This is Part Two of a two-part post. Part one is the previous entry.
On the day of the tournament, I arrived at Fairview Library at 11:45 with my mom - car loaded with chess sets, clocks, forms, and all the other materials we'd need throughout the day. I walked in, and soon our team started showing up. The first ones who arrived were Stefan and Vivek, and they helped me unload everything and get it up to the fourth floor.
Eventually, after dropping everything off, we found Paula, who opened the 4th floor door for us. We poured into the room (by then, Yuanling, and later Yang and Yolanda) and started placing the tables. Everybody helped, and I was busy setting up the computer and printer.
It was after we had started the check-in, and finished getting all the names down, that we hit a snag - the only big setback of the day, but it was enormous. It was 12:30 and we should have been starting the tournament. However, some of the registration forms - those that had been dropped off at Fairview - weren't there! Of the 34 kids who showed up, we had only 28 forms!
We (I!) had forgotten to ask for them from Paula earlier! I scrambled frantically downstairs and looked for her. Eventually, I hit upon a librarian who helped me get her location - alas, she was on her lunch break. That meant that were running a tournament without the information of 6 kids - kids whose parents might have left. Without those forms, we couldn't get started.
That was when the team spirit of CITL showed its face. I called back to the volunteers to tell them the bad news, but Vivek told me to get up there as soon as possible. There was an idea. When I got upstairs, Yuanling and Vivek told me that we should ask every kid who sat down so that we could find the kids whom we didn't have forms for and see if their parents were still present.
Luckily, of the 6 missing-paperwork-casualties all 6 had parents who were still present. We were able to get their names, grades, and ratings down, and the tournament could finally begin, thanks to some quick thinking from my fellow volunteers. I had been truly scared for a moment about the tournament even going on, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Bravo!
The info went in, the pairings were made and printed. With a quick intro from myself (we were rather pressed for time by this point), the tournament began!
We (I!) had forgotten to ask for them from Paula earlier! I scrambled frantically downstairs and looked for her. Eventually, I hit upon a librarian who helped me get her location - alas, she was on her lunch break. That meant that were running a tournament without the information of 6 kids - kids whose parents might have left. Without those forms, we couldn't get started.
That was when the team spirit of CITL showed its face. I called back to the volunteers to tell them the bad news, but Vivek told me to get up there as soon as possible. There was an idea. When I got upstairs, Yuanling and Vivek told me that we should ask every kid who sat down so that we could find the kids whom we didn't have forms for and see if their parents were still present.
Luckily, of the 6 missing-paperwork-casualties all 6 had parents who were still present. We were able to get their names, grades, and ratings down, and the tournament could finally begin, thanks to some quick thinking from my fellow volunteers. I had been truly scared for a moment about the tournament even going on, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Bravo!
The info went in, the pairings were made and printed. With a quick intro from myself (we were rather pressed for time by this point), the tournament began!
Myself, working out the pairings. We used a Swiss pairing system to maximize fairness and make sure all the kids could play 4 rounds, intead of a knockout format where some would have to leave early.
A young boy, deeply concentrated on his game
A young girl. Evidently deeply concentrated as well!
Yuanling and Yang helped to set up most of the Puzzles Section on the wall outside our playing room. Kids were very, very eager to compete for a chance to win one of the three book prizes we had for this competition!
The first round in progress, with our tall, tall volunteer Stefan in the middle of the photo. The rounds progressed smoothly enough, but by the end of the tournament we had a 2-way tie for 2nd/3rd in all three sections of the tournament!
CITL director of communications Vivek presides over the Grade 7 and up playoff, consisting of Joshua Pavusthy (left) and Cassidy Wang. Cassidy eventually won. 
CITL president Yuanling stares intently at the Grade 3 and under playoff, consisting of Mia Dong (left) and Wing Li. Wing eventually won. In the background, the grade 4-6 playoff is being played between Pirathapan Ahilan (left) and Richard Zhang. Richard eventually won. At the end of a long 4 1/2 hours, 4 rounds and playoff, the results were announced.
In the Grade 3 and under section, left to right - 2nd Wing Li, 1st Hazel Guo, 3rd Mia Dong!
Volunteers from left to right: Yolanda, Vivek, Yuanling, Stefan, and myself.
In the Grade 4 to 6 section, left to right - 2nd Richard Zhang, 1st Erkhes Bayan-Altai, 3rd Pirathapan Ahilan! Back row, second from right: volunteer Yang.
In the Grade 7 and up section, left to right - 3rd Joshua Pavusthy, 2nd Cassidy Wang, 1st Jonathan Chan. 
Our gold medal winners, together along with their book prizes! As well, book prizes were awarded to the kids in each section who did the most puzzles correctly in our puzzle competition. All through the tournament, we had a donations box sitting out on the main table. Our CITL president, Yuanling, took the effort to bring the box around and make some personal appeals. In the end, we raised nearly $140 - That's more than our annual festival! About $45 of that is going to rating fees and medals. That means we've put almost $100 into our fund for future tournaments and materials.
At the end of the day, all this wouldn't have been possible without the help of all the volunteers and Paula, our resident benevolent Librarian. A big shout out to all those who helped! Even the CITL volunteers who couldn't make it, this tournament was for them too. Together, we're united towards a common goal - the furthering of chess and fun across Canada. I believe that we've certainly inched a bit further in pursuit of that goal, and I'm proud to have contributed as a tournament organizer.
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