After 8 rounds, 9 players were tied for first. After the smoke is clear, two tied for first. But neither is among the top five seeds at the start of the event.
Final round key results:
GM Alexei Shirov 1/2 GM Eugene Perelshteyn
IM Irina Krush 1/2 GM Michael Adams
IM Edward Porper 1-0 GM Surya Ganguly
FM Theo Hommeles 0-1 GM Mark Bluvshtein
FM Jonathan Tayar 1/2 GM Xue Zhao
Winners: GM Bluvshtein (1st on tiebreaks), IM Porper 7 / 9
Round 9
IM Porper, Edward – 2510 vs. GM Ganguly, Surya – 2637
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 Ng4 10.Bc1 Na6 11.O-O Nc5 12.g3 Nf6 13.Qc2 Qe8 14.Nh4 Bh3 15.Re1 Nfd7 16.Nb5 Na6 17.Bd2 c6 18.Nxd6 Qb8 19.c5 Naxc5 20.Nc4 cxd5 21.exd5 b6 22.Bc3 Nb7 23.b4 Rc8 24.Qb2 Nd6 25.Nxd6 Qxd6 26.Rad1 axb4 27.Bxb4 Nc5 28.Ng2 Bd7 29.Ne3 b5 30.Rc1 f5 31.Red1 f4 32.Bg4 Bxg4 33.Nxg4 Na4 34.Qb3 Qd7 35.d6 Kh7 36.f3 Nb6 37.gxf4 exf4 38.Rxc8 Rxc8 39.Re1 Re8 40.Re7 Rxe7 41.dxe7 Nc4 42.a4 h5 43.Nf2 Bd4 44.axb5 Ne5 45.Bd6 Qh3 46.Bxe5 Bxf2 47.Kxf2 Qxh2 48.Ke1 Qg1 49.Kd2 Qf2 50.Kd1 Qf1 51.Kc2 Qe2 52.Kb1 Qe1 53.Ka2 Qe2 54.Ka3 Qxe5 55.Qf7 Kh6 56.e8Q Qa1 57.Kb4 Qb2 58.Ka5 1-0
Click here to replay the game.
Standings after 8 rounds only as there are still games unfinished:
http://monroi.com/2009-canadian-open-chess-championship-results.html
Home field advantage.
Go Porper!
Bluvshtein actually won the title on tiebreaks.
Just goes to show that the method of determing favorites by seed ranking is completely outdated, due to most high-ranked players being over-rated and the USCF and FIDE ratin system being stoneage and without competent people to fix it.
I see Victor and Alexi in the picture…
I thought Victor was at another chess match?
USCF is pretty incompetent in handling these issues. Hopefully, with the new candidates, chess will flourish again in both Canada and USA.
@Anonymous 10:08PM: Plain nonsense! Shirov, Adams and Ni Hua deserve their high(er) ratings. The fact that Bluvshtein and Porper finished 1/2 point ahead of them in _one_ tournament doesn’t mean that they are as strong, or even stronger players.
But the tournament outcome shows one or two things:
1) Surprises are always possible – games are decided over the board, not in advance looking at the rating list.
2) Maybe the above-mentioned players did not take the tournament as seriously, and/or underestimated their ‘nameless’ opponents, and/or conceded some draws too quickly. [I say or speculate so without having a thorough look at all games].
@Anonymous 6:20PM: Home field advantage!? Maybe extra motivation, maybe the nominally stronger non-American players suffered from jetlag?
and Ganguly was Anand’s second. Anand better employ Porper now.