What's up in Manitoba Chess?

What's happening in Manitoba chess, you ask? Well, lots, actually.

We're now 2 weeks into the Thursday afternoon Blitz events at Portage Place. Check the Manitoba Chess Association website for particulars on the Wednesday before the tournament. The location has changed from Edmonton Street Court to Kennedy Street Court so checking the MCA site will be useful. These Portage Place Blitz events will go on for nine weeks in total, with the week of March 20th off, and there is no entry fee. In week one, Winnipeger Jordan Kwiatek took top honours. There was a bit of a mix-up in week two and no tournament took place. Week three should be fine.

Plans are still afoot for a Saturday event at a Casino in Winnipeg in March or later. (probably McPhillips Street Station Casino) This will be a 5 Round Swiss, 20 minutes a side or 20/game, with an entry fee of $20 and a $500 Prize Fund. Since the event is at a Casino, all players will have to be 18 years of age or older.

Samuel Lipnowski won the February TNT, making that the 3rd event he's won in 2008 in Manitoba, in addition to winning the Kent Oliver Memorial and the January TNT. Can anyone stop Sammy "the steamroller"? We'll see. The March TNT begins on Tuesday the 4th.

With 20 players for the January TNT and 24 players for the February TNT, these events seem to be the most popular competitive chess format in Manitoba right now. The time control is game/120 min. at the University of Winnipeg venue. (ETA: Thanks for the correction, Tony!) By the way, and this is advice for every tournament, players are encouraged to bring their digital chess clocks to ensure that every board has such a clock.

The Manitoba High School Championship was held on February 22nd, with Kelvin HS taking first prize. Plans have been made to schedule the event on a more suitable day to generate a better turnout than this year's modest turnout of 6 teams.

The Chess Manitoba blog now has the chess problem from Cecil Rosner's column in the Winnipeg Free Press. The plan is to give players an opportunity to find a solution to the problem, when they're stumped, without having to wait two weeks for the solution in the next column. There should soon be a link from the MCA website to the CM blog on this new initiative. That's quick work from Tony Boron!

I've put my name forward for the position of Tournament Coordinator and the MCA Board has accepted my offer. Most of the duties are already being ably carried out by Lorne Gibbons (our prolific TD for most MCA events) and Alex Nikouline but I will be making sure that the MCA website schedule is up-to-date and the events publicized.

Please feel free to post comments about any of these matters mentioned, or any other matter relating to Manitoba chess, on this thread.

Nigel Hanrahan