Return from Brazil
I have now returned home from Brazil and I wanted to update everyone on my trip. You have heard lots about the trip from my dad, now it’s my turn.
My trip to Brazil was phenomenal. We got to experience the delicious food, the numerous beaches, the friendly people, and the picturesque landscape of spectacular Brazil. We saw many great sights in Rio de Janeiro, and also got to meet lots of new people from all over the world during the tournament in Caldas Novas.
As for the tournament itself, I didn’t do as well as I had hoped for. I finished tied for 72nd with a score of 3.5 points out of 9 (1 Win, 5 Draws and 3 losses). I started out ranked 62nd and had hoped to score 5 out of 9 which would have put me in a tie for 31st but I guess it just wasn’t my tournament and not meant to be.
Even though I didn’t score as well as I wanted I still really enjoyed the trip and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I will never forget this experience and will cherish it forever. Thank you to all who read my blog and supported me. Without you I would not have been able to go to Brazil.
Thanks again,
Simon Gladstone
The final round
We woke up this morning to find out we’d have to leave the hotel at 1:30 pm, so Simon was told to rush the opening and offer a draw at 1:15 pm to give us time. After the first hour of play, they changed the bus time to 2:30. No notices posted, just a note on the web. Luckily, I had web access in the hall, and the arbiter let Simon know he no longer had to kill himself.
Simon just finished, got another trademark draw, is now reviewing his game, will play some “fun variations” of chess, have lunch and off to the airport.
Warm regards to all
Gary
Friday
Simon had a disappointing draw today. He was doing great, was winning and then missed a move that put his opponent into a stalemate, a forced draw. After 8 rounds, Simon has 3 points.
He is a bit disappointed, not only in his play, but that he didn’t have any “excellent” games.
Tomorrow, for the final round, Simon is black against Facundo Juarez from Argentina. This is Simon’s fourth player from Argentina and seventh from South America.
Simon has enjoyed the tournament, has loved being here, and is pleased that we came, just a bit disappointed in his result and hopes for a strong finish.
As I came back to the room tonight to pack, it was thunderstorming with massive rain. How fitting, I thought, as we were so sad to be leaving.
Although this may not have been the best organized tournament we have attended, it was a pleasure. The people from all of the countries were a delight to meet. I have improved on my Portugese, Simon speaks much better Russian and picked up some Portugese.
The Canadian Team did our country proud, in spirit, sportsmanship and camaraderie. It was a joy to be a part of all of it.
I would also like to thank our three magnificent coaches, Andrew Peredun, Nikolay Noritsyn and Mikhail Egorov, who worked tirelessly the entire tournament to prep the team. There is no question it made a big difference.
Our photographers were diligent in taking photos of each player before the rounds and many candids as well. We have to leave before both the Canadian Team and Official Closing Ceremonies tomorrow, but one of the parents who is organizing it, Christina Tao, gave me a beautiful memento of Caldas Novas as a thank you for all the work I did here. It was a pleasure, and I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Andrew Giblon for being such a great Head of Delegation and making sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.
Attending the World Youth Chess Championship has been a dream and goal of Simon’s since we went to the first Canadian Youth Chess Championship in Kapuskasing some 9 years ago, yet I remember it as if it was yesterday.
As we all have our final sleep in Brazil, Simon’s words to me were, “Thanks, glad we came.”
There are a “ton” of pictures up on the Team Blog, please be sure and visit http://wycc2011canada.blogspot.com to view them all.
Not sure when I’ll have a chance to post Simon’s final results, but by now, you should know where to find them. 
Thanks for reading this blog. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it.
Thank you, Caldas Novas, Goiania, Brazil for a wonderful time. It was nice to come, it was great to stay, and I look forward to seeing everyone back home shortly.
Gary
Thursday
The bad news, it rained. The good news, it was last night, so we weren’t affected at all.
Simon got some coaching for his opponent today, Max Chalabi from Luxembourg. He ended up with a draw, giving him 2.5 of 7 points.
When Simon gave him a Canada Pin and a Toronto Keychain (as he has everyone), Max gave him a Luxembourg Tourist brochure. If anyone is travelling there, let us know. Simon has also received an Argentinean pin. Simon is getting pretty good with his South American geography because 6 of his 8 opponents (including tomorrow) are from South America.
Tomorrow, he plays white against Julien Beroiz from Argentina in Round 8.
Both Simon and I appreciate your good wishes, both posted and in private emails.
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading my notes, as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.
All the best
Gary
P.S. I won a contest on Twitter. Does anyone want 2 tickets to http://www.liveandunleashed.ca/ on Monday night.
Wednesday
For some reason the standings and the pairings for Simon’s section, U16 Open, were taken down from the organizer’s website. We couldn’t figure out why and thought there may have been a problem or an appeal. It turns out the files got hacked and they had to restore from backups and ensure correctness.
I spent the day confirming everyone’s departures, hard to believe the tournament ends on Saturday night.
Simon had a disappointing game today losing to Arias Juan Cruz from Argentina.
He had a chance to review the game with his coach in Toronto, Goran Milicevic as well as the Team Canada coach and we all hope for better today, as he plays Black against Max Chalabi from Luxembourg.
Simon currently has 2 out of 6, with three games to go.
It rained late last night, as we wake up it is now 21 degrees, with a high of 31.
Happy American Thanksgiving to all
Gary
Tuesday
This was the day when I realized that all problems would in fact, soon come to an end. There was only one small hotel issue to resolve that I knew I could do once the round started at 3 pm.
We slept in a bit and made it to breakfast. Simon and I then went down to the Team Canada room – him to practice chess and prepare for his afternoon game against Augusto Bianchi from Argentina and me to help the photographers post their photos. There are a fair number of photos on the team blog at http://wycc2011canada.blogspot.com
There was a light drizzle in the early afternoon, not that much, just enough to cool things down a bit.
At the team meeting today, Andrew announced that Team Canada is almost 50% in total points over 4 rounds and we have been getting better with each round. One player, Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte from Quebec in the U12 boys has a perfect score of 4 and there are a number at 3.5.
Simon went to start his game and I met with our team member and the GM Organizer to solve the last hotel issue, which was instantly solved. A sigh of relief. Neither Andrew nor I had any outstanding issues.
I spent some time with one of the parents to load up 140 candid shots onto the team blog, there were some of me, Simon, Rebecca, Melissa and Andrew, and of course the rest of the team.
Melanie sent me an urgent message to call VISA and I found out that my card had been compromised because someone’s database was hacked. Has there been anything in the news about this? Luckily I have multiple credit cards, so there won’t be any problems. They wanted to know if I wanted it sent to Brazil, I said no thanks, it could wait until my return.
Simon was, as per usual, one of the last to finish, he got a draw. There was nothing very exciting about the game, and Simon now has 2 out of 5 points and is currently tied for 62nd place and will be playing Arias Juan Cruz from Argentina with a rating of 1826.
We had a nice supper with the Giblons and Rene Preotu, one of the Arbiters and a member of Team Canada. Good thing I had my sports jacket with me here, as Rene is taking an official photo with all the arbiters tomorrow and he needed one, we’re about the same size.
Simon is busy preparing for his game tomorrow and I have been trying for over an hour to get on the Internet – so not sure when I’ll be able to post this.
On tap for tomorrow, confirming everybody’s departure times with the organizers.
All the best
Gary
(It took over 2 hours to get online and it is still not very fast, well after midnight)
The last few days
There has been a lot happening here since Friday afternoon, never mind the chess side, that I’ve been negligent in reporting.
Andrew and I have been spending a fair bit of time tending to small problems that the members of the team have been having. For some reason, everything takes a lot of time to accomplish.
It is truly an amazing sight to watch over 1,100 youth from all over the world play chess. At times, you could hear a pin drop in the hall, but not as often as you should.
We are staying at the Thermas Di Roma Hotel, www.diroma.com.br , with many pools, a few waterslides and a huge waterpark next door, which we had hoped to use on our rest day – more on that later. The majority of the US and South African delegations are here as well; the balance of the countries are spread amongst other hotels that are part of the Di Roma group.
Our room contains two single beds and 1 double bed, perfect for us, as Konstantin is staying with us.
All meals are eaten buffet style in the main dining room. The best part, the entrees are all labelled as to what they are, so we actually know what we are eating. As you can imagine, the food is plentiful and pretty good but certainly not gourmet level.
I had spoken with the chief organizer, GM Darcy Lima, and had arranged for a special training room for Team Canada. We arranged that I would meet his assistant at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday to get it set up.
On Saturday morning, I got the news that Team Canada would in fact have a separate training room, and after some negotiations, ended up with free wireless internet in the room. Better yet, it is not part of the hotel wireless, so it’s not quite as busy. Only problem is, it goes up and down a fair bit, but the staff are quick to repair it.
By lunch time all coaching sessions had been moved to the new location, news had passed to the team and in the afternoon we had our team meeting there. Pictures of this and of a number of the players from the first few rounds can be found at the team blog http://wycc2011canada.blogspot.com/
Simon prepared for his afternoon game and helped others on the Canadian team get ready as well. The afternoon game started with mayhem as the organizers decided that only players and head of delegation could go into the hall. This was a big change from the day before, when everyone was allowed in, and then after 15 minutes of play would leave, which is the norm.
The organizers restricted the access, and had only a small space for people to enter the hall. As a result, there was much pushing and shoving, and the round started a few minutes late. Some “press” were being allowed in, some were not. Because one of my new found friends was at the door, I was allowed in and proceeded to take lots of pictures of our players – again see the team blog.
While Simon played his heart out, I alternated between being in the hall, being in the team room and taking care of team issues.
As you already know, Simon lost his game, and was upset as he felt he could have done better. We tried connecting by Skype to people back home, with minimal success. Finally, we decided the phone call wouldn’t be too bad, Melanie called us and we had a great chance to catch up on what was happening in Toronto.
Sunday morning was the big double day. First round started at 10 and they let everyone in this time, much smoother, and then those who were not supposed to stay in the hall left after initial photos were taken. Everyone was appreciative of the change. I took a few photos, made sure everything was OK, and then went to check on hotel room changes.
I found out that no rooms would be made available for our coaches and a few others (remember Friday 3:00 a.m. check in) in our hotel, and the other hotel they were promised only had 3 rooms, not four and they would have to find another hotel on Friday. I went ballistic and stormed over to the playing hall. I found the assistant in charge of accommodations and I explained to him the situation, he tried to resolve and couldn’t. I then literally dragged him into the playing hall and we met with my “good friend” the GM organizer for the 2nd of at least 5 meetings for the day. After some heated discussion, rooms were found at a hotel next door to ours, which was acceptable. Afraid that they would disappear, as had happened before, I rushed with the assistant to the hotel. On a hot summer’s day, walking up a steep hill, at a quick pace, I was absolutely huffing and puffing by the time we got to the top. When Joanir, the assistant, wasn’t even breathing heavy, he explained that he was a fitness coach and could be my trainer if I wanted. Once all the rooms got set up, I went and found the relevant people and they made plans to move from their farther away hotel. It may not sound like it, but everyone here is VERY accommodating and trying to do their best, within their means.
Next, it was time to discuss access to the waterpark for all of the team, not just those staying at our resort. Don’t ask, but being around lawyers really helped. After three meetings, and an excellent tag team with Andrew, we accomplished our tasks.
As a side note, as assistant Head of Delegation, I am handling hotel, accommodations and logistics, Andrew is handling the rest, and neither one of us could stop for air yesterday.
As I was dealing with the hotels, Simon won his game and he was very pleased to get on the scoreboard. We ate lunch together, he prepped for his next game at 5 pm and continued to “fight” for Team Canada.
Simon’s second game of the day finished just before 10:00 p.m. and as you know, it was a draw. He could have played better in the beginning, but played great at the end to salvage the half point. After 4 games, Simon has 1.5 points out of a possible 4. He is pleased with his results and was looking forward to today’s rest day at the Waterpark.
At 11:30 pm, Internet finally back up, in room checking emails and we find out that the Waterpark is closed every Monday and Tuesday and nobody checked and it was too late to make special arrangements. C’est la vie, we’ll just have to suffer poolside with water slides, 30 degree weather for the day or a tour organized by one of our great team members.
All of us slept in this morning. Simon then went swimming and hung around the hotel with all of his friends, enjoying the day off.
Melissa, Andrew and I went into Caldas Novas, did a bit of sightseeing, walking and shopping, then came back and I swam. Downtown Caldas Novas has a lot of timeshare salespeople and it looks like there’s a lot of building happening. Caldas Novas apparently markets itself almost exclusively as a Brazillian tourist destination.
Over the past few days, I have become very friendly with the English speaking hotel staff – twin brothers who have picked up terrific English purely from listening to music and watching movies. They are both extremely helpful and speak the language well.
I also have made friends with a Brazilian lawyer, a chess mother, who assisted us greatly when we arrived.
I had gotten a lot of Canada pins from my Liberal MP friends. Our team gives them out to their opponents at the beginning of each match, and I give them out to everyone I meet. The response is tremendous. I would strongly recommend taking the pins with you when you go travelling, they open up doors everywhere.
I never could have dreamt that being Assistant Head of Delegation would be so much work and time-consuming but rewarding as well. It’s my pleasure to help where I can and I think, based on comments, we’re making a positive difference.
Time to upload some more photos to the team blog,
Warm (about 30 degrees) regards from Caldas Novas.
Gary
