News (more news at Junior Chess Forum) Also, juniorchess e-mail bulletin February 25, 2009

• National Chess Challenge - Montreal (May 23-24, 2010) new

  
  
  
  Canadian Chess Challenge Report: Thanks to Victoria Doknjas
  
  On May 23-24, 2010, Montreal, Quebec hosted the 22nd Annual Canadian Chess Challenge (CCC), where each provincial team brought forth their top Grade 1 to 12 students to compete for the National Championship by grade level. Many BC families flew to Montreal early to sightsee; and the weather cooperated wonderfully. Highlights included the Biosphere, Old Montreal, Chinatown, and the Old Port.
  
  The first day of the tournament began with the opening ceremonies that saw the teams led into the tournament hall at The University of Montreal by a bag piper. The first player to enter the hall was Team BC’s top Grade 12 student, Elliot Raymer, who proudly carried in the BC flag. This was Elliot’s 7th and last year at the CCC and he finished tied for 4th in the very competitive Grade 12 section. After a few announcements and the singing of the Canadian anthem, round 1 began with the traditional handshake and goodwill exchange of provincial pins. Time controls for grades 4 to 12 was 25 minutes + 5 sec delay; grades 1 to 3 had no clock to start, but would have clocks brought in if games were running long.
  
  After the first 4 rounds, Team BC was tied with ON and QB for first place; each with 4 team wins under their collective belts. Then came round 5 (against QB) and round 6 (against ON), which left Team BC tied for third place with Alberta and Teams ON and QB tied for first/second place. This concluded the first day of the tournament.
  
  On the final day, the last 3 rounds were played with the 9th and final round strategically pairing Team BC with AB and Team ON with Team QB. This proved to be quite suspenseful as 8 or our BC kids were in contention for trophies. As it turned out, 9 rounds were not enough to determine all the trophy winners and 4 of our kids went into playoff games (15 minutes + 5 sec delay or 10 minutes + 5 sec delay, depending on whether the tie break was for first place or for second/third palce, respectively). When the playoff dust flurry settled, 8 of our BC kids were honoured with trophies and plaques.
  
  BC player results (7 Trophies):
  Grade 1: Luke Pulfer, 3rd place after tiebreak (In the news: PeaceArch News)
  Grade 2: Joshua Doknjas, 2nd place after 3-way tiebreak
  Grade 3: Jingzhi (Edwin) Xu, 4th place
  Grade 4: Jonah Lee, National Champion
  Grade 5: Janak Awatramani, National Champion
  Grade 6: Jeremy Hui, National Champion
  Grade 7: Ryan Lo, 4th place after tiebreak
  Grade 8: Tanraj Sohal, National Champion
  Grade 9: Willem Kuun, tied for 8th place
  Grade 10: Jeff Anthony De Guzman, tied for 4th place
  Grade 11: Loren Laceste, 2nd place
  Grade 12: Elliot Raymer, tied for 4th place (In the news: Victoria Junior Chess News)
  
  
  
  Team BC came 3rd after Team ON (1st place) and Team QB (2nd place).
  (n.b., the competition used match points, these results show game points)
  
  1 Ontario 91.5
  2 Quebec 80.5
  3 British Columbia 79
  4 Alberta 71.5
  5 Manitoba 47.5
  6 New Brunswick 43.5
  7 Newfoundland 35.5
  8 Nova Scotia 34.5
  9 Saskatchewan 34
  10 Prince Edward Island 22.5
  
  Full results of Player Standings and Team Results:
  
  http://www.chess.nl.ca/year/2009+2010/ccc/national/results/english/index.html
  
  Many thanks go out to all the volunteers to help make this tournament possible for our kids:
  
  - Glen Lee was the Team BC Captain who spent countless hours organinzing and planning for this event starting as early as mid-April (right after the BC Provincial Chess Challenge was completed) up until the last day of the Canadian Chess Challenge. Our Team benefitted from Glen’s extensive knowledge and experience with this tournament. His son, Jonah, has been on Team BC for the last 4 years and has won multiple CCC trophies over these years.
  
  - Lara and Michael Lo can be thanked for their ongoing support to Team Members and parents including arranging for the professional looking, navy blue Team BC T-shirts, which donned each players’ last name and the BC flag on the right sleeve; kindly providing transport to/from tournament site; doing breakfast/lunch runs for many of the BC familes; and numerous other details that many assume just get “magically” done. Their son, Ryan, made his first appearance at the CCC this year. Ryan played courageously throughout the tournament and we can expect to hear more great accomplishments from this young man in the future.
  
  - Tanveer Sohal helped with TD duties for all 9 rounds and with the award ceremonies. Her brother, Tanraj, has been part of Team BC since Grade 1, as well as winning National Championships in multiple years.
  - Ron and Caroline Hui helped as part of the organizing team with collecting BC Provincial pins to exchange with the other province’s players, setting up of BC flags beside our BC players on each round, team photography, etc. Their son, Jeremy, is also a vetern of the CCC with multiple trophy wins.
  
  - Gyan Awatramani helped with team photos. This was Janak’s 4th year at the CCC and 4th National Championship.
  
  - Other families help with BC Provincial pin collection, team photography, etc.
  
  Larry Bevand and his most able Chess ‘n Math Association crew are to be congratulated for their organizational skills and desire to provide excellent “customer service” year in and year out putting on the Canadian Chess Championship. This year had some challenges; but, nothing insurmountable for Larry & Company. Next year’s CCC will be held in Victoria, BC (possibly the first time in BC).
  
  Team Spirit - a Key to Team BC's Success (a few words from our Parents)
  
  Beau Pulfer (Luke - Grade 1):
  Thank-you to everyone on the the BC team. Luke had a fabulous experience and I am certain he will remember this event for a long time. I especially want to thank all the team players that made him feel so welcome, Elliot in particular who seemed to take him under his wing and make him feel so much a part of the team. I would like to thank him again.
  
  Glen Lee (Jonah - Grade 4):
  I would have to say this is my most enjoyable and memorable Canadian Chess Challenge to date. Coming in third as a team and bringing home seven trophies was an amazing accomplishment, but what stood out for me this year was the "infectious Team B.C. Spirit!" Not only were we striving for our personal best,
  
  ... we supported each other and stood out as a team
  ... we congratulated our opponents and celebrated their wins
  ... we empathized and supported our friends and opponents during their losses
  ... we cheered that much louder during the awards ceremonies
  ... we toured Montreal as a Team
  ... we invited all players from all provinces to join us for a wrap up party at what became our Celebration Headquarters at Cafe PI
  ... we made Montreal our home and brought over a little bit of B.C. while we were there.
  ... but most of all, we arrived in Montreal as a TEAM and we left as a TEAM.
  
  Parents from members of other provinces also made comments commending us of our Team and Community Spirit, pining for similar in their own provinces. I would also like to thank all the parents for showing their support prior to, during and after the tournament.
  
  Thanks to all the parents for providing the pins.
  Thanks to Tanveer Sohal for Arbitering during the rounds and presenting the awards.
  Thanks to Michael Lo helping us with Team BC shirts, transportation and breakfast/lunch runs.
  Thanks to Gyan Awatramani for taking the photos.
  Thanks to Ron Hui for helping with the flags and pins between rounds.
  Thanks to Victoria Doknjas for writing up the Tournament Report.
  Thanks to Robert Pulfer for providing intense soccer and hacky sack entertainment between rounds.
  Thanks to all the parents for cheering as hard as you did during the rounds!
  Thanks to Caroline Hui, Lara Lo and Peggy Lee for their Montreal Tour Extravaganza.
  Thanks to all the players for representing B.C. in Montreal and showing all the provinces B.C. is a province on the rise!
  
  Gyan Awatramani (Janak - Grade 5):
  I find my self struggling with words to describe the esprit de corps of our B.C. team - it is a factor that is often underestimated or overlooked, but it was paramount to the overall performance of our team this year. The camaraderie shared and good times will be remembered fondly for many years by all. We were focussed, disciplined, worked relentlessly towards the tournament, gave it our best shot, and came up with amazing results! Perhaps our best ever! Our match up against Ontario was particularly exciting, final score 7-5 in their favour. We were very unfortunate to loose two crucial games. One of them should have been a win for us and the other a draw - had we achieved that we could have beaten Ontario! They escaped by a whisker and the Ontario team players/parents acknowledged that.
  
  Another interesting point to note is that in our overall score we were just 1.5 points behind Quebec (79 - 80.5). Both Ontario and Quebec were quite taken aback by our strength and they know that we will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years. (In the past few years it has alway been Ontario and Quebec who have come in first and second interchangeably.) This status quo is about to change - the chess challenge that's being held in Victoria, 2011 presents us with a golden opportunity to do so, and showcase our B.C. Junior talents!
  
  My sincere thanks to Glen Lee for making Montreal possible for us, and congratulations to Brian Raymer for securing the 2011 bid for Victoria. And to all B.C. Juniors - from Elliot our flag bearer (Grade 12) to Luke our lucky mascot (Grade 1) and everyone in between - CONGRATULATIONS - you guys were AMAZING.
  
  Caroline Hui (Jeremy - Grade 6):
  Thanks for a wonderful tournament trip. We had such a good time. So much intensity and laughter at the same time. From all the walking to eating to strolling along the river to chessing @ the Cafe Pie.
  
  Michael Lo (Ryan - Grade 7):
  I was going to write something but could not get my fingers onto the keyboard. It seems once I wrote something, the trip officially ends. I cannot put in words how much we enjoy the trip. Sweet sweet memories and thanks thanks thanks.
  
  Brian Raymer (Elliot - Grade 12):
  Thanks for all your work and for helping us keep in touch with Elliot on his weekend in Montreal. Elliot had a great time and I am sure he will miss being part of the team next year.
  
  Memories in Montreal...
  Chess'n Math Souvenir Booklet (Chess Challenge)
  Final Standings Results
  Photo Gallery (Glen)
  
  Team BC Spirit - A Tournament to Remember (Video - Thanks to Gyan Awatramani)

• BC Elementary Team Championships (May 8, 2010)

  Summary of Results:
  
  Section 'A'
  1st St-George's A (16.5 points)
  2nd University Hill A (12.5 points)
  3rd Montessori A (12.5 points)
  4th St-John's A (11 points)
  5th Collingwood A (10.5 points)
  
  Section 'B'
  1st Maple Grove B (15 points)
  2nd St-George's C (12.5 points)
  3rd St-George's B (12.5 points)
  
  Final Standings - 'A' Section
  Final Standings - 'B' Section
  
  Photos - Gallery 1 (Thanks to Sophia)
  Photos - Gallery 2
  Photos - Gallery 3

• BC WA Intermat (May 1, 2010)

  BC WA Intermat Report - (Bulletin #189) Thanks to Stephen Wright
  The nineteenth edition of this cross-border battle between school-aged children was won by the visiting Washington team by the score of 31.0-21.0 (the match was held at the New Westminster campus of Sprott-Shaw College). The teams are comprised of two players each from grades 1-12 plus kindergarten, who play one game each with their corresponding numbers on the other team. Traditionally B.C. has scored heavily in the upper grades, Washington in the lower. As usual, Washington amassed a huge total in the lowest grades: B.C. was only able to score 4.5 points from the twenty games contested in K-4. Grades 5-8 were more successful for the home team, with B.C. winning each of the mini-matches for an 11.5-4.5 total. Previously when B.C. has done well in these competitions it is through a counterbalancing superiority in the upper grades, but for the last couple of years we have had some difficulty in recruiting the strongest high-school players. B.C.'s weakness in this area led to a comfortable Washington victory in grades 9-12, 5.0-11.0. By comparison, in 2008 B.C. scored 14.0-2.0 in those same grades. Thus, despite the strong result of B.C.'s middle grades it was Washington who took the overall match victory.
  
  In terms of individual results, B.C. players who won both their games were Dezheng Kong (grade 5), Jacon Jensen (6), Jingzhou (Peter) Lai (7), and Dylan Parker (10); others with a plus score were Jonah Lee (4), Janak Awatramani (5), and Tanraj Sohal (8). On the Washington side, Roland Feng and Bryce Tiglon swept their grade 3 opponents, as did Dakota Dixon and Thomas Witecki in grade 11. Others on the Washington team with perfect scores were Garrett Casey (K), Naomi Bashkansky (1), Daniel Ho (9), and Kerry Xing (12), while Howard Hare and Derek Zhang (both 2), Noah Fields (4), and Alec Ho (8) also had plus scores.
  
  Thanks are due to the team organizers on both sides of the border, and all the players and parents - this event would not happen without your participation.
  
  Overall Washington now has an 11-8 lead in match victories:
  
  

  Year	Location	Victor
  1991	White Rock	BC
  1992	Mountlake Terrace	WA
  1993	Burnaby	WA
  1994	Mountlake Terrace	BC
  1995	Burnaby	WA
  1996	Shorewood	WA
  1997	Burnaby	BC
  1998	Shorewood	BC
  1999	Burnaby	WA
  2000	Seattle	WA
  2001	Burnaby	BC
  2002	Seattle	WA
  2003	Burnaby	WA
  2004	Seattle	BC
  2005	Burnaby	BC
  2006	Bellevue	WA
  2008	New Westminster	BC
  2009	Bellevue	WA
  2010	New Westminster	WA

  
  *the lack of a result for 2007 corresponds to moving the event from December to April/May within the school year
  

  Detailed Results
  
  

• BC Youth Chess Championships (Apr 24-25, 2010)

  BC Youth Chess Championships Report - Thanks to Lester Yee
  Upsets ruled the day. No one was safe as everyone came to play their best Chess. A high rating was no protection against a keen opponent.
  
  The Girls Only section was open to players U8 to U12. Frances Anne MacInnis (611), the youngest and lowest rated player of the section surprised everyone by taking clear first place. Frances won almost every game against older players. Her only loss was to her older sister Maggie (956).
  
  In U8, Grade 1 Champion Luke Pulfer (873) defeated Grade 2 contender Michael Su (1182). The 309 point upset put Luke in second place behind Grade 2 Champion and now BC U8 Champion Joshua Doknjas. The competition in this section shows the future of junior chess is in good hands with players like these coming up.
  
  But the greatest upset of the day came in U10: David Zhang beat Pavanpal Bhasin-- a 406 point difference!. And Lahiru Jayaweera (923) put a scare into Grade 4 Champion Jonah Lee (1612). The 689 rating point differential meant nothing to Lahiru who battled hard and came away with a draw. Jonah survived the scare to win the U10 section.
  
  U12 was the toughest section this weekend, with the ratings of three top contenders averaging 1940. Janak Awatramani (1881) took the lead by defeating top seeded Dezheng Kong (2029) in round 3, and held off challenger John Doknjas (1912) when their intense battle settled in a draw. The surprise of the section came when Jacob Jensen (1582) upset Janak (1881) in the final round. This 299 rating point upset put Jacob into a 4 way tie for first place with Janak, John and Dezheng. This result was remarkable as Jacob has been absent from tournament play for some time, and only returned this weekend as defending U12 Champion from last year.
  
  The strongest girls in the tournament played head to head with the boys in U14. Joanne Foote (1366) defeated Ryan (1728) for a 362 point upset. Despite the loss Ryan played a strong tournament and obtained redemption by upsetting top seeded Tanraj Sohal (2131) for a 403 point difference. Alice Xiao (1674) had an incredible tournament, not losing a single game. Alice drew Tanraj to finish tied for first overall. Donovan Zhao (1763) returned to play after a long absence and put in a strong performance, being in first place before losing to Tanraj in the final round.
  
  In U16-18, vetran of past WYCC Loren Laceste defeated Jack Cheng to win the section.. Jack still retains the title as U16 Champion as Loren is U18. See the end of this report for more on this game. Trevor Yonkman traveled all the way from Castlegar to compete and was awarded a “Chess Inspiration” prize for his efforts and sportsmanship. Trevor also came away with third place in U18.
  
  The event was success thanks to the efforts of our parent volunteers. Wolfram came to help set up even though his son was not playing. Lara and Michael Lo were indispensable helping with set up, registration and keeping everything running smoothly.
  
  Ron Hui, Lester Yee, Gyan Awatramani, Victoria Doknjas, Nina Sohal, Ken Jensen, Stephen Wright and Ben Daswani all deserve a big thank you for their efforts in making this event happen for us.
  
  Veteran competitor Loren Laceste beat Jack Cheng in round 3
  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 a5 11.Nge2 Na6 12.Nb5 Nb4 13.Bc4 Ne8
  14.Nec3 Nc7 15.Nxc7 Qxc7 16.O-O Bd7 17.Qd2 Rfe8 18.Bf2 Qd8 19.Rae1 Rc8 20.Kh1 h5 21.Bg3 Qe7 22.h3 Kh7 23.f4 f6 24.Bh4 Bh6 25.Qd1
  Qg7 26.e5 fxe5 27.fxe5 Bf5 28.Bb5
  
  Laceste v Cheng
  This was the position after 28 moves-- Black to Move.
  
  
  
  Cheng (Black) chose 28. ...Re7??
  Which leads to 29. Bxe7 Qxe7 30. exd6 Qxd6 and Laceste is up the exchange and has a passed pawn. It looked like Cheng had no choice, and this was the least objectionable move, however the Chessmaster engine says better was 28...Rxe5 29. Rxe5 Qxe5 30.g4 Qe3 31.Rf3 Be4 32.Nxe4 Qxe4 which would have given Cheng the advantage.
  
  
  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Photos - Gallery 1 (Thanks to Lester)
  Photos - Gallery 2
  
  Summary of Results:

  Under 8 Girls
  Frances Anne MacInnis (1st - 3 points)

  Under 10 Girls
  Cassidy Fu (1st - 2 points)
  Jessie Gong (2nd - 2 points)
  Maggie Rose MacInnis (3rd - 2 points)

  Under 12 Girls
  Ola Kubiak (1st - 1 point)
  
  Under 14 Girls
  Alice Xiao (1st - 3.5 points)
  Joanne Foote (2nd - 2.5 points)
  
  Under 16 Girls
  Karen Lam (1st - 2 points)

  Under 8
  Joshua Doknjas (1st - 4.5 points)
  Luke Pulfer (2nd - 4 points)
  Michael Su (3rd - 3 points)

  Under 10
  Jonah Lee (1st - 4.5 points)
  Lionel Han (2nd - 4 points)
  Jeffrey Dawson and Jingzhi [Edwin] Xu (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Under 12
  Dezheng Kong, John Doknjas, Janak Awatramani and Jacob Jensen (1st - 3.5 points)
  Jeremy Hui, Hector Rathburn-mackay and Hasara Samayawardhena (2nd - 3 points)

  Under 14
  Tanraj S Sohal and Alice Xiao (1st - 3.5 points)
  Donovan Zhao (2nd - 3 points)
  Ryan Lo (3rd - 2.5 points)

  Under 16
  Jack [kun] Cheng (1st - 4 points)
  Dylan Parker (2nd - 3 points)

  Under 18
  Loren Laceste (1st - 4.5 points)
  Anderson Yee (2nd - 3.5 points)
  Trevor Yonkman (3rd - 2 points)

• K-12 BC Provincial Chess Challenge (Apr 11, 2010)

  BC Chess Challenge Report - Thanks to Lester Yee
  165 players from all around BC converged at the Delta Airport Hotel in Richmond, BC to compete in this much anticipated annual event. The level of skill for this event was high because only the top players from each grade qualified for this prestigious tournament.
  
  Each grade Champion earns the right to represent BC next month at the Canadian Chess Challenge in Montreal, so you know the winners all have the ability to work well under pressure-- a great life skill that will serve them well in their futures.
  
  Kindergarten
  Victor Zheng is the new BC Kindergarten Champion! This is a huge improvement in performance from the Vancouver Challenge just a month ago. Victor finished with a perfect 3.0 out of 3.0, beating the current Vancouver Champ Mattias Parker in Round 1 who finished second. Rex Rathburn got the 3rd place trophy in his first ever chess tournament.
  
  Grade 1
  Last years BC Kindergarten Champ, and the Current Vancouver Grade 1 Champ Luke Pulfer continues his winning streak by winning first place. Luke finished tied with Philip Chen with 4.5 points after 5 rounds, and just as in the Vancouver Challenge won the Blitz Tiebreaker. Frances Anne Macinnis maintained the family tradition of trophy taking at the Provincials by finishing 3rd.
  
  Grade 2
  Josh Doknjas finished in sole possession of first place, with only a tie with second place finisher Michael Su to take away from his score. The always improving Kevin Meng finished 3rd-- this time.
  
  Grade 3
  Jingzhi (Edwin) Xu won this year, maintaining his firm grip on the title of Provincial Champion for the 3rd year in a row! 2nd and 3rd places were decided by a computer tie break because Henrik Parker (2nd) and Paula Brewster (3rd) both finished with 4.0 out of 5.0 ponts. A special congrats should go to these three as this was the largest section in the whole tournament, with 21 players!
  
  Grade 4
  Jonah Lee totally shut out the competition in this, the second largest section, with 20 players. A look back at the last 4 Provincial Challenges shows that this is par for Jonah. Talented rookie Robin Yu took second, displacing traditional 2nd place finisher Lionel Han to 3rd this year.
  
  Grade 5
  This was the most hotly contested section with 3 players rated over 1800. Dezheng Kong (2029), Janak Awatramani (1886) and John Doknjas (1919). Ever since Dezheng moved here from Manitoba 2 years ago he has managed to win this Championship. Janak took 2nd and John 3rd after they both finished with 4 points. The tie was broken by the computer deciding in favour of Janak.
  
  Grade 6
  Congratulations to Jeremy Hui for taking 1st place in this section, and a special Honouable Mention to Hector Rathburn-Mackay for a very close second. The two played each other in round 4 and drew, and so both had 4.5 points after round 5. Jeremy chose black for the blitz tie breaker, which meant that he would get 5 minutes and Hector 6 minutes to finish the game. A draw would be counted as a win for black, and as it turned out the tie breaker ended in a draw, resulting in first place going to Jeremy. A stronger than usual performance by Jenna Wild gave her 3rd place.
  
  Grade 7
  Champion Ryan Lo's many years of hard work are starting to pay off big this year, as he won this grade just ahead of his closely matched rival and last years champ Alex Sabaratnam. Third place went to talented newcomer Rick Yang.
  
  Grade 8
  Tanraj Sohal was the heavy favourite to win this grade because his Chess Canada rating of 2131 was the highest rating in the whole tournament. Tanraj won 5 out of 5 games to finish first again-- just like last year. It seems to be a recurring theme in these 5 round Swiss tournaments that the top two players will meet in round 4. In this case the second place finisher Alice Xiao lost her only game of the day to Tanraj in that round. 3rd place went to Laban Lin.
  
  Grade 9
  Another heavy favourite Jack Cheng finished first in this grade repeating his performance from last year. Second was Willem Kuun which is a pretty good performance considering that this was only his 3rd chess tournament. Yet another newcomer, Nikhil Prakash, finished a very respectable 3rd.
  
  Grade 10
  Last years champ Jeff Anthony De Guzman, had to work hard to keep his title this year. He drew with second place rival Dylan Parker in round 3, and squeaked out a victory over 3rd place finisher Josh Wild in round 4.
  
  Grade 11
  We have a new Champion in this Grade-- Loren Laceste! He moved here from the Philippines less than a year ago, and this was his first tournament in Canada. He told me that in his younger years he was the Philippine U10 Champion, and used to have a ELO rating in the 1900s. He is looking forward to representing BC in the Nationals in May. Last year's champ Tian Tian Geng moved down one place to finish second, as 3rd place finisher Anderson Yee move up one place from last year.
  
  Grade 12
  Highly ranked Elliot Raymer took top spot easily, especially since last years champ Henry Ji did not compete this year. From the crosstable you can see that, due to the number of players, this was a double round robin section, so there was no doubt about who is 1,2 and 3. Jeff Peters finished 2nd and Brandon Klym was 3rd.
  
  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Photos - Gallery 1 (Thanks to Sophia)
  Photos - Gallery 2
  Photos - Gallery 3 (Thanks to Lester)
  Photos - Gallery 4
  
  Summary of Results:

  K
  Victor Zheng (1st - 3 points)
  Mattias Parker(2nd - 2 points)
  Rex Rathburn (3rd - 1 point)

  Grade 1
  Luke Pulfer (1st - 4.5 points)
  Philip Chen (2nd - 4.5 points)
  Frances Anne Macinnis (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 2
  Joshua Doknjas (1st - 4.5 points)
  Michael Su (2nd - 4 points)
  Kevin Meng (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 3
  Edwin Xu (1st - 4.5 points)
  Henrik Parker (2nd - 4 points)
  Paula Brewster (3rd - 4 points)

  Grade 4
  Jonah Lee (1st - 5 points)
  Robin Yu (2nd - 4 points)
  Lionel Han (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 5
  Dezheng Kong (1st - 5 points)
  Janak Awatramani (2nd - 4 points)
  John Doknjas (3rd - 4 points)

  Grade 6
  Jeremy Hui (1st - 4.5 points)
  Hector Rathburn-mackay (2nd - 4.5 points)
  Jenna Wild (3rd - 4 points)

  Grade 7
  Ryan Lo (1st - 4.5 points)
  Thiruvaran Alex Sabaratnam (2nd - 4 points)
  Rick Yang (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 8
  Tanraj S Sohal (1st - 5 points)
  Alice Xiao (2nd - 3.5 points)
  Laban Lin (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 9
  Jack Cheng (1st - 5 points)
  Willem Kuun (2nd - 3 points)
  Nicholas Peters (3rd - 2.5 points)

  Grade 10
  Jeff Anthony De Guzman (1st - 4.5 points)
  Dylan Parker (2nd - 4 points)
  Joshua Wild (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 11
  Loren Laceste (1st - 5 points)
  Tian Tian Geng (2nd - 4 points)
  Anderson Yee (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 12
  Elliot Raymer (1st - 6 points)
  Jeffrey Peters (2nd - 3 points)
  Brandon Klym (3rd - 3 points)

• K-12 Kelowna Provincial Qualifiers (Mar 28, 2010)

  The District 23 K to 12 Chess Provincial Qualifier ran smoothly due to the great facilities at KLO Middle School. The cafeteria and library combination allowed kids the freedom to stretch their legs eat plenty of snacks then calmly concentrate while playing chess in the school’s library. Students from sixteen different schools participated in this year’s tournament. The greatest turn out happened to come from George Pringle Elementary, whose efforts paid off with five metals. Likely due the fine experience gained during Mrs. Maxfield’s Wednesday afternoon chess club.

  The high school City Champion Trophy was awarded to Brandon Klym of Mount Boucherie Secondary who narrowly edged out KSS grade 10 student Terry Lee. John Kump of Okanagan Mission earned the grade nine gold medal, while the silver metal went to Willow Strumpel. Matthew Sawatzky did his best in such a tough division earning the grade eight gold medal representing the host school KLO Middle School.

  Due to the low turnout in primary, grades one, two, and three were combined to compete within one division. The games were very close, so close in fact; there were 20 draws out of 30 matches played.

  The gold medal for grade one was awarded to Manoah Kleemaier of Glenmore Elementary. Kaeden Skelton earned gold while his buddy Reese Zanon was awarded the silver medal for grade two both of George Pringle Elementary.

  Top in the primary division, and earning the gold medal for grade three was Cayden Wahoski of Rose Valley Elementary. Silver was awarded to Joshua Keith of Casorso Elementary and bronze to Ethan Rideout.

  With a near perfect record Liam Bystrom, of Hudson Road Elementary, won the gold medal for grade four. His only lose was to the Bronze medalist Lenco Kleemaier of Glenmore Elementary. The silver medal was awarded to David Le of George Pringle Elementary.

  Grade five and six was another combined division. Most notably was grade five student Milan Eakins from George Pringle who bested all grade five and six students who within the senior elementary division. Second place honors and the grade six medal was awarded to Paul Yoo of Casorso. Anthony Taylor of South Rutland and Ting Shen Soh of Springvalley Elementary each earned the silver and bronze grade five medals. While Kai Shuffler of Peter Greer and Austin Thompson of George Pringle were awarded the grade six silver and bronze medals.

  Thanks go to a great group of volunteers: Joe and Joan Jay who supervised the secondary division, Grant Rice who refereed the elementary divisions, and photographer Spring Poulsen.

  Special thanks goes to the tournament director, Mr. Chris Laurie. “He put so much positive energy and enthusiasm into his time with the kids and it is such a privilege for them to have the opportunity to play chess in this organized way.” Exclaimed parent, Jennifer Bystrom.
  
  - Thanks to Chris Laurie for the great report!
  Final Standings - All Sections
  Tournament Photos

• K-12 Fraser Valley Regionals (Feb 27, 2010)

  The best and the brightest scholastic chess players from the Fraser Valley converged onto Elgin Park High School in Surrey to compete for top spot and the chance to play in the BC Chess Challenge held in April of this year.

  158 players turned out for this regional event bringing with them the Canadian Olympic spirit, donning red shirts and canadian flags! Rumors have it that Quatchi and Miga were seen playing Bughouse Chess in the skittles area! Large trophies were awarded and brought as much joy to the winners as medals did for the Olympians!

  Elgin Park High School continues to support BC Junior Chess and provided us with an excellent site and venue to play. Thanks to Wolfram and Ken for making this happen.

  Thanks to all the players and volunteers in making this event memorable and a success! Special recognition goes out to all the volunteers out there who have made this event and past events possible.

  Volunteers:
  TD- Ben Daswani
  Arbiters- Ryszard, De Souza Moulatlet, Richard Reid, Anca Datcu-Romano, Victoria Doknjas, Kieth Dawson, Umur Olcay, Doug Whiteford, Roldan Babar, Greg Caza, Roderick Brosta
  Awards- Arbiters, Ron Hui
  Setup/Cleanup- Wolfram Herdin, Chandi, De Souza Moulatlet, Laura Militzer, Kapila, Lin, Amber Poulton, Ken Jensen, Richard Reid, Anca Datcu-Romano, Glen Lee
  Pairings - Wendy Jensen
  Registration- Wendy Jensen, Amber Poulton, Chai, Cassidy Poulton, Lin, Dana Jackson
  Snack Cart/Lunch- Wendy Jensen, Wolfram Herdin, Anit Mitza, Charlotte Edwards, Andrea Price, Tracey Sawada, Jerrilin Spence
  Book Sale- Denise Scott, Cassidy Poulton
  Photography- Sophia Hague
  50/50- Kapila, Laura Militzer
  Junior Chess Coordinator for BCCF- Ken Jensen
  Volunteer Coordinator- Wolfram Herdin

  See you at the BC Chess Challenge in April!
  
  Photo Galleries (Thanks to Sophia and John!)
  Tournament Photos (Gallery 1)
  Tournament Photos (Gallery 2)
  Trophy Presentations
  
  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Summary of Results (Total 158 Players):

  K
  Victor Spassoff (1st - 6 points)
  Ronan Drismir (2nd - 4 point)
  Paulo Antoni De Souza Moulatlet (3rd - 1 point)

  Grade 1
  Jacob Tapp (1st - 4.5 points)
  Irena Datcu-romano (2nd - 4 points)
  Chris Caza (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 2
  Joshua Doknjas (1st - 5 points)
  Henrique Saito (2nd - 3.5 points)
  Jin Lee (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 3
  Lahiru Jayaweera (1st - 4.5 points)
  Alex Ge (2nd - 4 points)
  Frank Hou (3rd - 4 points)

  Grade 4
  John Suh (1st - 5 points)
  Jeffrey Dawson (2nd - 4 points)
  Andy Wang (3rd - 4 points)

  Grade 5
  John Doknjas (1st - 5 points)
  Bachviet Nguyen (2nd - 4 points)
  Taranjit Dosanjh (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 6
  Matthew Herdin (1st - 5 points)
  Jacob Jensen (2nd - 4 points)
  Tiger Zhao (3rd - 3.5 points)

  Grade 7
  Rick Yang (1st - 4.5 points)
  Raphael Babar (2nd - 4.5 points)
  Harchetan Singh Bhatti (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 8
  Tanraj S Sohal (1st - 5 points)
  Conrad Burgert (2nd - 4 points)
  Raaj Chatterjee (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 9
  Cristina Lopez-Santibanez (1st)

  Grade 10
  Tony Han (1st - 3.5 points)
  David Dong (2nd - 3 points)
  Evan Warner (3rd - 3 points)

  Grade 11
  Thomas Chow (1st - 4 points)
  Yue Guo Liu (2nd - 4 points)
  Martin Wong (3rd - 2 points)

  Grade 12
  No Players

• K-12 Vancouver Regionals (Feb 21, 2010)

  The annual Vancouver Regional Chess Challenge is the first big event of the 2010 BC Junior Chess schedule. At stake was bragging rights as the top Vancouver student in each grade, as well as large, high quality marble and metal trophies. In addition players could qualify to play in the BC Chess Challenge if they score well. The Scholastic tournament format limits kids to play within their own school grade and limits games to 30 minutes per player. All participating players receive a National Rating from the Chess Federation of Canada.
  
  The New Westminster venue was new to everyone, as our traditional site has been taken over by the Olympics. Thanks to Wolfram and New Westminster Secondary School for making the event happen while working under enormous time pressure.
  
  Participation was down due to the Olympics but there was plenty of drama among the 112 competitors. Old rivalries were renewed and new rivalries formed. , all in good fun though. Good sportsmanship and exemplary behavior was everywhere and good fun was had by all.
  
  The Kindergarteners are always interesting to watch because you can't help but ask if there is a future BC Junior Champion in their midst. Congrats to Mattias Parker, the new Kindergarten Champion!
  
  For the Grade 1s, Luke Pulfer and Philip Chen tied with 4.5 points after 5 rounds, but Luke won the blitz tiebreaker to take home the big trophy. Watch for great things in the future from these two.
  Scoring 5 out of 5 is like getting a shut out if you are a hockey goalie. That's what Michael Su did to win the grade 2 category. Good job Michael!
  
  Jingzhi (Edwin) Xu also achieved a perfect 5 out of 5 to win the grade 3 category. Edwin did so in one of the larger fields or 16 players! However this is not so surprising considering that he is last year's Provincial Champion.
  
  Grade 4 player Jonah Lee edged out his traditional rival Lionel Han and a close 3rd place finisher Humphrey Shao. This is a shuffling of last years finishing order which saw Lionel first, then Jonah, then Humphrey.
  
  Grade 5 competition was fierce, featuring the top two Grade 5 players in the Canada. Candidate Master Janak Awatramani is the reigning BC Junior Champion, and North American Youth Chess Champion while Dezheng Kong is the reigning Canadian Youth Chess Champion. Guess who won. OK this time it was Janak on top. Congratulations!
  
  Grade 6's Champion this year is Jeremy Hui who finished ahead of Hector Rathburn-Mackay, reversing the results from last years Vancouver Chess Challenge.
  
  Let's give a very special congratulation to the grade 7 Champion Ryan Lo. Ryan just keeps getting better and better. Last year he tied for first but lost a tie breaker blitz game with Alex Sabaratnum. This year he finished a half point ahead of Alex to win his first ever Vancouver Challenge. Proof that hard work pays off.
  
  For grade 8, Alice Xiao repeated her 1st place result from last year. What can I say-- she's good.
  
  Jack Cheng dominated the Grade 9 category with 5 out 5 points, which is no surprise as he is the current BC Grade Champion.
  
  Grade 10: Jeff Anthony de Guzman won the Grade 10 category. Jeff does not compete very often but when he does he comes to win.
  
  Grade 11: Anderson Yee put together a win and 4 draws to finish a half point ahead of his friend and second place finisher Marko Mitrovic. Anderson came with the goal of taking first place cup home: mission accomplished!
  
  Grade 12: Henry Ji almost finished with a perfect score, until he was caught by a three fold repletion and gave up a draw to Anderson.
  
  BC Junior Chess has an ambitious goal of signing up 1000 members in order to qualify for provincial funding. Let's all support the effort and help BC Junior Chess get established.
  
  One more note of praise before I thank the volunteers. Chess at the Junior level is really a team effort between the child and the Parents. If you are a chess parent then give yourself a big pat on he back!
  
  Thanks to all the volunteers!
  
  TD- Ben Daswani Arbiters- Michae Lo, Ron Hui, James Mcinnis, Dave Parker, Jim Foote, Glen Lee, Chet Galpin, Rafe Angell, Richard Reid, Anca
  Awards- Susan Mcfee
  Setup/Cleanup- Wolfram, Glen Lee, Ron Hui, Bekai Keita, James McInnis, Kapila Jayaweeva, Lui, Wu, Chandi, Jim Foote, Michael Lo, Wolfram Herdin
  Pairings (and More)- Lara Lo
  Registration- Prakash, Keith Dawson, Kapila Jayaweeva, Bekai Keita
  Snack Cart/Book Sales- Wendy Jensen, Jacob Jensen Concession- Ping Wu
  Webmaster- Glen Lee
  Photography- Sophia Hague, John Hou, Lester Yee
  Web Report- Lester Yee
  50/50 Draw- Jillian, Kaplia
  Junior Chess Coordinator for BCCF- Ken Jensen
  Volunteer Coordinator- Wolfram Herdin
  
  Photos - Thanks to Sophia!
  
  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Summary of Results:
  
  K
  Mattias Parker (1st - 2 points)
  Victor Zheng (2nd - 1 point)
  
  Grade 1
  Luke Pulfer (1st - 4.5 points)
  Philip Chen (2nd - 4.5 points)
  
  Grade 2
  Michael Su (1st - 5 points)
  Rinna Yu (2nd - 4 points)
  Ashton Taylor (3rd - 4 points)
  
  Grade 3
  Jingzhi Xu (1st - 5 points)
  Henrik Parker (2nd - 4 points)
  Alexander Stolz (3rd - 4 points)
  
  Grade 4
  Jonah Lee (1st - 5 points)
  Lionel Han (2nd - 4 points)
  Humphrey Shao (3rd - 4 points)
  
  Grade 5
  Janak Awatramani (1st - 5 points)
  Dezheng Kong (2nd - 4 points)
  Evan McFee (3rd - 3 points)
  
  Grade 6
  Jeremy Hui (1st - 5 points)
  Hector Rathburn-Mackay (2nd - 4 points)
  Karl Cui (3rd - 4 points)
  
  Grade 7
  Ryan Lo (1st - 4.5 points)
  Alex Sabaratnam (2nd - 4 points)
  Algerd Karavai (3rd - 3.5 points)
  
  Grade 8
  Alice Xiao (1st - 3.5 points)
  Curtis Catt (2nd - 3.5 points)
  Kyle Zheng (3rd - 3 points)
  
  Grade 9
  Jack Cheng (1st - 5 points)
  Nikhil Prakash (2nd - 2.5 points)
  Eric Hsueh (3rd - 1.5 points)
  
  Grade 10
  Jeff Anthony De Guzman (1st - 3 points)
  David Dong (2nd - 3 points)
  Robert Fung (3rd - 2.5 points)
  
  Grade 11
  Anderson Yee (1st - 3 points)
  Marko Mitrovic (2nd - 2.5 points)
  Rafaat Mir (3rd - 2 points)
  
  Grade 12
  Henry Ji (1st - 4.5 points)
  Amir-Arsalan Kashfolayat (2nd - 2.5 points)
  Surbinder Bolina (3rd - 2 points)
  

• Sprott Shaw January Open and Scholastic (Jan 23-24, 2010)

  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Summary of Results:
  
  Open
  Joe Soliven (4.5 points - 1st)
  Joe Roback (3.5 points - U1900 1st)
  Dezheng Kong, Jack Cheng and Tanraj Sohal (3.5 points - tied for 2nd)
  
  K - Grade 2
  Kevin Meng (4.5 points - Grade 2 1st)
  Philip Chen (4.0 points - Grade 1 1st)
  Luke Pulfer (3.5 points - Grade 1 2nd)
  Mattias Parker (3.0 points - K 1st)
  Rinna Yu (3.0 points - Grade 2 2nd)
  Ryan Leong (2.5 points - Grade 2 3rd)
  Richard Yong (2.5 points - Grade 1 3rd)
  Victor Zheng (2.0 points - K 2nd)
  
  Grade 3
  Alex Ge and Henrik Parker (4.0 points - 1st)
  Frank Hou, Lahiru Jayaweera and Alexander Stolz (3.0 points - 2nd)
  Andrew Datcu-Romano (2.0 points - 3rd)
  
  Grade 4
  Jonah Lee (5.0 points - 1st)
  Nathaniel Knox, Robin Yu, Jeffrey Dawson and Marcus Andrews (3.0 points - 2nd)
  Cassidy Fu (2.0 points - 3rd)
  
  Grade 5
  Andy Qian (4.5 points - 1st)
  Owen Napieralski (4.0 points - 2nd)
  Joshua Doknjas adn Michael Su (3.5 points - 3rd)
  
  Grades 6 - 7
  Hector Rathburn-Mackay (5.0 points - Grade 6 1st)
  Kevin Wang (4.0 points - Grade 7 1st)
  Jeremy Hui, Thomas Broatch and Mehtaab Chandi (3.5 points - Grade 6 2nd)
  Merrick Paq-Man and Taylor Suh (3.0 points - Grade 6 3rd)
  Bryce Dombrowski (3.0 points - Grade 7 2nd)
  Brandon Jang (2.5 points - Grade 7 3rd)
  
  Grades 8-10
  Jun Tao He (4.5 points - Grade 8 1st)
  Alex Datcu-Romano (4.0 points - Grade 8 2nd)
  David Dong (3.0 points - Grade 10 1st)
  Jarhan Karwa and Kyle Zheng (3.0 points - Grade 8 3rd)

• Sprott Shaw December Open (Dec 5-6, 2009)

  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Summary of Results:
  
  Open
  Tanraj Sohal (4.5 points - 1st)
  Dragoljub Milicevic (4.0 points - 2nd)
  Jack Qian (3.0 points - U1600 1st)
  
  U1500 and U1200
  Peter Szinku (5.0 points - U1200 1st)
  Jeffrey Dawson (3.5 points - U1200 2nd)
  Raphael Babar (3.0 points - U1200 3rd)
  Lionel Han (3.0 points - U1500 1st)
  David Dong (2.0 points - U1500 2nd)
  
  U800
  Kevin Meng (4.0 points - 1st)
  Cassidy Fu (3.0 points - 2nd)
  Philip Chen (3.0 points - 3rd)

• BC Junior Championship (Nov 14-15, 2009)

  Congratulations to Janak, our 2009 BC Junior Champion! After coming home from Mexico and winning Gold at the North American Youth Championships, Janak continues his winning ways and captures the BC Junior Championship title with 4.5/5 points, previously held by Tanraj Sohal. Tanraj Sohal, John Doknjas and Yiming Han tie for second place with 3.5 points.
  
  Our Reserve Champion is Joanne Foote taking first place with 4.0 points followed by Anderson Yee and Lionel Han with 3.5 points.
  
  In our Booster section, we have a three way tie with 4.0 points with Marcus Andrews coming out on top, followed by Hasara Samayawardhena and Owen Napieralski coming in second and third respectively.
  
  Congratulations to all players on a well played tournament!
  
  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Summary of Results:
  
  Championship
  CM Janak Awatramani (4.5 points - 1st)
  Tanraj Sohal, John Doknjas and Yiming Han (3.5 points - tied for 2nd)
  
  Reserve
  Joanne Foote (4 points - 1st)
  Anderson Yee and Lionel Han (3.5 points - 2nd)
  
  Booster
  Marcus Andrews (4.0 points - 1st after tiebreak)
  Hasara Samayawardhena (4.0 points - 2nd after tiebreak)
  Owen Napieralski (4.0 points - 3rd after tiebreak)

• St George's Junior Tournament (Nov 8, 2009)

  There were record numbers that came out to play the St George's Junior tournament this year. By the time the first round started, we had 110 players registered and ready to play!
  
  Special thanks goes to Greg Devenish, Principal of the Junior School, for providing a great playing site and support and to Luc Poitras and Toni Deline for running a great tournament.
  
  Final Standings - All Sections
  
  Photos - Thanks to Lester Yee
  
  Summary of Results:
  
  Open
  John Doknjas (4.5 points - 1st)
  Anderson Yee and Alice Xiao (3.0 points - tied for 2nd)
  
  A - Grades 6 and 7
  Alex Sabaratnam (5 points - 1st)
  Leanne Hwa (4 points - 2nd)
  Raphael Babar (4 points - 3rd after tiebreak)
  
  B - Grades 4 and 5
  Lionel Han (4.5 points - 1st after tiebreak)
  Andy Qian (4.5 points - 2nd after tiebreak)
  Robin Yu (4.0 points - 3rd after tiebreak)
  
  C - Grades 3 and 4
  Maggie Rose Macinnis (5.0 points - 1st)
  Kevin Lin (4.0 points - 2nd after tiebreak)
  Atid Schmidt (4.0 points - 3rd after tiebreak)
  
  D - Grades 1 and 2
  Luke Pulfer (4.5 points - 1st)
  Joshua Doknjas (4.0 points - 2nd after tiebreak)
  Kevin Meng (4.0 points - 3rd after tiebreak)

• Sprott Shaw Halloween Open and Junior Tournament (Oct 17-18, 2009)

  Welcome back!
  
  The October Junior and Open was a resounding success. Many new young and eager players showed up to play in the season's first Sprott Shaw Junior chess tournament. The Open section comprised mostly of juniors with a handful of adult players. The lack of adult players may be attributed to having three back to back tournaments scheduled in the month of October.
  
  View Album
  Play Slideshow
  
  Summary of Results:
  
  October Open
  Yiming Han (4 points - 1st)
  Jeremy Hui and Zhongyu Gong (3.5 points - tied for 2nd)
  Jingzhou Lai and Mathew Herdin (3 points - tied for 3rd)
  
  Final Standings for the Open Event
  
  October Junior
  
  Beginners Section (U800)
  Tommy Zhao (5 points - 1st)
  Luke Pulfer (4 points - 2nd)
  Brian How (3 points - 3rd after tiebreak)
  Zexi Jesse Li (3 points - 4th after tiebreak)
  Frances Anne Macinnis (3 points - 5th after tiebreak)
  
  Intermediate Section (U1200)
  Rick Yang (4.5 points - 1st after tiebreak)
  Raaj Chatterjee (4.5 points - 2nd after tiebreak)
  Lionel Han (3.5 points - 3rd after tiebreak)
  Nathaniel Knox (3.5 points - 4th after tiebreak)
  Max Allman (3.5 points - 5th after tiebreak)
  
  Advanced Section (U1500)
  Hector Rathburn Mackay (3.0 points - 1st)
  David Dong (2.0 points - 2nd after tiebreak)
  Peter Szinku (2.0 points - 3rd after tiebreak)
  
  Final Standings for the Junior Event
  
  Special thanks go out to the following volunteers for their support and dedication to BC Junior Chess. Without your help, we would not be able to run tournaments.
  
  Organizer: Ken Jensen
  Volunteer Coordinator: Wolfram Herdin
  Arbiter: Ben Daswani
  TD: Michael Lo, James McInnis
  Registration: Lara Lo, James McInnis, Susan McFee
  Pairings: Lara Lo
  Trophies and Awards Coordinator: Ron Hui Awards
  Presentation: Susan McFee
  Concession: Caroline Hui
  Lunch: Caroline Hui, Susan McFee, Lara Lo
  Setup Crew: Ken Jensen, Wolfram Herdin, Lara Lo, Michael Lo, Richard Reid and other onsite parents
  Cleanup Crew: Ken Jensen, Wolfram Herdin, Lara Lo, Michael Lo, Caroline Hui, Darrell Shaylercrew and other onsite parents.
  
  Junior chess is growing in BC as more and more kids are introduced to the game in schools and local clubs. If you are interested in starting a chess club at school or wondering how you can make a difference in your community, please contact Ken Jensen (chessbc@shaw.ca) for information and resources.
  
  See you at the next tournament!

• North American Youth Chess Championship (Oct 2-4, 2009)

  Congratulations to Janak!!
  
  Janak wins GOLD at the North American Youth Chess Championships!
  
  
  
  Not only did Janak show poise and skill over the board, Janak showed true character by offering a draw on the final game in a won position. For his win Janak also qualifies for the Candidate Master (CM) title.
  
  Results:
  http://www.fideamerica.com/htmltonuke.php?filnavn=2009/octubre/Festival_Norteamerica_de_la_Juventud.htm
  Photos:
  http://www.fideamerica.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=thumbnails&album=50
  
  Blogs:
  http://claudiachess.blogspot.com/
  http://2009cyct.blogspot.com/
  
  View Album
  Play Slideshow

• BC vs Washington International Match (May 2, 2009)

  Standings
  
  The Intermat is over for another year.

  I hope everyone had a good time. The Washington people were very hospitable in this fun event. The food was great and plentiful. Unfortunately the trophy did not make its way back to BC, as Washington won this year’s event. In the end BC needed 5 more wins to match the Americans.

  BC won grades Grades 12, 7 and 4 and were even on 11, 5 and 3. Our K-3 representatives did remarkably well. With opponents sporting twice the rating of our kids we anticipated a good learning experience but not many points. The Washington secret weapon in Kindergarten was girls! Our boys were mesmerized by the young ladies and played as if under a spell.

  We’ll be better prepared next time.

  In Grade 1 Jesse Li managed to defeat the Washington Champion with twice his rating. Way to go Jesse!

  Grade 2 was tough going. The Washington champions rating of 1633 would be right at home in grade 6. That’s twice the rating of our contender so no one was surprised when we did not win here.

  In Grade 3 Lionel and Jonah battled hard despite being as much as 400 points lower rated than their opponents. They scored a win and two draws for 2 valuable points.

  Grade 4 saw Andy Qian pulling off an upset by drawing the Washington Champion Daniel He, despite his 623 point rating advantage. That ½ point combined with Janak’s reliable 2 wins put BC ahead in grade 4.

  Grade 5 saw Jacob and Hector match the American champions move for move in a dead even heat.

  We were overpowered in Grade 6, with Ryan and Alex managing only a pair of draws against evenly matched opponents. Another win here would have helped the cause.

  Grade 7 was the first grade where we out rated our opponents with Tanraj and Stephen both rated over 2000. Unfortunately Megan Lee, younger sister of FM Michael Lee was not cooperating. She stole a win from Stephen in the first round while her partner found a draw against Tanraj in round one. Those 1.5 points added to the Washington margin.

  In Grade 8 we had a scramble to find players. Two days before the event we still had not confirmed our entries. The ladies came to our rescue, with Alexandra and NingNing stepping up to protect BC’s honour. We were hoping the girl’s charm would be the deciding factor at the boards, but the Washington boys fought through the distractions take the series 3 wins to 1.

  In Grade 9 Josh Wild’s strong play surprised his opponents. He scored a win and a draw in s grade Washington expected to win easily.

  We hoped to break even in Grade 10 but after Kamram Hughes scored a draw against Richard in the last round we fell behind.

  Grade 11 was a great opportunity to sweep all the games. Both of our 1700 rated players outranked the Washington Champion, and a 1479 rated US player boosted from Grade 10 to fill an empty seat. Elliot won both his games but Henry had trouble with his endgame theory and dropped a pair. A win here, a win there and the tournament result could have been different.

  Optimism was rampant in Grade 12 where we enjoyed a rating advantage of over 1000 points on our opponents. Unfortunately one US player managed to steal draws against both Evan and Noam, saving Washington from a sweep and taking away a much needed win from BC.

  So now it’s time to start planning for next year when we host the Americans here. I hope you all will consider helping in the planning and preparations.

• BC Youth Chess Championships (Apr. 25-26, 2009)

  Standings
  Full Report (coming)
  
  Photos (1 of 3)
  Photos (2 of 3)
  Photos (3 of 3)
  
  Video (Day 1)
  Video (Day 2)
  
  Thanks to all who have contributed to this tournament and special thanks to Ken and Wolfram for the organizing, Andrei for the videos, Lester for the photos and report....and all the parent volunteers who made this possible.

• BC Chess Challenge (Apr. 4, 2009)

  Over 230 players registered to compete in this year’s BC Chess Challenge. All players qualified for this event by demonstrating superior chess skill in one of five Regional events. As expected the competition was intense. There were many surprises before the day was done. Congratulations to all!
  
  The Champions:

  Kindergarten Champion: Luke Pulfer
  Grade 1 Champion: Zexi Jesse Li
  Grade 2 Champion: Jingzhi Edwin Xu
  Grade 3 Champion: Jonah Lee
  Grade 4 Champion : Dezheng Kong
  Grade 5 Champion : Hector Rathburn-Mackay
  Grade 6 Champion : Thiruvaran Alex Sabaratnam
  Grade 7 Champion : Tanraj S Sohal
  Grade 8 Champion : Jack [Kun] Cheng
  Grade 9 Champion : Jeff Anthony De Guzman
  Grade 10 Champion : Tian Tian Geng
  Grade 11 Champion : Henry Ji
  Grade 12 Champion : Noam Davies
  
  Ful Report (Thanks to Ken and Lester)
  Photos 1 of 3
  Photos 2 of 3
  Photos 3 of 3 (Thanks to Lester for all the photos)

• Fraser Valley Chess Challenge (Feb. 22, 2009)

  The Fraser Valley Regional had a huge turnout with 181 players. Each section represented a grade from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and players enjoyed 5 games each with 30 minute time controls. Many grades ended up so close that 5-min blitz playoff games had to determine the champions. Winners and other players who scored 2.5 points or more qualified to meet up with their Vancouver Regional and Vancouver Island Regional counterparts in the Provincial Championships on April 4, 2009 being held at BCIT.
  
  Here are our 2009 Fraser Valley Regional Champions:
  
  Kindergarten – Irena Datcu-Romano (after playoff with Luke Pulfer)
  Grade 1 – Joshua Doknjas
  Grade 2 – Alexander Stolz
  Grade 3 – Tim Sun (after playoff with Sumin Moon)
  Grade 4 – John Doknjas
  Grade 5 – Matthew Herdin
  Grade 6 – Hanson Kang (after playoff with Jack Qian, Harchetan Bhatti, and Alice Hu)
  Grade 7 - Tanraj Sohal (after playoff with Chang He Li)
  Grade 8 – Tse Ning Cheung
  Grade 9 – David Don (after playoff with Karen Lam)
  Grade 10 – Thomas Chow
  Grade 11 – Henry Ji
  Grade 12 – Madhav Goyle (after playoff with Sofwat Omar)

  Congratulations to all our players and their parents!
  
  There is a long list of volunteers that helped make this tournament a successful one. I apologize in advance as I know that I am missing many names but I think it is important to acknowledge the great many who gave up their time for the sake of our kids.
  
  I had the great pleasure of working with a fantastic bunch of chess knowledgeable arbiters. They worked all day, on their feet watching each game vigilantly and occasionally, especially with the younger groups, took the time to do a short chess lesson with the kids, like how to mate a lone King with a Queen and a King. Many thanks to:
  
  Ben Daswani , Anca Datcu-Romano (former BC Woman Champion), Richard Reid, Teri Lydiard, Joe Meszaros, Henry Wilsenack, Duane Qian, Owen and the other Richard who was so patient with the kids and who worked so well with me in the Grade 2 section.
  
  The Setup and Cleanup Crew who often go unnoticed setting up long before the first player shows and who stays long after the last player leaves. Thanks goes to: Wolfram Herdin, Susan McFee, Jim Foote, Ken Jensen, Henry Wilsenack.
  
  The friendly ladies who you met to register your kids: Wendy Jensen and Teri Lydiard
  Those in charge of lunch and the snack cart: Dianne Lifton, Marnie Orr, Grace Morin
  
  Award presentation: Susan McFee
  
  Special thanks to Tournament Director Ben Daswani, and Organizers Ken Jensen and Wolfram Herdin
  -- Thanks to Victoria Doknjas for the report!

  Photos coming soon.
  
  Standings:
  See Results

• Vancouver Regional Chess Challenge (Feb. 21, 2009)

  This years Vancouver Challenge was an unusually lively one with a large number of tie breakers. some of which in turn had to have their own tie breakers! Cameo appearances were made by National Master Branimir Brebrich, former BC Chess Federation president Tony Deline, and if you are wondering who was the gentleman giving trophies to Hector, Jeremy and Karl then that's Former BC Champion Jack Yoos.

  In grade one Andrea Botez finished tied for first but lost the tie breaker to Jessi LI. Li won all his games except the one he lost to the kindergarden contender Arman Hosseinpour. Arman tied at the top of the K class with Mircea Oprea and Neo Wu. A three way Tie! In the final standings after the Tiebreakers, it was Neo, then Mircea then Arman.

  In grade 2 Edwin Xu had sole possession of first, however second and third place were determined by a tie breaker. Second place went to Qing Yang Liu, and third to Henrik Parker.

  Grade three renewed the rivalry between Lionel Han and Provincial Champion Jonah Lee. Lionel emerged on top this time, with Jonah in second and Humphrey Shao in third.

  The titanic battle between Janak and Dezheng Kong didn’t disappoint. The top two grade 4 players in the country battled to a draw in regulation play. They ended the event equal in points and had to settle the matter in a 5 minute blitz shoot out. Janak emerged on top, maintaining the status quo but this contest is not over. Ian Ang finished in third place.

  Hector Rathburn-Mackay showed steady form in his battle with defending champion Jeremy Hui in grade 5. Hector won all 5 games to finish ahead of Jeremy in second and Karl Cui in third.

  For grade 6 Alex Sabaratnam had to work hard for his first place win over Ryan Lo in yet another tie breaker.
  Third place went to Marcus Lee.

  Grade 7 was interesting. Alice Xiao, having never been to this venue before could not find the location, and arrived late.and so forfeited the first round. Undetered, She fought on and won her next 4 games! That left her tied for first with Michael Gao. The tie breaker was a tie. The second tie breaker went to Alice. In third place was Conrad Burgert.

  For grade 8 Alexandra Botez won her tie breaker over Yiming Han and Kenneth Lam placed third.

  9th grader Jeff Anthony De Guzman won his tie breaker over his second place rival Zhang Tiger. Tied for third were Dylan Parker and John Gong. Unfortunately a scheduling conflict with Dylan's hockey pulled him away from the tournament early and so sole third went to Gong.

  In grade 10 Anderson Yee won 4.5 /5 to win the section ahead of Marko Mitrovic in second and Jerry Lin in third.

  In grade 11 Prince Tadiar had sole possession of first but second, third and fourth were determined by tie breakers. Second was Surbinder Bolina, and third was Kristian Jose.

  The grade 12 section only had 2 entrants- Alex Kay finished first, and Gurkaran Thiara was second.
  -- Thanks to Lester and Ken for the report!
  
  Standings:
  See Results
  
  Photos:
  Gallery - By Lester Yee
  Gallery - By Maggie
  

• Sprott-Shaw New Year Open (Jan. 24-25, 2009)

  News Flash: BC Junior Champion Beats BC Active Champion! Current BC Junior Champion Tanraj Sohal (#27 in the World Youth Chess Championship) was victorious over current BC Active Champion Vicente Lee Jr at the New Year Open! To put this achievment into perspective Tanraj performed at an incredible rating of 2563 on those 2 days!
  
  Just as in the last few Sprott-Shaw Opens, this one was a mix of adult and junior (under 18) players. Tied for first were Tanraj and Drago Milicevic (adult). Tied for second was Dezheng Kong (junior from Manitoba) and Richard Spaan (adult). Tied for 3rd were Vicente Lee Jr and Jofrel Landingin (adult).

• Sprott-Shaw K-12 Scholastic (Jan. 25, 2009)

  The K-12 Scholastic series of tournaments began its 2009 season with 79 players. This series of tournaments are characterized by having one section per grade and uses 30 minute time controls. This tournament was good preparation for the Vancouver Regional Scholastic and Fraser Valley Regional Scholastic coming up soon. Those
  are qualifiers for the BC Scholastic Tournament, which in turn is a qualifier for the Canadian Scholastic.

  Congratulations to the winners:

  Kindergarten - Frances Anne Mcinnis
  Grade 1 - Andrea Botez
  Grade 2 - Jingzhi (Edwin) Xu
  Grade 3 - Humphrey Shao and Mark Liu
  Grade 4 - Iain Ang
  Grade 5 - Jia Jia Zhang, Mehtaab Chandi & Filip Lozanoski
  Grade 6 - Jack Qian
  Grade 7 - Alice Xiao
  Grade 8 - Kenneth Chiu & Darren Venables
  Grade 9 - David Dong
  Grade 10 -Anderson Yee
  Grade 11 -David Hou
  
  Photos:
  Click here for online slideshow.
  
  -- Thanks to Lester Yee for the reports and the great pictures!

• BCCF Bulletin #156 by Stephen Wright (Jan. 21, 2009) B.C. Chess Magazine, 1918-1919

• BC Active Championship (Jan. 17-18, 2009)

  The initial edition of this championship (or at least the first such championship within recent memory) attracted thirty-eight players to the Vancouver Bridge Centre. Vicente Lee Jr. breezed through the Open Section with 8.5/9, winning $300 as a result. Second and third were Roman Jiganchine 6.5 ($170) and Roger Patterson 6.0 ($100). The previously unkown Jenesis Bugaoan won the U1800 Section with 7.0/9, good for $170; Juni Caluza and Alex Sabaratnam were a half-point back and earned $50 each. The event was organized by Luc Poitras, Toni Deline was the TD.
  
  Crosstable, Open Section: http://www.chess.ca/xtableSQL.asp?TNum=200901070
  Crosstable, U1800 Section: http://www.chess.ca/xtableSQL.asp?TNum=200901069
  
  Some photos:
  http://www.wcjc.blogspot.com/ and Click here for online slideshow.
  
  Thanks to Stephen Wright for the article and Luc Poitras + Lester Yee for the great photos!

• Jill Ding Interview (Jan. 15, 2009)

  Just before the Victoria City Junior Championships the subsequent winner of the Grade 4-7 Section, Jill Ding, was interviewed on Victoria Channel 'A' TV's morning show:
  
  http://victoriajuniorchess.pbwiki.com/

• BCCF Bulletin #155 by Stephen Wright (Jan. 7, 2009) Robert Topic and Von Sarac; 1st Diamond Jubilee Open

• Sprott-Shaw December Open and Junior Tournament

  The December Open was a big hit amongst old and young alike, with a good mix of Juniors and Adults. There were 26 competitors in the Open Section about 15 Juniors and 11 Adults. The field was much stronger than the October Open-- there were 6 players with ratings over 2000. I think word has gotten out that this is great place for a two day event and very well run too. .
  
  Congratulations go to the following.
  
  First place went to Romanian born Radu-Laurentiu Roua (2007 and 2008 Oregon State Champion). Radu loves to coach juniors in his hometown of Portland. http://chessvision.net/coaches
  
  Second Place went to Vicente Lee jr (winner of this years leap year open).
  
  3rd place was a three way tie amongst Kirk Gornall, Joe Soliven and Jofrel Landingin.
  
  The top Juniors were Tanraj S Sohal, Jack Cheng and Yifei Han with 3.0 points out a possible 5.0
  And now a few word from Ken Jensen, "We received some heartwarming compliments from the adult players. Many were pleased to play with kids and impressed by the skill displayed.One said he was inspired by the fact that he was helping develop our young talent. The adults seemed to like the comfort and convenience features of the event.".

  Ken also announced that there was a new National Junior Team training program starting in January and to contact him if you are interested.

  In the U1500 division the ever improving Anderson Yee (member Golden Knights) placed first with 3.0 out of a possible 3.0. Second went to David Hou with 2.0 out of 3.0-- pretty good for his 4th tournament. And third went to Matthew Herdin also improving over his performance at his last tournament.

  In the U1200 Division, First went to Humphrey Shao 5.0 out of 5.0. This kid's chess is improving at an amazing rate I know because I played him several times in last 3 months. Second went to Evan McFee 4.0 out of 5.0 probably got this good at the Golden Knights. Third went to Ivo Wright with 3.5 out of 5.0. Ivo gets his practice in at the UBC Thursday Nights.

  In the U800 section Mark Liu and Andy Qian tied for First (both Golden Knights members).  In second place was Jon Lattimer. And in third place was Ross Drew.

  Thanks for coming out everyone, especially the parents and volunteers! See you again in January at the K-12 Scholastic Open.
  
  -- Thanks to Lester Yee for the report!

• BCCF Bulletin #154 by Stephen Wright (Dec. 10, 2008) Bob Wade; 2008 Canadian Chess Player of the Year

• BCCF Bulletin #153 by Stephen Wright (Nov. 20, 2008) BCCF MEMBERSHIP RESTRUCTURING

  [N.B. the following only applies to the BCCF portion of the membership fee, currently $12 for an adult. The CFC portion, $36 for an adult player, remains unchanged - ed.]
  
  The BCCF has decided to change its membership structure. As of Jan. 1, 2009, the BCCF will no longer charge an annual membership. In its place, the BCCF will charge a per player, per event fee for BCCF sanctioned events.
  
  This fee will be $2 per player for 1 day events, $4 per player for multiple day events, and $0 for exclusively junior events. For CFC rated events, the fees will be submitted to the CFC by the tournament organizer / TD, which will in turn submit them to the BCCF. To the extent that the CFC remits a portion of CFC tournament membership fees to the BCCF, organizers will be credited with that amount against the required per player BCCF fees. At time of writing, the CFC has a motion in place that starting Jan. 1 no amount of tournament membership fees will go to the BCCF although we understand that that motion may be rescinded or altered.

  Members of the BCCF will be those who, in the preceding 12 months, have played in, directed, or TD?d an event for which the fees have been paid. BCCF life memberships will be no longer sold. Existing BCCF life memberships will be honored by being exempt from the above fees. A list of BCCF members is posted on the BCCF website.
  
  Existing annual BCCF memberships will also be honored through exemption of the above fees for the transition period Jan.1 2009 to Jan. 1 2010.

  The BCCF is undertaking these changes to a) lessen the fees charged for first time and occasional players, b) to account for CFC life members who are not presently paying BCCF dues, c) to ensure that players using CFC tournament memberships contribute to the BCCF, and d) generally to ensure that those active in the BCCF community are BCCF members. The amount of the fees has been set to generate approximately the same amount of revenue that the BCCF raised previously from memberships.

  If you have questions /comments about this change or how your tournament is affected by this change, you can contact the BCCF president, Roger Patterson, at bccf.president@gmail.com. The full text of the resolution passed by the executive is posted at the BCCF website: http://www.chess.bc.ca/membership.shtml

• BC Junior Championhips (Nov. 8-9, 2008)

Booster Section (5 Round Swiss - Saturday Nov 8, 2008) - By Victoria Doknjas
While the BC Junior Championships are still underway (final round on Nov 9/08), the Booster Section attracted 23 young players. Even though three of the players were unrated and just starting out in tournament chess competition, there were also some young "veterans" on hand. Like Edwin Jingzhi Xu (the 2008 Grade 1 Provincial Champion), who tied for first place with Humphrey Shao. Both Edwin and Humphrey went undefeated with 4.5 out of 5.0 pts.

Michael Gao (2nd place) and Sumin Moon (third place) also had a strong tournament finishing with 4.0 out of 5.0 pts.

All players were well behaved and very "professional", playing with chess clocks (time control 30 mins, no increment). Many players also notated their games (which is no small feat, especially for the very young players in Kindergarten and Grade 1).

Congratulations to all the Booster section players and to their parents!

Championship and Reserve Sections (Sat Nov 8 - Sun Nov 9, 2008) - By Lester Yee
Another BC Junior Championship is in the books and Tanraj Sohal is the 2008 BC Junior Champion! Congratulations!

Tanraj was the top finisher from a field of 15 of the best junior chess players in BC. His final score was 4.5 out of a possible 5.0 points drawing with Jack Cheng-- the second place finisher-- in the final round. Tied for second place went to Alexandra Botez who like Jack ended the tournament with 3.5 out of a possible 5.0 points. Henry Ji and Ryan Lo were the Top U1700 finishers, both with 3.0 points. Henry, as you may recall drew with Nakamura, and Kudos to Ryan for over-achieving as the underdog who was promoted from the reserve section.

In the Reserve Section (rating range 1000-1499) there were 16 competitors. Jonah Lee took first place with a very impressive perfect score of 5 out of 5! Congratulations! The win is a good demonstration of his competitive spirit because Jonah was also fighting a cold on both days of competition. Second place went to Jeremy Hui with 4.0 out of 5 points, his only loss was to Jonah in Round 4. Third place went to Anderson Yee with 3.5 out of 5 points- not bad for a rookie! The top U1200 players in the Reserve Section were Marko Mitrovic, Jill Ding and Iain Ang all with 3.0 points, and thanks to Jill and Hao Tian Geng for coming all the way from Victoria.

Standings can be found here.



--- Thanks Victoria and Lester for your reports and Neena for the picture.

• BCCF Bulletin #152 by Stephen Wright (Nov. 2, 2008) 2008 World Youth Chess Championships

  This year's WYCC took place in Vung Tau, Vietnam from October 19 to 30.  Twenty-four Canadians participated, including three from B.C. - Jonah Lee (U8), Chang He Li, and Tanraj Sohal (both U12).  The Canadian team had one of its best results ever, placing three players in the top ten in their respective age categories: Kelly Wang (U08 girls), Eric Hansen (U16), and our own Jonah Lee.  Jonah's score of 7.5/11 equals the previous two best scores by B.C. players in this competition, achieved by Janak Awatramani last year and Andrew Ho in 1995.  Our other participants Chang He Li and Tanraj Sohal also had good results, scoring 6.0 and 6.5 respectively, largely against FIDE-rated competition. 

  For the first time (as far as I am aware ) the tournament also had a team component, based on the combined scores of a country's best three results in a given section.  Canada won a silver medal in the U16 Section, courtesy of Eric Hansen (8.0), Lloyd Mai (6.0), and Alexander Martchenko (5.5) - their total might have been even higher had Hansen not been paired against Martchenko and Mai in the first two rounds.  Congratulations to the entire Canadian team who represented us so well!

  Official website (all games available in PGN)
  Canadian results
  Jonah's blog
  All games by B.C. players 

• BCCF Bulletin #151 by Stephen Wright (Oct. 19, 2008) 2008 World Championship Match - Anand vs Kramnik

• BC Women's Championship (Oct. 12-13, 2008)

Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre, 2776 East Broadway (at Kaslo), Vancouver.
TDs and Organizers: Lynn Stringer and Stephen Wright

Participants: WCM Alexandra Botez, Anca Datcu-Romano, Victoria Jung-Doknjas, Joanne Foote

After several years of absence, Lynn Stringer and Stephen Wright revived the previously annual BC Women Championship over the Thanksgiving long weekend.

The tournament was a round robin and even though all the games were "hotly contested", there couldn't have been a better exhibition of great sportsmanship and goodwill among all the participants, especially from the two younger ones, Joanne and Alexandra. Appropriately, on the last day, the two highest rated players, Alexandra and Anca, both with 2 wins each at the time, played for the Championship title.

Congratulations to Alexandra Botez, the 2008 BC Women Champion!

Congratulations also to Anca and Joanne, who were delightfully fierce competitors and who also had a fine tournament.

Thanks to Lynn and Stephen for organizing and TD-ing this event.

Also, to Andrei Botez for providing and presenting all the participants with a lovely, framed group photo keepsake.

Finally, thanks to all the participants and their parents. The young women who will carry forward women's chess, Alexandra and Joanne, are both champions at the board and off the board because of their great sportsmanship, great integrity, and great fighting spirit!

-- Special Thanks to Victoria Doknjas for the great report!



• Sprott Shaw October Junior and Open Events (Oct. 4-5, 2008)

The chess season was initiated by an army of supportive parents who organized and ran the Sprott Shaw October Junior tournament in addition to the new two-day Open event that is catered to both juniors and adults. Many thanks go out to all the parents that helped out and special thanks go out to Wolfram Herdin for organizing the volunteers and Lara and Michael Lo for managing registration. Thanks to all the parents who have stepped up to help out TD, manage the awards/concession and to those parents that came early and stayed late to setup and cleanup the site after the event.

Summary of results is as follows:
U800 Michael Gao (5 points - 1st), Hasara Samayawardhena (4 points - 2nd), Jason Chang (3 points - 3rd), Alan Xui (3 points)

U1200 Justin C. Wong (5 points - 1st), Raaj Chatterjee (4 points - 2nd), Angie Dong (3.5 points - 3rd)

U1500 Jeff Anthony De Guzman (3 points - 1st), Jeremy Hui (2 points - 2nd), Anderson Yee (2 points - 3rd), Hector Rathburn-mackay (2 points)

Final Standings for the Junior Event.

Open (Adult/Junior) Jofrel Landingin (4 points - 1st), Louis Cheng and Henry Ji (3.5 points - tied for 2nd), Tanraj Sohal, Moise Herringer, Dylan Parker, and Jacob Lim (3 points - tied for 3rd)

Final Standings for the Open Event. Photos are coming.

• BCCF Bulletin #150 by Stephen Wright (September 24, 2008) BC Championship.

• BC Juniors won class prizes at 3rd Langley Labour Day Open (Sept. 2, 2008)

BC Champion Brian McLaren took the Labour Day Open Champion title this year. Sixteen juniors joined this 40-player annual event. Juniors winning class prizes are Yiming Han (Class A), Henry Ji and Alex Sabaratnam (Class C) and Ryan Lo (Class D). Thanks to Victoria Doknjas for this report. Standings can be found here.

• BC Juniors won medals at Quebec City, CYCC 2008 (July 28, 2008)

More than 20 players joined this annual national competition. Receiving silver medals are Jonah Lee (U8 Boys) and Changhe Li (U12 Boys). Three players who won bronze are Jack Cheng (U14 boys), Tanraj Sohal (U12 Boys) and Tse Ning Cheung (U14 Girs). Final standings here. These medal winners are also qualified to play in the World Youth Chess Championship in Vietnam. Deadline to commit Aug. 12th, 2008. A blog has been created for the members of the official team that will represent Canada. Please feel free to post, exchange ideas, ask questions, provide information, and keep up to date.

• BC Juniors won top prizes at 33rd Keres Memorial (May 19, 2008)

Eighteen juniors joined this 79-player event, organized and directed by Stephen Wright with assistance from Katherine Davies and Lyle Craver. In Open section, FM Bindi Cheng tied first with IM George Orlov with 5.5/7.0. Changhe Li won U2000 section with 5.5/6.0 and Alexandra Botez tied for second with 4.5. Jacob Jensen won U1700 prize with 4.0. In U1600 section, Henry Ji won the first prize with 5.0/6.0. Dylan Parker and John Doknjas tied for third with 4.0. Hector Rathburn-Mackay won U1300 prize with 3.5. Please see Final standings, and games in PGN download here.

• Canadian Chess Challenge in Edmonton, Alberta (May 19, 2008)

Twelve BC top players (one per grade) joined this national event and 4 of them won trophies (a team photo). Overall Team BC placed third, after Ontario and Quebec. Continuing a multi-year success, Janak Awatramani (grade 3) and Tanraj Sohal (grade 6) won championships with perfect scores of 9.0/9.0. Other BC's trophy winners are Jonah Lee (grade 2) second place, and Yifei Han (grade 7) third place. Follow these links for overall team results and BC's individual results. Thanks to Gyan for these nice photos, capturing the spirit of the event.

• GM Nakamura Simul: 35 wins and 2 draws (May 10, 2008)

Although the organizers had little time to prepare and promote this junior chess fund raising event, this 37-board simul was a success. In the end, GM Nakamura, often moved with an amazing speed, defeated 35 challengers and only conceded two draws to Len Molden and junior Henry Ji. Thanks to GM Nakamura for his support of BC junior chess, and Junior Coordinator Ken Jensen and Richmond Chess Club organizer Norm Conrad for organizing the event, Kirsten Schrader of Richmond Culture Centre for securing the site with a short notice, parent volunteers Lara, Wolfram and the chess club members for helping out during this exciting evening. GM Nakamura's bio with interesting links here. A photo album here thanks to Marina for some of the photos. Some of the games were broadcasted live and will be available soon.

• BCCF Bulletin #142 by Stephen Wright (April 30, 2008) 2008 BC-WA Intermat

• BC Youth Chess Championship Results (April 27, 2008)

More than 70 young players joined the last provincial level junior event of the season. After two days intense competition, the BCYCC 2008 champions for each age group are: Maggie Macinnis (U8 Girls), Jonah Lee (U8 Boys), Leah Lifton and Ola Kubiak (U10 Girls, co-champion), Janak Awatramani (U10 Boys), Joanne Foote (U12 Girls), Tanraj Sohal (U12 Boys), Tse Ning Cheung (U14 Girls), Jack Cheng (U14 Boys), Richard Huang (U16 Boys) and Bindi Cheng (U18 Boys). The success of the event is only possible because of hard work and dedication of many volunteers, in particular, BC Junior Chess Coordinator Ken Jensen as organizer, Eugen Demian and Luc Poitras as tournament directors, Glen, Wolfram, Lara and many parent volunteers who helped in any way they can. See the photo album and final standings.

• BC Team won 2008 Intermat with a Wide Margin (April 20, 2008)

This annual friendly international team match between the Province of BC and the State of Washington took place on April 19 at Sprott-Shaw Community College, New Westminster (BC), thanks to Ken Jensen and Glen Lee of K-12 Chess Association, the host of this year's match. Also, thanks to Elliot Neff for coordinating WA team and acting as team captain. Stephen Wright is the tournament director. BC players did well in both rounds (15-11 in the morning playing white and 17-9 in the afternoon playing black), winning this trophy back with 32-20. Although Washington's lower grade players performed very well, 10 out of the total 20 points were from grade K-2. BC's higher grade players determined the final outcome by winning grade 3, drawing grade 4 and winning grade 5-12. Individual results here, and a photo album here. Thanks to Vince Tsang, BC's team photographer, who provided an album with photos of every member of the BC team. WA players photo album linked here, thanks to Vince and Todd (WA) (See 2006 results, photos and a video clip).

• Juniors at Victoria Chess Festival (March 25, 2008)

Grand Pacific Scholastic Winners: Iain Ang (4.5/5.0) in K-3 section (results) , Yiming Han (4.5) 4-7 section and Dylan Parker (5.0) 8-12 section. Grand Pacific Open (36 out of 83 players are juniors): FM Bindi Cheng won the event with a perfect score (6.0/6.0). Jack Cheng, Jingzhou (Peter) Lai and Tanraj Sohal shared U2000 prizes with 4.0/6.0. Joshua Renaud (3.5), Jeremy Hui and Malcolm Bowles (3.0) won U1600 prizes. Justin Wong, Alejandro Torres Lopez (2.5) and Daniel Lee (2.0) won U1200 trophies. See this page for detailed results. And 200 photos! Also, watch Josh Doknjas being inteviewed by Victoria TV Channel A (Warning: Windows Media Player needed for Windows / Mac users).

• K-12 BC Chess Challeng Finals (March 9, 2008)

More than 200 qualifed players, some of them coming from BC's far away places, joined this well organized annual event. Here is a pre-tournament newspaper article. The 2008 BC Chess Challenge grade champions are: Joshua Doknjas (Kindergarten), Jingzhi Xu (grade 1), Jonah Lee (2), Janak Awatramani (3), Jeremy Hui (4), Frank Cheng (5), Tanraj Sohal (6), Yifei Han (7), Joshua Renaud (8), Richard Huang (9), Elliot Raymer (10), Tedging Pan (11) and Bindi Cheng (12). The success of the event should be credted to organizer Ken Jensen, Glen Lee and their families, chief TD Eugen Demian and many parent voluenteers. Selina and Vince provided the photos of K-5 players. The trophy winners and standings here.

• Leap Year Open Results (March 3, 2008)

Thanks to Stephen Wright for organizing and directing this event of two-section, 36 players. IM Vicente Lee won the open section wtih 4.5/5.0. Junior player Changhe Li tied for 4th with 3.5/5.0. In U1600 section two junniors Frank Cheng and Hector Rathburn-Mackay tied for first with 4.5/5.0. Standings here and games online.

• GMs Seirawan and Suttles Junior Simul on March 15 (Feb. 20, 2008)

More details available regarding this rare and exciting event. Please see details and sign up ASAP to reserve your seat (Only first 25 seats are guaranteed).

• Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Results and Photos (Feb. 19, 2008)

Thanks to organizer Ken Jensen, TDs Andrei Botez, Eugen Demian and teams of dedicated parent volunteers, both events went well. Congratulations to players who made their best effort and those qualified for BC K-12 Provincial Chess Championship. You can find standings on the result page. Online registration is now open to all qualified players. This March 8 event will be held at BCIT. Details on the event page. Thanks to Vince for the photos of K-4 and 5-12 at Vancouver Reigional. Photos of Fraser Valley Regional linked here.

• Vancouver Elementary Team Tournament (Feb. 2, 2008)

About 80 chess players of elementary schools joined this event of 17 teams. St. George's School won the team tournament in both Division A and B. Thanks to Luc Poitras, the organizer and TD, Toni Deline as assistant TD and Janet England as a helper, and the support of St. John's School (Mr. Sukhbir Bolina and many St. John's staff and students made this event a success). In Division B, St. George's team B won the competition with a wide margin, 18/20, followed by Osler (13.5) and Chartwell B (11.0). A much tighter race took place in Division A. Going into the last round, St. George's A was only one point ahead of Chartwell A (11.5 vs. 10.5). Chartwell A needed to win 4-0 against Seaforth to tie or overtake St. George's A, who was against Westcot. Both teams played well with a 3-1 victory, but not the margin Chartwell had hoped for. Final result: St. George's A won the Division A with 14.5, followed by Chartwell A (13.5) and Vancouver Christian A (12.0). Although not winning a team trophy, many players had good individual results and made great contributions to their teams: e.g. Jack Cheng of St. John's, Jeremy Hui of Seaforth and Hector Rathburn-Mackay of L`École Bilingue. Detailed results here, standings and a photo album here.

• Sprott-Shaw Scholastic Open (Jan. 29, 2008)

More than 40 young players joined this K-12 event, which was divided into 3 sections. Final standings here thangs to TD and organizer Ken Jensen.

• Vancouver Regional and Fraser Valley Regional Details Announced (Jan. 27, 2008)

All K-12 players and their parents should be aware that these two events are "pre-registration only (click)" events. There will be no on-site registration. Pairing will be done 24 hours before the tournament starting time. Please follow the event page and sign up now. Also, you may want to bring this notice (for Vancovuer shools and Fraser Valley schools) to your school principal or chess club coach to get your school team ready.

• January Junior Open: a New Start with a Bang (Jan. 21, 2008)

Fifty-two players joined this first junior event of 2008, and many of them are new players. In beginner section, a new arrival, grade 3 player George Gu from Shanghai, took the first place trophy with a perfect score (5.0). Jeremy Hui won the intermediate section (4.5/5.0), and Jacob Jensen won the advanced section, also with a perfect score (3.0/3.0). Fierce competions took place in the open section. Twin brothers Yiming Han, Yifei Han and Foster Tom tied for first with 2.0/3.0. Yiming won the first prize by tie break. Full standings here. A nice photo collection is provided by Vince Tsang. In additon to the effort of organizer Ken Jensen and his whole family, the success of the event is also due to parent voluenters, such as Vince, Felix, Wolfram and others. Next event this Sunday (Jan. 27), a K-12 event by grade. Maybe it is time to get a trophy to show you are on top of your grade. Please sign up online ASAP.

• Junior Player Rating Lists Updated (Jan. 17, 2008)

Thanks to Bob Gillanders (new CFC Executive Director) and CFC staff, now the CFC rating database is updated weekly. Last weekend's Vancouver Open (news below) has been rated. Also, as January 1, 2008, BC's top U10 players of last year, Jingzhou (Peter) Lai, Donovan Zhao and Alex Sabaratnam have moved into U12 age group. See updated BC U18 and Canada U10 player rating list here.

• Vancouver January Open (Jan. 13, 2008)

Thanks to the organizer and TD Stephen Wright, thirty-three players joined this first CFC rated event in BC for 2008. Sharing the first and second prizes are Bindi Cheng, Lucas Davies and Pavel Trochtchanovitch (4.0/5.0). Changhe Li and Jack Cheng shared the U1900 prize. In Reserve section: first - Shahrouz Khoraman, second - Frank Cheng . See final standings and games. Stephen will organize Leap Year Open at the end of Febuary. Please sign up now by sending him an e-mail.

• Web Site Statistics (2006-2007) (Jan. 4, 2008)

In the last 24 months, juniorchess.ca (this web site) has been visited by 30,620 visitors from 128 countries, mainly Canada (46%) and USA (29%) with a total pageviews of 171,400 times. The most popular pages are "BC Junior News" (16,568), followed by "Junior Chess" (16,567), "Events" (13,573), "BC Players" (11,001) and "Washington Player Search Page" (8,638). Details here.

• Fritz 11 Available from Local Supplier ChessFirst (Dec. 12, 2007)

You can take chess lessons and read books to improve your chess skills. However, a good computer chess program can help you go farther. Fritz is such a program. What's new in Fritz 11? A new training function for Fritz 11 is calculation training. Contact Vas (a photo) to order your copy.

• St. George's Junior Open (Dec. 9, 2007)

Despite the cold weather, twenty-six youngsters spent this wintery Sunday playing chess, thanks to St. George's Junior School and Luc Poitras, the organizer and TD. Many members of St. George's chess club joind the tournament. A few of the players played their first tournament games. The sections are divided by grades, except for secton A (open). Winners (top 3 in each section) recieved medals, chess books and special chess sets as prizes. The first place winners for sections A, B, C and D are: Donovan Zhao (3.5/4.0), Daniel Lee (4.5/5.0), West Tomalden (3.0/4.0) and Jiwhan Moon (4.5/5.0). Two first-graders Alex Tsang and Maggie Macinnis placed third and fourth in section D. Full results and photos can be found here. The success of the event was also due to the help from volunteers, such as Pierrette Savard (registration) and James Chan (assistant TD), who is also running the free junior chess club at Vancouver Central Library (downtown).

• Sprott-Shaw December Junior Open (Dec. 2, 2007)

Twenty-four brave young souls ignored the snow storm and ventured out to play. Jack Qian scored a perfect 5.0 to win the Beginners section. An impressive new face Nathaniel Knox took second a point behind. Alex Tsang and Maggie MacInnis tied for third with Alex winning the tie breaker. The intermediate section had close competition with Kyle Zheng coming out on top half a point ahead of Algerd Karavai, who in turn was half a point ahead of Jeremy Hui. Tanraj Sohal won the Open section, ahead of Foster Tom and Alex Sabaratnam. Full standings here thanks to organizer Ken Jensen.

• Results of Team Canada at WYCC 2007 (Nov. 29, 2007)

Twenty-five young Canadian players (up from 12 players last year) joined The World Youth Chess Championship in Antalya, Turkey from November 17 to 29. IM Yan Teplitsky is the team coach and captain. Ninety-one federations and 1436 players are competing with the world's best (including 143 titled players). BC juniors Janak Awatramani, John Doknjas (U8 Boys), Jingzhou (Peter) Lai and Donovan Zhao (U10 Boys) are members of the Canadian team. After the final (11th) round, Janak scored 7.5, highest scorer in the team, John 5.0, Peter 6.0 and Donovan 5.5. This page shows details of Canadian players' performance and their opponets' info. Thirteen players have scored 5.5 (50%) or higher. You can read Jonathan Berry's article of The Globe and Mail. A slide show is available.WYCC 2008 has been awarded to Vietnam, 2009 to Turkey (same tournament site!) and 2010 to Greece according to FIDE's 78th Congress' press release. Results of WYCC 2005 here and 2006 here.

• BC Junior Championship (Nov. 12, 2007)

FM Bindi Cheng successfully defended his title with a perfect score (5.0/5.0). Taranj Sohal, Changhe Li and Foster Tom tied for second in the championship section with 3.5/5.0. In the Reserves Jacob Jensen and Dylan Parker tied for first and the third place prize was shared by John Doknjas, Frank Cheng and Trevor Passey. The final standings here and a photo album linked here.

• Bindi Cheng's Simul at University of BC (Nov. 9, 2007)

In the afternoon of November 9, 2007 (a usual Friday club time), members of the UBC Chess Club received a special treat: a simul exhibition against FIDE Master Bindi Cheng. Thanks to Bindi and the club president Julian Doczi, the event was free to all club members.
UBC Chess Club is one of the most active university chess clubs in Canada. It has more than 70 members. WFM Amy Wang and former BC junior champion Andrey Kostin are members of the club. The members are mainly undergraduate and graduate students of UBC. However, players from nearby communities are welcome to join for a fee of $5 per year.
Barely recovered from recent illness, Bindi wanted the simul to go ahead, rather than re-schedule at another time.
About 20 players joined the event, and some of  them were surprised to find out that this FIDE master is only 17 years old, younger than almost all of them. Some were interested to know if Bindi has any IM norm (one) and in which tournament the norm was achieved (Canadian Open 2007). To let the players fully enjoy the event, passes were allowed and players who lost quickly were allowed to start another game. The simul lasted about 2 hours. At the end, Bindi won all the games. You can replay one of the games, Bindi Cheng against Jingzhou (Peter) Lai, one of the grade 5 players of the club. A photo album here.

• Sprott-Shaw November Junior Open (Nov. 8, 2007)

Forty-two players joined this 4-section event. This is also a BC Championship Qualifier event, as the winner of U1500 section will be seeded to play in BC Junior's Championship section. Jakab Tardos is the winner (3.0/3.0)! In Open section (4-player quad) Peter Lai won with a perfect score. New tournament player Matthew Cheah won U1200 section and Ryan Lo won the beginner (U800) section. The standings can be found here. The success of this event should be credited to everyone involved. The organizer is Ken Jensen, TDs are Bindi Cheng, Wolfram Herdin and Gord Passey. Many parent volunteers helped in anyway they can. Next Junior Open December 2, 2007.

• Island Junior Open #3 (Nov. 6, 2007)

Last Sunday on the beautiful University of Victoria campus (Victoria, BC), twenty-eight players joined the third Island Junior Open in three sections, including a few first time tournament players. In novice section, Matthias So took the first place medal with a perfect score (5.0/5.0). Six years old Jack Levelt played his first tournament and achieved 2.5/5.0. Winner of Intermediate section was Kieran Atkinson with another perfect score. Sam Churchill and Elliot Raymer tied for first in the Advanced section with 4.0/5.0. The standings of all Island Junior Open can be found here. The event was organized by Victoria Junior Chess Society. Many people volunteered their time and effort: organizers Brian Raymer, Leah Shaw, Pierre Renaud and tournament directors Howard Wu, Perry Ruiter and Bill Liu. Malcolm Bowles and Miranda Meijer were helpers of the event among many others. Also thanks to the generous support of University of Victoria for the great tournament site. Next Island Junior Open is on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008. Full Victoria Junior Chess Society tournament schedule here.

• Grand Pacific Open and Victoria Chess Festival Announced (Oct. 29, 2007)

Chess organizers in Victoria, BC (on the beautiful Vancouver Island) announced the second Grand Pacific Open and Victoria Chess Festival to be held from March 21 to March 24, 2008 (Easter long weekend) at Hotel Grand Pacific with a special room rate of $95/night. The main event of the Festival, the Grand Pacific Open (GPO) will be a 6 round FIDE rated Swiss with a Guaranteed Prize Fund of $2000! In addition, there will be a junior tournament on March 21 and a Bughouse Tournament following the GPO on Monday March 24. Please check the event web site for details and updates. The player list has been posted and many juniors have signed up already! If you missed this event last year, here are the slide show and final standings. If you intend to join other chess players from BC, Washington and other regions, please send in the form at the end of this flier and book the hotel ASAP.

• North America Youth Chess Championship Results and Photos (Oct. 16, 2007)

This year's NAYCC was held in Aguascalientes, Mexico, October 5-7 with 182 players. Details at the Official Web Site. BC's Alexandra Botez won U12 Girls championship with 6.0/7.0. Other Canadian juniors also had good results: Jonah Lee U8B 4th place (5.0), Jacob Jensen U10B fourth place (5.0), Tanraj Sohal U12B 5th place (4.5), Stefan Trandafir U16B 6th place (4.0) and Justin MacDonald 8th place (3.5). You can replay some of their games here (thanks to Stephen Wright). Thanks to Andrei Botez for the link of these photos, showing all Canadian players at NAYCC. The final scores and medal standings for each age/gender group can be found in this official bulletion.

• Sprott-Shaw October Junior Open Results (Oct. 15, 2007)

Thanks to strong support from chess parents (setup, registration, food ordering, concession and clean up, too many names to list here), thirty-four junior players of all levels enjoyed this Saturday event. Washiington player Leanne Hwa (who won U11 section of BC All Girls Open last month) won the beginner section with a perfect socre (5/5). Jeff De Guzman won the intermediate section on tie-break. Jacob Jensen took the first place trophy in advanced section and Tanraj Sohal came first in the open section. The event was organized by Ken Jensen. Eugen Demian and Anca Dactu-Romano were tournament directors. The final standings can be found here. Photos to follow. Online registration has started for next event.

• BC Juniors to Receive FIDE Titles (Oct. 11, 2007)

Congratulations to Bindi Cheng and Alexandra Botez for their achievement and receiving FIDE Master and Women Candidate Master titles, respectively. Bindi had outstanding performance during Canadian Open and Quebec Open in the summer of 2007. According to the newly published FIDE October rating list, Bindi's rating gained 69 point to reach 2307 and became BC's youngest FM. Alexandra Botez won gold medal for U12 Girls in recent NAYCC. This not only qualifies her for Pam American Games, but also a FIDE title of Women Candidate Master (see the certificate in Spanish).

• More CYCC 2007 Games Online (Sept. 30, 2007)

Thanks to Hugh Brodie of CanBaseII for compiling some of the games of CYCC 2007 (now 590 games, including some of the playoff games). There were 26 players from BC at Canadian Youth Chess Championship, Ottawa, July 3-6. (news below).

• BC Girls Open Tournament (Sept. 29, 2007)

Thanks to BC Junior Coordinator Ken Jensen, TD Andrei Botez and sponsor Sprott-Shaw Community College, the event went smoothly. Alexandre Botez won Open/U13 section, Washington player Leanne Hwa won U11 section and Leah Lifton won U9 section. Congratulations to all. Standings here, some photos here and more to follow thanks to Andrei Botez.

• Labour Day Open Games and Photos (Sept. 26, 2007)

Thanks to Lynn Stringer, Langley Labour Day Open games and photos are available here.

• BC Juniors at Seattle Fall Open (Sept. 24, 2007)

Three BC juniors joined this 5 round swiss/two-section event, organized and directed by Fred Kleist of the Seattle Chess Club. In Open section Arik Miner tied for first with Washington player Dereque Kelley (4.0/5.0). In Reserve section (U1700) Donovan Zhao tied for second (3.5/5.0). Thanks to Fred for organizing this well run event and sending the results to USCF so quickly: final stanings.

• BC Juniors Won Prizes at Langley Labour Day Open (Sept. 3, 2007)

IM Vicente Lee of Alberta won this year's Labour Day Open with 5.5/6.0. The event was organized by Langley Chess Club (Hugh Long) and directed by Lynn Stringer. Junior players Bindi Cheng and Yiming Han shared the second prize with 5.0. Forty-four players showed up at the event, and 18 of them (41%) were juniors. Other juniors winning class prizes include Arik Milner (U2000), Alexandra Botez (U1800), Donovan Zhao, Alex Sabaratnam (U1600) and Joshua Cruz (unrated). Lynn has provided final standings.

• More News of 2006-2007

• More News of 2005-2006

• More News of 2004-2005