Hello everyone!

I would like to start by thanking all attendees and spectators who attended the 2022 Newfoundland Open Chess Championship tournament this weekend. Our final count was a whopping 28 attendees, which may be one of the largest NL Opens ever held. It is incredibly motivating to see the sustained interest in chess within the province, along with some remarkable (and dramatic!) games that occurred as a result.

I’d like to thank Morgen Mills, Chris White, and Jordan Berson for their help this weekend with entering results and observing the tournament. Simply put, I could not have managed running this event without their assistance, especially while also participating as a player. Jordan also designed our scoresheets for the event and picked up some supplies (water and pens) for all players. It is things like this that really make for a great player experience. I’d also like to thank Heather May of the MUN Chess Club for booking the location of EN-4000 multiple times on our behalf, which was a great venue.

For those who have been following the fantastic photographs that have been uploaded to the Facebook group, these are the work of Brian Carey, a local photographer who also participated in the event. The expressions of focus and enjoyment have been captured in an astounding way, and those photos will be treasured by both participants and myself. Please consider checking out more of Brian’s work.

Prior to the final day, the trophy was in the care of Alick Tsui, who was running the NLCA when I first began competitive chess in 2009. While Alick hasn’t been directly involved with chess for a few years, his work does not go unnoticed, especially when it contributed to my formative years in the game I love today. We were also visited by Brian Oliver who had graciously donated six books from his large chess book collection, which were distributed by random draw prior to the final round. Brian happens to be my first rated chess opponent and so also holds a special place in Newfoundland chess.

I would like to give a special thank you to Roger Langen, a 7-time winner of the NL Open himself (including the very first in 1969, and as recent as 2018!). It was Roger who commissioned the trophy that has been passed from winner to winner since the very first event, and to have him say a few words prior to the final round really made the event something special. Roger and I are now in communication regarding potentially finding a public display location for the trophy to be homed, given it has a history of over 60 years of provincial chess behind it. With any luck he will increase that number to 8 wins in the future!

Of note was the participation of two Ukrainian players, Kostiantyn Myroniuk and Maria Nyzhnyk. Both players contacted me in the two weeks leading up to the event, and I was happy to see a strong performance from both. I hope to see both strong players at future events and will aim to work on my own knowledge of the Ukrainian language to become less reliant on Google Translate!

Finally, it is with great pleasure to announce that our 2022 Newfoundland Chess Champion is Husam Al Rimawi, who moved from Jordan this year to study Data Science at Memorial University. From my conversation with Husam, he has already fallen in love with our province, and I am happy to see him awarded the trophy after an incredible perfect score of 5/5.

The final prize distribution can be seen below:

1st with 5/5: Husam Al Rimawi ($315)
Tie 2nd-5th with 4/5: Kostiantyn Myroniuk, Morgen Mills, Anthony Leonard, Ryan Pickard ($105 each)
Top Junior with 3/5: Evan Fang ($75)

Final Crosstable can be seen below, along with some pictures of the winners and the trophy taken from the updated gallery uploaded by Brian Carey.

I may not be able to submit the event in time for this week’s rating by the CFC (I have been catching up on work and some personal commitments), so ratings and memberships may not be updated until the following week. I will post again once new membership can be viewed.

The future of chess in the province is bright – please stay tuned as I plan for at least one other event to be held before the end of this year.

Regards,
Anthony Leonard
NLCA Tournament Director

The final crosstable of the 2022 Newfoundland Open Chess Championship

Winners with the trophy, from left to right: Kostiantyn Myroniuk, Morgen Mills, Husam Al Rimawi, Anthony Leonard

Top Junior: Evan Fang

2022 Newfoundland Open Chess Champion Husam Al Rimawi with head tournament director Anthony Leonard

NL Chess Open Championship Standings after Round 1, and pairings for Round 2, can be seen below. We have an even number of participants so there are no forced byes, e.g. all will be playing tomorrow.

Round 2 will begin at 10am. Please try to arrive a few minutes early so I know you are coming. If you running late, please reach out via email (anthonyleonard21@gmail.com) or my cell (included in the email sent to participants).

Regards,
Anthony Leonard

Hi all, an update on the upcoming Newfoundland Open Chess Championship, scheduled to take place this weekend October 21st-23rd.

We are currently at 25 pre-registered entrants. This is an astounding number for our province! As far as I can remember this number alone would make it the largest classical chess event since I began rated chess in 2009. Truly remarkable and very excited to see the turnout. Registered players include three former NL Open winners, and as well as other strong players who have recently moved to our province. I can make no guesses as to who may come out on top. If you are intending on playing and have not yet filled out the form, please do so – and similarly, if you have filled out the form and must withdraw, let me know as well.

With the tournament so close, I wanted to announce a few other policies/rules for the event.

PLAYING HALL RULES: While games are ongoing, there is to be no talking or communicating with players. You may leave the playing hall at any point to go to the bathroom which is nearby – please do not communicate with players or spectators on the way to or from the playing hall while you are still playing a game. Spectators are welcome but are subject to the same rules. Both players and spectators may walk around and view other games, but please do not linger at any one board in proximity as this may disturb the players.

ELECTRONICS POLICY: all mobile devices should be TURNED OFF and either stowed in a bag (not to be retrieved until end of game), or laid face up by the board clearly visible and to remain there. In the event of a phone going off mid-round, the owner of the device will immediately forfeit the game – no exceptions! These are the conditions under which the Maritime Open 2021 and Canadian Open 2022 were ran, and I would prefer to follow those as a guideline. I will make a verbal announcement prior to each round reminding everyone of these rules.

COVID-19 POLICY: While masks will not be mandatory in the playing hall, I will be bringing a box of disposable masks to be used by any player or spectator who wishes to avail of them. I ask that all participants respect the choice to wear a mask by anyone else in the playing hall.

TIEBREAKERS: No tiebreakers will be used. In the event of a tie for 1st, all players with the same score will have their name engraved on the NL Open trophy that has been maintained since 1969. For cash prizes, the prize money for all players at that score will be added together and distributed evenly. For example, if 1st place receives $200 with 2nd place receiving $100, and the top two finishers are tied at 4.5/5, they will each receive (200 + 100) / 2) = $150.

I think have covered everything. If there are any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Regards,
Anthony

Hi folks, it has been quite some time since my last post regarding rated CFC events here in the province. I have spoken to a few folks already at the regular meetups (at the Memorial University food court meetups on Wednesdays, and the Elixir Bar and Lounge meetings up on Thursdays) but I can now say that we have confirmed dates for this year’s NL Open Chess Championship! Here are the details.

Date: Friday, October 21st – 23rd
Round 1: October 21st, 7pm (Registration closes at 6:30pm SHARP)
Rounds 2 and 3: October 22nd, 10am and 3pm
Rounds 4 and 5: October 23rd, 10am and 3pm
Location: EN-4000, 4th floor the of MUN Engineering building (CONFIRMED)
Tournament Format: Swiss
Time Control: Game in 90 minutes, plus 30 second increment from move 1.
Ratings: CFC-rated. A valid CFC membership is required to participate in this event (priced at $44 a year, $29 if born in 2002 or later). This can either be paid to me (on-site or via etransfer) or online at https://chess.ca. Good for all CFC events across the country.
Entry fee: $40 for existing CFC members – reduced to $20 if purchasing/renewing a CFC membership at the time of this tournament. For example, a new CFC member would pay $44 (membership fee) + $20 (entry fee) = $64.
Prizes: Cash prizes with the exact structure to be determined at the conclusion of Round 1. The total prize fund will be comprised of all entry fees minus applicable rating fees for the event (~$3 per player). In addition, the winner will be awarded the NL Open Chess Championship trophy, which has been passed on after each event since 1969(!). A picture of the trophy and historical winners can be viewed below at the appropriate link.

Pre-registration: https://forms.gle/RD86rVWqNtKKvCkd8
Trophy and Past Winners: https://nlchess.ca/nl-championships-and-winners/

If there are any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at anthonyleonard21@gmail.com(please include NL Chess Open in the subject). I suspect that we will see one of the most competitive classical events held in the province for many years due to the increase in players as well as some folks who have moved from other parts of the world. I greatly look forward to the event, both as an organizer and a player.

Regards,
Anthony Leonard
Tournament Director NLCA

Hi all!

I’d like to announce additional information on the two events planned for this month, as well as advance registration links.

APRIL RAPID WARM-UP (unrated)

Date: Saturday April 9th, from 1pm-5:30pm. Registration on-site to close at 12:40pm sharp. There will be short 5-10 minute break between rounds.

Location: EN-4000 (fourth floor of MUN Engineering building)
Format: Swiss (i.e. everyone plays all rounds). 5 rounds.
Time control: Game in 15 minutes, with 10 second increment added after every move.
CFC Membership: NOT REQUIRED
Entry fee: FREE
Prizes: I will be donating a few chess books – top 3 will get their choice in that order.

April Rapid Warm-up pre-registration (helps me understand likely attendance): Google Forms Link

APRIL OPEN (Classical CFC-RATED)

Date: Friday April 29th to May 1st.
Round 1: April 29th 7pm (Registration closes at 6:40pm SHARP)
Rounds 2 and 3: April 30th 10am and 2:30pm
Rounds 4 and 5: May 1st 10am and 2:30pm
Location:: EN-4000, 4th floor the of MUN Engineering building (CONFIRMED)

Format: Swiss (i.e. everyone plays all rounds). 5 rounds. 1 bye may be requested for a given round – you will be awarded 1/2pt for any requested bye that is not round 5.
Time control: Game in 75 minutes, with 30 seconds increment added after every move (games may be over 3 hours total).
CFC Membership: REQUIRED. Currently priced at $44 a year, or $29 for Juniors (birth year of 2002 or later). This can either be paid to me directly on-site or online at https://www.chess.ca. Good for all CFC events across the country.
Entry fee: $15 – Entry fee is WAIVED if you are a new or renewing CFC member (need only provide proof of renewal in April, or I can purchase on your behalf).
Prizes: Cash prizes with exact structure to be determined upon completion of Round 1. Prize fund = All Entry Fees – CFC rating fees ($3 per adult, $1.50 per junior)

April Open Pre-registration: Google Forms Link

Please note: Masks will be required at all times for these events to adhere to current MUN regulations.

If you are unsure about competing in a Classical event, the Warm-up event provides a great low-commitment opportunity to test the waters. As far as Classical events go, I want to hold a second event in the summer, followed by the Newfoundland Open in either late August or early September. This is essentially our provincial championship, with the holding the NL Open trophy for a year – this trophy has been passed from winner to winner since the 1960s. The current reigning champion is Jordan Berson, who won the last NL Open in 2019.

Any updates to the above information will be posted on the local chess Facebook group as well as the website at https://nlchess.ca (which we are looking at revamping). As always, if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me here or via email at anthonyleonard21@gmail.com.

Regards,
Anthony Leonard (NL Tournament Director)

— The below is a copy of a post made to the NLCA Facebook group. Updates will be posted both to the group and the website while we revamp the NLCA. — -AL

Hi all,

First, I wanted to thank everyone who filled out the survey in my previous post. It gave us a lot of information on interest for events this coming year, and there is definitely a lot of interest from all skill levels and backgrounds!

I wanted to provide some updates for those wondering about events. I am hoping to run TWO events in the month of April:

• Unrated Rapid – A 4-5 round Swiss event that will not require a CFC membership. For time control it will likely be something similar to 15 minutes + 10 second increment that you’d see on the Champions Chess Tour that has been pretty popular. The whole event would take about 4-5 hours to complete. The goal here is to introduce over-the-board tournament play to those who are unsure about participating in CFC events going forward. We may run one of these from time to time but the focus will be on Rated events.

• Rated Classical – a 4-5 round Swiss event that will require a CFC membership, for NL this is $44 a year. These events are rated by the Chess Federation of Canada, which is the national governing body for chess in the country. Classical events are basically a weekend committment – typically the format is one round on Friday night, two rounds on Saturday, and one or two rounds on Sunday (5th round only if registration numbers require it). Time controls for NL events used to be anywhere from 75 to 90 minutes with 30 second increment, so expect games to last 3-4 hours each. 1/2 pt requested byes can be provided for all except the last round if advance notice is given.

The target dates are April 9th or 10th for the Unrated Rapid, and the weekend of April 29th-May 1st for the Rated Classical. I am waiting to hear back on bookings at the University to confirm exact dates and times, so keep an eye out. A few additional notes:

• Currently, the university requires masking for university events, which will extend to these tournaments as well. If there are any updates to university policy I will post them once confirmed.
• Depending on the rooms we are able to get, we may need to impose a cap on entrants. As a result, advanced registration will be required. This will make things easier on the tournament director (myself) in terms of pairings, byes, etc.

This is mostly preliminary information to keep people in the loop. Any updates, confirmed dates/times, and registration will be posted here as well as the site at https://nlchess.ca. While the site is a out of date we are looking at potentially modernizing it, but I want to ensure these updates are also there for reference (or if you want to share it with someone who is not a member of this group).

If there are any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me in the comments here or at anthonyleonard_21@gmail.com.

Regards,
Anthony Leonard