Some interest has been expressed in an Active chess tournament in Winnipeg. Time controls would be 30 minutes a side (or something like that).
Add your name as a comment on this blog entry, or contact me through the MCA website, or call me over the phone if you want to see this happen.
Nigel Hanrahan
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Exclam! cover shots
I hope this is the first of many. I'm just experimenting with the scanner right now. The quality leaves a great deal to be desired - but then again, I'm using a .gif file of less than 1 MB. A full bitmap image is over 10 MBs - which is about 2 MB over the limit for blogger photos. So I've got to play around with it a bit.
My plan, of course, is to provide a library of EXCLAM! cover shots. Maybe .pdf file versions of all the old issues of EXCLAM! would be a good idea as well.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
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
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
Friday, February 8, 2008
Yet another Manitoba chess blog!
Jim Green has made a few entries in the new Manitoba junior chess blog. I've provided a permanent link to the blog among the "Related Chess Links" in the column on the right hand side of this blog. Hooray Jim!
Come to think of it, there are other chess blogs by Manitobans. At my last count, Jason Repa was up to 10 blogs ... although not all of them are strictly related to chess. While some of the material is controversial, I would be remiss if I did not add that Jason also administers a yahoo chess discussion group. Please feel free to let Exclam! online readers know about any other chess blogs by/about Manitobans.
Chess blogs can be a great source of information and discussion. They typically allow the reader to respond, make remarks, and sometimes get feedback from the author. Some of my favourite chess blogs are The Daily Dirt, a kind of chess gossip blog from journalist Mig Greengard, ChessVibes, with great short videos, and Susan Polgar's chess blog. The Kenilworth (NJ) chess club has a listing of interesting chess blogs. There are many, many other blogs as well. Do you have a favourite that you would like to share ? Please do. Add a comment here or e mail me at Exclam DOT online AT gmail DOT com (Replace DOT with a . and replace AT with a @ .) and I can add the link to this blog if it's of general interest.
Come to think of it, there are other chess blogs by Manitobans. At my last count, Jason Repa was up to 10 blogs ... although not all of them are strictly related to chess. While some of the material is controversial, I would be remiss if I did not add that Jason also administers a yahoo chess discussion group. Please feel free to let Exclam! online readers know about any other chess blogs by/about Manitobans.
Chess blogs can be a great source of information and discussion. They typically allow the reader to respond, make remarks, and sometimes get feedback from the author. Some of my favourite chess blogs are The Daily Dirt, a kind of chess gossip blog from journalist Mig Greengard, ChessVibes, with great short videos, and Susan Polgar's chess blog. The Kenilworth (NJ) chess club has a listing of interesting chess blogs. There are many, many other blogs as well. Do you have a favourite that you would like to share ? Please do. Add a comment here or e mail me at Exclam DOT online AT gmail DOT com (Replace DOT with a . and replace AT with a @ .) and I can add the link to this blog if it's of general interest.
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