Toronto Closed 2009: Selected Battles ...Part 1

Hi Everyone,

Up here in the boonies known as Northern Ontario (yes, for those of you in Thunder Bay, we consider ourselves Northern) we have little competition compared to the South. Only recently has Sudbury really experienced an influx of younger talent that will challenge the old guard in due time. Players like Dukic, Lalonde, Guignard, Nicholson, and Caldbick guarantee something of a competitive future.

So where do we look to for competition in the meantime?

The answer has to be Toronto, and often times when we spend big bucks for a trip and accommodation down to the big T.O. It never goes according to plan. We feel cheated when we get blasted off the board by battle-hardened veterans of the South. Yet that tide is slowly turning as Sudbury chess gains in strength due to the combination of younger players, the Sudbury Chess Championship, and the SWRR.

For now, however, I want to take a look at some Toronto players of note. Specifically master level players that are showing some interesting chess.

Game 1: Preventative Medicine

This game shows how David Peng has an incredibly alert sense of danger, something which Anatoly Karpov was known for in his heyday. His opponent is Liam Henry, Canada's top amateur player 2008 (listed as so on chess.ca). Peng seems a step ahead of his opponent at all turns, and really is only a danger to himself as he almost cripples his own attack. Fortunately, Peng's sense of danger allows him to catch up to his missteps and he recovers in fine fashion.

Game 2: The Punisher

In this game Roman Saposhnikov answers an early deviation by FM Michael Barron in the Ruy Lopez with terrifying accuracy. In effect, Roman plays a near perfect game which shows the early positional errors black makes in plain site. A really nice game by Roman.