3 -1 3 3.John Hynes 1550 +7 +1 +5 -2 +4 4 4.Steve Toth 1542 -1 +7 -2 =6 -3 1.5 5.Garrett Keddy 1510 +0 +2 -3 +1 +6 4 6.Lloyd Lombard unr -2 +8 -1 =4 -5 1.5 7.Ben Skinner unr -3 -4 =9 +8 +0 2.5 8.Pat Diggins 1485 -0 -6 -0 -7 -0 0 9.Brian McGrath 1467 -0 -0 =7 -0 -0 0.5
Tyler Reddy and Alvah Mayo
The NS Junior and Cadet Championship was held on October 18, 1997 at Dalhousie University. The two events were combined this year in order to accommodate a number of upcoming events and the Maritime Junior which was held on Nov 1-2 in Shediac. The tournament format was a 4 round active.
Player 1 2 3 4 5 Total 1.Cedric Davies x 1 0 1/2 1 2.5 2.Tyler Reddy 0 x 1 1 1 3 3.Matthew Furrow 1 0 x 1/2 1 2.5 4.Jason Kenney 1/2 0 1/2 x 1 2 5.Ian Mahar 0 0 0 0 x 0
At the end of the day, Tyler Reddy qualified for both the Maritime Junior and the Maritime Cadet. Cedric Davies also qualified for the Maritime Junior and Matthew Furrow qualified for the Maritime Cadet.
The event came down to a 15 min playoff game between Cedric and Matthew in which Cedric won. The last round was very interesting as Tyler had 3 points and had already qualified for both. He seemed to be winning against Cedric but lost while Matthew hung tough against Jason in a R+p ending to get the draw. In active chess anything can happen and pretty much did today.
The Maritime Junior was held on November 1 at the Louis-J-Robichaud High School in Shediac NB with only four of the six players expected showing up to play. Unfortunately, Eric Bertrand from NB had to pull out of the tournament at the last minute. At the end of the hard fought battle, Justin Gulati from PEI won the tournament with three wins. Congratulations Justin!
1st- Justin Gulati (PEI) with 3/3 3rd- Martin Robichaud (NB) with 1/3
2nd- Cedric Davies (NS) with 2/3 4th- Tyler Reddy (NS) with 0/3
There was some misunderstanding over the time controls for this tournament as Hector waited to see who showed up before making a decision on what would be used. With only three rounds, 30/60 with 1 hr sudden death was decided upon so that it would be over in the one day. Some players had a preference for longer time controls, (similar to what will be used at the Canadian Junior) but these were the most logical allowing everyone to finish in one day.
Tyler had a rough tournament losing his first game with Gulati after dropping a piece early in the opening. The game was a French Defence with Gulati playing a Milner-Barry Gambit. In his second game with Martin Robichaud, Tyler at one point, had a better position but due to some passive play was forced to give up his Queen to stop a Mate threat. Tyler had the Black pieces against Cedric in his third game and played the French Defence again. At first the game appeared to be equal but eventually Tyler was forced to give up a rook to stop a mating attack.
Cedric had only one major disappointment in this tournament. Apparently, Cedric had a won game against Gulati after forcing the win of an exchange. However Cedric blundered in the end game by grabbing a poisoned pawn and lost his rook to a knight fork. Cedric was unable to recover from this mistake and lost the game.
Atlantic Cadet Championship
Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 total 1.Eric Bertrand 2003 x 1 0 1 1 1 4 2.Tyler Reddy 1814 0 x 1/2 1 1 1 3.5 3.Espen Sodha 1667 1 1/2 x 1 1 1 4.5 4.Matthew Furrow 1624 0 0 0 x 1/2 1 1.5 5.Thor Sodha 1429 0 0 0 1/2 x 0 0.5 6.Scott Landry 1370 0 0 0 0 1 x 1 Eric Bertrand (NB), Tyler Reddy (NS), Espen Sodha (Nfld), Matthew Furrow (NS), Thor Sodha (Nfld), Scott Landry (PEI).
Tyler Reddy and Mathew Furrow Furrow, E. Sodha, Reddy, T. Sodha, Bertrand
Espen Sodha from Newfoundland won the Atlantic Cadet Championship held on November 22-23 in Truro, NS. In a surprise victory, Sodha defeated Eric Bertrand to win the championship with 4.5 points in this round robin event. There were only six players competing for the title as both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island sent only one representative. The winner of this tournament receives the right to represent the Atlantic Provinces in the upcoming Canadian Cadet Championship. However, in lieu of the Sodha family returning to Norway, Eric Bertrand will be this Region's representative. Chess-NS purchased a trophy for Espen and sent it to St. John's just before the Sodha family left for Norway. Incidentally, Espen had been receiving chess lessons from Jeff Coakley via the internet from Jeff's home in Nova Scotia. This tournament also saw the return of a Newfoundland representative to junior chess, their first representatives since 1987.
The first Truro Open Chess Championship attracted 21 players, ranging in age from 9 to 81. Justin Gulati, 19, of Charlottetown PEI, the reigning Maritime Junior Chess Champion won the tournament with 4.5 out of 5. Mike Eldridge of Falmouth, NS placed clear second with 4. The tournament provided an excellent opportunity for the Truro area players to participate in organized chess and was organized to promote chess in a convenient location for all Maritime players.
The tournament was organized in conjunction with the Atlantic Cadet Tournament and used faster time controls that normally used in Nova Scotia. The sudden death in 90 minutes format seem to favor the faster and perhaps younger players, but was a less intimidating time control for introducing new players to the game.
Player CFC# rd1 rd2 rd3 rd4 rd5 total 1.Steve Saunders 103353 +11 +6 =3 +5 -2 3.5 2.Justin Gulati 110208 +12 +7 =4 +3 +1 4.5 3.Alvah Mayo 105142 +13 +8 =1 -2 +9 3.5 4.Mike Eldridge 104341 +14 +10 =2 +8 =5 4 5.Bruce Fleury 109707 +15 +9 +6 -1 =4 3.5 6.Ken Cashin 103179 +16 -1 -5 +10 =11 2.5 7.Steve Toth 102861 +17 -2 -11 -15 +14 2 8.Brian McGrath 120927 +18 -3 +14 -4 -10 2 9.Phil Boyle 110332 +19 -5 +15 =11 -3 2.5 10.Terry Thorsen 2737* +20 -4 +17 -6 +8 3 11.Andrew Endendijk 2375* -1 +16 +7 =9 =6 3 12.Arthur Grant 100180 -2 -17 +18 +21 -15 2 13.Ralph Finck 111996 -3 -21 +16 +14 -17 2 14.Jason Mercer 120649 -4 +20 -8 -13 -7 1 15.Charles Verge new -5 +18 -9 -7 +12 3 16.Serge Geoffre new -6 -11 -13 -0 -0 0 17.Sid MacIsaac new -7 +12 -10 +20 +13 3 18.Jamie Cory new -8 -15 -12 -0 -0 0 19.Gary Atlin new -9 -0 -0 -0 -0 0 20.Michael Atlin 120807 -10 -14 =0 -17 +21 1.5 21.Robin Thorsen 120773 -0 +13 -0 -12 -20 1
As sudden death loomed, wild complications arose in this last round game that determined the tournament winner.
1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bg5 Bg7 5. Qd2 Nc6 6. Nf3 d6 7. Bh6 O-O 8. h4 Nh5 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. e3 e5 11. d5 Nb8 12. Be2 Nd7 13. O-O-O Ndf6 14. Rdg1 Ng4 15. Bd1 a6 16. Nh2 b5 17. f3 Nxh2 18. Rxh2 f4 19. Ne2 bxc4 20. exf4 Nxf4 21. Nxf4 Rxf4 22. h5 g5 23. g3 Rd4 24. Qc3 Qg8 (24... Rxd5 25. f4 Rb8) 25. f4 Qxd5 26. fxg5 (26. h6+ Kf8 27. fxe5 dxe5 28. Rf2+ Kg8 29. Bf3 e4 30. Bxe4 Qxe4 31. Re1 Qxe1+ 32. Qxe1 {White wins!}) 26... Rd3 27. Qe1 Be6 (27... c3 {Could have kept black's advantage. Black paniced as sudden death approached!})28. Rf1 Qd4 (28... c3 {Ditto.}) 29. Bc2 Qe3+ 30. Qxe3 Rxe3 31. h6+ Kg8 32. Rf6 Bf7? 33. Bxh7+ Kxh7 34. Rxf7+ Kg6 (34... Kg8 35. Rhf2 {Leads to checkmate as both Rs supported by pawns reach the 7th rank.}) 35. Rg7+ Kf5 36. h7 Rxg3 37. Rg8 Rxg8 38. hxg8=Q Rg1+ 39. Kc2 1-0
Many thanks to Terry Thorsen and Cobequid Education Centre for hosting the event. Considered a success, plans are already underway for another event in Truro in the spring. We would also like to thank Kim Tufts for directing the tournament.
Problem # 1
White to move and mate in 5 moves!
Problem # 2
Black to move and mate in 4 moves!
Results from Other Recent Chess Events
Eldridge vs Gibson Match
Player Old Perf New Results Total Prov 1. Eldridge, Michael 1951 2145 2001 1 1 1 1 1 = 5.5 NS 2. Gibson, Jamie 1812 1618 1768 0 0 0 0 0 = 0.5 NS
Ecole Carrefour Active (October 18, 1997)
Player Old Perf New Results Total Prov
1. Kenney, Jason 1338 1460 1386 X X 1 1 1 1 1 1 6.0 NS
2. Federico, Anthony 985 1241 1087 0 0 X X 1 = 1 1 3.5 NS
3. Westhaver, Donovan 1295 871 1196 0 0 0 = X X 1 0 1.5 NS
4. Kenney, Bryan 889 939 934 0 0 0 0 0 1 X X 1.0 NS
A chess tournament for children was organized by Kim Tufts and held at the Ecole du Carrefour on Saturday December 13. In the Novice section, Michael Atlin, Brian Pentz and Gary Ng all tied for first with 4/5. In the ensuing playoff, Michael ended up in first, Brian 2nd, and Gary 3rd. The beginner section was won by Kyle Myers with Andre Gautier 2nd and Ben Todd 3rd.
Here is the first game from the FIDE World Chess Championship Candidates Match between
White: Rublevsky,S (2650) vs Black: Spraggett,K (2575)
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Nc5 b6 6. Nb3 e6 7. Nf3 Bd6 8. g3 Ne7 9. Bg2 h6 10. Qe2 Nd7 11. Ne5 Rc8 12. O-O O-O 13. Rd1 Bb8 14. c4 Qe8 15. Bd2 Nxe5 16. dxe5 c5 17. Bc3 Rd8 18. f4 Qa4 19. Nd2 Bc2 20. Re1 Bd3 21. Qf2 Bh7 22. b3 Qa6 23. Ne4 Rd7 24. Rad1 Rfd8 25. Qe2 Nf5 26. g4 Nd4 27. Qf2 Qc8 28. Rd2 Nc6 29. Red1 Rxd2 30. Rxd2 Rxd2 31. Qxd2 Ne7 32. h3 Bc7 33. Kf2 a5 34. a3 Bg6 35. Nd6 Qd8 36. Ke2 h5 37. Nb5 Qxd2+ 38. Bxd2 Bd8 39. b4 axb4 40. axb4 cxb4 41. Bxb4 hxg4 42. hxg4 Bc2 43. Nd6 Ng6 44. Ke3 Be7 45. Bc3 f6 46. Be4 Bxe4 47. Kxe4 fxe5 48. Bxe5 Nf8 49. f5 exf5+ 50. Nxf5 Bf6 51. Bc7 Nd7 52. Nd6 Bh4 53. Kf5 Bf2 54. g5 Kf8 55. Ne4 Be3 56. Ke6 Nc5+ 57. Nxc5 bxc5 58. g6 Kg8 59. Bd6 Bf2 60. Kd5 Be3 61. Bxc5 Bd2 62. Bd4 Bb4 63. Be5 Kh8 64. Bd6 1-0
Keven Spraggett also lost his second round game and has now been eliminated for this World Chess Championship cycle.
HALIFAX: Bluenose Chess Club meets every Monday night between 6:30pm -11:00pm at the Dalhousie University Student Union Building (SUB), University Avenue, Halifax. Contact: Kim Tufts by e-mail at an169@chebucto.ns.ca or by phone at 423-9274 for information.
DARTMOUTH: The Dartmouth Junior Chess Club meets every Saturday afternoon from 1:00pm to 4:30pm at the Dartmouth Public Library (2nd Floor), 60 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth. Contact: either Don Bidgood at 463-7667 or Roy Yetman by e-mail at byetman@atcon.com or by phone at 464-9888 for further information.
TRURO: The Truro Chess Club: meets every Wednesday from 6:30 - 9:00 at the Public Library in Truro. For further information contact Terry Thorsen at 897-4897.
WOLFVILLE: The East Kings Chess Club meets in the Wolfville Town Library every Monday at 7:00pm. Please contact Tom Cosman at 542-9443 or John Hynes at nstn2003@fox.nstn.ns.ca for further information.
LUNENBURG: The Lunenburg Chess Club meets on Tuesdays at 6:00pm in the Mug and Anchor Pub, located on Mader's Wharf, Mahone Bay. For further information please contact Steve Saunders by e-mail at ssaunders@fox.nstn.ca or by phone at 624-9361.
CHESTER: The Chester Chess Club is a small chess club that meets on Thursdays from 4:00 -8:00pm in the Globe Trotter Café in the village of Chester. Please note this club will be closed during the month of December, but will open again in January 1998. Please contact Luigi Arnold at 275-5185 for further information.
NEW ROSS: The New Ross Chess Club meets every Monday night at 7:00pm in the New Ross Legion. You must be 19 years of age or older to play at this club due to the fact the Legion has a liquor license which does not allow people under this age to be on the premises. For further information on this club please contact Serge Geoffre at 689-2961.
HALIFAX: The Chapters Chess Club is currently organized by the new Chapters Bookstore in the Bayers Lake Industrial Park. At present, the club plans to meet on a monthly basis starting in January 1998. For further information on this club, please contact the Chapters Bookstore.
GLACE BAY: The Cape Breton Chess Club meets on Sundays at 7:00pm at the Beacon St. Hall, Beacon St., Glace Bay. For further information please contact Paul McKinnon via e-mail at pmckinnon@hotmail.com or by phone at 849-9709.
SACKVILLE: The Sackville Chess Club is currently being organized by Albert Ede. If you are interested in this club please contact Albert Ede by phone at 865-5856.
SYDNEY: For info contact Larry Boutilier, 2533 Kings Rd., Sydney Forks, NS by e-mail lbootler@ns.sympatico.ca or at 562-7119.
After what seemed forever, the Bluenose Fall Sectional has finally been concluded. Many players feel such events offer more competitive and realistic approximations of a player's strength than a weekend swiss, and from the results a case could be made that this was borne out.
A Section
Albert Ede finished first, making fewer blunders and generally playing a more determined game than his opponents. My results were mixed, winning three miniatures with Black only to score a miserable 0.5/3 with white, despite being better from the opening in every game! Kyung's games always seemed double-edged, risky affairs. However he is fast improving and his results will only get better. Gary played too fast and made more blunders than usual.
B Section
With 6-0 Jason Kenney outclassed his section easily, displaying a much better tactical sense with maturing positional play. Coupled with other recent results, Jason's rating will have gone up over 300 points since August! Matthew and Pat Diggins both lost games that they needn't have, while Steve Toth's unorthodox style threw off his opponents.
C Section
Mark Ziubinski redeemed himself with a fine result (in the last sectional Mark scored only 1/6!). Phil Boyle and Brian McGrath were competitive as most games were very close. David Cunningham gained a lot of experience and was not overwhelmed as his score suggests. An affable group, the players frequently played at home if scheduling became a problem.
Bluenose Chess Club Fall Sectional Results:
A Section Result
1. Albert Ede 1844 4.0
2. Kim Tufts 1830 3.5
3. Kyung-oh Ko 1776 2.5
4. Gary Phillips 1693 2.0
B Section
1. Jason Kenney 1788 6.0
2. Mathew Furrow 1598 3.0
3. Steve Toth 1501 2.0
4. Pat Diggins 1437 1.0
C Section Result
1. Mark Ziubinski 1523 5.0
2. Phil Boyle 1498 4.5
3. Brian McGrath 1437 2.5
4. David Cunningham 1086 0.0
Gabriel Silberman, from the Centre for Advanced Studies at IBM in Toronto and a member of the technical team behind Deep Blue was in Halifax in November. During his visit to Dalhousie's Computer Science Department, Dr. Silberman gave a lecture to the public which provided an inside look at both the original match, as well as the rematch, between Gary Kasparov and the IBM super-computer. Deep Blue made history when it defeated Kasparov during the 1997 rematch as this was the first time that a computer had won a match against a reigning World Champion.
Dr. Silberman also talked about the technical strategies used to make Deep Blue competitive with the world's best chess players. One of the basic questions related to this was whether Deep Blue had "artificial intelligence" or not. He also spoke about the challenges of convincing IBM management that this was a worthwhile venture that would not embarrass IBM.
Deep Blue’s victory over Kasparov has apparently alarmed many people who see it as a sign that humans may someday become obsolete. Silberman hopes to quash those concerns. "Computers are a way to enhance our capabilities in the same way that a car enhances our capacity to move things, or a calculator enhances our possibilities of doing calculations better than we could before. No one feels threatened by that type of technology." The Deep Blue program running on the supercomputer has the capability to calculate 200 million chess positions per second compared to an average of about three moves per second for a human.
The Deep Blue team developed three innovative strategies to build a computer competitive with Gary Kasparov:
1. The Deep Blue Team took a regular "off-the-shelf model" of the powerful IBM-RS232 computer and made it into a more effective calculator. They did this by adding and organizing parallel processors (brains) with hardware accelerators (making them work faster). As a result, Deep Blue could look at 200-million positions a second;
2. US Grandmaster Joel Benjamin was brought onto the team to assist with the design of the logic used to evaluate chess positions on an efficient basis. The computer program was also given the ability to manage its own time. The machine generally took so much time a move (3 minutes or so) for non-book moves. However, with Joel Benjamin's chess knowledge, the computer was given the ability to spend more time on a critical move if it met certain criteria;
3. The machine was incapable of learning on its own. Instead, when problems became apparent it was up to the Deep Blue Machine to make adjustments in the program. Between the 1996 and 1997 matches the Deep Blue team developed a way to adjust the evaluation program of the machine without creating more problems. Thus, between games, the Deep Blue team adjusted the program so it would play better, effectively "learning" for the machine.
Is Deep Blue intelligent? In many senses yes, said Silberman. Certainly the Serge Algorithm made the machine seem intelligent, helped the machine make "human-like" moves that threw Kasparov off his game. But Deep Blue could not learn from playing. Learning from experience was not part of its program. Silberman said "Deep Blue doesn't think or adapt on its own. It's the designers who adjust (the computer) with a neat set of tools to tweek the program." The machine's inability to learn on its own was considered the most important factor. In that sense, it was only a calculator; and thus humans were ultimately in control of the machine. Silberman gave many amusing anecdotes of things that went on behind the scenes. One of the items mentioned was Kasparov’s specific requirements for food during the match. While Deep Blue had it's special electrical requirements, Kasparov also needed fuel during the game too. What does Kasparov consume while playing chess? - Toblerone chocolate bars, bananas and his favourite brand of bottled water.
Sydney Open - Jan. 17-18 - Civic Centre, Esplanade, Sydney, NS. This will be a four round swiss with an entry fee of $10. Registration at 11:00am Jan 17, 1st round at noon. First prize $50. For further info contact Larry Boutilier at (902) 562-7119).
Bluenose Chess Club Championship - February 13-15, 1998 - Dalhousie University Student Union Building. Sections: Open /U1800/U1600. Five round 30/90 SD in 1 hour event. Registration at 6:00pm, Rounds at 6:30 / 10am 4pm / 10am 4pm. EF $25
Lunenburg County Chess Championship - April 17, 18, 19, 1998 This three day five round swiss tournament will be held at the Wandlyn Inn in Bridgewater, NS. For further info contact Steve Saunders (e-mail: ssaunder@fox.nstn.ca. ) phone 902-624-9361.
Problem #1 1.Qe6+ Qxe6 2.Nd7 (threatening Rb8mate) Qxd7 3. Rb8+ Kxb8 4. cxd7 (any black move) 5. d8=Q mate.
Problem #2 1. …Qb4+ 2. Bxb4 Rd2 3. Qxd2 Nc2+ 4. Qxc2 axb4 mate.
How to get information on chess in Nova Scotia
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Web Site: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Recreation/NSChess/nschess.html
Nova Scotia Chess Association President: Steve Saunders phone: 624-9361 e-mail: ssaunder@fox.nstn.ca
CFC Governors for NS: Kim Tufts phone: 423-9274 e-mail: an169@chebucto.ns.ca
Glenn Charlton phone: 445-3875
David Kenney phone: 462-7455 e-mail: au601@chebucto.ns.ca
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