Toronto Thanksgiving Day Open - after 4 Rds.

[Bob Armstrong]

The standings in the Open Section after 4 rounds are:

Name rtng rd 1 rd 2 rd 3 rd 4 TOT

1 Samsonkin, Artiom IM.......2505 W 23 D 13 W 14 W 8 3.5
2 Gerzhoy, Leonid.............2469 W 15 W 10 D 8 W 7 3.5
3 Thavandiran, Shiyam FM.....2423 W 16 W 5 D 7 W 6 3.5
4 Zeromskis, Egidijus.........2243 L 17 W 22 W 18 W 10 3.0
5 Calugar, Arthur.............2197 W 19 L 3 W 17 W 13 3.0
6 Sambuev, Bator GM..........2538 D 14 W 9 W 13 L 3 2.5
7 Shebetah, Wajdy.............2276 W 26 W 17 D 3 L 2 2.5
8 Sapozhnikov, Roman..........2232 W 22 W 21 D 2 L 1 2.5
9 Milicevic, Goran FM.........2360 H--- L 6 D 19 W 14 2.0
10 Yuan, Yuanling..............2209 W 11 L 2 W 21 L 4 2.0
11 Wang, Jesse.................1911 L 10 D 15 D 16 W 21 2.0
12 Henry, Liam.................2256 L 21 L 14 W 23 D 17 1.5
13 Martchenko, Alexander.......2230 W 18 D 1 L 6 L 5 1.5
14 Zhou, Haonan................2184 D 6 W 12 L 1 L 9 1.5
15 Siddeley, Hugh..............2110 L 2 D 11 H--- H--- 1.5
16 Gusev, Nikita...............2070 L 3 D 19 D 11 D 18 1.5
17 Barron, Irina...............2022 W 4 L 7 L 5 D 12 1.5
18 Inigo, Aquino...............1976 L 13 W 23 L 4 D 16 1.5
19 Hahnewald, Uwe..............1807 L 5 D 16 D 9 D 22 1.5
20 Khoudgarian, Natalia........2252 H--- H--- U--- U--- 1.0
21 Hambleton, Aman.............2032 W 12 L 8 L 10 L 11 1.0
22 Wu, Kevin...................2000 L 8 L 4 D 24 D 19 1.0
23 Kagramanov, Dina............2160 L 1 L 18 L 12 D 25 0.5
24 Shah, Omar..................2003 U--- U--- D 22 U--- 0.5
25 Chidley-Hill, John..........1928 U--- U--- U--- D 23 0.5
26 Naniwadekar, Mihir..........2043 L 7 U--- U--- U--- 0.0

Bob

[Bob Armstrong]

FM Shiyam Thavandiran and IM Leoid Gerzhoy share first in the 2008 Toronto Thanksgiving tournament!

both players played consistently solid chess throughout the tournament and definitely deserved their 5/6 final scores, taking home $550 each for their efforts.

In round 5, Thavandiran overcame GM Bator Sambuev in an ending after Sambuev missed a drawing opportunity prior to time control. Gerzhoy defeated IM Artiom Samsonkin in round 5 also.

Sambuev claimed clear third place at 4.5/6 after defeating Samsonkin in the final round, while Thavandiran and Gerzhoy settled for a quiet draw knowing they could not be caught by any other players.

These "big four" players have been dominating Toronto Chess events as of late, with Thavandiran taking clear first in the 2008 Labour Day while Samsonkin mowed through the competition to win the 2008 Canada Day Open.

Other good showings were registered by junior players Roman Sapozhnikov and Arthur Calugar, who shared the U2300 first prize with 4/6. both players faced challenging opposition on their way to these results.