2007 RA Spring Open

Despite severe weather warnings as the weekend approached, everything cleared up in time for 45 enthusiastic chess players to descend upon the RA Centre in Ottawa for the 2007 RA Spring Open.

Section A, reserved for players 1800 and over, featured Ottawa's International Masters, Deen Hergott and Tom O'Donnell. Their presence seemed to energize other strong players to fight for points from them, which led to many interesting battles. For example, in the last round, the last 5 games to complete were within the top 7 boards, with both IMs pushing for wins on the top 2 boards!

When the dust settled, IM Deen Hergott captured clear 1st place ($415) with a score of 4.5-0.5, and IM Tom O'Donnell captured clear 2nd place ($250) with a score of 4-1. Sharing 3rd place ($75 each) with scores of 3.5-1.5, were younger players Lloyd Mai and Jerry Xiong. Matching that score was Saeid Sadeghi, the lowest-rated player above 2000, and registered as an Amateur (no cash prizes).

As almost a third of all the players registered in the tournament were rated between 1800 and 2000, Organizer/TD Aris Marghetis decided to have a class prize per 100 rating points for this big group.

Winning the 1999-1900 class ($125), also with a score of 3.5-1.5, was another younger player, Pavel Peev. For the tough 1899-1800 class, whose players were paired up practically every game, the best score of 2.5-2.5 was by youngster Mate Marinkovic, who was registered as an Amateur. The next highest scoring player, and winner of the class prize ($125), was Robert Laszlo, with a score of 2-3.

Moving to Section B, which was for players under 1800, there were 2 class prizes. In the 1799-1600 class, Vladimir Vukovic (Amateur) and Ralf MacGrady ($125) posted the best scores, both at 4-1.

For the largely Amateur 1599-UNR class, the best score of 3.5-1.5 was by Jeffrey Smith (Amateur), and the next highest, and class prize winner ($75), was adult newcomer Stephen Carruthers, at 3-2.

Looking back at the event, Aris would like to again thank Deen and Tom, and not just for accepting to play. Deen and Tom took no byes and no easy draws. Every round, they battled eager competition for hours on end, and then drew large appreciative audiences in the postgame room. In addition, Aris would like to thank Stijn DeKerpel and David Gordon, who not only came early to set up, and stayed late to pack up, but were also tremendous resources for Aris to consult with on Organizer/TD issues.

And thanks also to Grant Schaper and some of the parents, for ensuring Aris had enough to eat!  :)

If you would like to be advised directly of details about the Eastern Ontario Open in June, please feel free to email arism@nortel.com, as the plan is to provide early registration discounts for that event.

Finally, Aris would like to extend a special thank you to Gatineau veteran Gilles Groleau, for a very nice gesture on his behalf. Gilles was visiting the RA to watch the top boards for a while. Now, when the pairings were determined for the 2nd round, one of the youngest players in Section B would have to take a forced bye. Enter Gilles who graciously accepted to play the young boy who was rated over 1000 points less than him. Gilles recorded his moves as if it were a real game, and extended the game in order to inject situations that the boy's chess teacher could later use as teaching points!

Aris Marghetis
Organizer/TD