Saturday, March 31, 2007

CYCC Registered Players Page now available

The Canadian Youth Chess Championship Registered Players page is now available at: http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/CYCCRegisteredPlayers . As of March 30, 2007, a total 61 players have registered for CYCC.

For full event details, please visit our website at: http://canchess.ca

Thursday, March 29, 2007

CYCC fees frozen until June 29, 2007

In light of the outstanding response from corporate sponsors and individual donors in support of the CYCC, the Organizing Committee has determined that the registration fee for the Canadian Youth Chess Championship shall be frozen at $150 until June 29, 2007. This will permit those qualifying through regional selection to participate without late penalties. Every effort will be made to accommodate those registering after this date, i.e. during the week of the event itself, but a late fee of an additional $50 will be charged.

For further exciting news about the CYCC, visit the official website at http://www.canchess.ca/

Thursday, March 22, 2007

GM Abhijit Kunte confirmed for the 2007 Canadian Open

One of the co-winners of the 2006 Canadian Open Chess Championship will be returning to Canada this summer to defend his title. GM Abhijit Kunte of Pune, India has confirmed his participation in the 2007 Canadian Open in Ottawa.



"It will be great to visit Canada once again," said GM Kunte, who has a FIDE rating of 2532 and has played in the last three Canadian Opens.

GM Kunte's participation at this year's open is sponsored by ATFCAN, an Ottawa-based not-for-profit corporation that commercializes clean energy technologies around the world.
GM Kunte is the sixth grandmaster to be confirmed for this year's open, to be held July 7-15 at the Ottawa Marriott. The others are GM Nigel Short, GM Vadim Milov, GM Suat Atalik, GM Alex Yermolinsky and GM Mark Bluvshtein.




Photo: www.hinduonnet.com



For more information on the 2007 Canadian Open, visit http://www.canchess.ca


GM Abhijit Kunte sponsored by: http://atfcan.com


Sunday, March 18, 2007

Super-GM Vadim Milov confirmed for the 2007 Canadian Open

The Organizing Committee of the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship is very pleased to announce that another super-GM has accepted their invitation to play in Ottawa this summer. Swiss Grandmaster Vadim Milov, 34, has confirmed his participation and his play will certainly add extra excitement to the fight for first place.


GM Milov, 34, was born in Russia and moved to Israel before settling in 1996 in Switzerland. With a rating of 2665, GM Milov is Switzerland's top-ranked player, ahead of GM Victor Korchnoi. He is a globe-trotting chess professional keen to play -- and win -- at prestigious open events around the world.

Last year at the 34th World Open in Philadelphia, GM Milov was one of nine players who tied for first, with 7.0/9 each. A tiebreak playoff between Gata Kamsky and GM Milov was won by GM Kamsky. Other recent tournament successes include joint first places at Santo Domingo 2003, Geneva 2004, and the U.S. Open of 2005. He also won the Corsica Masters International Rapid 2005 by defeating Viswanathan Anand in the finals.


GM Milov is currently the second-ranked player confirmed to play in the Canadian Open in Ottawa, to be held July 7-15 at the preimum hotel the Ottawa Marriott. He is outranked only by GM Nigel Short.

A chessbase.com search suggests that GM Short and GM Milov have played just once before:

[Event "Najdorf mem 11th"]
[Site "Buenos Aires"]
[Date "2000.09.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Milov, Vadim"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E59"]
[WhiteElo "2626"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[PlyCount "116"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. O-O e5 12. Qc2 Re8 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. f3 Bd7 16. Rb1 Bc6 17. Re1 Rad8 18. Bf1 Rd6 19. c4 Rde6 20. Qf2 Nd7 21. e4 Qh5 22. Bf4 f5 23. exf5 Qxf5 24. Bg3 Ne5 25. Qd2 h5 26. Rb3 g5 27. h3 h4 28. Bf2 b6 29. Rbe3 Qf4 30. Qc3 Kf7 31. Qc2 Qf6 32. a4 a5 33. Rb1 Bd7 34. Qh7+ Qg7 35. Qxg7+ Kxg7 36. Reb3 Bxa4 37. Rxb6 Bc2 38. Rxe6 Rxe6 39. Rb5 Bd3 40. Rxa5 Bxf1 41. Kxf1 Rc6 42. Rxc5 Rxc5 43. Bxc5 Nxc4 44. Ke2 Kf6 45. Kd3 Ne5+ 46. Ke4 Nd7 47. Be3 Kg6 48. Bd4 Nf8 49. Ke5 Nd7+ 50. Ke6 Nf8+ 51. Ke7 Nh7 52. Ke6 Nf8+ 53. Ke7 Nh7 54. Bc3 Kf5 55. Kf7 Kf4 56. Be1 Kf5 57. f4 Kxf4 58. Kg7 Nf8+ 59. g4
1/2-1/2


If they play in Ottawa, who knows what the result might be?

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Canadian Open online room reservation is now available

Online room reservation at the Ottawa Marriott is now available. To reserve your room, please click on the Ottawa Marriott reservation link or visit our home page at http://canchess.ca for further details.

Due to the attractive room rates and Canadian Open being held during height of tourist season, the Organizing Committee would like to advise prospective participants to reserve their rooms as early as possible.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Room Block for the Fairmont Chateau Laurier is Sold Out!

The Organizing Committee for the Canadian Youth Chess Championships would like to notify all prospective CYCC participants and their parents that the Chateau reservation block is now sold out (much to our surprise!!) The Chateau no longer has any rooms available during this time block.

The Organizing Committee has arranged additional room reservation blocks with these hotels:

Travelodge Doral Inn in downtown Ottawa, roughly eight blocks from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. Room rates start at $99/double and include breakfast, parking and wireless Internet access in guest rooms. Online reservations can be made here or by calling toll-free at 1-800-263-6725.
Four Points by Sheraton & Conference Centre Gatineau-Ottawa in downtown Hull, Quebec, just across the Ottawa River -- a very short drive from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. Online reservations can be made here.

We strongly recommend that you reserve your rooms as early as possible.

Other nearby accomodation links may be found on our event page at: http://www.canchess.ca

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

The 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship moves to the Ottawa Marriott.

The 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship is upgrading its venue, moving from Carleton University to the Ottawa Marriott.

The Ottawa Marriott, a leading downtown hotel just blocks from Parliament Hill, was chosen because of its unsurpassed offerings in terms of tournament space, value for participants and location. In addition, the Ottawa Marriott will come onboard as a Gold Sponsor for the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship.


The hotel offers Canadian Open participants a fantastic rate for a downtown Ottawa premium hotel in early July -- $89 for single and double occupancy, $99 for triple occupancy and $109 for quadruple occupancy. The rates include:
  • Reduced rate for hotel parking at $10 per day

  • Access to the Marriott's top-notch health club

  • Free Starbucks beverage coupon redeemable at the in-house Starbucks


By moving to the Ottawa Marriott and downtown Ottawa, the 2007 Canadian Open will be placing itself squarely where the action is in Canada's capital, giving players many more away-from-the-board options when they aren't playing. The Sparks Street Mall and Byward Market, Ottawa's storied tourist/shopping/dining districts, are short walks away. So too is Parliament Hill, the National Gallery of Canada and other sites of interest. The Cisco Systems Bluesfest overlaps with the 2007 Canadian Open, and the Marriott operates a shuttle to the Bluesfest venue during the day.

Hotel information can be found at:

http://www.ottawamarriott.com

A hotel reservation page dedicated to the Canadian Open will be online shortly. Please visit our event website at: http://cocycc.pbwiki.com

We are sure that 2007 Canadian Open players will love staying and playing at the Ottawa Marriott.



Friday, March 2, 2007

Bell Canada Sponsors Bluvshtein to Participate in the Canadian Open

The organizers of the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship are very pleased to announce that Toronto Grandmaster Mark Bluvshtein has confirmed his participation in the event, to be held in Ottawa from July 7 to 15 this year.

GM Bluvshtein, who turns 19 this year, is Canada's top-rated resident chess player. At the 2005 Canadian Open in Edmonton, GM Bluvshtein notched one of the most outstanding victories in recent Canadian chess history when he beat super-GM Alexei Shirov. GM Bluvshtein tied for first place in the Edmonton event. He has also had notable successes representing Canada abroad at the World Youth Chess Championship and Chess Olympiads.




















Mark Bluvshtein, right, beat Alexei Shirov, left, in the 2005 Canadian Open.

GM Bluvshtein attends York University, where he studies chemistry. His participation in the 2007 Canadian Open is sponsored by Bell Canada. The event organizers are very thankful to Bell Canada for its support.

The 2007 Canadian Open will be held in Ottawa from July 7 to 15, 2007. Full details can be found at: http://cocycc.pbwiki.com