North American Youth Chess Championships start today (well, travel day)

[Aris Marghetis]

I am just now achieving connectivity at the hotel. The Organizers/Arbiters meeting has been pushed to 9pm. Prolly some time after that, I will post more on what's happening.

[Aris Marghetis]

I am just now achieving connectivity at the hotel. The Organizers/Arbiters meeting has been pushed to 9pm. Prolly some time after that, I will post more on what's happening.
Sorry, ran out of time to post anything here tonight. Meeting at 5am to set up the site, so have to sleep ASAP. To the NAYCC families, check your email our for latest updates.

[Andrew Giblon]

Here are a few observations and updates:


The Canadian contingent (20+ players and their parents) was able to assemble this morning prior to the opening ceremony, to meet each other and have a team photo taken, and to ask questions.

There are two FIDE rules that are being applied here (that Canadian players normally follow as well) that are surprisingly different from USCF rules:

You must first move and then write your move (not the other way around).
You must touch your king first to castle (not touch your rook first).


They let us know two of the players from the very first NAYCC in 2004 have gone on to become GMs - Mark Bluvshtein of Canada, and Ray Robson of the US.

Aris was able to demonstrate his fluent French in translating all of the opening remarks - well done.

The organizers appear to have used the greater of the two of: (a) each player's FIDE rating (if they have one), and (b) their USCF or CFC rating.

The top 2 boards in each section play in a separate smaller room.

Under 16 girls got combined into the Under 16 open section, and Nicka Kalaydina got paired with Joey Qin in round 1.

I am serving as backup Head of Delegation for Aris (as he is also busy as an arbiter), and I was selected to represent Canada on the Appeals Committee, along with one representative from each of the US, Mexico and Bahamas. I hope that things go smoothly, and that there are few if any appeals!

David MacEnulty is the US representative on the Appeals Committee. He is a living legend in promoting chess for children, and I had the privilege of meeting him today in person. If you have ever seen the HBO movie Knights of the South Bronx, it is based on David's true story about using chess to help children, with Ted Danson starring in David's role. He is also involved, with David Berman of the US, in a program in South Africa, called Chess for Change.

[John Coleman]

I look forward to future reports... the website http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/results/ has not yet posted the round one pairings (and precious little else, except for the list of players).

[John Coleman]

Ah, I see the round one pairings have been posted, which is really good, because round two was supposed to have started a couple of hours ago.

No doubt they will catch up, in the fullness of time.

[Aris Marghetis]

I look forward to future reports... the website http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/results/ has not yet posted the round one pairings (and precious little else, except for the list of players).
To John et al, I will also be posting reports when I have caught up on sleep, LOL. It is quite amazing when one considers the logistics for such events. There was a massive wedding the night before in what would become the main playing room, so all of the organizers and arbiters had to meet at 5am this morning, to set everything up. It was cool that we did so relatively in time, but the pressure was invigorating (at first, LOL). There were also of course many ongoing adjustments, right through to late tonight, planning for tomorrow. So, I hope to hit the sack soon, sleep normally, and write more tomorrow evening. Until then, I wanted to express my broadest appreciation for Andrew Giblon here onsite, who has been incredibly efficient getting things done for the rest of Team Canada! Thanks also to Michael Barron back home, for all his tireless consulting!

[John Coleman]

Thanks, Aris

The website is now posting standings and pairings, let's hope they are able to keep up to date.

JC

[Andrew Giblon]

Standings are posted at http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/results/

Several Canadians made it onto one of the top 2 boards in a separate room for rounds 3 and/or 4 today - Joey Qin, Hong Rui Zhu, Razvan Preotu, Danny Zotkin, Chang Yun, Rebecca Giblon, Melissa Giblon, Taylor Zhang.

Pairings for round 5 are posted at http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/results/pairings/, which should give you some idea of the standings.

Some highlights of players in high positions or on high boards for round 5:
- Girls U8 - Estella Wong in 3rd place tie, on board 3
- Open U10 - Danny Zotkin in 1st place tie, on board 2
- Girls U12 - Melissa Giblon in 3rd place tie, on board 4
- Girls U14 - Rebecca Giblon in 2nd place tie, on board 1
- Open U16 - Joey Qin in 2nd place tie, on board 1
- Girls U16 - Chang Yun in 1st place tie (combined with Open U16)
- Girls U16 - Nicka Kalaydina in 3rd place tie (combined with Open U16)

Some live games from the top 2 boards were posted on http://www.monroi.com/watch/?tnm_id=1520#

Go Canada!

[Aris Marghetis]

Standings are posted at http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/results/

Several Canadians made it onto one of the top 2 boards in a separate room for rounds 3 and/or 4 today - Joey Qin, Hong Rui Zhu, Razvan Preotu, Danny Zotkin, Chang Yun, Rebecca Giblon, Melissa Giblon, Taylor Zhang.

Pairings for round 5 are posted at http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/results/pairings/, which should give you some idea of the standings.

Some highlights of players in high positions or on high boards for round 5:
- Girls U8 - Estella Wong in 3rd place tie, on board 3
- Open U10 - Danny Zotkin in 1st place tie, on board 2
- Girls U12 - Melissa Giblon in 3rd place tie, on board 4
- Girls U14 - Rebecca Giblon in 2nd place tie, on board 1
- Open U16 - Joey Qin in 2nd place tie, on board 1
- Girls U16 - Chang Yun in 1st place tie (combined with Open U16)
- Girls U16 - Nicka Kalaydina in 3rd place tie (combined with Open U16)

Some live games from the top 2 boards were posted on http://www.monroi.com/watch/?tnm_id=1520#

Go Canada!
I believe that Joey's round 4 game was the last one to finish for the whole 4th round. It was easily the longest in the "top 2 boards" room. Joey had the initiative for much of the game, and to my Amateur mind, it seemed on several occasions that he would break through. However, his opponent stayed remarkably calm in the eye of the storm, and came through with some sharp defensive resources. In the end, they were reduced to Q+N+Ps vs. Q+B+Ps, and both with very little time left, so they agreed to a draw. As it was the last game in the room, I went and let in family and spectators, and there was a thorough analysis for at least 30 minutes. About half an hour after that, I saw Joey walking outside with his Mum, and I could not help but think of what a classy young man he is growing into. Joey is always polite, on and off the board, plays fearlessly, seems deeply fascinated with the "truths" in any position, and gets along great with everyone!

Joey, as an arbiter, I cannot outwardly cheer for you, but good luck the rest of the way!

Just a few boards down, I only caught the tail end of it, but Rebecca Giblon was totally dominating her opponent with a stranglehold trap by her last bishop of her opponent's last knight, in both cases last minor piece leaving a pawn ending. I was very impressed with how quickly Rebecca saw she could just let her bishop drop, in order to promote a pawn. She should have seen it, but it was just so FAST, that to me, she really seemed to be in a good "zone". Again, I cannot cheer for you, but good luck the rest of the way!

And of course, good luck to everyone on Team Canada! :)

[Andrew Giblon]

Congratulations to all of the Canadian trophy winners:


Open U18 - Jessie Wang, 3rd place, 5/7
Open U16 - Nikita Gusev, 2nd place, 5.5/7
Open U16 - Joey Qin, 3rd place, 5/7
Open U12 - Hong Rui Zhu, 2nd place, 5.5/7
Open U10 - Danny Zotkin, 2rd place, 5/7
Girls U8 - Estella Wong, 3rd place, 5/7

As you can see from the scores, the top players were fairly evenly matched, as 5/7 was generally good enough to win a trophy. No players in the entire tournament scored 7/7.

Several other Canadian players were in the running for trophies into the final round, but didn't quite make it.

Congratulations as well to all the other Canadian players, who fought hard over the board, and represented Canada well.

[Aris Marghetis]

I got back near midnight last night, after trying to short cut through the back roads of upstate New York. I saved maybe 15 minutes, as rain hit at sundown, which made me slow down! Still, it was a wonderful drive after a thrilling almost-week at the NAYCC.

I am scrambling to prepare for the Eastern Ontario Open, so a more complete report would be forthcoming after that, but I just wanted to take a moment to express my pride in the Canadian team. I was the arbiter in the special room that had the top 2 boards from each section. As the last round was about to begin, I noted that a full 20% of the top kids in the room were from Canada, over double the registration percentage.

As the round progressed, it was a bittersweet feeling as the boards and pieces were packed into boxes, even while the remaining games raged on to determine final placing.

At one point, one of the other arbiters came and told me that every other game in the other playing rooms had already concluded, and only my room was left. I look across the now eerily almost-empty room at the last 2 games of the whole NAYCC, and 3 of those 4 players were Canadian, battling hard! Team Canada, awesome display of chess spirit!

P.S. Tremendous thanks to Andrew Giblon onsite and to Michael Barron back home!

[Michael Barron]

Congratulations to all of the Canadian trophy winners:


Open U18 - Jessie Wang, 3rd place, 5/7
Open U16 - Nikita Gusev, 2nd place, 5.5/7
Open U16 - Joey Qin, 3rd place, 5/7
Open U12 - Hong Rui Zhu, 2nd place, 5.5/7
Open U10 - Danny Zotkin, 2rd place, 5/7
Girls U8 - Estella Wong, 3rd place, 5/7

As you can see from the scores, the top players were fairly evenly matched, as 5/7 was generally good enough to win a trophy. No players in the entire tournament scored 7/7.

Several other Canadian players were in the running for trophies into the final round, but didn't quite make it.

Congratulations as well to all the other Canadian players, who fought hard over the board, and represented Canada well.

Congratulations to all Canadian players at NAYCC!

Thank you, Andrew and Aris, for information and for leading the Team!

Could you please clarify:
U16 Girls didn't get any prizes?

[John Coleman]

Could you please clarify:
U16 Girls didn't get any prizes?U16 girls were combined with the U16 open. The crosstable is at http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2011NA-U16-OPEN-Standings5.html

Chang Yun and Regina-Veronika Kalaydina tied for 2nd-4th place girls, with 3½/7. I don't know what trophies were given.

[Aris Marghetis]

U16 girls were combined with the U16 open. The crosstable is at http://www.chesseducators.com/northamericanyouth/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2011NA-U16-OPEN-Standings5.html

Chang Yun and Regina-Veronika Kalaydina tied for 2nd-4th place girls, with 3½/7. I don't know what trophies were given.
I am not 100% sure of the following, but here is my understanding about these prizes :

When there was going to be both U16O and U16G sections, each one would have received 5 trophies. However, when the U16G mini-section was folded into the U16O section, the trophy structure was changed. I am not aware of exactly when it was changed, but the end result was the regular 5 trophies for the U16O section, plus 1 more trophy for "Top Girl". This was disappointing for the Yun and Kalaydina families.

It seems that the U18 section merge was handled the same way regarding trophies.