90th City of Montreal Open Chess Championships

Hola, darlings!

There's still time to register online.  If you arrive onsite to register on Friday, you'll have to pay in cash to register - so please hurry up and register on line!

Online registration. 

The Championnat is one of the local chess events that Goddesschess supports by providing funding as well as prizes just for the chess femmes.  This year, there are six cash prizes up for grabs for the ladies who play in the B through D Sections.

Club Ahuntsic, who organized the Championnat again this year, has outdone itself:

• There is a gorgeous new playing venue with lots of amenities onsite including - very important - food service :)  There is access by the metro and bus line.  Information. 

• The prize fund has been increased by $1,000 from last year - to $6,000! 

• The weather is gorgeous!  Though, perhaps we have The Goddess of Chess to thank for that :)

More information on the 90th City of Montreal Open Chess Championshps.

Please come out and support this wonderful Montreal event, celebrating its 90th year!  It has a venerable history and your name could be added to a long line of Montreal chess champions. The winners of the 89th Championnat were IM Jean Hebert of Montreal (Open) and WGM Salome Melia of Georgia (Woman Champion). 

Who will the winners be this year?  Pre-registered players include GM Alex Lenderman, GM Bator Sambuev, IM Jean Hebert - defending his 2009 title, WIM Yuan Yuanling - highest rated Canadian female chessplayer and a member of the 2010 Canadian Women's Chess Olympiad Team, many Canadian masters, and one of Canada's up-and-coming chessplayers, Ms. Kelly Wang - 138 players so far.  Ms. Kelly Wang won the Class B Goddesschess prize in the 2009 Championnat and also won a Goddesschess prize offered at the 2008 Canadian Open.  More about Ms. Kelly Wang, who was a "Featured Chess Femme" at my 2008 column for Chessville (scroll down to the end of the column to see Ms. Wang.) 
official website

Georgian Women's Chess Championship

Results table from http://www.chess-results.com/

IM/WGM Salome Melia won the championship with 10/13.  She followed up by tying for first place in the Women's C Group at the Moscow Open.  Way to go!

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 1 IM Melia Salome GEO 2431 10,0 57,25 8
2 IM Khurtsidze Nino GEO 2414 9,5 56,00 8
3 IM Lomineishvili Maia GEO 2371 8,5 47,50 6
4 WIM Mikadze Miranda GEO 2326 7,5 45,75 4
5 WGM Tsereteli Tamar GEO 2403 7,5 40,75 4
6 IM Khotenashvili Bela GEO 2461 7,0 37,25 6
7 WIM Arabidze Meri GEO 2282 7,0 35,25 5
8 WGM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2309 6,5 45,50 5
9 IM Khukhashvili Sopiko GEO 2438 6,5 36,00 5
10 WIM Tsatsalashvili Keti GEO 2312 6,5 34,00 4
11 IM Purtseladze Maka GEO 2306 5,0 27,50 2
12 GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2506 4,0 27,25 3
13 WIM Gavasheli Ana GEO 2204 3,5 14,50 2
14 WIM Khurtsilava Inga GEO 2303 1,0 6,50 1

I haven't met IM Melia but one of our number, Don McLean, has, when he covered the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship in September 2009.  Montreal fell in love with Melia, and she fell in love with Montreal.  Goddesschess had a part in bringing about her appearance in Montreal - her first trip to North America, in fact!  She finished in second place, just behind Montreal favorite IM Jean Hebert.  We are hoping she will be able to come back to Montreal to defend her title as Woman Chess Champion of Montreal at the 2010 Tournament. 

Article at Goddesschess by Don McLean

Photo by Don McLean - Salome Melia (left) and Lee Mei Chen, taken outside the playing venue of the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

For a list of blog posts regarding the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship, please click on the label below.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Mr. Don has been laboring over these videos since the Championnat concluded (September 13th). They're still not quite where he wants them to be, but they're getting better! It's called learning by doing a/k/a baptism by fire... Overview of Championnat from beginning to end: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4rfnMrDKuk Interview at end of Championnat with GM Salome Melia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ROu2C-2mc

WGM Salome Melia's Simul at Pi Cafe

The Quebec Chess Federation (Fédération québécoise des échecs), has a report (in French, with photographs) on WGM Salome Melia's simul at the Pi Cafe, held last night, her last night in town. Final simul score: 8.5/9 Melia v. chess hommes :) I am sorry there were not more there to play. It looks like one or perhaps two tables paid but were not able to participate. As far as I can tell from the photographs (not publishable here), no chess femmes signed up for the simul. I would have - if I could have been there. Damn! Melia finished in second place at the recently concluded 89th Montreal Open Chess Championship, earning the title "Female Champion of Montreal." The 89th Championnat had the highest number of players in a long long time, including many chess femmes and scholastic players! Way to go! For the 90th Championnat, I understand the Organizing Committee is aiming for 20% chess femme participation and is looking to increase the participation of scholastic players. The combination of experienced chess hommes and younger players, with a sprinkling of chess femmes interspersed across all playing levels, from the Open to Group D, seems to have worked a great magic in the 89th Montreal Open Chess Championship, something everyone is looking to repeat in next year's Championnat. I understand that this morning WGM Melia took a bus to Toronto to catch a flight back to Europe. Au revoir, la belle WGM. Montreal fell in love with you! WGM/IM Melia will be competing on a team in the upcoming 14th Women's European Club Cup (October 3 - 11, 2009). Melia will also be on the Georgian Women's Chess Team in the upcoming European Women's Team Chess Championship. I will report on Melia's results in both of these events.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship: Hebert Talks Chess

Thanks to the webmaster of the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship for posting this link at Facebook! It's an English translation (somewhat rough) of a September 14, 2009 column done in French by IM Jean Hebert, who took first place in the Montreal Open Championship. It provides unique insight into the Championnat. Enjoy! (Image: Photo from the Championnat of IM Jean Hebert and his son, outside the playing venue). Hébert parle échecs Volume 2, number 35 Week of september 14, 2009

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Final standing tables are up at Monroi.com! Congratulations to WGM Melia on her fine performance. She is the new Female Champion of Montreal. Kudos also to the Misses Wang, Lee and Brichko for winning the Goddesschess class prizes. I hope I did not miss any of the chess femmes! Here is a photo of WGM Melia and one of the young participants outside the playing venue - sorry, I do not know who she is. The photo was sent by Bernard Ouimet, who worked tirelessly on this Championship. We'll be back, bigger and better, next year! Class A: 1 Hebert, Jean MI 2418 +32 +14 +5 +11 =2 4½ 1300,00 2 Salome, Melia GMF 2441 +22 +13 +18 =3 =1 4 235,00 3 Jiang, Louie MF 2278 +31 +15 +12 =2 =4 4 235,00 4 Gerzhoy, Leonid MI 2412 +16 =8 +10 +7 =3 4 235,00 5 Mai, Lloyd 2194 +29 +9 -1 +24 +13 4 235,00 6 Barbeau, Sylvain MF 2365 =20 +41 +8 =9 +12 4 235,00 Class B: 1 Kayembe, Doris 1943 +47 +42 +4 +3 +8 5 650,00 38 Wang, Kelly 1529 -27 -16 -46 +52 +53 2 45,00 (Goddesschess prize) 40 Yang, Marguerite 1317 -10 -34 B--- -20 +50 2 52 Wang, Yan 1620 -48 -45 -50 -38 B--- 1 Class C: 1 Ross, Samuel 1595 +50 +18 +5 +15 =2 4½ 188,33 2 Chang, Michael 1553 +54 +40 +17 +4 =1 4½ 188,33 3 De Gongre, Stephane 1575 +41 =13 +19 +27 +9 4½ 188,33 22 Lee, Mei Chen 1516 +56 +49 -4 -18 +41 3 35,00 (Goddesschess prize) 38 Trottier, Claire 1202 =10 +30 -27 -13 =52 2 48 Ma, Indy 1371 H--- =24 -39 -46 +55 2 53 Bilodeau-Savaria, Cendrina 1109 -11 -21 =45 -57 +60 1½ 56 Paquette, Esther 992 -22 -17 B--- -33 -47 1 61 Del Agua, Jesrael Noelle unr. -6 F32 U--- U--- U--- 0 Class D: 1 Saine, Zachary 1034 +30 +23 +20 +2 +5 5 170,00 18 Brichko, Kate 1054 +25 H--- -7 -10 +28 2½ 25,00 (Goddesschess prize) 21 Dormeus, Sandy 850 -12 +30 +23 -4 -16 2 22 Dubois, Lorraine 989 -20 +29 +16 -3 -14 2 27 Gao, Christine 1105 -4 =11 -14 -15 +31 1½ 29 Nazarov, Stephanie 743 -9 -22 H--- -28 +32 1½ 32 Gao, Catherine 747 -2 -16 -30 -25 -29 0

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

From Chess Talk: After winning the Quebec closed 2008, and the Canadian closed (semi-open) 2009, IM Jean Hébert added the Montreal open this past week-end (4,5/5). 191 players, 5 000$ prize fund, 2 GMs and 8 IM are the main numbers. GM Bator Sambuev fell victim to his cell phone in round 4 and quit the tournament probably demoralized by the turn of events. GM Salome Melia of the Republic of Georgia finished second as well as S. Barbeau FM, L. Gerzhoy IM and L. Jiang FM, all with 4/5. I checked Monroi.com a few seconds ago and the standings have not yet been updated. Final pairings for Round 5 here. Hebert and Melia played each other and drew their game in 12 moves - mailed it in! Here's a link where you can play it through.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Here are some interesting posts from Facebook about WGM Salome Melia: Championnat de Montréal The Woman Grand Master Salome Melia in visit from Georgia will give a simultaneous exhibition at Cafe Pi 4127 boul. Saint-Laurent Montreal Wednesday at 07:00 pm. $10 per person. She will make a presentation prior to the games about chess in Georgia. ...The presentation will be in English. All income will go to her. This is great news! Goddess, I wish I could be there, would love to play against Melia, even though I'm the merest patzer! I miss Cafe Pi. I haven't been to Montreal since June, 2003. Mr. Don and I visited there all the times I was in Montreal. We love the place. It's a long, narrow brick building on St. Laurent Boulevard (I still mistakenly call it St. Lawrence Avenue). They served very strong, bitter coffee at cheap prices and rented vinyl board and pieces (some missing and substituted with whatever was at hand, lol!) at - I think the last time we were there, it was less than a dollar! At that time you could buy soft drinks (soda) out of a vending machine and also snacks, but when we visited we were just looking to have coffee and play a chess game or two. I'm glad to see from visiting the current website that they've upgraded their menu and one hopes the coffee is not burnt anymore :) We drank it anyway - it woke us up. The clean white walls were lined with art for sale by local artists. For all the times I visited Cafe Pi the same clerk was behind the counter, a very attractive and personable young lady who remembered Mr. Don and I (amazingly, given the space of time between our visits), of dark, punky styled and uber-fashionable hair with unfortunate piercings all over the place. I would not want those piercings 40 years from now, eek! The most serious players sit at the very front of the building, where the smoke from their incessant cigarettes drifts out in the summer through open air, as the glass-to-ceiling-windows are opened to clear the way to the sidewalk. There were some tables squeezed together outside under the windows, too, and those were the most popular places to play during the summer despite the sidewalk traffic, particularly in the evenings it was constant. Toward the back of the space are the rest-rooms for femmes and hommes. One night while Mr. Don and I sat playing chess, I saw a homme go into the ladies' rest room! Evidently he couldn't hold it any longer and the men's restroom was occupied (why wait so long until you're hopping from foot to foot to visit the restroom?) I was very insulted! I did not want men peeing all over the women's rest room toilet seat! Invariably their aim is very bad... During the warm season the back door is open to provide cross ventilation in addition to ceiling fans. Kibitzers are welcome. As I was usually the only femme in the place when we visited, Mr. Don and I attracted some attention. It was very disconcerting. Now I see from the photo I posted above from a 2009 Blitz Tournament held at Pi that the walls are red. Were they always red? My memory isn't the best! I do remember them as white, but I may be wrong. Not sure red walls are the best color to encourage contemplation while playing chess, ha! Championnat de Montréal The Montreal Open Chess Championship and members of the chess community in Quebec would like to persuade the WGM Salome Melia to move in Quebec. Her presence on the top boards is required and would open the door to Women championship titles in our various tournaments. Although our market is small, it would be granted to her! She is also a very beautiful and attractive woman with easyness to talk to people. Perhaps someone has become infatuated with WGM Melia :) There are many promising female chessplayers in Montreal and in Canada. What they need are better conditions and encouragement to keep playing! Money would help, too! We all need to make a living at some point in our lives and trying to make a living by playing chess - ach! It is not always possible, alas.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

More video! Here are some videos from the Tournament: Chess dudes relaxing between rounds Melia, Round 1 Sights and sounds of the Tournament - a bit choppy in parts (did Mr. Don really have the cam upside down???) but very evocative... Hey dude, you're encroaching on my space! Chess femme in contemplation... Waiting for the next move Tournament action - lots of chess dudes, not so many chess femmes Young chess femme in action - and I'm not sure what's going on in the latter part of this video - why whould they reset their pieces like that?

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Lovely ladies. Top photo: WGM Salome Melia and Lee Mei Chen outside the playing venue before the start of the Tournament. According to the Championnat's Facebook page, this is Melia's first visit to North America. I'm biased - I'm rooting for her to win the whole thing! Lee Mei Chen (I hope I have the name correctly) is a friend of WGM Subbaraman Meenakshi and had made plans to play in the Championnat this year with Meenakshi. Unfortunately, because of the slow global economy Meenakshi's corporate sponsor declined to provide money for expenses and airfare, and she had to withdraw. According to the "experts" things are bottoming out now in the US, so perhaps next year at this time we will see Meenakshi in Montreal. Bottom photo: Melia at Table 2 - this is Round 2 or 3, don't know which one.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

I've got video and photos from Mr. Don! Here is a link to a short video showing some action at the top tables - don't know what Round it is - could be 1, 2 or 3. I've also included a selection of photos - these are from Rounds 1 through 3. Later on Mr. Don will label photos and put them up at Goddesschess.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Standings after Round 3 - Round 4 and 5 today, 10 AM and 3 PM. Group A (Open): Several players perfect through 3. Melia is in second place. 1 Sambuev, GM Bator 2531 2538 3 2 Salome, *Melia 2441 2451 3 3 Hebert, Jean 2418 2428 3 4 Jiang, Louie 2278 2289 3 Group B: 48 Yang, *Marguerite 1317 1310 1 54 Wang, *Yan 1620 1587 0 55 Wang, *Kelly 1529 1502 0 Group C: 13 Lee, *Mei Chen 1516 1511 2 34 Trottier, *Claire 1202 1234 1½ 39 Ma, *Indy 1371 1355 1 50 Lingyun, *Shi 1211 1201 1 52 Paquette, *Esther 992 988 1 56 Bilodeau-Savaria, Cendrina 1109 1105 ½ 62 Del Agua, *Jesrael Noelle unr. 0 Group D: 9 Dubois, *Lorraine 989 994 2 11 Dormeus, *Sandy 850 872 2 18 Brichko, *Kate 1054 1042 1½ 28 Gao, *Christine 1105 1064 ½ 31 Gao, *Catherine 747 747 0 Hope I got all the chess femmes. I have to go back and correct yesterday's post, I've got a guy in there by mistake. Who names his son Doris?

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

I've been waiting for these for hours! Finally - some results to report! From Monroi.com. After Round 2: In Group A (42 players), WGM Salome Melia is the only chess femme participating in the Open, and she is currently in 2nd place, with two wins, nominally tied with several chess hommes: # Name ID Rtng Tot 1 GM Bator Sambuev 100539 2531 2 2 *Melia Salome 2441 2 3 Jean Hebert 10495 2418 2 4 Louie Jiang 100245 2278 2 5 Roland Chabot 24838 2245 2 6 Kishor Ramaswamy 11002 2202 2 7 Lloyd Mai 74384 2194 2 8 Daniel Rousseau 44662 2149 2 There aren't too many chess femmes playing in the B Group (55 players): # Name ID Rtng Tot 54 *Kelly Wang 101318 1529 0 55 *Marguerite Yang 101308 1317 0 C Group (62 players) - one chess femme has a share of first place: 7 *Mei Chen Lee 1516 2 19 *Claire Trottier 88121 1202 1,5 31 *Indy Ma Olivier 100247 1371 1 55 *Shi Lingyun 101549 1211 0 57 Cendrina Bilodeau-Savaria 101304 1109 0 60 *Esther Paquette 101011 992 0 62 *Jesrael Noelle Del Agua unr. 0 Group D (32 players): 9 *Kate Brichko 101557 1054 1,5 17 *Lorraine Dubois 100010 989 1 21 *Sandy Dormeus 101959 850 1 27 *Christine Gao 101555 1105 0,5 28 *Catherine Gao 102392 747 0 I count 191 players - unfortunately, as far as I can tell, Zahira El Ghaby is not playing after all. Perhaps next year? I do not know if 191 players is a record - it will have to wait until after the end of the tournament and all the smoke has cleared because I am certain that right now, my contacts at Ahuntsic Chess Club (organizer) are very busy! I'm waiting to hear from Mr. Don - and hopefully find out what happened to his downloaded videos and photos.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

a/k/a Championnat de Montreal (2009) Prior post Next weekend! September 11 - 13, 2009. This year the organizers have made a special effort to reach out to the chess femmes in the community and abroad, and have had good success! First, efforts to attract a WGM to play in the Open were successful! WGM Salome Melia (GEO 2441), ranked 44th in the world of active female players, is coming all the way from Europe to participate in the Open. Goddesschess was pleased to provide financial support for this endeavor. At this moment, Melia is the 2nd ranked player in the Open. Second, the Open has lured Zahira El Ghaby (2050 - I do not know under which flag she will be playing) out of inactivity! Now living in Beaumont, Quebec, Canada, she is a two-time Female Champion of Morocco (2002, 2003), Arabian Champion U-18 (2001), and a Chess Olympiad gold medalist (Instanbul, 2000), scoring 6.5/7 and a 92.9% win ratio to earn her Gold. She represents a dangerous unknown! Third, Kelly Wang (CAN 1580), who is 9 years old and entering Grade 4 this year in school, is playing. Thus far, she is the highest-rated chess femme in the B Group and has a good shot at winning the Goddesschess prize for chess femmes in that group. Also playing in the B Group is 12th-grader Marguerite Yang (CAN 1317). In the C Group, Mei Chen Lei (CAN 1516) is coming from Toronto to play. She is friends with WGM Meenakshi Subarraman who had planned to play in the Championship, but lost employer financial support due to global economic conditions and, therefore, will not be appearing in 2009. But both players are scheduled for the 2010 Championship! These are some of chess femmes who will be competing for the title "Female Champion of Montreal" this year! Stay tuned! We are still hoping for more chess femmes. The organizers have reduced registration fees for all chess femmes by $10 as an inducement for more chess femmes to come out and play. The organizers have also waived registration fees for all Chess 'n Math players as long as they don't have a long game rating with FQE or other Federations. Goddesschess' own Don McLean will be on-site throughout the Tournament taking photos, video, and interviews with as many chess femmes who will talk to him! We will publish everything at the Goddesschess blog and/or website. At the conclusion of the Tournament, Monsieur McLean (a Montreal native) will hand out the monetary prizes and certificates to the chess femmes who have won the Goddesschess class prizes. Please come out and support this historical Montreal Tournament. We hope to see you there!

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Prior post.

It's been confirmed - WGM/IM Salome Melia (GEO 2441) will be appearing at the 89th Championship of Montreal -- Montreal Open Chess Championship! Goddesschess is happy to have had a part in making this possible by providing financial support, in addition to funding Class Prizes just for the chess femmes! (Photo: Melia, 12/23/08, Photos by Mothilal Guptha) As I understand it, this is the first time a WGM will be appearing at this historic Montreal chess tournament. Here is a current list of the chess femmes pre-registered for the Tournament (out of 150 pre-registered entrants), which will take place September 11 - 13, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec: # Name Section Rating 3 Melia, Salome A 2441 56 Wang, Kelly B 1580 67 Lei, Mei Chen C 1516 81 Ma, Indy C 1371 94 Trottier, Claire C 1202 97 Shi, Ling Yun C 1165 99 Bilodeau-Savaria, Cendrina C 1109 102 Paquette, Esther C 992 109 Gao, Christine D 1117 112 Brichko, Kate D 1054 115 Dubois, Lorraine D 989 116 Gao, Catherine D 971 120 Dormeus, Sandy D 850 The top-finishing female player will be awarded the title "Female Champion of Montreal," resurrecting a proud tradition from the early years of the Tournament. The organizers are hoping for a record turn-out this year. Can they do it??? We are particularly eager for more chess femmes to sign up and play in the Tournament. Please come out and try for one of the Chess Femme Class Prizes and a chance at earning the title "Female Champion of Montreal." Information at Monroi. List of players/biographies (grouped by Classes A, B, C and D).

Added 8/23/09 - information from Bernard Quimet:

Zahira El Ghaby from Morocco [will be playing in the Tournament.] She now lives in Beaumont (Quebec) and she remembers her ELO rating back when she lived in Morocco to be “about 2050”.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

The 89th Championship of Montreal is fast approaching! Soon it will be here - September 11 - 13, 2009. The Tournament will be held at the Centre de loisirs (Recreation Center) Sts-Martyrs-Canadiens. Check out one of my prior posts for some historical background on this great event. Club d'echecs Ahuntsic is organizing everything and sponsors Recrutnet, Inc. and the city of Montreal guaranteed a prize fund of $5,000 CAD. Goddesschess is sponsoring three class prizes for the chess femmes in Classes B, C and D. In addition, Goddesschess is providing funding assistance to bring IM/WGM Salome Melia (GEO 2441) to Montreal to play in the Championship! We are very excited about this opportunity. Right now, we are all on pins and needles, awaiting word on whether WGM Melia can get a visa in time to arrive in Montreal to play in the Tournament. Stay tuned for further news! Photo of Melia from Queens of Chess, 12/23/08. Melia, born in 1987, is currently ranked 44th of the top 100 women. In the meantime, 87 players have registered for the Tournament! Registrations are going well -- As of August 1st, 73 players had registered. The tournament organizers are hoping for a record-breaking turn-out, and so are we! Live coverage and more will be provided by Monroi. Official website of the tournament. 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship Prize Fund = $5,000 Section A (Open) : Prize Fund = $2575: 1-$1300, 2-$650, 3-$325, Class Prizes: $200, $100 Other Sections, 1st 2nd 3rd Class (1) Jr. Section B <2000> Section C <1600> Section D <1200> Unrated Prize: $35(2) (1) The classes will be defined before the start of the second round; dependent upon the rating distribution. (2) An unrated player is also eligible to win any other prize in any section, up to a limit of $100.A player whose rating index is 100 or more points greater than a section's limit may not play in that section. e.g., xxxx.13 may not play in Section D. Schedule: Friday September 11 - late entries 17:30-18:15- Round 1 at 19:00 Saturday September 12 - Round 2 at 10:00 Saturday September 12 - Round 3 at 15:00 Sunday September 13 - Round 4 at 10:00 Sunday September 13 - Round 5 at 15:00 Entry Fees: Section Until Aug. 1 - After Aug. 1 - At the Trmt. A Open $50 $60 $70; B -2000 $40 $50 $60; C -1600 $35 $45 $55; D -1200 $30 $40 $50. Free for GMs, IMs and FMs. Free for Quebec Masters who confirm their participation before September 1st. If later, $30 with no additional fees. FQE membership required. All participants must be members of la Fédération québécoise des échecs (FQE). Register online. Register for FQE membership online. Don't quote me on this because my French is terrible, but it looks like a player can purchase a one-time "pass" to play in a particular event for $10 CAD, or can opt to purchase a full one-year membership in the FQE for $40 CAD. Several young chess femmes will be playing in the Tournament, including Kelly Wang (CAN 1580), who won Goddesschess' Promoted Pawn prize in 2008 for her performance in the Canadian Open.

We Need a Female GM or IM or WGM!

Hola darlings! As we have previously written, as part of our initiative to support local chess events and, particularly, to encourage female chessplayers to participate in such events, Goddesschess is funding class prizes for chess femmes who play in the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship (September 11 - 13, 2009): Special Class Prizes sponsored by Goddesschess: Section B - $45 for best finish by female player Section C - $35 for best finish by female player Section D - $25 for best finish by female player These prizes are in addition to any class prizes that may be won by female players. Goddesschess' experiences with the people who are sponsoring and putting together the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship have been a great pleasure. We are sympatico with those who are working to present the best-yet Montreal Open. To paraphrase Humphrey Bogart's last line in "Casablanca" - this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship :) Goddesschess is therefore pleased to announce guaranteed additional financial support for a Female GM or IM, or a WGM titled player to this year's Montreal Open. Women's World Chess Champion GM Alexandria Kosteniuk talks about this quest at her chess blog. If you are interested, or if you have a lead to a female GM or IM, or a WGM who might be interested in participating in the 2009 Montreal Open, please contact championnatdemontreal@gmail.com/ for further information on terms and financial support provided.

2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship

Here is a profile of one of the players who will playing in the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship: CENDRINA BILODEAU-SAVARIA One of the players is Cendrina Bilodeau-Savaria (born 2000). She doesn’t have a FIDE rating (yet), but she is an up and coming young player in Canada. Her current Canadian Chess Federation rating is 1149. In the 2008 Canadian Youth Chess Championships, Cendrina finished in second place: [1. Kelly Wang (QC) 7.0 points; 2. Cendrina Bilodeau-Savaria (QC) 6.0 points; 3. Janet Peng (ON) 3.5 points]. (Readers of this blog and Goddesschess will remember that Kelly Wang won the "Promoted Pawn" prize sponsored by Goddeschess at the 2008 Canadian Open.) Cendrina qualified for the Canadian Girls U-8 Team for the 2008 World Youth Chess Championships held in Vietnam [Team: Under 8 Girls: Kelly Wang, Cendrina Bilodeau-Savaria, Janet Peng, Christine Gao]. She finished in 32nd place in her category, with 5.5/11 out of 55 players. The Girls U-8 Canadian Team finished in 5th place overall Cendrina also played in the E Group in the 2008 Canadian Open Championships, starting as player 67 (Canadian rating 976) out of 87 players. How’d she do? She finished in 65th place with 3.5/9.

Hales Corners Challenge X!

It's early days yet, darlings, but I am pleased to announce that Goddesschess will be funding chess prizes just for the chess femmes who participate in this upcoming USCF Grand Prix event sponsored by my adopted chess club, the Southwest Chess Club (of Hales Corners):

HALES CORNERS CHALLENGE X!

There was a great turn-out for the Hales Corners Challenge IX in April, 2009 (107 players - a record!), and I was so happy to see so many chess femmes playing, particularly in the Reserve section. I'm greatly looking forward to Challenge X. I don't have dates yet, but I'm assuming it will be held around the same time this year that it was in 2008 (October), when Goddesschess first funded some special prizes (in Hales Corners Challenge VIII). For Challenge X, we first offered a somewhat increased level of funding for prizes for the chess femmes over those paid in Challenge IX. But after discussing it with further with my partners - as it was pointed out to me - the Reserve section attracted the most female players in both Challenge VIII and Challenge IX. We have therefore increased the number of prizes available to chess femmes who will be playing in both the Reserve and Open sections in Challenge X, and increased our prize fund by 80%, to $190. Details will be forthcoming when the Club publishes its official flyer! We would love to see the best turn-out yet of chess femmes for the Hales Corners Challenge X. Please spread the word. The more chess femmes who play in each Hales Corners Challenge, the more Goddesschess will increase its funding of special prizes just for them. Funding prizes for chess femmes in our now TWO adopted chess clubs is a way of showing our commitment to increasing the number of femmes who play in clubs and participate in their tournaments. To that end, you may have read here recently that we have adopted a club in Montreal, Quebec (Canada), which is hosting the 2009 Montreal Open Chess Championship to be held September 11 - 13, 2009 in Montreal: Club d'echecs Ahuntsic. Goddesschess is funding special prizes such for the chess femmes in the 2009 Montreal Open too. More info on the Montreal Open. Oh, we're just tickled pink - except pink doesn't show up too well against the white background of this blog so we're sticking with red for now :)

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!