1996 Canadian Closed: Players

1996 Canadian Closed Chess Championships

The Players

Thanks to Erik Malmsten for preparing this page.

Spraggett, Kevin: Top rated and Canada's most active GM, Spraggett from Montreal was clearly the favourite. Winner of three previous Canadian Closeds (plus a tie for first), he was never worse than tied for third in the eight championships he has played in. He won the recent Canadian Open and has finished in first in four previous Opens. In the opening rounds of this Closed he drew strong players, fell behind by loss to Leveille, but finished strong with five wins in a row and a last round draw to third place finisher Day. He showed flexibility in the opening and participated in the shortest and longest games of the tournament.
Teplitsky, Yan: Teplitsky from Vancouver was rated second and finished second. He drew five of his first six games, but then won five in a row to lead in the middle rounds. He plays the Reti 1Nf3 and 2 c4. The winner of the past two B.C. Closeds, he has yet to lose a rated game in Canada! Will becoming a grandmaster be far off for this 20 year old?
Livshits, Ron: FM Livshits of Toronto was rated fifth and finished tied third-fourth. For his high score the 23 year-old receives an IM title! Although he was tied for first in last year's championship, he actually had a better performance this time around, his fourth championship. He had the best score with the White pieces (mostly 1 d4) : won six, tied two, but had shorter draws when Black. His only loss was to Schleifer. Last year he tied for first at the Canadian Open with a performance rating of 2572, and also won the Ontario Open.
Day, Lawrence: IM Day of Toronto was a last minute sub for the Quebec Champion IM Alexandre Lesiege, rated 2565, so he performed at Lesiege's level! He was rated ninth but finished third-fourth. His score and performance rating are as strong as when he won the championship in 1991! He scores strongly with 1e4. This is his 10th Closed, his first one being way back in 1969 (that was won by Suttles). He has also finished first in three Canadian Opens. He tied for third at both North Bay and the Canadian Open, and won the Toronto Open and last year's Toronto Closed.
Nickoloff, Bryon: IM Nickoloff of Toronto was rated fourth and finished fifth. He had the most draws in the tournament: nine, five of them less than 20 moves. He played the shortest games, average length 32 moves, but had a strong finish winning four out of his last six. He plays d4 with White, but had a better score with Black. His eight championship, he was tied for first last year and finished second to Spraggett in 1989. He won last year's Thanksgiving Open and tied for first at the Canadian Open.
Léveillé, François: FM Leveille of Montreal should be happy with his performance. He was rated twelfth and finished sixth, performed above his rating and handed three of the prize winners: Spraggett, Day, and Nickoloff, their only losses. Had some long ties. His third championship, he was tied for first last year.
Hergott, Deen: IM Hergott from Ottawa was rated third but finished seventh. He scored only 50% with White but had a plus score with Black. He had the second most draws in the tournament: eight, six of them with White, his average game 34 moves long. This is his seventh championship and he finished second to Spraggett in 1994. He tied for third at the Canadian Open and for sixteenth at North Bay. Last year he tied for first at North Bay with Larsen and Lesiege, ahead of the Polgars, a performance rating of 2671; tied for first at the Canadian Open with Spraggett, Rozentalis, Livshits, and Nickoloff; and won the Toronto Open.
Baragar, Fletcher: FM Baragar from Winnipeg was rated fourteenth, finished eighth, scoring 50%. He had a poor start, and played long games, having only one tie. He'll gain rating points. This is his fifth championship, and his best was in 1986, behind Ivanov and Spraggett, tied for third with GM Yanofsky. He also gave Spraggett his only loss in the 1984 championship. Earlier this year, he scored 7-1 to win the Manitoba Closed and defeated the Saskatchewan champion.
Taylor, Gordon: FM Taylor from Ottawa rated eleventh, finished ninth. He performed at his rating level. Played the most moves in the tournament (717, average 48 moves per game, had longer games when White), due partly to his 102 move loss to Spraggett. This is his fifth championship. He tied for fourth-fifth in 1989, having a 2506 performance rating. He tied for ninth at the Canadian Open, but had also won the Canadian Open in 1982.
Schleifer, Michael: Schleifer from Montreal was rated seventh but finished tenth. He started off well, gave Livshits his only loss, and only had one tie. Playing mainly 1. d4, he had one of the best scores with White: 69%. This is his third championship. Last year he won the first Canadian Closed Active Chess Championship.
Teodoro IV, Eduardo: Canadian Junior Champion 17 year old Teodoro of Toronto was rated eighth, finished eleventh-twelfth. Started off well, but played below his potential, perhaps disappointed at not making the IM norm. He tied Day 3-3 in a recent match and tied for eighth at North Bay with a 67% score.
Gravel, Simon: Gravel from Montreal was rated sixth, finished eleventh-twelfth. He played well below his rating level but had a strong finish, and a plus score with Black 56%. Had the longest games when White.
Yoos, Jack: Yoos from Winnipeg was rated tenth, finished thirteenth. He had a plus score with the white pieces (63%) but didn't win any with Black. Had some long draws and had a poor finish. He played with a leg cast. He had tied for ninth at the Canadian Open with a low performance rating of 2221. He had won last year's Manitoba Closed.
Jung, Hans: Jung of Toronto was the lowest rated, finished fourteenth. Had long games. He qualified by winning the Ontario Closed (undefeated) ahead of Nickoloff, Teodoro, Livshits, and Day and had a performance rating of 2518.
Frialde, Arniel: Frialde from Edmonton was rated fifteenth and finished fifteenth. He started off well, had long games, but couldn't convert his good play into points. This is his third championship. He had hoped for a better score as he a performance rating of 2401 when he tied for third at the Canadian Open. He won the Alberta Closed.
Horton, Joe: FM Horton rated thirteenth, finished sixteenth. Although he finished last he got some spoiler points in stopping Leveille when he was hot, and drawing Teplitsky. Horton didn't win any games with his 1. g3, but scored some points with his 1. .. g6. Had some long ties. This is his third championship, in 1992 he tied for fifth-sixth with a performance rating of 2438. He had beaten Day both times they previously met in the championship. He won the Maritime Closed.
Joe Horton is a professor of computer science at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.

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Last update: 12 September 1996