Saturday Coffee…

Just got back from the annual Gibraltar (TradeWise) Open and so you must understand the slim pickings on this blog since Thursday…

My hearty congratulations to the wonderful organizing team of this great open tournament, and especially to Stuart Conquest for making everyone feel at home and welcome!!  Many of us already intend to return next year…

Photo courtesy of John Saunders

Irina Krush and I discussing my win over English superstar Nigel Short

Photo courtesy of Sophie Triay

Nigel and I discussing FIDE politics before the start of our (short) game? That is a secret!   But notice how I had already cleverly positioned my coffee thermos into a strong strategic location!

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Canadians have mixed results in Gibraltar

click on images to enlarge

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Hansen, Hambleton and Porper.

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This was the 4th time that I braved the Gibraltar winter weather to participate in the tournament.  There were a lot more Canadians taking part than is normal, especially Eric Hansen, Aman Hambleton and Edward Porper.  Readers might remember that Porper and Hansen were part of the Canadian National Team in 2012.  IM Aman Hambleton is a pretty good bet to make the team later this year when the Olympiad takes place in Norway, while  IM Ed Porper has volunteered to captain the team!

Eric Hansen played a great tournament and was almost always on the top boards.  Eric’s play is rapidly maturing and now he is confident and ready to break the 2600-plus barrier.  In Gibraltar he scored 7 points against an average rating of 2530 (I scored 6.5 points against an average of 2519), not losing a single game.  Congrats, Eric!  And good luck!

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