3rd Annual Victoria Chess Festival

 

April 10-13 2009

 

The 3rd annual Victoria Chess Festival was well attended with 76 players in the main event, the Grand Pacific Open, as well as in a number of side events.  Participants included a variety of champions including the BC champion  FM Jonathan Berry, BC women's champion WCM Alexandra Botez, BC junior champion Tanraj Sohal, BC Active champion IM Vincente Lee, and the Estonian Women's champion WFM Valeria Gansvind.   The last round top board game for all the marbles featured newly returned IM Leon Piasetski and IM Lawrence Day, a match up that would not have been out of place 35 years ago!.  It was drawn which enabled a four way tie for first with Leon Piasetski taking home the 1st place trophy on tiebreak.

 

This event could not have taken place without the efforts of many people.   Many thanks to our sponsors Thrifty Foods, Black Press, and to the Grand Pacific Hotel for such a wonderful venue.  TD Mark S. Dutton, IA did his usual professional job in the main event.  The side events were run smoothly by TDs  Greg Churchill and Elliot Raymer.  Numerous volunteers helped out with the demonstration boards, live broadcasting of selected games through MonRoi, and manning the bookstall.   Thanks to Chess and Math for providing the books!  Thanks too, to our organizers Brian Raymer, Roger Patterson, Paul Leblanc, and Greg Churchill.

 

Games and photos will be posted in a few days.   A subset of games is available at the MonRoi site  www.monroi.com as well.

 

Our Winners:

 

Grand Pacific Open   Final Results

 

1st (on tie break) IM Leon Piasetski:  $500 and trophy.

2nd, 3rd, 4th:  WFM Valeria Gansvind,  IM Lawrence Day, IM Vicente Lee:  $500 each

 

U2000:

1st, 2nd, 3rd: Jack Cheng, Mike Murray, WCM Alexandra Botez: $233 each

 

U1700:

1st, 2nd:  Matthew Heardin, Richard Golden:  $300 each

3rd (on tiebreak) Jacob Jenson

 

U1400:

1st, 2nd:  Tian Tian Geng, Justin Wong:  $300 each

3rd (on tiebreak): Jason Cao.

 

Grand Pacific Scholastic   Final Results (will be posted soon)

1st K-3  Jonah Lee  1st 4-7 Tanraj Sohal

 

Grand Pacific Midnight Blitz   Final Results (will be posted soon)

Gold Medal and $250  Vicente Lee  Silver Medal  Tanraj Sohal  Bronze Medal  Howard Wu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, we will be holding the Victoria Chess Festival.

 

Once again, it will feature a selection of events centered around the FIDE rated Grand Pacific Open with a $4000 guaranteed prize fund.   

Once again, it will feature superb accommodations on the Victoria Inner Harbour.

 

And a fine selection of chess books will be available to stock up your chess library.

 

Mark your calendars now for your Easter 2009 chess vacation in Victoria!

 

Pre-registered players  Grand Pacific Open 2009    72 players now registered  April 7 2009

 

Event Schedule:

 

Grand Pacific Scholastic: Friday April 10. A 5 round active CMA rated tournament for juniors in grades K to 7.  More details...

 

Fischer Random Open: Friday April 10. A 4 round active tournament using Fischer random or Chess 960 positions. More details...

 

Grand Pacific Open: Friday April 10 to Monday April 13. A 6 round FIDE & CFC rated Swiss with $4000 in guaranteed prizes. More details...

 

Saturday Master Lecture: Saturday April 11. by BC Champion Jonathan Berry "A Few Practical Endgames"  More details...

 

Midnight Blitz: Saturday April 11. A Blitz tournament after the end of that day's rounds. $250 guaranteed first prize. More details...

 

Sunday Master Lecture: Sunday April 12. More details...

 

Wrap up Bughouse Tournament: Monday April 13. More details...

 

Victoria Chess Club night: Monday April 13 Casual Chess compliments of the Victoria Chess Club More details...

 

 

Entry Fee Summary:

 

Note: Only one Early Bird discount per event. One Early Bird per event and all other discounts are cumulative.

 

We pay the BCCF membership dues, if applicable.

 

Until the end of January, $0.80 US = $1.00 Can.

 

 

	Entry Fee	Discounts
Event		Early Bird #1 before Jan.1	Early Bird #2 Jan. 1 to Feb. 28	Early Bird #3 Mar. 1 to Mar. 31	Registered in GPO	Registered in any other Festival event	CFC member
Grand Pacific Open (GPO) Open Section	$90	-$20	-$10				-$10
Grand Pacific Open (GPO) U1400 Section	$75	-$20	-$10				-$10
Grand Pacific Scholastic	$30	-$5	-$5	-$5	-$10
Fischer Random Active	$25				-$10
Midnight Blitz	$25	-$5	-$5	-$5		-$10
Bughouse (per person)	$15	-$5	-$5	-$5		-$5
Master Lectures (each)	$5
Victoria Chess Club Night	Free

 

 

 

Entry Forms & Flyers:

 

Event Flyer:  Word Format pdf Format

 

Event registration form  Word Format pdf Format GPO2009RegForm.htm

 

Accomodation:

 

Rooms have been reserved at the Grand Pacific Hotel at the tournament site in downtown Victoria on the Inner Harbour. Bring your family or friends and stay an extra day or two!.

The hotel is offering a special rate of $99/day and will extend that rate for 3 days before and after the event.

Call toll free 1-800-663-7550 or call (250)-386-0450. Quote "April2009Grand" to receive the special rate.

 

Miscellaneous:

 

Further details will be announced here over the coming months so be sure to check back here from time to time.

 

Travelling and need a pickup at the ferry or airport? Contact us at: grandpacificopen@gmail.com. Note that the round times for the GPO are conveniently timed to match the

Victoria Clipper ferry schedule from Seattle (see clipper info) which docks across the street from the hotel.

 

Bookstall operated by Chess and Math on site.

 

Victoria Chess Festival T shirts on sale for $20. It's best to preorder as only limited quantities and sizes will be available on site. (Indicate size Adult: XL, L, M, S or Child M or S when ordering)

Bonus: 2 or more members from one family entering the GPO receive a free T shirt for each member. 

 

If you are interested in giving one of the lectures, please contact us at grandpacificopen@gmail.com for terms and conditions.

 

Tiebreaks for non cash prizes in all events are by individual cumulative score followed by cumulative score of the opponents.

 

Organized by: Brian Raymer, Paul Leblanc, Roger Patterson, and Greg Churchill. Contact us at: grandpacificopen@gmail.com

 

Chief TD: Mark S. Dutton, I.A.

 

 

 

Previous Victoria Festivals

2008 Victoria Chess Festival

2007 Victoria Chess Festival