Some News

I will be going to Philadelphia in the end of the month to play in the World Open. I have never played in the tournament, which is supposed to be the biggest annual open tournament in the world. A lot of strong players appear to try to cash in on the $25,000 first prize. I will then play in the Canadian Open, which will take place at The Westin Harbour Castle in downtown Toronto. I haven’t played in Canada in 2 years and I haven’t played in Toronto in much longer than that. It will be nice to play in front of the home crowd.

In other news, there will be a segment about me this Friday on Global News, Channel 3 in Ontario, between 6 and 7pm. The segment is a part of a series called Generation Inspiration. More about that after the show airs.

This Saturday, I will be attending the Chess in the Library 2nd Annual Festival. Chess in the Library (CITL) is one of the most positive organizations ever seen in Canada and it promotes chess programs in libraries across Canada. CITL keeps expanding due to the great work of its members.

Off to Havana

I am currently waiting for boarding at Pearson Airport. I am flying to Havana to play in the Premier Group of the Capablanca Memorial. My section will have a 10 player round robin, with 9 GMs, and a 2560 average rating.

The games start on Wednesday. I thought it would be a good idea to arrive in Havana two days before the tournament starts. There will be no “settling in” with the first few rounds. No easy games and a lot of hard fought battles. Some of the players who played in Toluca will be taking part here as well.

Time to fly!

Off to Mexico

It’s snowing outside of my window in Toronto. Perfect time to go away for another tournament. This time it will be the American Continental Chess Championship, in Toluca, Mexico. The tournament has been put together in the last minute, since it was originally planned to take place in September. With the change of the World Cup cycle, it had to move to a much earlier date.

I have not found an official tournament website. Not sure if games will be broadcast. There should be about 20 players over 2500 in the solid event. The tournament starts on the 19th and ends on the 24th. Nine rounds in six days. I am flying out tomorrow.

Since I got back I have done a lot of work on my own. I have also  been working a lot with NM Liam Henry, a good friend of mine, as my second. This included a lot of work on all stages of the game. I have also done some work with IM Igor Zugic, who (still) promises to play in a tournament or two in 2011. Thanks to both for the help.

I haven’t played in a tournament in 2 months now. The hunger is back. Working on chess is different from actually playing chess. Simuls and lectures are interesting but in a different way. Time to do what I love most about chess: the competition. It’s time!

There Is No Place Like Home

I got back to Toronto yesterday afternoon. Toronto is “warm” by comparison to Moscow. It’s great to be back after my five week trip. It will be important to rest up before leaving for my next tournament. I hope to have my upcoming tournament schedule fixed within the next week.

To come is a summarizing post about the Tata Steel Tournament which will include, among other things, photos not seen before. Then I will provide tournament coverage of the Aeroflot Open event which finished on Wednesday. I started the tournament ranked 52nd and was paired up the first round!

I will be giving a lecture at the Annex Chess Club on Monday, February 28th. I would recommend to check out the video on the front page of the site, entitled Chess Is Awesome. Details of my lecture can be found here. I look forward to seeing many of you come out and enjoy the good atmosphere of the ACC!

 

 

Moscow

I arrived to Moscow yesterday afternoon. I had the pleasure to have dinner with relatives that I have not seen in a few years. I was feeling tired after traveling from Brussels as I went to sleep. I feel very energized after a 12 hour hibernation.

You can follow the action of the 2011 Aeroflot Open here. The Opening Ceremony takes place tonight. The first round takes place tomorrow at 3pm, Moscow time. I am going to meet up with Thomas Roussel-Roozmon later today. I have not seen Canada’s newest Grandmaster since he had achieved the title at the Olympiad.

My coverage of Wijk aan Zee is not fully over just yet. To come are game analysis from Hikaru Nakamura, photos, and a summary of the event. All of these features will come after I am back home.

I would recommend people to check out Jon Ludvig Hammer’s Blog. Hammer always writes in an entertaining fashion, the same way he is in real life.

Time for an exciting tournament. It’s going to be 9 rounds of top level competition!

What’s To Come

I arrived to Brussels today. I will be spending the next week here until I go to play in Moscow for the Aeroflot Open. I will start annotating my games from the event tomorrow. You can expect 13 very hard fought games. A lot of blood was shed in the C-group, with very few draws. I will also provide a play by play of how the players were treated. This was the best organized chess tournament I have ever attended. The whole organizing committee needs to get credit for that.

The tournament report will also have a lighter side, including Holland against The World soccer matches which had some world-class chess names, including the world’s highest rated player.

Congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura for winning the A-group! Hikaru will annotate a game for my blog. I hope to have that game posted on here by the end of February.

I would also like to thank everybody for their support throughout this very long event. It’s always nice to read your positive comments.

First Trip of 2011

I sit at the Toronto Pearson Airport as I write this quick update. I am about to leave for the longest trip I have even taken, lasting over five weeks. First I will play in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. I have been trying to get into the event for years and even played a qualifier in an attempt to get into the 2010 version of the event. The event is the Wimbeldon of chess, with the best players in the world competing in the top group. The drawing of lots for my section, the C section, will occur tomorrow evening. First round starts on Saturday.

I will then have a week to spend in Europe before my next tournament. I plan to go to Brussels, a place I have never visited. The week should give me plenty of time to regain some lost energy and see a beautiful city. I will also have some time for blogging there.

From there I will go to play in the Aeroflot Open. I saw the list of participants recently. This will be a very strong event. I expect to be rated at about the 25th percentile of the A group. A blitz tournament will follow the event on February 17th. I will be back to Toronto on February 18th.

Happy New Year!

I’d like to wish everybody a very Happy New Year! I hope that 2011 will be even more promising than 2010 for you in all aspects of life!

I came back from Groningen on Friday, in time to celebrate the arrival of the New Year in Toronto. No spoiler alert in this post. My next posts will be broken down into parts as a review of my tournament in Groningen. All I can say now is that it was quite a journey!

On a side note, a book called The Winner’s Brain came out in 2010, which included research that was conducted with me. The part on me is on pages 127 and 128. The book is an attempt to break down the characteristics needed to achieve career success in all spheres.

What’s To Come

I have not played in a tournament in about a month and the half. For those who got worried, please don’t be. A lot of tournament play is to come in the near future. Hard work needs to be balanced with real tournament practice.

I have updated my Tournament Schedule, which you can find as one of the headers on the front page of my blog. The next two months will be packed with tournaments. On Saturday, I will be heading to Groningen to play in the Groningen Chess Festival. The event has a very rich history. I do not know if the tournament site will have live games, but I am sure it will have results.

I was looking to combine the event with another European tournament but then considered it wise to take Groningen as a practice event before a critical stretch in the beginning of 2011.

As I wrote earlier, I will be playing in the C Group, in Wijk Ann Zee, from January 14th to 30th. The tournament has been renamed, from Corus, to Tata Steel Chess 2011. Below is the list of participants in my group, copy-pasted from the tournament site. Ratings have not been updated.

Participants grandmaster group C

	Name	Country	Rating
GM	Murtas Kazhgaleyev	KAZ	2620
GM	Ivan Ivanisevic	SRB	2613
GM	Mark Bluvshtein	CAN	2583
GM	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2581
GM	Katherina Lahno	UKR	2539
IM	Ilya Nyzhnyk	UKR	2538
GM	Dariusz Swiercz	POL	2522
IM	Roeland Pruijssers	NLD	2487
IM	Benjamin Bok	NLD	2453
IM	Jan Willem de Jong	NLD	2444
IM	Mark van der Werf	NLD	2432
IM	Robin van Kampen	NLD	2430
GM	Sebastian Siebrecht	GER	2421
IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2382

The average rating for my group is 2503. It will make for an interesting event. The goal for all the top guys in the section will be to win the event and qualify for group B next year. With 13 rounds and 3 rest days, this will be my longest chess tournament ever!

When thinking about this year of professional chess, I saw a few tournaments as absolute musts to play in. One of those tournaments is the Aeroflot Open. With the top section having a minimum rating of 2550, the best way to describe the event is as a slugfest. There will be no easy games, and 9 hard fought ones. To make conditions more extreme, the weather is added and the tournament will take place from February 7th-17th, in Moscow. This tournament will most likely be the strongest one in my calendar. I will be rated in the second half of participants.

To make matters more interesting, I will be staying in Europe for the time between Tata and Aeroflot. The decision was not an easy one to make because it means that I will be in Europe for over five consecutive weeks. With a week to rest up between the two tournaments, it seemed more practical to stay in Europe in approximately the same time zones than to go back to Canada and readjust to three different time zones within a week.

I am very happy to announce that I will also be playing in the 2011 Canadian Open. The tournament will take place from July 9th to 17th. The tournament promises to be a great one, with three GMs already registered 7 months before the event started! I know that the organizers are working very hard to make the event a memorable one. The tournament will be held at The Westin Harbour Castle, located in downtown Toronto. The event was held held at the same location this past summer and everybody involved enjoyed the festivities. I encourage everybody to register early.

The 2011 Canadian Open might be the only Canadian event during my year. I am hoping that the Montreal International will return to action in the new year. The Montreal International was held for 10 consecutive years, ending the streak in 2010. The event put Canadian Chess on the map and attracted players such as GMs Ivanchuk, Bacrot, Kamsky and Eljanov, just to name a few. The event has given the new generation of Canadian GMs such as Pascal, Thomas and myself a chance to compete against the world’s best. We will always be grateful for that opportunity. We will be even happier to see the event and its charismatic organizer, Andre Langlois, back in 2011!

Current Tournaments to Follow

The world of chess is very exciting right now with two very strong tournaments taking place. The London Chess Classic has gotten even stronger this year with Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik and Nakamura being the top four by rating. Luke McShane is having a breakout tournament and has 3.5/5 so far, and is tied for first.

The event has the somewhat controversial football scoring system in place. I feel like it’s a great thing to try out. There are no short draws because suddenly a draw is not a neutral result, it is a small disappointment. Magnus is once again showing that he is the most exciting figure in chess. Magnus is tied for first with 3/5, but 9 points according to the football system. Magnus has no draws! Is that not what the chess world should have more of? With every game being a battle to the end? Magnus is being rewarded for playing every single game for a win.

Anand is also playing stellar chess at the event and is tied for first. Kramnik and Nakamura are a point back (according to the football system) and will surely try to get in on the fight for first. It will be an exciting finish.

The other strong event taking place right now is the Russian Championship Superfinal. Karjakin and Svidler are currently leading the tournament with 2.5/3. The event is not receiving a lot of coverage from media sources but you can follow it on TWIC.

The Women’s World Championship is an exciting event that is also taking place right now, with 8 players currently remaining. Canada’s representative, WIM Dina Kagramanov, was knocked out in the first round by one of the top seeds, GM Nana Dzagnidze.

Quick Update

Off to Corsica in a few hours. I just found time for a quick post. The tournament starts Sunday. More tournament details at http://www.opencorsica.com/php/

I will try to post something when I arrive there, assuming I will find convenient internet access. Time to finish getting ready…