Sunday, August 29, 2010

WiFi Coverage of WYCC 2010‏

Dear chess friends,

Internet will be available via cable DSL in the rooms and WiFi in
the hotel lobby with a prepaid card of 10 euros which includes 50 hours of
access. We are not sure yet if there will be available space in the
playing hall as the participation has broken all previous records.

Best regards,

Organising Committee
"Porto Carras WYCC 2010"


(Thanks to Leo Song for obtaining the info)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

T-shirts for the team

The colour of the short sleeve T-shirts will be Navy with the Canadian flag on the back and in front will have this:







All the team members will get one in the size provided to Michael.

We have some extra options:
- long sleeve (for extra 3$)
- polo shirts (for extra 2$) ( with the note: "We could do Polo shirts, but I wouldn't recommend them in this case because it would push the front design too low down the shirt)

Monday, August 23, 2010

Our team members (pics and info)

UNDER 8


Andrea Botez


List your favorites:


Food: Mac and cheese
Drink: Hot Chocolate
Activities: art, chess, webkinz, air-hockey, piano
Color: red
Person: God
Sport: badminton, basketball, jumping rope, swimming under water
1. Movie: Ella Enchanted
Cartoon characters: Tom and Jerry, Sponge Bob


What you like about chess: I like attacking!




UNDER 10






UNDER 12





Melissa Giblon
• Melissa is 11 years old. She became CYCC champion in 2009 (Girls Under 10) in Victoria. At the 2010 CYCC in Windsor, in her junior year in Girls Under 12, Melissa finished in 3rd place overall, and in 1st place for the new category Girls Under 11. Melissa got a draw this year against FM Hans Jung in a blindfold simul. This will be Melissa’s third WYCC. Outside of chess, Melissa is going into Grade 6 in the gifted program – she loves reading books, eating croutons and Chinese food, the colour sky blue, going to camp, and singing




Guannan Terry Song

"I just turned 12 years old. I’ve gotten seventh in the NAYCC U12 in Montreal 2010, just one month after the 2010 CYCC in Windsor and I’ve gotten fourth in the CYCC U10 in 2008 in Quebec City. In the 2010 CYCC in Windsor, I had gotten 5.5 points out of 7points, and I had tied for first with Richard Wang, Michael Song and Edward Song. I played a simul against Mark Bluvshtein the night before the final round and I had an almost equal endgame with bishops of opposite colours before I blundered a couple of pawns. This is going to be my first time going to WYCC. I’m going into Grade 7 and I like playing violin, reading, swimming, playing tennis, eating pizza and chicken wings, the colour orange and playing video games."

 









UNDER 14









Rebecca Giblon


• Rebecca is almost 13 years old. She became CYCC champion in 2007 (Girls Under 10) in Ottawa, and in 2009 (Girls Under 12) in Victoria. At the 2010 CYCC in Windsor, in her junior year in Girls Under 14, Rebecca went into the final round alone in first place, after defeating the #1 and #2 girls, and she ended up tied for 2nd place overall, and in 1st place for the new category Girls Under 13. Rebecca was up the exchange against GM Mark Bluvshtein in a simul last year (until he later trapped her rook ). This will be Rebecca’s third WYCC – in 2009 in Turkey, Rebecca got 1 ½ points out of 2 against top Russian girls including one WCM, and earned her first FIDE rating. Outside of chess, Rebecca is going into Grade 8 in the gifted program – she loves reading books, eating pizza and pasta, the colour pink, emailing her friends, and using her iTouch.





UNDER 16

Roman Sapozhnikov
I am 16 years old, Ive been playing chess since I was 9.  Some accomplishments are first at the cycc u16 2010 and first at the 2009 candian amateur.  I like sports such as tennis, swimming and hockey.








Alexandra Botez
"I'm fifteen years old, and I've been playing chess since I was six. I've been to three WYCCs so far, including in 2009 where I got 6.5/11. Hopefully this year I will do better! Other then chess, I really like photography, theater, traveling, sports, and Canadians :) "












 UNDER 18

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

This is our team for Greece

The official Canadian representatives:


Boys u-18 Aman Hambleton

Boys u-16 Roman Sapozhnikov

Boys u-14 Tanraj S. Sohal

Boys u-12 Guannan Terry Song

Boys u-10 Yuan Chen Zhang

Boys u-08 Joshua Doknjas

Girls u-18 Marguerite Fan Yang

Girls u-16 Alexandra Botez

Girls u-14 Regina-Veronicka Kalaydina

Girls u-12 Jackie Peng

Girls u-10 Kelly Wang

Girls u-08 Andrea Botez


Additional players:

Boys u-16 Jerry Xiong

Boys u-16 Michael Kleinman

Boys u-14 David Itkin

Boys u-12 Edward Song

Boys u-12 Mark Plotkin

Boys u-12 John Doknjas

Boys u-10 Jason Cao

Boys u-10 Joseph Bellissimo

Girls u-14 Rebecca Giblon

Girls u-12 Melissa Giblon

Girls u-10 Minya Bai

Girls u-10 Janet Peng

Girls u-08 Nicole Birarov

Facts about Greece you should know…

The maximum length of stay in Greece for non EU residents is 3 months, 90 days. Visitors wishing to prolong their stay are required to obtain a Resident's Permit from the Alien's Bureau; phone number in Athens (210) 77-05-711.

The official language in Greece is Modern Greek, however in tourist areas English, French, Italian, and German are also spoken. In addition 2 out of 5 individuals in the major cities can speak primarily English and/or French.  Studies have shown foreign languages spoken by Greeks as:
English 42%   Italian 16%      Other 3%
French 29%   German 10% 

Since January 1, 2002, the official currency of Greece is the Euro (€).  Currency that exists as coins are in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Cents and 1 and 2 Euros.  Currency that exists as bank notes are in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 Euros. *It is highly recommended that visitors should ONLY exchange their money at banks, foreign exchange bureaus, and hotels.

Major credit cards are honored at all hotels, restaurants, stores, travel agencies, car rental locations, etc. nationwide.

Public phones are widely available and operate only with a calling card. Calling cards may be obtained at newsstands, or kiosks (gr.--periptero) and at any OTE (National Telecommunications Organization) locations. Calling card values range from 3 to 20 €.

Stores and supermarkets are usually open from 9am to 10pm on weekdays and from 9am to 3:30pm on Saturdays. Except from bakery stores and some major supermarkets, all stores in the greater cities are closed on Sundays. The above statement does not apply to highly tourist areas. A "Periptero" newsstand or kiosk is a very small store that sells a very wide variety of products from candy bars and refreshments to newspapers and magazines. Such periptera are widely found on most street corners and squares, and usually all are open 24 hours a day.

Prices of common goods like milk, ice cream, bottled water, etc. may significantly vary from location to location, especially in tourist resorts where prices are usually higher than normal.  By law and for the consumer's protection, factory prices of such products are required to be in clear display on the package. On the other hand, certain goods like cigarettes and various snacks (candy bars, potato chips) must be sold at the required retail price, or lower as set by the government.

The time in Greece is 2 (two) hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

Greece uses the Standard Metric System.  Following, are some approximate conversions:  1in = 25mm; 1m = 1.6km; 1lb = 454gr

Temperature from degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius or Centigrade is:  °C = 5/9 (°F - 32) and for example  32°F = 0°C  or 212°F = 100°C

Temperature from degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit is: °F = 9/5 x °C + 32 and for example room temperature: 20°C = 68°F

Electricity in Greece is 220V - 50Hz, AC.  Appliances that operate using 120V need to use a voltage adapter, or transformer.

Driving in Greece is on the right. The speed limit on the National Motorways is 120km/hr (75mi/hr), 80km/hr (50mi/hr) on civic highways, and 50km/hr (32mi/hr) within city limits. Visitors wishing to drive are required to use an International Driving Permit, along with their original driver's license. Mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles are very commonly used as means of transportation, especially on the islands. However they are the main cause of injury, since wearing helmets is not generally enforced.

There is no drinking age in Greece and alcoholic beverages can be found in any food store.  Greece highly enforces very strict laws against the use of all narcotic substances.

Main website of the event

Official website

Info from the WYCC Organizer

Accomodations
A 4-person junior suite has a king/queen bed for the parents and one more bed suitable for 2 children. We automatically give these junior suites to families of 4 people.  It will also be good if you indicate it in your registration your accomodation preference.  There are junior suites which are designated to accomodate families of 4 and 5 people. The cost for such suites with full board is 59 euros per person per night (invited players are calculated for free in the total cost).

Travelling by Train is not Recommended
We strongly advise not to use trains to travel from Athens to Thessaloniki.  The state train company provides very unstable services, staff strikes are very likely and the journey can be from 6 to 9 hours long. We recommend connecting flights to Thessaloniki airport where our buses will be located to pick you up.

Tours While at Porto Carras
While you stay in Porto Carras (not Thessaloniki :)) our partner agency will organise tours for participants at a very reasonable cost.

Best regards,
Organising Committee
"Porto Carras WYCC 2010"

Welcome to Canadian Youth Chess Team for WYCC 2010.

This is the place where you can find info about our team and follow the results from Greece.  Also, we will share information between us regarding this event.

Andrei Botez
Head of Delegation of Canadian Youth Chess Team at WYCC 2010