Canadian Youth Chess Team at WYCC 2011

Round 9 and last meeting pictures from George Zhou

2011-11-27T05:37:00.000-08:00

Michael Song, U12 Boys won the 3rd place trophy

Michael Song, U12 Boys won the 3rd place trophy

Michael Song, in round 9, won 3rd place in U12 Open

Taylor Zhang, won Round 9, and 5th place Medal in U8 Girls


Yuan Chen Zhang, Won 9th place in U10 Boys

Jeannie Zhang, U8 Girls, beated Indian Player


Taylor Zhang, U8 Girls beat Gombocz Zsofia of Hungary


Lily Zhou, U10 Girls beated Blond Hanten Elsa (FIDE rating 1520) in Round 9, Lily Zhou won 4 games though she just started playing chess only one year ago.

Constance Wang, U10 Girls, won against Major Polina of Bahama

Jeannie Zhang selecting small gift

Taylor Zhang with Coach Nikolay before getting on Bus on departure day

Nikolay Noritsyn, great coach, has prepared many games exactly

Coaches after 9th round

Dinny Wang

Dinny Wang U10 Open

Dinny with Mom after last round

Dorsa in last round

Farewell

Farewell

Frank Wang, U8 open in last round

Frank and Dinny Wang's parent after 9th round

Frank Wang in last round

excited after 9th round

Jeannie with Mom

Jeannie Zhang after 9th round

Jeannie with Mom after last round

Jeannie Zhang, beated oppenent in only 6 moves

Taylor Zhang choosing present, great finish in U8Girls, 5th place

last meeting

Coach Andrew in last meeting

last meeting of Canada

Andrew in the last meeting of Canada Team, great summary of each player, fantastic job, Andrew.

Lily in game 9th round

Lily with Dad after 9th round

Moms waiting outside of the playing hall during 9th round

Lily Zhou after 9th round,

Luke in the game round 9 U8 Open

Luke with Mom after 9th round

Luke is choosing the present from Canada Team

Melissa in last round U12 Girls

Michael Song, U10 Boys, in last round, finished the best in whole Canada Team, won 3rd place trophy

Thanks to Coach Nikolay, Lily Zhou, U10 Girls beat a few much higher rating players with the great preparing by Nikolay despite Lily has only 1 year chess practice.

Coach Nikolay analyzes games for last round

Olivier in last round

Razvan in last round

Rachael in last round

Rachael after last round

Rohan in 9th round

Sergey in 9th round

Sergey in last round, U8 open

Taylor Zhang in last round

Taylor Zhang U8Girls 5th place

Taylor Zhang after last round

Tina after round 9

Varshini in last round U10 Girls

Yuan Chen U10 Open

Yuan Chen Zhang in last round U10 Open

Yuan Chen waiting to record result in last round

Zhou Qiyu in last round, finished 12th in U12 Girls

4 Canadian players won first 10 places

2011-11-26T10:50:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to these top 10 places winner in WYCC 2011:
Michael Song, 3rd place, U 12 Open - 7/9
Taylor Zhang, 5th place, U8 Girls - 6.5/9
Yuanchen Zhang, 9th place, U10 Open - 6.5/9
Richard Wang, 10th place, U14 Open - 6.5/9

Other great finishers:
Qiyu Zhou, 12th place, U12 Grils - 6/9
Luke Pulfer, 19th place, U8 Open - 5.5/9
Brigham, Laceste , 21st place, U18 Open - 5.5/9

R8 photoes by George Zhou

2011-11-26T02:39:00.000-08:00

Canada Team

Constance

Dinny

Dorsa

Frank

Frank with Mom

Coach Nikolay analyzing the game

Analyzing games

have fun, forget the game

Jeannie Zhang in round 8

Liang(possibly chamipion of U8)'s father introduce how he trained his kids

Lily in Round 8

Luke in Round 8 against a Chinese player

Melissa in Round 8

Michael Song in Board 1

Michael, Round 8, Board 1

Moms waiting

Analyzing games

Oliver in round 8

Parents waiting near the exit of playing hall

forget the game, have fun, younger kids playing in Canada Room

Rachael in round 8

Razvan in round 8

Rohan in round 8

Round 8 starts

Sergey waiting opponent

Sergey is thinking in round 8

smile after winning the game

Taylor in round 8

Varshini in round 8

Lily and Vashini in Round 8

view from board 1

Yuanchen in round 8

Qiyu in round 8

Qiyu won the game

Qiyu's parents

Qiyu with Mom after having won the round 8

Parents waiting

Canada Team

After Games

win or lose, doesn't matter, have fun!

playing blitz games

analyzing games

paper art by Zhou Qiyu's mom

Board 1


proud family

Round 7 & 8 Candid Photos by Zahra Mahdavi

2011-11-25T17:22:00.000-08:00

Please click https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/20111125?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKz7y7awjKyDag&feat=directlink for some great candid shots courtesy of Zahra Mahdavi

Round 8 Photos by Zhixiang Wang

2011-11-25T15:34:00.001-08:00

Mark Plotkin and Agastya Kalra

James Fu

Yimang Yang

Bryant Yang

Mike Ivanov

David Zhang

Simon Gladstone

Myriam Roy

Kimia Moayyed

Tina Fang

Yun Chang

Nicky Kalaydina

Loren Lacaste

Konstantin Semianiuk

Linda Fu

Liza Orlova

Richard Wang

Rebecca Giblon

Joanne Foote

Bryant Yang

Louisa Qianqian Hou

Round 7 Photos by Zhixiang Wang

2011-11-25T15:20:00.001-08:00

Richard Wang

Bryan Yang

Yimang Yang

Linda Fu

Mark Plotkin

Simon Gladstone

Myriam Roy

Nicky Kalaydina

Mike Ivanov

David Zhang

Kimia Moayyed

Yun Chang

Liza Orlova

James Fu

Rebecca Giblon

Joanne Foote

Louisa Qianqian Hou

Loren Lacaste

Konstantin Semianiuk

Tina Fang

Agastya Kalra

Candid Photos from Round 8

2011-11-25T13:05:00.001-08:00

To see some more candid photos, please click here

https://picasaweb.google.com/110419459670813780227/20111125?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLrph6yxlqPEQA&feat=directlink

Team Canada and parents

2011-11-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

Photos by Christina Tao

2011-11-25T05:36:00.001-08:00

Pictures Taken at the Thermas di Roma where most of the team is staying

https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/Smaller02?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNzv7syaoNL26gE&feat=directlink

This is the glorious food from our daily buffet

https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/Smaller?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJCOo8q2ov2UtwE&feat=directlink

Free Day Tour - Second Stop - Japanese Garden

https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/SmallerSizeForJapaneseGarden?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOb2tKfdx8SuuAE&feat=directlink

Free Day Tour - Third Stop - Wine Factory

https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/SmallerSizeForWineFactory?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPjchZSbtpqxxwE&feat=directlink

Outside the Resort

https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/OutsideOfResortArea?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK2MluK7qfTWIw&feat=directlink

Playing Hall

https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/ConventionHallForChessCompetition?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKO07eulsYyBUA&feat=directlink

round 7

2011-11-25T02:07:00.000-08:00

Luke and Mom

Michael Song and Oliver

Michael and Dad

Sergey

Oliver and Dad

Rachael and Mom

Razvan

Rohan and Dad

Taylor and Mom

Varshini with Mom and Dad

YuanChen Zhang and Dad

Melissa and Qiyu in U12 girls

Lily Zhou and Constance Wang

Dinny with mom and dad

Dorsa

Frank Wang in U8 open

Jeannie and Mom

Yunshan Li (2010 U8G WYCC champion), Lily Zhou, Jeannie Zhang, Guo Shuo(currently 2nd in U10G) in Round 7

Round 6 happy day

2011-11-24T06:01:00.002-08:00

Most players came out earlier in Round 6 won the game, here are some pictures taking after winning round 6

Girls cheering after all friends win Round 6

making friend with Guo Shuo (who played at Board 1 in Round 6)

Luke and Mom smiles after won today's game (now 5 points out of 6 rounds)

Rohan and Dad is happy after winning all last 3 rounds.

Dorsa

Frank Wang

Jeannie Zhang won the game in 6 moves

Lily Zhou won the game after having blundered a piece at beginning

Luke won the game

Melissa Giblon

Michael Song

Michael shaing hands with his 6th opponent

Oliver

Rachael smiles at the beginning of 6th round and won the game

Rohan with Dad

Sergey

Taylor

Qiyu Zhou

Round 6 Photos by Zhixiang Wang

2011-11-24T06:01:00.001-08:00

Round 6 Photos by Zhixiang Wang

Team Canada Coaching before the round

The Round Begins

Richard Wang

James Fu

Joanne Foote

Rebecca and Andrew Giblon

Yimang Yang

Bryant Yang

Agastya Kalra

Mark Plotkin and Bryant Yang

Mike Ivanov and Gary Gladstone

Simon Gladstone

Myriam Roy

Nicky Kalaydina

Tina Fang

Kimia Moayyed

Konstantin Semianiuk

David Zhang

Yun Chang

Louisa Quin Hou

Mark Plotkin

Liza Orlova

Loren Lacaste

Linda Fu

Round 5 Photos by Zhixiang Wang

2011-11-24T05:50:00.001-08:00

Round 5 Photos by Zhixiang Wang

View of Waterpark from 7th Floor of Villas Di Roma

Bryant Yang

Yimang Yang

Agastya Kalra

Mark Plotkin

James Fu

Richard Wang

Joanne Foote

Rebecca Giblon

Louisa Qian Hou

Linda Fu

Myriam Roy

Yun Chang

Simon Gladstone

Konstantin Semianiuk

Tina Fang

Nicky Kalaydina

Mike Ivanov

Kimia Moayyed

Loren Lacaste

Liza Orlova

David Zhang

Balcony View from Villas di Roma

Friendship

2011-11-23T18:01:00.001-08:00

At WYCC many players take the opportunity to develop friendship with children representing other countries. Today, four Canadian girls befriended a Chinese player who’s learning English in order to talk to the arbiters in international tournament. The Chinese girl goes to a renowned chess school where Hou Yifan, the reigning woman’s world champion, started her chess career. Unsurprisingly she tied for second after six rounds in the U10G section. Like our Canadian girls, she doesn’t want to be a professional chess player.

While the parents were discussing the possibility of chess/language camps in Canada/China, the girls had lots of fun together. They shared chess stories and taught each other chess terminology in Chinese and English. The Chinese girl also told the Canadian girls some nutrition secret before chess games. For example, she said she usually ate food X before playing a Russian and Y before playing a Pole. Unfortunately for her, there wasn’t enough food X and Y at hand, so she yielded half a point each to a Russian girl and a Polish girl. Here I omit the details of the particular food out of respect for her intellectual property. However, I expect her to reveal it in the near future, considering Hou Yifan has let out the ingredients of her “magic” potion recently.

To make the day perfect for us, Luke (U8 Open) jumped around and told the girls that he won (He tied for second place). Our girls shouted “it’s a great day for Canada.” They all won their games too.

Candid Photos Round 6

2011-11-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

Please check out https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/Round6CandidPhotosTakenByZahraMahdavi?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNTgqKKA8PrIKA&feat=directlink for more candids by Zahra Mahdavi

round 5 -U8,10,12 boys and girls

2011-11-23T03:10:00.000-08:00

Olivier-Kenta Chiku-Ratte, Boys U12, on Board 1, remains first place after round 5

Constance Wang

Dinny Wang

Dorsa

Richard Wang

Jeannie Zhang

Lily Zhou

Melissa Giblon

Michael Song

Olivier-Kenta Chiku-Ratte, Boys U12, on Board 1, remains first place after round 5

Rachael

Sergey

Taylor Zhang

Varshini

Yuangchen Zhang waiting for opponent

Qiyu Zhou

WYCC Candid Photos Posted Online

2011-11-22T11:11:00.001-08:00

Please see an incredible selection of candid photos taken by Zahra Mahdavi mother of Kimia and Dorsa during the first four days of the tournament by clicking https://picasaweb.google.com/115544001387573781404/CandidPhotosFirst4DaysByZahraMahdaviMotherOfKimiaAndDorsa?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNqJ84DgkcSBTA&feat=directlink

2011-11-22T05:44:00.001-08:00

Round 3, Round 4 and a few photos of coaching in the Team Canada room by Zhixiang Wang

Round 3

Agastya Kalra

Bryant Yang

Yimang Yang

Mark Plotkin

Louisa Qian Hou

Joanne Foote

Richard Wang

James Fu

Rebecca Giblon

Simon Gladstone

Konstantin Semianiuk

David Zhang

Yun Chang

Nicky Kalaydina

Tina Fang

Mike Ivanov

Liza Orlova

Linda Fu

Loren Lacaste

Kimia Moayyed

Round 4

Agastya Kalra

Bryant Yang

Yimang Yan

Mark Plotkin

James Fu

Richard Wang

Joanne Foote

David Zhang

Konstantin Semianiuk

Rebecca Giblon

Louisa Qiang Hou

Yun Chang

Tina Fang

Mike Ivanov

Simon Gladstone

Myriam Roy

Nicky Kalaydina

Kimia Moayyed

Linda Fu

Liza Orlova

Loren Lacaste

Team Canada Room Coaching

Mikhail Egorov with Tina Fanf

Andrew Peredun with Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte

a few pictures taken outside of playing hall

2011-11-22T01:59:00.000-08:00

There was no internet at the beginning, some pictures haven't been posted, following are a few pictures taken on the way to Caldas Novas, and first meeting, also some pictures of hotel water fun.

taking bus at GYN airport to Caldas Novas

Andrew taking bus at GYN airport to Caldas Novas

first meeting - Team Canada

Team Canada

Dorsa at airplane to GYN from BSB

first meeting

dispatching the Canadian flags

Gary in the bus to Caldas Novas

Windsor Players at GYN

Lily, Jeannie and Mom

Lily and Dad

Luke and Mom

We have bugs in hotel room but we have Mango tree outside of the room

first meet at Rio airport going to BSB

Coach Nikolay and his brother

in the airplane to GYN

Tina in the airplane to GYN

In this no game, no water park day, we still have fun in the hotel water slides

and water fittness

We have a Canada room now for coaches helping players, good job Gary

Rest Day

2011-11-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

Today is the rest day. The water park is also closed. Some people went for a city tour. Many others just rested, had fun, and did their homework. Maybe jet lag is still affecting us. We were not the only ones who missed breakfast (that means we got up later than 10am). It felt so good to sleep in after the double round day.
Fortunately the lunch starts at noon. After that, the coaches started to work. Feeling more confident about tomorrow’s games, a group of little girls heading for the pool and were joined by a few other Canadian players. The pools are very hot. There is a hot tube that provides the hot water to the pools. I took the job of overseeing the young girls playing in the water slides. After they slid down from the big and medium size slides numerous times, I finally managed to persuade them to go back to their hotel rooms. Some other parents were also enjoying the pool, while others were chatting under the sunshine.
For the first time I saw so many young and old kids in the restaurant at 7:00pm sharp (the hours for dinner is 7 to 10pm). I guess they must be hungry from the outdoor exercises. After dinner, most children began to do homework. A parent from another country was very surprised when I told him that we brought homework here. He thought that we Canadians elementary school kids were having fun only at school. Now he knows that our kids are having fun while learning.

City tour pictures taken by Christina Tao on the free day

2011-11-21T14:50:00.001-08:00

Nov 21, Monday is the free day of the WYCC. We (about 12 people) took the city tour organized by Sanjiv with a local English speak tour guide. Here upload some photos for sharing.

Trip starts

The gate of national park

The founder of the spring water

Temperature of spring water

Introduction of adventure of the founder

Rest area inside the park

Christina and Rachel touch the hot water

Sanjiv feels the hot water

Pool inside the hot water park - Gorgeus(Spelled by Mark Plotkin)

Round 4 U8,10,12 open and girls

2011-11-21T02:40:00.000-08:00

U- 10 Girls

Constance Zhaoxing Wang

Dinny Wang

Dorsa Moayyed

Frank Wang

Jeannie Yiying Zhang

Lily Zhou

Luke Pulfer

Melissa Giblon

Michael Ji Yu Song

Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte

Rachel Tao

Razvan Preotu

Rohan Shyam Talukdar

Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte

Sergey Noritsyn

Taylor Zhang

Varshini Paraparan

Yuanchen Zhang

Qiyu Zhou

Round 3 U8, 10, 12 boys and girls

2011-11-21T01:51:00.000-08:00

Round 3 - U12 Girls Zhou Qiyu

Round 3 U12 Open Yuanchen Zhang

U- 10 Girls

Varshini Paraparan

U- 08 Girls

Taylor Zhang

U- 08 Open

Sergey Noritsyn

U- 12 Open

Razvan Preotu

U- 08 Open

Sergey Noritsy

U- 12 Open

Razvan Preotu

U- 12 Girls

Rachel Tao

u- 12 Open

Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte

U- 12 Girls

Rachel Tao

U12 - Michael Song

U8 Girl Jeannie Zhang and Taylor Zhang

U10 Girls Lily Zhou

U- 08 Open

Luke Pulfer

U- 12 Girls

Melissa Giblon

U- 12 Girls

Melissa Giblon

U8 girls Jeannie Zhang

- 10 Girls

Constance Zhaoxing Wang

- 10 Girls

Constance Zhaoxing Wang

U- 10 Open

Dinny Wang

U- 08 Open

Frank Wang

U- 12 Girls

Dorsa Moayyed

U- 10 Open

Dinny Wang

Round 2 U8 U10 U12 Boys and Girls

2011-11-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

U8 open - Frank Wang

U8 Girl- Jeannie Zhang

U- 08 Open Luke Pulfer

U- 08 Open Sergey Noritsyn

U- 08 Open

Rohan Shyam Talukdar

U- 08 Girls

Taylor Zhang

U- 10 Girls Constance Zhaoxing Wang

U- 10 Open

Dinny Wang

U- 10 Girls

Lily Zhou

U- 12 Open

Michael Ji Yu Song

U- 10 Open

Yuanchen Zhang

U- 12 Girls

Dorsa Moayyed

U- 12 Open

Razvan Preotu

U- 12 Girls Melissa Giblon

U- 12 Open

Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte

U- 12 Girls

Rachel Tao

U- 12 Girls

Qiyu Zhou

Round 2 Photos

2011-11-19T12:55:00.001-08:00

Agastya Kalra

James Fu

Yimang Yang

Simon Gladstone

Myriam Roy

Bryant Yang

Mark Plotkin

Mike Ivanov

Kimia Moayyed

David Zhang

Konstantin Semianiuk

Joanne Foote

Linda Fu

Agastya Kalra

Louissa Qianqian Hou

Liza Orlova

Loren Laceste

Richard Wang

Round 1 Individual Photos

2011-11-19T12:44:00.001-08:00

Richard Wang

Mark Plotkin

Rebecca Giblon

Loren Laceste

Michael Ivanov

Tina Fang

James Fu

Simon Gladstone

Nicka Kalaydina

Myriam Roy

Yun Chang

Yimang Yang

Bryant Yang

Nikita Gusev

Kimia Moayyed

Louisa Qianqian Hou

Agastya Kalra

Linda Fu

Little Stories

2011-11-19T12:39:00.002-08:00

Finally we got (somewhat) stable internet connection. I’ll start to write some little stories about WYCC. Thanks to the organizers of CYCC, we can have three coaches on site. I believe this is a record, yet we hope to break it soon. Our team meetings and T-shirts are the envy of some other teams. I talked to some parents from the USA team, and they admire our team spirit.
There are a lot of obstacles we are facing here. In round two, many kids had difficulties getting into the play venue. Jeannie (U8G)’s mom wanted to escort her daughter into the hall, but was not allowed. A lot of parents tried to get in, thus blocked the only door. Constance (U10G) wanted to prove her bravery and went by herself. After five minutes, she still couldn’t get through the human wall. I went close to the door and told the parents/coaches that she’s a player. They made way for her. However, all of a sudden some parents broke the form and rushed in. I was afraid Constance would get crushed. Chang (U16G)’s mom went in with the flow and checked for the Canadian contingent. Many of us were relieved when she reported that the kids were ready to play.
Apparently we’ll go a little bit earlier for the remaining rounds.

Prior to Round 1

2011-11-19T12:39:00.001-08:00

Before Team Meeting on First Day in Lobby of Thermas Di Roma

Head of Delegation Andrew Giblon Introducing Rene Preotu Arbiter

Andrew introducing with Assistant Head of Delegation Gary Gladstone

Nikolay Noritsyn Coach

Andrew Peredun Coach

Team Photo

Walking to the First Round

Photos from Round 2

2011-11-19T12:07:00.001-08:00

Team Canada at Meeting before Round 2

Joanne Foote

Mark Plotkin

Yimang Yang

Bryant Yang

Luc Pulfer

Sergey Noritsyn

Frank Wang

James Fu

Richard Wang

Jeannie Yiying Zhang

Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratté

Michael Song

Myriam Roy

Konstantin Semianiuk

Nikita Gusev

Chang Yun

David Zhang

Tina Fang

Michael Ivanov

Simon Gladstone

Team Meeting

:12Round 1 U8 U10 U12 Boys and Girls

2011-11-18T21:12:00.000-08:00

U8 Girls - Jeannie Zhang

2011-11-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

U8 Open - Rohan Shyam Talukdar - Round 1

2011-11-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

U8 Open - Richard Wang - Round 1

2011-11-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

U8 Open - Sergey Noritsyn - Round 1

2011-11-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

U8 Open, Luke Pulfer, Round 1

2011-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

WYCC 2011 Canadian Team

2011-11-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

2011.11.18 at Brazil

Simon Gladstone Blog

2011-11-18T15:02:00.001-08:00

For more of the human interest side of our trip and some info on Simon's chess, please check out http://simonschess.wordpress.com

Gary Gladstone

First Game, First win!

2011-11-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Arman Baradaran"]
[Black "Luke Pulfer"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator ",Pusha"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[SourceDate "2011.11.18"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. Bd2 d6 7. h3 O-O 8. O-O
Na5 9. Bb3 Nxb3 10. axb3 a6 11. Qe2 Qe7 12. Be3 Ba7 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. Qe3 Ra8
15. Rfe1 Bd7 16. d4 Rfe8 17. Rad1 Rad8 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. exd5 f6 $1 20. Nh2 f5
21. f4 e4 22. Nf1 Qh4 23. Qg3 Qxg3 24. Nxg3 g5 $1 25. Nh5 Kf7 26. g4 fxg4 27.
fxg5 hxg5 28. Rf1+ Kg6 29. Nf6 Rh8 30. Nxd7 Rxd7 31. hxg4 Rh4 32. Rd2 Rxg4+ 33.
Rg2 Rxg2+ 34. Kxg2 Rf7 35. Rxf7 Kxf7 36. Kg3 Kf6 37. c3 Kf5 38. b4 g4 39. b3 e3
40. c4 Ke4 41. Kg2 Kd3 42. Kf1 e2+ 43. Ke1 g3 44. c5 Ke3 45. cxd6 g2 46. d7
g1=B 47. d8=Q Bf2# *

Congratulations Luke! Congratulations Team CANADA on a good start after yesterdays troubles!

Good Luck Team Canada!

2011-11-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Hi Team Canada!

Most of you are leaving tomorrow to head off to the WYCC in
Brazil.
(I truly wish I had been able to go with you)

I wanted to wish you all the best luck in your trip and
games at this wonderful event!

I know you will all represent Canada with Pride and
sportsmanship.

Take each game as the one focus and don’t let previous games
affect your play. Each game is a new game.

I am sure that this year’s team, (you), will show the world
what Canadians are capable of! You have a Great Team of coaches and your Head
of Delegation and Assistant Head of Delegation have already proven that they
will look after you and ensure that your experience there will be truly
wonderful!

I will be watching closely and rooting for all of you (along
with many many other Canadians back here at home)!

Thank You,
ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ
Patrick S McDonald, IA, IO
Youth Coordinator – Chess Federation of Canada
patrick@psmcd.net
www.psmcd.net

Team Officials

2011-10-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Head of Delegation("HOD") - Andrew Giblon

Andrew has a lot of experience at WYCC’s having already attended 3 prior WYCC’s and serving as assistant Head of Delegation already at two of these.

Assistant HOD - Gary Gladstone

Gary has been involved in Canadian Chess for many years. Gary has served as CFC governor, working towards supporting youth Chess. He was also the team Captain at the World Youth U16 Olympiad last year.

CFC Youth Co-ordinator - Patrick McDonald

Team members, Coaches and Sponsors

2011-10-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

List of team members

No	Section	Player
1	U- 08 Girls	Taylor Zhang
2	U- 08 Girls	Jeannie Yiying Zhang
3	U- 08 Open	Sergey Noritsyn
4	U- 08 Open	Frank Wang
5	U- 08 Open	Rohan Shyam Talukdar
6	U- 08 Open	Luke Pulfer
7	U- 10 Girls	Constance Zhaoxing Wang
8	U- 10 Girls	Lily Zhou
9	U- 10 Girls	Varshini Paraparan
10	U- 10 Open	Yuanchen Zhang
11	U- 10 Open	Dinny Wang
12	U- 12 Girls	Melissa Giblon
13	U- 12 Girls	Dorsa Moayyed
14	U- 12 Girls	Rachel Tao
15	U- 12 Girls	Qiyu Zhou
16	U- 12 Open	Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte
17	U- 12 Open	Razvan Preotu
18	U- 12 Open	Michael Ji Yu Song
19	U- 14 Girls	Joanne Foote
20	U- 14 Girls	Louisa Qian Qian Hou
21	U- 14 Girls	Rebecca Giblon
22	U- 14 Open	Richard Wang
23	U- 14 Open	Bryant Yang
24	U- 14 Open	Yimang Yang
25	U- 14 Open	Mark Plotkin
26	U- 14 Open	Agastya Kalra
27	U- 14 Open	James Fu
28	U- 16 Girls	Chang Yun
29	U- 16 Girls	Kimia Moayyed
30	U- 16 Girls	Regina-Veronicka Kalaydina
31	U- 16 Girls	Myriam Roy
32	U- 16 Girls	Tina Fang
33	U- 16 Open	David Zhang
34	U- 16 Open	Simon Gladstone
35	U- 16 Open	Mikhail Ivanov
36	U- 16 Open	Nikita Gusev
37	U- 16 Open	Konstantin Semianiuk
38	U- 18 Girls	Yelizaveta Orlova
39	U- 18 Girls	Linda Fu
40	U- 18 Open	Loren Laceste

U8 Open Sergey Noritsyn	U8 Open Luke Pulfer
U8 Open Rohan Talukdar
U10 Girls Lilly Zhou	U10 Girls Varshini Paraparan
U12 Girls QiYu Zhou	U12 Girls Rachel Tao
U12 Girls Melissa Giblon
	U12 Open Razvan Preotu
	U12 Open Michael Song with his sister Emily
U14 Girls Rebecca Giblon
U14 Open Richard Wang
U14 Open Agastya Kalra
U16 Girls Chang Yun	U16 Girls Myriam Roy
U16 Open David Zhang
U16 Open Mikhail Ivanov	U16 Open Nikita Gusev
U16 Open Simon Gladstone
U18 Open Loren Laceste

List of coaches

IM Nikolay Noritsyn
Nikolay was Canadian champion in 2007 (second youngest ever at age 16), and a member of the 2008 and 2011 Canadian Olympiad team. Nikolay has been coaching for many years, including at the Roman Pelts Chess Academy, as well as private students including his brother Sergey who this year became Canadian Boys U8 champion.

FM Andrew Peredun
FM Andrew Peredun has also been teaching youth chess for several years. Players that competed in the Ontario Youth Chess Championships may remember Andrew for his animated analysis of games played at this tournament.

Mikhail Egorov
Mikhail Egorov is a well known chess instructor and coach from the Hamilton area of Ontario. Several of Canada’s top youth chess players have or have had Mikhail as a coach helping them along their path.

List of sponsors

MarTour International
Toronto: 1595 Bloor st W . Toronto ont, M6P 1A6

416 536 5458 ext 235 / 1800 661 8772

Montreal: 411 De Castelnau, Montreal QC H2R 1R1

514 271 9422 / 1 877 699 9422

Results of the Canadian Women’s Championship
2011 Candian Women's Championship result , 8 of 16 players are on our WYCC 2011 team!

-- Post by Robert Song
-- More photos will be pulished when they are available.

Visa Update - September 16, 2011

2011-09-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

We just came back from the Brazil Consulate and they would not accept the documents without the invitation letter. Their Vice Consul told them not to accept the team's documents until we receive the invitation letters. We just signed the application form with the officer and they stamped it but didn't take the documents; we will have to come back there a second time to drop off the documents once we have everything.

Also, they would not give the visa if the passport expires within the next 6 months; they are very strict about it. So check it carefully beforehand before going there.

Regards,

Alexey and Tatyana Noritsyn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alexey and Tatyana, thanks for the update. You are correct and it's unfortunate that the Vice Consul decided to override the commitment that the Consultate staff had already provided in writing. The good news is that Patrick has now gotten an email today from the WYCC organizers that they will email him a signed PDF invitation letter, with all Canadian team member names, by this Monday.

Very good point that your passport needs to valid for at least 6 months. I believe that 6 months is from the last date of your planned trip, not from the date of application. This is quite common across all countries that issue visas.

Andrew

WYCC Update from Andrew Giblon - September 15, 2011

2011-09-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Team, here is an update since my recent introductory email.

1. Team members. The list of team members is pretty much firmed up. Two or three players have decided not to attend, but we are still at about 40 players, a record. A big thank you to Patrick, to my wife Cheryl, and to Gerry (from the CFC Office) for patiently and accurately processing every form.

2. Brazil visas. I went to the Brazil Consulate in Toronto this week to drop off my application.

a. Bad news: They insisted on an invitation letter from the WYCC organizers, even though I had with me an email from the same Consulate that waived this requirement. Also, it took forever to drive there in the morning (1.5 hours from Thornhill), and they are open only from 9 am – 1 pm, Monday-Friday.

b. Good news: They will accept a signed invitation letter by email to info@consbrastoronto.org or by fax to 416.922.1832. As well, the rest of my paper-work (passport, application form, photo, photocopy of vaccination certificate, money order) was acceptable to them. Finally, the lineup took only 5 minutes until I was served, and it took only 15 minutes for them to review my paper-work.

Now that we have finalized the list of players, Patrick has requested a signed invitation letter from the WYCC in PDF format which lists all of our players (not one letter per player). Patrick or I will keep you posted on the progress of this request.

3. Side trips. Some parents have asked me about side trips that they are considering. Gary and I and our chess-playing children are going to Rio de Janeiro for the 4 days prior to the WYCC. If you would like further information about flights, hotels and tours there, please let us know.

4. Volunteers. We need volunteers! There are many things that need to get done for your child’s benefit, not enough people to do them, and they don’t get done by themselves. Gary and I will be contacting some of you over the next week to ask for your help. Please say “yes.” Even better, please contact us now to volunteer!

5. Coaches. I am pleased to report that Patrick has secured a second coach and he is in discussions with a possible third coach. Patrick plans to provide an update shortly, including the names and qualifications of the additional coaches.

Andrew Giblon

Andrew Giblon Head of Delegation - Introductory Email September 11

2011-09-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Many of you already know me, and I’d like to introduce myself to those of you who don’t. Please bear with the length of this email, as there is much to communicate and to do between now and the WYCC.

I am Andrew Giblon – I am both honoured and excited to have been selected as Head of Delegation (“HOD”) for our Canadian WYCC 2011 team. I have served as Assistant to the Canadian HOD at the WYCC in 2009 and 2010, and at the NAYCC in 2011. This will be my fourth time in the past five years attending the WYCC, so I have considerable relevant experience at what happens at this type of tournament. I have also become an average adult tournament chess player (about 1500 rating) within the past 3 years by learning chess with my daughters, so I have at least some appreciation of your games and what you are going through as players, and a good understanding of chess tournament rules (although I am not trained or certified as an Arbiter).

Gary Gladstone, who is well known and respected in the chess community, has been selected to serve as Assistant HOD. Gary was previously a CFC Governor, is an active chess parent in the CMA and CFC community, and he also served as Captain of the Canadian Team at the World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad Team in 2010, so Gary has significant relevant experience for this type of tournament. Gary will be assisting me and the delegation with all of the tasks mentioned below.

Patrick McDonald, our CFC Youth Co-ordinator, is in the process of finalizing several key tasks:

· List of all players and accompanying persons

· Hotel selection

· Costs and payments due, with the help of my wife Cheryl Giblon

In preparation for this trip, I have already sent several emails to the team about visas to Brazil, vaccinations, time zone differences, funding to the team, payments due to the CFC, deadlines, hotel booking, coaches, pre-WYCC tournaments, WYCC tournament schedule (double-round days), WYCC tournament regulations (lateness), etc. Once Patrick’s activities listed above are finalized, and so that you are aware of how I can help you, I will have primary responsibility for a number of tasks, mostly once we arrive in Brazil:

· Organize our Canadian team activities, provide updates to the team

· Provide guidance about the tournament conditions, e.g. double-round days, lateness to games, how to file a protest, etc.

· Liaise with the WYCC organizers, the CFC Youth Co-ordinator, and the CFC

· Ensure that everyone on the Canadian team has a hotel room, is registered in the tournament, and gets an accreditation badge

· Organize daily Canadian team meetings to provide updates, recognize big achievements, answer questions, address concerns, circulate the daily WYCC bulletin (which includes game score sheets from the previous day)

· Assist with any protests by or against the Canadian team, mediate any conflicts within the team, assist with medical or safety issues, etc.

This is by far the largest team that Canada has ever sent to the WYCC: at last count (and these numbers are still subject to change), we have 42 players and 35 accompanying persons, for a total of 77 in our contingent, so we need to be highly organized.

Please keep in mind that everyone mentioned in this email is an unpaid volunteer. Gary and I are committed to helping to make this event a memorable and positive experience for each of you. In order to make that happen, we will need your help for several additional key volunteer positions, so please let me know ASAP if you want to volunteer yourself or someone else you know is capable for this role:

1. Coaches. We already have one confirmed coach, IM Nikolay Noritsyn. Nikolay was Canadian champion in 2007 (second youngest ever at age 16), and a member of the 2008 and 2011 Canadian Olympiad team. Nikolay has been coaching for many years, including at the Roman Pelts Chess Academy, as well as private students including his brother Sergey who this year became Canadian Boys U8 champion. Given our team size, in my opinion we need at least 3 coaches (for example, the US has a ratio of about 7 players per coach), and it will still be more than a full-time commitment from each coach. We also have 2 additional qualified applicants who have been identified in earlier emails. We will be working with Patrick and with the CFC to determine what is feasible. Each coach is expected to set up a daily schedule with their assigned players for pre-game preparation and post-game analysis. We will also explore the possibility of having some type of pre-WYCC training, e.g. a camp (not easy with people from across Canada), circulate puzzles via email, etc.

2. Blog Writers / Editor. We need someone who takes primary responsibility to write and post a short article each day with our highlights, e.g. total team score, major upsets, big comeback wins, observations about Brazil and Caldas Novas, etc. Hopefully, many parents and players will want to post articles as well. For good examples, please see http://wycc2010.blogspot.com/ and http://2009cyct.blogspot.com/

3. Photographers. We need ideally 2-3 volunteers (given our team size) who can take a photo of each of our children just prior to each round, ideally shaking hands with their opponent. Professional experience is not necessary. This is an intense task for about 30 minutes each day and it’s best to write down the board numbers of your assigned players / sections in advance. Then the photos (as well as any videos taken) need to be uploaded to our team blog.

4. Fundraising Lead. We are anticipating some additional expenses, e.g. for additional coaches and perhaps for team shirts, that will require additional funds. I would like someone to take the lead to help look for corporate sponsors and to organize fundraising events, e.g. simul exhibition, car wash, etc. Funds would be used for the benefit of the entire team, not just individual players.

I also want to bring to everyone’s attention that we have some players on our team who had outstanding performances at recent WYCCs:

1. Richard Wang, WYCC Boys U12 bronze medal winner, 2009

2. Qiyu Zhou, WYCC Girls U8 silver medal winner, 2008 (and Girls U10 6^th place, 2010)

Next steps for everyone include:

· Finalize your participation and hotel selection with Patrick, if not already done.

· Arrange your payment with Gerry at the CFC office.

· Obtain your Brazil visa.

If you are no longer going to the WYCC and want to be removed from this distribution list, or if you know of anyone who is missing from this list, please let me know.

If you have something you would rather discuss privately with me, please email me and we can set up a time to talk.

Regards,

Andrew Giblon

WYCC in Brazil Patrick McDonald's Email September 11, 2011

2011-09-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

Dear WYCC 2011 Canadian Youth Team,

I have a couple of things for you just now:

First of all, please see the attached final (at least up to this date) list of the team going to the WYCC in Brazil this year. (an updated list will be posted to the blog shortly)

Second, I would like to congratulate Andrew Giblon and Gary Gladstone as being selected your Head of Delegation and Assistant Head of Delegation respectively!

I am very confident that these two people are VERY capable for this task. Both Andrew and Gary have already done a lot for the team. Even before being selected for these roles, both of these parents took the time to go the extra mile for the whole team by finding information for the team and trying to work with a travel agent to secure some discounts/flights to be able to afford more in the way of coaching staff.

(on top of that, you have all had communications with Cheryl, Andrew’s wife and Gary’s sister with all the work she put in for our team in organizing the names and fees payable.)

Andrew has a lot of experience at WYCC’s having already attended 3 prior WYCC’s and serving as assistant Head of Delegation already at two of these.

I am sure that you will all find that having these two very capable and experienced people at the head of your team will serve to ensure that your experience at the WYCC will be a very positive one.

This is a very important role for the team as there needs to be someone(people) onsite that will help with arrangements with the organizers, organize the team for team meetings, serve as your liaison for any issues that come up etc.

I know that in the two WYCC’s that I attended, in the days where we only had one coach and not HOD, it was always a lot of work to just take care of the administrative “stuff” and that often fell to the coach … meaning that the players had even less time with the coach.

I am sure you can expect some communications from your Heads of Delegation very soon. I am sure you will all welcome these two and help them out in any way you can, understanding all the time that these positions will take from their time with their kids (they are both parents accompanying their kids to the WYCC)

Thank You,

ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ

Patrick S McDonald IA

Youth Coordinator – Chess Federation of Canada

Canadian Youth Chess Team at WYCC 2011 blog created!

2011-09-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

From today we had a blog for our WYCC 2011 Canadian team! If you have any idea/suggest for the usage and content of the blog, please let me know.

Robert