Pittsburgh Day 1

After a scramble to get my passport renewed, my family finally got to go on a trip to the U.S. We visited Buffalo/Darien Lake for a few days, then Pittsburgh for the majority of last week. During that time, I took a few thousand (!) photos. Literally, I didn't go anywhere without my camera. I picked out some of my favourites, and will present them in short sections, starting with day 1 in Pittsburgh (I still need to upload my Buffalo pics).

Day 1, Monday, was a rush to prepare for. We had just gotten back to Toronto late the night before to drop off my sister and my dad, and pick up our rental car. As a result, we didn't actually leave until 3 pm. Driving time took about 6 hours + stops for dinner and traffic at the border. We arrived at our hotel in the outskirts of Pittsburgh around midnight (we actually should have arrived around 11 pm, but got a bit lost looking for the road signs along the dark streets -- reminder: leave earlier next time!). To make things worse, my mom realized she forgot her laptop cable in Toronto, meaning no online access for a few days. At least the hotel room was nice. Here are my favourite photos:

It's been awhile since I've seen Niagara Falls. With all the cars and road blocks, I was surprised to get this photo.

The Falls on the U.S. side. Of course, Canada wins :)

Just about to pass the border.

Beautiful sunset!

The Residence Inn is very cozy. It even has a kitchen.

(Yes, that's a blue storage box on the counter. I was hungry.)

The bed, though I spent just as much time sleeping on the sofa - it was surprisingly comfy.

More to come...days 2, 3, 4, and 5...

Canadian Open Visit!

Just visited the Westin Harbour last night. Lots of great games, players, and I must say, the site is beautiful. Here are some photos:

Looking outside the window

Downstairs - delightful carpets!

Downstairs from another angle

Elevators

Hmmm...I wonder where the chess room is :)

Close-up

These stairs were meant for kings and queens!

One of the many hotel pianos

Empty room beside the playing hall

Thank you to all the sponsors!

Peek inside

Full view

Ice-cold water and white tea tablets ("free antioxidants!" - Jeffrey + Jennifer)

Tournament directors only

Monroi live game displays

Side view

Even the ceiling is fancy

Getting dark

From the window at night

A bit blurry, but the Westin Harbour consists of the two tall buildings

A nice touch to end the day

I will soon be uploading photos from my recent trip to the U.S. - some really cool stuff. Check back later! You won't be disappointed :)

In addition: Congrats to all CYCC participants! The WYCC folks won't know what hit 'em...Go Team Canada!!!

In recent news...

Queen Elizabeth II shows a chess set given by Nelson Mandela.
http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/the-royal-game/

Guess who was on his school chess team? He seems to show up everywhere nowadays.
http://zacquisha.com/justin-bieber-the-chess-master-miley-cyrus-message-for-daddy/2358/

Hazel's Jokes!

The day chess and poker combine...

http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3329

(note: this blog post is not indicating that the combination isn't a possibility - just a fun joke)

Sally played in some chess tournaments (and she happens to be really good!).

In the first tournament, she got a souvenir chess pin.
In the second tournament, she got a ribbon.
In the third tournament, she got a medal.
In the fourth tournament, she got a trophy.
In the fifth tournament, she got a giant plaque.
In the sixth tournament, she got cash.
In the seventh tournament, she got a spot on the national team.
In the eighth tournament, she got a norm.
In the ninth tournament, she got a title.
In the tenth tournament, she got a trip to the WSOP...

...and in the WSOP...

...she got a headache.

Poor Sally. Better go back to chess.

Tournaments and Results

For the following, see my previous post (May 2)

Canadian Chess Academy Tournaments (Sundays)
Oriole Chess Club (Sundays)
Swansea Chess Club (Saturdays)
Knights of Chess (Sundays)
Chess in the Library (Saturdays)

Tournaments

St-Jean Tournament 2010
- June 25 - 27, 2010
- Laval University
- $45 - $50, $10 discount for juniors, add $5 on-site, free for IM/GM
- $2,000 guaranteed prize fund
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3273

Chess in the Library 1st Annual Festival
- June 26, 2010
- North York Central Library
- registration 12:30 am - 1 pm, 1 pm opening ceremony
- free (but must represent and attend an eligible library)
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3239
- http://www.chessinthelibrary.com/

London June Open
- June 26, 2010
- Hillside Church, London
- registration 9:30 am - 9:55 am, 10 am start
- $20
- bring your own equipment
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml

Chess for Charity
- June 26, 2010
- Lloyd D. Jackson Square, Hamilton
- 4 pm
- $15
- bring your own equipment
- partial proceeds to City Kidz
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml

Chess Village Tournaments
- June 26 and 27
- Optimist Community Centre, Windsor
- registration 10:15 am - 10:45 am
- $25 for Saturday, $20 for Sunday, add $5 on-site
- entry fee includes $10 food coupon
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3352

Hart House Summer Open
- July 2 - 4, 2010
- Hart House Chess Club, Toronto
- Friday 6 pm, Saturday & Sunday 10 am & 4 pm
- $60 in advance, $80 cash on-site, $10 extra to play up a section
- $4,200 in prizes
- http://hhchess.sa.utoronto.ca/hhopen.html
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3219

2010 Calgary Canada Day Open
- July 2 - 4, 2010
- Calgary Chess Club
- $35, free for titled players
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3306

Brantford Olympic Waive Fundraiser
- July 4, 2010
- Harmony Square, Brantford
- 10 am
- $20
- all money raised goes towards the Canadian Olympic teams
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3266

Canadian Youth Chess Championships
- July 6 - 9, 2010
- Hilton Hotel, Windsor
- free t-shirt for players, free chess bag/set for Hilton guests
- http://www.chessreg.ca/
- http://www.cycc.ca/
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml

Canadian Open
- July 10 - 18, 2010
- The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto
- $195 until July 6, no entries on-site
- guaranteed $32,000+ in prizes
- special accommodation rates available
- http://www.chess.ca/misc2009/2010CANOP.pdf
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3215
- http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Canadian-Open-Chess-1273255.htm

Quebec Open
- July 24 - 31, 2010
- $18,000 guaranteed in prizes
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3294
- Chess camp: http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=2908

2010 Pan American Youth Festival
- August 1 - 8, 2010
- http://www.fideamerica.com/2010/abril/23/PAN%20AMERICAN%20YOUTH%20FESTIVAL%202010.pdf

London August Open #1
- August 7, 2010
- Hillside Church, London
- registration 9:30 am - 9:55 am, 10 am start
- $20
- bring your own equipment
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml

2010 North American Youth Championship
- August 16 - 19, 2010
- UQAM Sports Center, Montreal
- $75 before July 12, $100 July 12 - August 13, $125 after August 13
- special accommodation rates available
- featuring GM Pascal Charbonneau and IM Igor Zugic
- http://chess-math.org/fide-nayc.htm
- more info: http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1275846053.html
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3241
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3224

London August Open #2
- August 28, 2010
- Hillside Church, London
- registration 9:30 am - 9:55 am, 10 am start
- $20
- bring your own equipment
- http://www.chess.ca/ontario.shtml

2010 NATO Chess Championship
- October 18 - 22, 2010
- Koege, Denmark
- for military personnel
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=2944

Outdoor Chess in Victoria, BC
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3315

CMA Summer Chess Day Camps (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto)
- http://www.chess-math.org/camps

Various CMA Events for Juniors
- http://www.chess-math.org/calendar

CMA Chess Lessons
- http://www.chess-math.org/chess/lesson.htm

Results

Ottawa Grand Prix Results
U8: Stephane Zafiu
U10: Jeffrey Ye
U12: Simon Kuttner
U14: Kevin Zhang
- http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1272979212.html

Toronto Grand Prix Results
U8: Nicole Birarov and Taylor Zhang
U10: Joseph Bellissimo
U12: Mark Plotkin
U14: Alexandru Florea and James Fu
- http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1273169910.html

Ontario High School Championship Results
1st: NM Karoly Szalay (5/5)
2nd: WIM Yuanling Yuan (4/5)
3rd: Paul Gelis (4/5)
- http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1273497202.html

Canadian Chess Challenge
1st: Ontario
2nd: Quebec
3rd: BC
- http://www.chess.nl.ca/year/2009+2010/ccc/national/results/english/index.html
- images: http://picasaweb.google.com/renepreotu
- more images and movie: http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1276458235.html
- more info: http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1274722188.html
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3209

Ontario Girls' Chess Championship
- http://www.freewebs.com/ogcc/

Canadian Junior
1st: Shiyam Thavandiran (7/9)
2nd: Bindi Cheng (6.5/9)
3rd: Alexander Martchenko (6/9)
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3110
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3131

GM Eugenio Torre Simul in Calgary
Win: Sean Perron
Draw: Nicka Kalaydina, Adie Todd, and Roy Yearwood
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3179
- more games & results from the Calgary International (1st GM Victor Mikhalevski (7/9)): http://www.albertachess.org/2010CICC/Games.html

OYCC
U8: Nicholas Ene, Zhehai Zhang, and Henry Hu (4/5)
U8G: Nicole Birarov and Varshini Paraparan (4/5)
U10: Joseph Bellissimo (5/5)
U10G: Jiarong Zhu (5/5)
U12: Guannan Terry Song, Zehn Nasir, and Kevin Z Zhang (4.5/5)
U12G: Zhanna Sametova (4.5/5)
U14: David Itkin (4/5)
U14G: Rebecca Giblon (4/4)
U16/U18: Kevin Chung (4.5/5)
- http://www.psmcd.net/oycc2010/2010standings.htm

Guelph Olympic Fundraiser
Group 1: Michael Zaghi (2.5/3)
Group 2: Bob Gillanders (2/3)
Group 3: Mei Chen Lee and Nicholas Jackson (2.5/3)
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3072

Quebec Elite Championship
1st: Renier Castellanos (4.5/5)
2nd: GM Bator Sambuev, Jean Hebert, and Daniel Rousseau (4/5)
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3144

Keres Memorial
OPEN
1st - 5th: IM Georgi Orlov, GM Manuel Rivas Pastor, FM Jack Yoos, WGM Katerina Rohonyan, and Roman Jiganchine (4.5/6)
U2200 - Howard Wu (4/6)
U2000
1st: Louis Cheng (5.5/6)
2nd: Sylvain Gaudreau (5/6)
U1800 - Juni Caluza, Dejan Radic (4.5/6)
U1600
1st: Jack Qian (5.5/6)
U1400 - Lionel Han, Petr Straka (4/6)
- http://keresmemorial.pbworks.com/Standings2010

Ontario Open
OPEN - GM Bator Sambuev
U2000 - Derick Twesigye
U1600 - Qiang Li
- http://www.canadianchess.info/articles/2010OntarioOpen.html
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=2568

Sherbrooke Open
1st: GM Bator Sambuev (4.5/5)
- http://echecs-sherbrooke.com/pdf/Tableau%20des%20resultats%20Open2010.pdf

Chess in the Street
- http://chessinthestreet.pbworks.com/

Guelph Olympic Waive 2
Open - Mikhail Egorov, Ross Cunningham, and Kevin Chung (2.5/3)
Unopen - Nicholas Jackson and Liquan Wang (3/3)
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3279
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3271

GTCL Cup
1st: Chess Academy of Canada
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3247

Tecumseth Chess Open
1st: Hans Jung (4/5)
2nd - 3rd: Alex Ferreira and Agastya Kalra (3.5/5)
non-rated: Andrew Hewson
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3148

Eastern Ontario Open
1st: GM Bator Sambuev (4.5/5)
2nd: IM Artiom Samsonkin (4/5)
3rd: IM Tom O'Donnell and Victor Plotkin (3/5)
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3317
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3321

KW Chess Club Team Active Challenge
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3318

New Titles
WFM Cornelia Dinca
FM Yaaqov Vaingorten
IM Eric Hansen

Follow GM Mark Bluvshtein on his new blog:
http://markbluvshtein.wordpress.com/

Hazel's Jokes!

There were only two types of animals at the weekend tournament. What were they?

Answer:

(1) Round Robins

(2) Mice

Huh...mice? Hey, where did all the "swiss" cheese go?

Note: The cute picture above was found at: http://www.uniquedaily.com/fat-n-round-robin/

Chess Openings Named After Animals

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/animals

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_openings_named_after_animals

Don't be surprised if someone calls your game a kangaroo (1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+) or pterodactyl (1. e4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. d4 c5), but really, a wild bull (1. e4 Nh6), crab (1. a4 e5 2. h4), or...fried fox (1. e4 f4 2. d4 Kf7). A good way to get fried, that's for sure.

More Images!

Wake me up when pieces fly!

http://www.worldimages.com/LeisureTime_Sports_Chess.php

Where's the dessert?

http://missdelite.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

Care to play?

http://www.welaughalot.com/wp/?p=191

That's one sturdy queen.

http://www.copperurns.com/custom-urns.htm

After every game, there is a rainbow.

http://patricktay.wordpress.com/

So that's where he went!

http://pillanatgepek.c3.hu/en/

With such beautiful compositions, I can't help but stare at the battery and Coke.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/02/03-week/

That's better...

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/4420

Okay...this one's a little scary.

http://www.newopticalillusions.com/3d-optical-illusion/chess-optical-illusion/

I wouldn't want to play against this army.

http://einarwiekeiner.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/lego-chess/