2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Check out the uber-cool website for the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship! September 11 - 13, 2009. Goddesschess is pleased to sponsor three Class Prizes just for the chess femmes in Classes B, C and D this year. Here is some background about the Montreal Championship: The first official Montreal Championship dates to 1923. In 1938, a women's club, "La Circle Femina," was born. With its yearly club championship tournaments, it was dynamic enough to give birth to distinct Women's Championship events from 1949 to 1952. Then it stopped. It was shortly revived in 1964 and 1966, after which there are no records of any subsequent event. The tradition of a large open championship was established in 1950 and (with minor variations), has been going strong ever since. The Canadian player who has won the most Championship titles is Montreal-born GM Kevin Spraggett (now resides in Portugal), who won it EIGHT times! In addition to the link to the official website above, you can find more information about this great event at the official website for the Quebec Chess Federation (Federation quebecoise des echecs). It will be held at the Centre de loisirs (Recreation Center) Sts-Martyrs-Canadiens, a grand, beautiful place that took my breath away the first time I saw it. Here is a photo that dondelion took of yours truly in one of the gardens at the Center in October, 2002. It's twin JanXenas under the sign of the pesch en kef - run for the hills, EEK!