2011 Canadian Closed Chess Championship

by ChessBase
5/17/2011 – Canada’s top players gathered at the University of Guelph, playing for the Zonal title and a berth in this year’s World Cup. The tournament, with 29 players, was topped by GM Bator Sambuev, 2750 on the Canadian rating scale (2513 FIDE), who finised equal first together with IM Eric Hansen, Alberta’s provincial champion. Bator won the tiebreak, Hansen got the World Cup ticket. Illustrated report.

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2011 Canadian Closed Chess Championship

Sponsored by SAP Software, The Chess Federation of Canada, University of Guelph,
Ontario Chess Association and South Western Ontario Chess League

At the University of Guelph, just outside of the heart of “The Royal City,” Canada’s top players were in the heat of battle, each struggling to secure the Zonal title and a berth in this year’s World Cup. The city itself, established in 1827, was named in honour of the House of Hanover (the Hanoverians), which descended from the House of Welf (traditionally rendered as Guelf or Guelph in English). With King George IV sitting on the British throne at the time, this tie to his ancestral family can be said to have been made in his honour specifically. Historically, composed of a population of largely German extraction, the city features many architectural fancies, not the least of which is...


...the Church of Our Lady Immaculate, which was modelled after...


... the Kölner Dom, the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany

The tournament, housed in the University Centre’s Peter Clark Hall, played host to 29 of the best Canada has to offer, topped by Grandmaster Bator Sambuev. Despite the GM affixed to his name, Bator was left chasing IM Eric Hansen, Alberta’s provincial champion, after seven rounds. Once the nine round tournament had ended, the two emerged in a two-way tie for first. By agreement, Eric was declared Canada’s official nominee to the World Cup, though they still engaged in a playoff to secure the outright Canadian Champion’s title and a guaranteed spot on Canada’s Olympic team.

After two tiebreak games, played at a rate of 15 minutes with a five second increment, Bator emerged victorious with a 1.5-0.5 score. Unfortunately for Eric, his chances seemed good in the first game, but he was only able to secure a draw.


The winner on tiebreak: GM Bator Sambuev, rated 2750


Tied for first with 7.5/9: IM Eric Hansen 2572, who is now
Canada’s nominee for the 2011 World Cup

Final standings

# Name C-Rtg Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9
Tot
1 GM Bator Sambuev 2750 W15 W6 D5 D2 D3 W21 W9 W4 W7
7.5
2 IM Eric Hansen 2572 W13 W25 D21 D1 W11 W4 D3 W5 W9
7.5
3 IM Leonid Gerzhoy 2629 D7 D29 W27 W12 D1 W6 D2 W8 D5
6.5
4 IM Nikolay Noritsyn 2584 W10 L8 W18 W26 W5 L2 W6 L1 W14
6.0
5 IM Raja Panjwani 2450 W20 W24 D1 W21 L4 W12 W10 L2 D3
6.0
6 Arthur Calugar 2401 W28 L1 W13 W7 W10 L3 L4 W21 W12
6.0
7 Michael Kleinman 2301 D3 W23 D9 L6 D8 W19 W18 W12 L1
5.5
8 FM Robert Hamilton 2370 W16 W4 L12 L11 D7 W22 W14 L3 W10
5.5
9 FM Shiyam Thavandiran   2463 W22 D27 D7 L10 W15 W26 L1 W11 L2
5.0
10 FM Hans Jung 2289 L4 W28 W24 W9 L6 W11 L5 W13 L8
5.0
11 Morgon Mills 2056 L25 B--- W15 W8 L2 L10 W26 L9 W19
5.0
12 Victor Plotkin 2422 D23 W17 W8 L3 W27 L5 W21 L7 L6
4.5
13 Miladin Djerkovic 2280 L2 W16 L6 D14 L19 W23 W27 L10 W18
4.5
14 Roman Sapozhnikov 2451 L26 L18 W20 D13 W17 W27 L8 W16 L4
4.5
15 FM Michael Dougherty 2312 L1 W20 L11 W24 L9 L18 W29 W26 D17
4.5
16 John Upper 2169 L8 L13 B--- D25 D20 D29 W22 L14 W28
4.5
17 David Filipovich 2174 D29 L12 W23 L22 L14 B--- W25 D19 D15
4.5
18 Michael Humphreys 2273 L21 W14 L4 D19 D25 W15 L7 W20 L13
4.0
19 Zi Yi [Joey] Qin 2353 L27 L22 W28 D18 W13 L7 W24 D17 L11
4.0
20 FM Dale Haessel 2233 L5 L15 L14 W23 D16 D28 B--- L18 W27
4.0
21 IM Artiom Samsonkin 2561 W18 W26 D2 L5 W22 L1 L12 L6 U---
3.5
22 Josh Guo 2272 L9 W19 D29 W17 L21 L8 L16 W28 U---
3.5
23 Vladimir Drkulec 2202 D12 L7 L17 L20 B--- L13 L28 W25 W24
3.5
24 Matthew Nicholson 2020 B--- L5 L10 L15 W28 W25 L19 D27 L23
3.5
25 FM Michael Barron 2328 W11 L2 L26 D16 D18 L24 L17 L23 B---
3.0
26 Réjean Tremblay 2238 W14 L21 W25 L4 W29 L9 L11 L15 U---
3.0
27 David Itkin 2160 W19 D9 L3 W29 L12 L14 L13 D24 L20
3.0
28 Nikola Anastasovski 2190 L6 L10 L19 B--- L24 D20 W23 L22 L16
2.5
29 FM Christian Stevens 2378 D17 D3 D22 L27 L26 D16 L15 U--- U---
2.0

Tournament Brilliancy Prize

Samsonkin,Artiom (2561) - Sambuev,Bator (2750)
2011 Canadian Closed Guelph Canada (6), 09.05.2011
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.exd5 exd5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Qe2+ Be7 8.dxc5 0-0 9.Nb3 Re8 10.Bxd7 Nbxd7 11.0-0 Nxc5 12.Nxc5 Bxc5 13.Qd3 Qb6 14.c3 Ng4 15.Qf5 Qg6 16.Qxd5

16...Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 Rad8 18.Qb5 a6 19.Qb3 Nxf2 20.Kxf2 Re2+ 21.Kxe2 Qxg2+ 22.Ke3 Re8+ 23.Kf4 h6 24.h4 h5 25.Ne5 Qh2+ 26.Kf3 Rxe5 27.Qc4 Qh3+ 28.Kf2 b5 29.Qd4 Qh2+ 30.Kf3 Qe2+ 31.Kg3 Re4 32.Qd8+ Kh7 33.Qd2 Rg4+ 34.Kh3 0-1.


The reigning Canadian Junior Champion, Roman Sapozhnikov


Champion of Guelph, FIDE Master Christian Stevens


Former Canadian Champion, International Master Nikolay Noritsyn


Canada’s newest IM-elect, Arthur Calugar


FM-elect, Victor Plotkin


FM-elect and Champion of Ontario, Michael Kleinman

Videos


This final video has interviews with the players who tied for first: Bator Sambuev and Eric Hansen

Michael von Keitz

Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

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