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Bob Armstrong
08-26-2010, 09:34 AM
PRESS RELEASE # 1 - August 19, 2010

BY: the Chess Federation of Canada ( CFC )
WRITER/CONTACT: Bob Armstrong, CFC Governor ( bobarm@sympatico.ca )

TOPIC : Canadians at the World Junior Chess Championship, Poland

Canadian Junior Chess Players Exceed Expectations: World Junior Chess Championship

In chess, often called the Royal Game, every country looks to its junior chess players, to try to tell the country’s chess future in 10-15 years. Well, Canada is looking good !

There are three top titles in chess ( in descending order ): GM ( grandmaster ); IM ( international master ); and FM ( FIDE master – FIDE is the acronym for the world chess organization ). And our juniors are right up there! 2009 Canadian Junior Chess Champion is IM Raja Panjwani, a university student at University of Western Ontario, in London, studying Medical Physics. Our 2010 Canadian Junior Champion is FM Shiyam Thavandiran, who is entering U.W.O. in September, in Biological and Medical Sciences. Both played in the World Junior Chess Championship, recently concluded August 16, in Poland. It is the world championship for juniors under 20 years of age.

To help grasp the difference in skill between these three titles, there is a world ranking system in chess, using what are called “ rating points “. The GM title is over 2500 rating points. The highest rating a human has ever achieved is 2851 by retired former World Champion, Russian Gary Kasparov, in 1999. However, some computers have been calculated to have ratings over 3000. The IM title is generally between 2400 – 2500. The FM title is between 2300 – 2400. Raja is rated 2395, though his rating will rise with his very good result in the recent tournament. Shiyam is rated 2318, and his rating will also now rise.

So how did our juniors do? They played a tournament of 13 games against the best juniors in the world, and each scored a very respectable 7/13 pts ( 1 pt. for a win; ½ pt. for a tie, called a “ draw “; 0 pts. for a loss – these are game points, different from rating points ). But where our juniors particularly showed their strength was against higher rated GM’s. Raja played 5 GM’s, and scored 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses. Shiyam played 4 GM’s and got a win, a draw and 2 losses. These are excellent scores for an IM and an FM. Shiyam’s performance was so good for his rating, he earned his second qualification towards his next title, IM. They are both deserving of solid congratulations for a job well-done !

And Canadian adult titled players are already aware of Raja and Shiyam. Both play in large Canadian weekend tournaments, and often score upsets against stronger adult players.

Canada’s chess future looks good with Raja and Shiyam in our Canadian junior chess ranks !

( Note : I have a picture showing both Raja and Shiyam that I used in the press release ( don't yet know how to post a picture ), and I can forward it if anyone intends to try to make use of this press release. )

Distribution:

Toronto Star, Sports Section ( hard copy )
London Free Press, News Desk ( hard copy )
Windsor Star, News Dept. ( hard copy )

Background to CFC Press Releases :

At the Toronto July CFC AGM, the governors passed Motion 2010-17 creating a non-executive officer position of " Public Relations Coordinator " ( upgrading the prior position of Director of Publicity ). Bylaw 3 of the CFC Handbook, under Duties of Officers in Section 8C, gives the mandate of this position as:

8C. The Public Relations Coordinator will be responsible for promoting the image of the CFC and for promoting chess generally to the public. As such the Public Relations Coordinator will, among other things:

- deal with mainstream media to promote significant chess news, such as Canadian Chess Champions, a new Canadian GM, major tournaments like the Can. Closed, Canadian Open, Can. Women’s Closed, CYCC, etc., the various benefits accruing from playing chess and other positive aspects of the chess culture.

This position in its initial creation never got filled. And currently, the CFC is looking for a volunteer governor/member to fill the vacant Public Relations Coordinator position.

Because of this situation, the CFC has never developed a bank of Canadian mainstream media contacts who might be willing to publish CFC Press Releases on chess items, or to write articles on chess.

I have currently volunteered, in the interim, as a governor, to try to do some preliminary work on this issue, in advance of us finding the right volunteer to fill the position. I only have a limited amount of time to spend on this at the moment, and it will become even less in the Fall. But I am willing to put some volunteer time on the matter.

Feel free to make use of the CFC Press Releases in any publicity efforts you might be undertaking. I would appreciate being advised of any efforts made and use of the material, so CFC can build a file on the efforts being made to promote chess in Canada.

Newspapers do not acknowledge press releases ( too many daily ) and to my knowledge do not notify you if they make use of one. So if you see an article on this in any of the papers, please advise me. I have been warned that it has not been easy to get chess material into the mainstream media, and so CFC should have very modest expectations of success on this front. But hopefully, over time, with developing contacts, this will change.

If anyone has any newspaper contacts I might be able to use, or any advice on this effort, please e-mail me : bobarm@sympatico.ca

Bob

Fred McKim
08-26-2010, 10:59 AM
Bob: Excellent initiative. While I don't have any newspaper contacts I can access at the moment, I have e-mailed your press release to approximately 150 chess contacts I have in NB and PEI and to the NS news group, which is read by probably another 50 players. Most of these people would not access the discussion forum.

At the very release, it'll increase awareness and possibly we'll uncover some press leads in the Maritimes.

I'll continue to do this with any future press releases.

Hal Bond
08-30-2010, 01:01 PM
Great job with this one Bob!

Maybe we can collaborate on some Olympiad press releases?

Shiyam's IM norm was very impressive! If I read his file correctly, his FIDE rating should break 2360 on the next list, and Raja should come in around 2430.

Bob Armstrong
09-01-2010, 07:07 AM
Hi Hal:

Thanks for the encouragement. Getting chess press releases/articles published in the mainstream media is not easy. As far as I am aware, there were no articles published as a result of our press release # 1. But I think the key is likely my establishing personal contact with some editors/journalists who have an interest in chess for some reason. This will take time.

I have done a press release # 2 already, on our Olympiad Teams, for release later this month, closer to the start of the Olympiad. I will send it to you for comment. And maybe you have some other aspect of the Olympiad you'd like to raise ?- send on any draft, and we can work on it.

And if anyone has any personal contact at any of the mainstream/local media, please forward their names on to me ( bobarm@sympatico.ca ) - I have already had a few tips from some members.

Bob