5th Edmonton International

[Tony Ficzere]

The Edmonton International will begin here at 6 pm Mountain time (8 pm EST). We will be broadcasting 3 boards live on the website. Follow the link...

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

[Tony Ficzere]

No major upsets to report from round 1, the closest you get would be the draw between Porper vs. Van Heirzeele, under 30 moves.

Round 2 is underway. This morning we are broadcasting the following 3 games:

IM Edward Porper vs. GM Mikheil Kekelidze
FM Michael Langer vs. NM Robert J. Gardner
GM Jesse Kraai vs. FM Dale Haessel

Watch the games here. You can also download pgn's throughout the event.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

Some photos are now up as well, will add more each day.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFPhotos.html

Round 3 will begin at 7 pm Mountain time later today.

[Tony Ficzere]

Round 2 saw a long struggle between Edward Porper and Mikheil Kekelidze which went on for 96 moves before finally ending in a draw. Porper had his chances but could not bring home the full point against the GM.

Richard Wang drew has game against Vlad Pechenkin. Richard now has 1.5/3 (Richard played his 9th round opponent yesterday before the start of round 1, Magesh Pachanathan, so Magesh can make his flight at the end of the event).

Magesh now has 3/9 (all wins) after defeating Daniel Van Heirzeele. Jesse Kraai defeated Dale Haessel after Dale allowed a knight fork in a very difficult position. Rocket Rob Gardner drew against FM Michael Langer in a peaceful way.

Round 3 has started. Watch the games by following the link.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

[Tony Ficzere]

After 3 rounds (4 rounds if you are Panchanathan or Wang), Magesh Panchanathan is still undefeated, winning all of his games. When he gets a small advantage, he rides it home all the way for the full point.

Richard Wang is having a good tournament so far. scoring 2.5/4, losing only to Panchanathan. He will be tested today when he plays against the Georgian GM Mikheil Kekelidze.

Round 4 begins today at 6 pm Mountain time. Live games, standings, pgn files and more available on our website.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFHome.html

[Tony Ficzere]

Round 4 has started. We are broadcasting...

NM Richard Wang vs GM Mikheil Kekelidze
GM Magesh Panchanathan vs FM Dale Haessel
NM Robert J. Gardner vs GM Jesse Kraai

Follow the link for the live broadcast

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

[Terry Chaisson]

Young Richard managed to draw with GM Kekelidze! It looks like Richard is the one who has the best chance for am IM norm.

GM Panchanathan won again to remain perfect.

[Tony Ficzere]

Yes, Richard played a fine game last night to snatch a half point from the GM. His chances remain alive but he has his work cut out for himself. Magesh continues to point each round.

Round 5 has started. We are broadcasting the following games:

GM Kekelidze vs FM Pechenkin
GM Kraai vs IM Porper
FM Langer vs GM Panchanathan

[Tony Ficzere]

GM Panchanathan has won 6 in a row! He will face another GM in round 6.

Richard Wang drew with Dale Haessel, Richard can still get a norm, but will need 2.5 in his final 3 rounds to get it. He still has to play FM Langer, GM Kraai and IM Porper.

Round 6 will begin at 6 pm Mountain time. We will be broadcasting the following games:

Van Heirzeele vs GM Kekelidze
GM Panchanathan vs GM Kraai
Gardner vs IM Porper

Watch the games live here...

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

More photos have been uploaded as well today...

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFPhotos.html

[Tony Ficzere]

Round 7 is about to begin. We are broadcasting the following games:

GM Kekelidze vs NM Gardner
GM Kraai vs NM Wang
IM Porper vs GM Panchanathan

Panchanathan remains undefeated, winning all of his games. Richard Wang still has a chance for his first IM norm.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

[Tony Ficzere]

Porper put an end to Panchanathan's picket fence and takes the first half point off the GM. Wang was just outplayed, Kraai played the position beautifully.

In round 8 we will broadcast...

Wang vs Porper
Pechenkin vs Kraai
Gardner Panchanathan

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

Just got word that Daniel Van Heirzeele has withdrawn due to health problems.

[Tony Ficzere]

The final round hasn't started but we have a winner. GM Panchanathan finished with 8.5/9, beating the old record for the Edmonton International which was 7.5 (Vlad can confirm this).

Richard Wang is the other story of the tournament. Richard finished with 4.5/9, ahead of all the other Alberta players with the exception of Edward Porper. When I was 11, I barely knew how the pieces moved. Richard has a bright future in chess. It is clear that Richard loves chess. It shows when he plays.

Daniel Van Heirzeele had to withdraw after round 6 due to health problems and struggled throughout the event with them. His withdrawl meant 3 games would be unplayed (forfeit) from rounds 7 through 9.

Jesse Kraai has played in all 5 Edmonton Internationals. He finished a strong 2nd behind Magesh who was also the only player he lost to. Jesse is threatening to swim the Saskatchewan river tomorrow. Next year may be a memorial tournament if he tries this stunt.

Now that 4 players have finished, we will be broadcasting the remaining 3 games today. They are as follows...

Haessel vs Gardner
Langer vs Kekelidze
Porper vs Pechenkin

Follow the games live starting at 11 am on our website.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFGames.html

[Tony Ficzere]

Another Edmonton International has come and gone. This year there were no major problems and the tournament ran smoothly under the direction of Vlad Rekhson.

GM Magesh Panchanathan went undefeated finishing with 8.5/9 to take clear first. GM Jesse Kraai was next with 7/9 followed by GM Mikheil Kekelidze and IM Edward Porper at 6.5/9 sharing 3rd.

Honorable mention must go to 11 year old Richard Wang who finished at 50% with 4.5/9. This was a great experience for the youngster who I am sure you wil be hearing more about in the future.

The final crosstable, all the games and a selection of photos are available on the website. We will be back next year with the 6th edtion. See you then.

http://www.albertachess.org/2010ECF/2010ECFHome.html

[Gary Ruben]

Originally Posted by Tony Ficzere

GM Magesh Panchanathan went undefeated finishing with 8.5/9 to take clear first. GM Jesse Kraai was next with 7/9 followed by GM Mikheil Kekelidze and IM Edward Porper at 6.5/9 sharing 3rd.

You forgot to mention Edward Porper was also undefeated. Not an easy task in a RR event like that.

[Tony Ficzere]

Originally Posted by Gary Ruben

You forgot to mention Edward Porper was also undefeated. Not an easy task in a RR event like that.

Good point Gary. Not only did he go undefeated, but he was the only one to take a half point off the tournament winner!

[David McTavish]

Story lines gone. But a fantastic(logical, with human themes, w/ two fritz swings of +\- 1 outside the otherwise hovering eval between-0.7 to +0.40) game in penultimate rd, no?

[Event "Edm Inv 2010"]
[Site "EDM"]
[Date "2010.08.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "IM Porper"]
[Black "GM Panchanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Nc6 6.
Nc3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Ne4 8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. Rxc3 O-O 10. Bg2 d6 11. O-O e5 12. d5 Nb8
13. Ne1 a5 14. f4 exf4 15. gxf4 Bg4 16. Qd4 Nd7 17. e4 f5 18. Rg3 Rae8 19. Nc2
Nf6 20. h3 Be2 21. Rf2 Bh5 22. exf5 Bf7 23. Re3 Qd7 24. Re6 Bxe6 25. fxe6 Qe7
26. Bf3 Kh8 27. Rg2 Rb8 28. Be2 Ng8 29. Ne3 Qf6 30. Qxf6 Rxf6 31. f5 g6 32. Bd3
gxf5 33. Nxf5 Re8 34. Bc2 b5 35. cxb5 Ne7 36. Ne3 (36. Nxe7 Rxe7 37. Kh2 Rf4
38. a3 Rd4 39. Bb3 $11) 36... Rf3 37. Nc4 Rf4 38. Ne3 Rf3 39. Nc4 Rf4 40. Ne3
Rg8 41. b3 Rd4 42. Rxg8+ Kxg8 43. Nc4 Nxd5 44. a4 h6 45. Nxa5 Nb4 46. Bg6 Kf8
47. Nc4 Ke7 48. Bf7 d5 49. b6 (49. Ne3 Re4 50. Nf5+ Kf6 51. Nxh6 d4 52. Ng4+
Ke7 53. Bg6 Rxe6 54. Bf5 Re2 55. h4 d3 56. Kf1 Ra2 $19) 49... cxb6 50. Nxb6
Rd1+ 51. Kf2 d4 (51... Rd3 52. Nc8+ Kf6 53. Nd6 Rxb3 54. Ne8+ Ke7 55. Ng7 Nd3+
$19) 52. Nc8+ Kf6 53. Bh5 Nd3+ 54. Ke2 Rc1 55. Kxd3 Rxc8 56. Kxd4 Rb8 57. Kc4
Kxe6 58. Bf3 Rf8 59. Bb7 Kd6 60. b4 Ke5 1/2-1/2 That last move is the ageold GM jokefrom Tony's DGTborad.

[Vlad Rekhson]

Originally Posted by David McTavish

Story lines gone. But a fantastic(logical, with human themes, w/ two fritz swings of +\- 1 outside the otherwise hovering eval between-0.7 to +0.40) game in penultimate rd, no?

[Event "Edm Inv 2010"]
[Site "EDM"]
[Date "2010.08.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "IM Porper"]
[Black "GM Panchanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Nc6 6.
Nc3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Ne4 8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. Rxc3 O-O 10. Bg2 d6 11. O-O e5 12. d5 Nb8
13. Ne1 a5 14. f4 exf4 15. gxf4 Bg4 16. Qd4 Nd7 17. e4 f5 18. Rg3 Rae8 19. Nc2
Nf6 20. h3 Be2 21. Rf2 Bh5 22. exf5 Bf7 23. Re3 Qd7 24. Re6 Bxe6 25. fxe6 Qe7
26. Bf3 Kh8 27. Rg2 Rb8 28. Be2 Ng8 29. Ne3 Qf6 30. Qxf6 Rxf6 31. f5 g6 32. Bd3
gxf5 33. Nxf5 Re8 34. Bc2 b5 35. cxb5 Ne7 36. Ne3 (36. Nxe7 Rxe7 37. Kh2 Rf4
38. a3 Rd4 39. Bb3 $11) 36... Rf3 37. Nc4 Rf4 38. Ne3 Rf3 39. Nc4 Rf4 40. Ne3
Rg8 41. b3 Rd4 42. Rxg8+ Kxg8 43. Nc4 Nxd5 44. a4 h6 45. Nxa5 Nb4 46. Bg6 Kf8
47. Nc4 Ke7 48. Bf7 d5 49. b6 (49. Ne3 Re4 50. Nf5+ Kf6 51. Nxh6 d4 52. Ng4+
Ke7 53. Bg6 Rxe6 54. Bf5 Re2 55. h4 d3 56. Kf1 Ra2 $19) 49... cxb6 50. Nxb6
Rd1+ 51. Kf2 d4 (51... Rd3 52. Nc8+ Kf6 53. Nd6 Rxb3 54. Ne8+ Ke7 55. Ng7 Nd3+
$19) 52. Nc8+ Kf6 53. Bh5 Nd3+ 54. Ke2 Rc1 55. Kxd3 Rxc8 56. Kxd4 Rb8 57. Kc4
Kxe6 58. Bf3 Rf8 59. Bb7 Kd6 60. b4 Ke5 1/2-1/2 That last move is the ageold GM jokefrom Tony's DGTborad.

Pretty crazy game with winning chances for both sides. Panchanathan was finally stopped but with that game he clinched clear first! Of course the last move (ke5) didn't actually happen.