Is anyone else itching to get some chess in before the big holiday is upon us? Lower Place Riel, some time between 6:30 and 7:00 pm, I'll be there.

Keith MacKinnon is playing in the Edmonton International, starting tonight. You can watch his games LIVE at the International web site.

To confirm his chess stardom, his name even appears on Susan Polgar's blog. I just hope he remembers all us little people when he returns.

On Shaw Cable's community channel, there is a brief feature on the recent Scholastic tournament in Saskatoon. Thanks to Tyler Janzen, Don MacKinnon, and whoever else took part in being good ambassadors to our game. And, of course, huge thanks to Matthew Prefontaine from Shaw for seeking us out.

Well folks it's been a few months and there are no tournaments, rated or otherwise, on the docket. How much support is there for a rated tournament sometime in the next few weeks? If six or more people reply in this thread indicating a strong desire to play in a rated tournament I will consider taking on the role of TD.

Good news: the Alberta Chess Association approved our request to hold the 2010 BATB on the September long weekend (Sept 4-6, 2010). This is significant for a couple of reasons. First, traditionally the ACA always held the Over/Under 1800 on that weekend, and second, the Battle at the Border has been approved as a 3-day event.

These two points may not sound like much, but I believe them to be an auspicious sign. In Alberta chess circles, typically only the large, prestigious events are scheduled for long weekends (International tournaments [such as the Calgary and Edmonton Internationals], the Alberta Open, Alberta Closed, etc), and now the BATB has entered that group. This should increase the number of Alberta players that attend next year's Battle, as well as give us a real shot at being approved for additional funding from the ACA.

Since the Battle at the Border is technically an ACA tournament it qualifies to have its venue costs, TD fees and rating fees reimbursed by the ACA. This year, however, I'm also applying for additional funding to fly a GM to the event. The meeting to decide if my application will be accepted takes place in January, and although the aforementioned news does not guarantee a successful outcome, it is certainly a step in the right direction, which gives me hope.

In potentially unrelated news, anyone who has been following chess news over the past month will know that Magnus Carlsen recently won the World Blitz Championship, finishing first among a 22-player field and 3 points (!) ahead of his nearest rival - World Champion Vishy Anand. One notable player missing from that tournament was GM Hikaru Nakamura, who is widely considered to be one of the best blitz players ever. This past weekend Carlsen and Nakamura met in the finals of a 16-player blitz event held in Oslo, Norway and Nakamura beat Carlsen 3-1!

Here is a link to a Chessbase article that has a full event review, as well as games and videos.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5945