11th Annual Grand Pacific Open

Hola!  Goddesschess has provided sponsorship for female chessplayers for this event for several years now.  This year we had ten female players in all sections, five (5!!!) in the top rated PREMIER Section.  The women in the PREMIER section took all of the Goddesschess prize money this year.

The event is held annually over Easter in Victoria, BC, Canada at the beautiful Grand Pacific Hotel.  This year's GPO was held April 14 - 17, 2017, with a guaranteed prize fund of $5,000 Canadian.  Prizes are slated to the top five female players in the PREMIER Section; if there are fewer players than five, remaining prizes are awarded to the top female finishers in the next highest rated Section, and so on.

Here are this year's results!

Premier Section (33 players)
1.  8th place, WFM Adela Fratila (2038) 3.5/6 $125.00
2.  15th place, WFM Valeria Gansvind (2254), 3.0/6, $90.00
3.  17th place, WFM Naomi Bashkansky (2018), 3.0/6, $90.00
4. 25th place, Shi Yuan (Sherry) Tian (1818), 2.0/6, $50.00
5.  32nd place, WFM Chouchanik Airapetian (2015) (former U.S. women's chess championship competitor), 0.5/5, $25.00

Under 2000 Section (37 players)
6.  9th place, Anna Vang (1469), 4.0/6

Under 1700 (45 players)
7.  31st place, Bo Wen (Angelina) Yang (1013), 2.5/6

Under 1200 (31 players)
8.  11th place,  Gillian Mok (852), 3.5/6
9.  14th place, Amanda Yang (731), 3.0/6
10.  17th place, Shannon Gong (UNR), 3.0/6

Congratulations to top overall female chess femme WFM Adela Fratila, and to all of our prize winners, and two thumbs up to all of the chess femmes for their fighting spirit.

WFM Airapetian had a "not so good" tournament this event,  She has played rather sporadically over the past several years, but I remember her well from prior U.S. Women's Chess Championships for her sunny smile and always upbeat spirit and disposition.  In 2004, Airapetian made American chess history by becoming the first female player to earn a spot in the U.S. Chess Championship, by She was a favorite amongst players at the U.S. events.  I hope she will come back next year and try again!  

Stay tuned.  We are considering changing up the prize structure for this Canadian event to more closely align it with the sponsorship format we provide to the Hales Corners Chess Challenges in Milwaukee.  Our goal is always to encourage more female chessplayers to participate in such events and to reward them for their hard play.  I only wish we had unlimited financial resources to be able to make it so, all across the U.S. and Mr. Don's beloved Canada!