The Eastern Ontario Chess Association (EOCA) is proud to be hosting the 2009 Ontario Open, to be held on the traditional Victoria Day long weekend.

This event will be 6 rounds, with flexible bye and Amateur options. Our schedule also features starting and ending round times to encourage travelling to and from Ottawa. In addition, lodging options include nearby Carleton University residences, with much lower room rates, and breakfast buffet included!

We will have multiple sections, and class prizes for every 200 rating points from 2200 to 1400. Every player will be submitted for both CFC and FIDE rating.

For complete details for this event, and a great webpage for all of the events in the 2008-2009 EOCA Grand Prix & Active Series, bookmark this weblink:
http://www.eoca.org/htm/tournaments%202008-09.html

For local players who normally register at the RA chess club on a Thursday evening, please note that I now often work evenings. Therefore, whenever I do expect that I will be dropping by the RA chess club, I will post my schedule at the ChessTalk site: http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Thanks and regards,

Aris Marghetis, Organizer/TD
EOCA President, OCA/CFC Governor

Please find below the list of players who have already registered for this event:

rating name FIDE# CFC#

Top Class
2344 Barron, Michael 2605120 134840

U2200 Class

U2000 Class
1861 Erickson, John 103011

U1800 Class
1756 Mallon, Christopher 2607620 109034
1672 Xiong, Wei 2610213 136037
1627 Brown, John R. 102882

U1600 Class
1416 Jarmyn, Tom 2604698 145247

U1400 Class
1344 Liiban, Farah 2610019 148746
1116 McArthur, Ricky 144021

Note that Wei Xiong is a floater player for the event. Floater players will play between 0 and 6 rounds, whenever the number of players for their section is odd. They will play for free, and have all their games rated, but in exchange, they will receive relatively late notice on whether they are playing in the next round. Good candidates for floater players are people who normally hang around anyway to watch a relative or friend play. I am asking, for all of the 6 rounds, a floater player for every 200 rating points. If you would be interested, please ensure that your CFC membership is current, and apply by email.

Finally, we are looking for volunteers. Please contact me if you are interested:

- someone to transport to Ottawa, the OCA clocks and maybe the OCA pieces
- someone to manage the OCA clocks and pieces for the rest of the weekend
[in case no one volunteers, please plan to bring your own clock and pieces]

- conscientious tactful assistants to help the TD monitor the playing area(s)
- RA member to set up, check in on, and pack up, the postgame skittles area