The ultimate test-your-brain tournament is back for another edition! This year it is hosted in Sault St. Marie, Ontario.
To survive a tournament, first you need to survive the trip. I spent most of the time listening to the audio book of The Book Thief. I also slept for a while. The trip is the entree, maybe a good garden salad or something tasty.
We stayed at a small motel for the night. Sault St Marie Super 8 Motel was evaluated as the cleanest motel/hotel by the CBC Marketplace show (this isn’t a sales pitch for CBC). The condition was ok. We have got what we needed.
The stay is the appetizer. You have a free day before the tournament and a lot of players spend the time warming up their brains, as it is their only weapon for the tournament.
The next day, we hit the road again. It was a long trip, finally we arrived at the tournament hotel.
Details about this tournament: it is at Sault College, in its vast gymnasium equipped with a dozen cameras spying on the players. This feature is mostly for the parents, as they can see us, in the playing hall, from multiple screens. It has 7 rounds distributed in a week. The winner gets sponsored for the World Championship in Uruguay.
The tournament is the main dish. Before the beginning of the opening ceremony I thought that I would get a real shot at winning the tournament. I scored a mediocre 4.5 / 7. I lost the last two rounds. These two crucial games were played against Eugene and Rohan. Against Eugene, I blundered at the end. Facing Rohan, I had the choice to take a draw or continue playing for the win in an inferior position. I chose the second option, which was a bad idea. I ended up destroying my entire game.
Finally, Rohan won the tournament because of his higher tiebreak. If I had taken a draw for the last run, then Nicholas, the runner-up, would have finished with first place!
The closing ceremony is like the dessert. It wraps up the whole tournament. I didn’t go (not because I was mad at my performance and that I was a rage monster). Instead, my friend and I went to the Great Lakes for a walk. There was a Dollarama store nearby and I bought a useless mind puzzle. I dumped it in the garbage 2 days later.
Last year was better than this year, in terms of results. I hope that next year I will stand out! I liked the organization of the tournament and the fact that they had cameras around the playing hall. The parents could see us playing!
Here are a few pro tips from a 4.5 / 7 performer:
• Eat well
• Rest well
• Keep yourself in shape (a few laps around the hotel does the magic)
• Eat chocolate during the game to keep your mind focused (but not too much to avoid getting a sugar rush)
Year 2016 CYCC in Sault St Marie
Year 2014 memory lost…
Year 2013 memory lost…
Trophies are basically the same design as last year:
Rohan and me; this is the second time that we met this year, will we meet once again in another occassion?:
Adam and me: 
On board: 
Nicholas and me: 
Eugene Hua and me:
Let’s make it more menacing:
All monitored from multiple screens:
Playing Hall: 
Section U14:
Quebec players: