2017 Canadian Chess Challenge -Toronto

(Some photos and videos credit to Lefong Hua)

It all began when I won the provincial chess challenge, exactly one month before. I have won the provincial championship six times in a row. I guess I have no choice but continue for a record now.

Then the new provincial champion is invited to play at Canadian Chess Challenge (CCC).

This year, the tournament is held at the University of Toronto (UofT). We stayed at its residence center. Due to the packed tournament schedule, I didn’t get the chance to see other parts of the university.

We went to Toronto by car, and I listened to music on my phone. I then fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw a crowd of cows strolling by a big farm. One of them even watched our car pass by!

We arrived at the University of Toronto six hours after our departure from Montreal. It was the first time I saw tramways: trains that go on the same route as cars. That is a big difference compared to Montreal. The University of Toronto was big; we got lost quite quickly while trying to find the entrance to the lobby desk of the residence house. We then parked our car in the underground parking lot, took our baggage and went up to our room.

The rooms are opened with a kind of magnetic circle thing, unlike the usual card or key. It was a bigger room than I expected, with a big closet and a working desk. The only problem was the ventilation system. It made too much noise, even at night, which made it more annoying.

There was a team meeting at four o’clock and the team coach, Lefong (also a good Youtuber), gave us the team t-shirts. The t-shirt design wasn’t really impressive at first sight, with kings taking each other’s hand, but it was the idea behind the making of this t-shirt that surprised me. They re-made the logo of the Expo 1967 Terre des Hommes, but instead of people holding hands they put kings, the most important piece in the game of chess. Sadly, in the best t-shirt voting conference, most people did not know the inspirational idea behind the T-shirt, so another province won.

Quebec team T-shirt:

Quebec team hat with pins from other provincials: a hat says it all:

With Quebec flag before the opening ceremony:

Blue army:

After the meeting, we ate at the cafeteria. They served great food; spaghetti with bolognaise sauce, Caesar salad, garlic bread, cold beverages and ice cream. My stomach was full after that. Later on, there was a blitz chess tournament. I beat a chess player who is way higher-rated than me. I was really happy about it. That’s probably why I got the confidence to play on. I tied first place in the end.

My thoughts before the tournament generally turned around the fact that Ontario team would be the most difficult to beat. I also believed that I could manage to win, although this year might be more difficult than last year. As for the team I expected that at least six people of my team would get first place.

Trophies:

Play hall before opening ceremony:

The tournament consisted of 9 rounds, playing against each province. I drew against the 6^th grade champion of Manitoba; an unexpected turn for me. But that didn’t stop me from winning the tournament. I played on and beat my two top rivals, the champion of Ontario and British-Columbia. I then finished first place.

I was very happy to win this tournament. Before we left for Toronto, my mom delivered a pep talk: “First position is great; second position is fantastic too; third position is also great! Even if you get nothing, just being part of this national tournament is already amazing!” My response to this “soft” talk was: I WILL bring back a trophy – the top one!

It doesn’t hurt to show that my word is gold, right?

Overall, the tournament was well organized. One thing that I wasn’t really a fan of was the new rule about tie-breaks and the time setting. It was 25s+5s delay! I wish that in the next year’s edition increment clock would be used, as it is one of the most popular time controls. The arbiters and organizers also put up a new rule imposing that the tie-breaks for second and third place would be done by computer and not by a match. I know a lot of people complained about this, and neither do I support this new idea.

The other thing is that the washrooms were very far away from the tournament hall, so if a player wants to go to the washroom during the game, he would lose more time on the clock.

I wish to return for next year’s CCC (held in St Johns) and experience another year of team spirit:

-One team; One dream: Go Quebec!

(The end of texts; starts the photo bomb)

Opening ceremony: