2018 QUEBEC CHESS CHALLENGE
BY GRADE
QUEBEC CHAMPIONS 2018
First row from right to left: Grade 1- Edouard Wang, Grade 2- Lucas Yunqi Liu, Grade 4- CM Kevin Zhong, Grade 5- Richard Q. Zheng, Grade 6- Haruaki Omichi, Second row from right to left: Lefong Hua, captain of the Quebec Team, Grade 7- FM Qiuyu Huang, Grade 8- FM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux, Grade 9- Gabriel Philip Tinica, Grade 10- WIM Maïli-Jade Ouellet, Grade 11- Ananda Saha, Grade 12- Linda Shi. Missing in the photo: Kind: Maksim Ivanov Yuan and Grade 3: James Li
456 young champions from all over Quebec were invited to participate in the 30th edition of the Quebec Chess Challenge by Grade, a five round tournament held in Montreal at the Reception Hall The Rizz on April 15th. The best players in each school grade were crowned as the Quebec champions, earning them a spot on the provincial team at the national Canadian Chess Challenge.
The Chess Challenge is 30 years old!
Thirty years ago, this great competition was just an idea in a man's head. Today, this event is more popular than ever! The idea was to bring together young Canadian players in one place to share the same passion: playing chess.
Throughout the 30 years of the Chess Challenge, Chess'n Math has seen outstanding people who were passionate about this competition and what it represents in the world of chess in Canada and for our young minds. Chess'n Math has seen valuable and precious regional organizers making a difference to young people and it has seen young players grow up as great chess players and great human beings. Many of our young players have become masters such as Lefong Hua, who is now captain of Team Quebec, or even grand master such as Pascal Charbonneau.
But Chess'n Math remember mostly the thousands of players and parents who attended our tournament halls, players from chess clubs or from schools with curricular or extracurricular activities. To the players, parents and organizers of yesterday to our new generation, we thank you for your encouragement, your interest and your involvement!
For our 30th Quebec Chess Challenge, we awarded a special trophy to Lefong Hua. 10 - time Quebec Champion and 8 - time Canadian Champion, he was there at the first Quebec Chess Challenge and he is still with us today as the Quebec team captain. One thing has not changed since his first presence: his passion. He loved playing at the Chess Challenge and he still has the passion today as a captain. Because his passion is contagious to young Quebec chess players, team Quebec could not have better as a captain!
** Lefong Hua trains some of the best players and set up a great video between games with his players who participated at the Quebec Chess Challenge. The link is at the end of this article.
Competitive level:
First of all, this tournament invited only the best players in Quebec (except for kindergarten kids where it was open to all). To play the Provincial, you must either be in the top 10 of your school grade or qualify in a qualifying tournament. To give you an idea of the strength of the competition, no less than 11 players already titled took part in this tournament including five Experts, two Canadian Masters, three FIDE Masters and one Woman International Master!
Eleven players in eight different sections finished with a perfect 5-0 scores and for three of them it wasn't enough to win first place (Ouf!). The perfect scores belong to Maksim Ivanov Yuan, Edouard Wang, Yunqi Liu, Chen Chen, James Li, Kevin Zhong, Richard Q. Zheng, Prince Eric Jr. Guipi Bopala, Haruaki Omichi, David Craciun and Qiuyu Huang.
The fight for the title continued with playoff games in three sections. Yunqi Liu won the title against Chen Chen in grade 2, Richard Q. Zheng won in grade 5 against Prince Eric Guipi Bopala while it took two playoff games for Haruaki Omichi to snatch the title against last year's winner David Craciun (Wow!). But what an extraordinary performance from Ankita Jain for third place in grade 5! Five players finished with 4/5 in third place and it took her nine games to defeat them all, with an Armageddon no less against Nicolas Lim at the end. A true battle of nerves!
The twelve provincial grade champions will represent Quebec on May 20-21 at the nationals in St. John's, Newfoundland. Some of the 2018 champions, Richard Zheng, Qiuyu Huang, Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux and Maïli-Jade Ouellet, already have Canadian titles to their credit. Good luck, Québec!
Kindergarten
| 1 | Maksim Ivanov Yuan | Montréal | Iona | 5.0/5.0 |
| 2 | Nsifa Nanwo | Montréal | Internationale | 4.5/5.0 |
| 3 | Gabriel Adam | Laval | Ste-Dorothée | 5.0/6.0 |
| 4 | Oscar Chen | St-Lambert | Guy-Drummond | 4.0/6.0 |
| 5 | Alejandro Lopez | Montréal | Marie-de-France | 3.5/5.0 |
| 6 | Victor Scorteanu | Montréal | Internationale | 3.5/5.0 |
| 7 | Elliot Bogue | St-Mathieu | Jacques-Barclay | 3.5/5.0 |
| 8 | Stephan Wu | Lachine | Académie Ste-Anne | 3.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Sicheng Jiang | Mont-Royal | St-Clément | 3.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Heidi Ramos | Montréal | Collège Stanislas | 3.0/5.0 |
Pour third place:
Gabriel Adam won the playoff against Oscar Chen.
Top 3 - Kindergarten
Grade 1
| 1 | Edouard Wang | St-Laurent | Cardinal-Léger | 5.0/5.0 |
| 2 | Stephen Butler | Montréal | Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | 4.5/5.0 |
| 3 | Sebastian Arevalo | Montréal | La Vérendrye | 6.0/7.0 |
| 4 | Hugo Guillemette | Blainville | de Fontainebleau | 5.0/7.0 |
| 5 | Jingwei (Leo) Wang | Brossard | Nouvelle école Secteur C | 5.0/7.0 |
| 6 | Richard Hu | Brossard | Marie-Victorin | 4.0/6.0 |
| 7 | Yasser Bouras | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/6.0 |
| 8 | Rolf Bertomeu | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 3.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Weixuan Qin | Longueuil | Sainte-Claire | 3.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Ilya Djurovich | Montréal | Merton | 3.0/5.0 |
Pour third place:
Sebastian Arevalo won the playoff against Yasser Bouras.
Jingwei Wang won the playoff against Richard Hu.
Hugo Guillemette won the playoff against Jingwei Wang.
And for the playoff finale, Sebastian Arevalo won against Hugo Guillemette.
Top 3 - Grade 1
Grade 2
| 1 | Yunqi (Lucas) Liu | Brossard | Marie-Laurier | 6.5/7.0 |
| 2 | Chen Chen | Brossard | Internationale | 5.5/7.0 |
| 3 | Luca Georgescu-Nicolau | Mont-Royal | St-Clément | 4.0/5.0 |
| 4 | Nikita Ramamonjisoa | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/5.0 |
| 5 | Michel Ding | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/5.0 |
| 6 | Saad Memon | Montréal | St-Léon-de-Westmount | 4.0/5.0 |
| 7 | Chu Fan Fang | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/5.0 |
| 8 | Joseph Farage | Laval | Les Trois-Soleils | 4.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Patrick He Zheng Yin | St-Laurent | Laurentide | 4.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Christ Blawjian | Laval | Paul VI | 4.0/5.0 |
Yunki Liu won after two playoffs against Chen Chen.
Top 3 - Grade 2
Grade 3
| 1 | James Li | St-Laurent | Fernand-Seguin | 5.0/5.0 |
| 2 | Alex Jikai Yan | Verdun | des Marguerite | 5.5/6.0 |
| 3 | Mathéo Huard | Rouyn-Noranda | Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | 4.5/6.0 |
| 4 | Eric Liu | Lachine | Victor-Thérien | 4.0/5.0 |
| 5 | Christophe Dufresne | Rouyn-Noranda | St-Joseph | 4.0/5.0 |
| 6 | Lily Ma | Laval | La Source | 4.0/5.0 |
| 7 | Alexandre Ghislain | Montréal | Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | 4.0/5.0 |
| 8 | Kevin Zhang | Montréal | Notre-Dame-de-Sion | 4.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Travis Li | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Michel Mourad | Montréal | Collège-Stanislas | 4.0/5.0 |
For second place:
Alex Jikai won the playoff against Mathéo Huard.
Top 3 - Grade 3
Grade 4
| 1 | Kevin Zhong | Pierrefonds | Collège Beaubois | 5.0/5.0 |
| 2 | Alexander Chang | Montréal | Académie Michèle-Provost | 4.5/5.0 |
| 3 | Gwyn Chapdelaine | Montréal | Enseignement à la maison | 4.0/5.0 |
| 4 | Vincent Latorre | Montréal | Ste-Cécile | 4.0/5.0 |
| 5 | Richard Bocan | Montréal | Ste-Catherine-de-Sienne | 4.0/5.0 |
| 6 | Mathieu Béliveau | Boischatel | Externat Saint-Coeur de Marie | 4.0/5.0 |
| 7 | Zekai He | Lachine | Des Berges de Lachine | 4.0/5.0 |
| 8 | Ze Yue Li | Montréal | Internationale | 4.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Kenneth He | Montréal | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Annie Le Yi Li | Saint-Laurent | Fernand-Seguin | 4.0/5.0 |
Top 3 - Grade 4
CM Kevin Zhong: 4 - time Quebec champion.
Grade 5
| 1 | Richard Q. Zheng | Montréal | Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | 6.0/6.0 |
| 2 | Prince Eric Jr Guipi Bopala | Blainville | des Semailles | 5.0/6.0 |
| 3 | Ankita Jain | Westmount | Westmount Park | 7.5/9.0 |
| 4 | Nicolas Lim | Montréal | The Priory | 5.0/7.0 |
| 5 | Mikaël Pigot | Montréal | Enseignement à la maison | 4.0/6.0 |
| 6 | Edgar Cao | St-Laurent | Guy-Drummond | 4.0/6.0 |
| 7 | Edouard Fernandez Busto | Montréal | Collège Marie-de-France | 4.5/7.0 |
| 8 | Robert Wang | Montréal | Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | 3.5/5.0 |
| 9 | Zhongxuan Li | Montréal | Iona | 3.5/5.0 |
| 10 | Kevin Liu | Montréal | Internationale | 3.0/5.0 |
For first place:
Richard Q. Zheng won the playoff against Prince Eric Guipi Bopala.
For third place (with five players):
Nicolas Lim won the playoff against Edgar Cao.
Ankita Jain and Edouard Fernandez Busto tied the first playoff and Ankita won the second one.
After that, Ankita won against Mikaël Pigot and Nicolas Lim.
Top 3 - Grade 5
Richard Q. Zheng: 4 - time Quebec champion and Canadian champion 2015.
Grade 6
| 1 | Haruaki Omichi | Montréal | Le Plateau | 6.5/7.0 |
| 2 | David Craciun | Montréal | La Vérendrye | 5.5/7.0 |
| 3 | Hunter Wei | St-Laurent | Beau-Séjour | 6.0/7.0 |
| 4 | Jiaqi He | Lachine | Des Berges de Lachine | 5.0/7.0 |
| 5 | Anahita Farahdel | Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot | Collège Ste-Marcelline | 4.0/6.0 |
| 6 | Kevin Deng | Brossard | Charles-Bruneau | 4.0/6.0 |
| 7 | Siyathi Thisathma Bandara Eragoda Arachchilage | Montréal | Lucille-Teasdale | 3.5/5.0 |
| 8 | Julia Tsukerman | Montréal | Akiva | 3.0/5.0 |
| 9 | DeRen Mai | Laval | Enfant-Soleil | 3.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Storm Lei | Westmount | St-Léon-de-Westmount | 3.0/5.0 |
For first place:
Haruaki Omichi won the playoff against David Craciun.
For third place (with four players):
Hunter Wei won the playoff against Kevin Deng;
Jiaqi He won the playoff against Anahita Farahdel;
And Hunter Wei won the playoff against Jiaqi He.
Top 3 - Grade 6
Haruaki Omichi: 3 - time Quebec champion.
Grade 7
| 1 | Qiuyu Huang | Montréal | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 5.0/5.0 |
| 2 | Léo Richard | Lorraine | Académie Ste-Thérèse | 5.0/6.0 |
| 3 | Daniel-Tianqi Yu | Mont-Royal | Internationale | 4.0/6.0 |
| 4 | Tyler Tanaka | Westmount | Lower Canada College | 3.5/5.0 |
| 5 | Isabelle Wang | Montréal | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 3.5/5.0 |
| 6 | Hugo Laroche | St-Cyrille-de-Wendover | St-Charles | 3.5/5.0 |
| 7 | Eric Lu | Montréal | Collège Ste-Anne | 3.5/5.0 |
| 8 | Arturo Hall | Montréal | F.A.C.E. | 3.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Owen Liu | Laval | Collège Beaubois | 3.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Tani Bercuvitz | Montréal | Roslyn | 3.0/5.0 |
Léo Richard won the playoff against Daniel-Tianqi Yu for second place.
Top 3 - Grade 7
FM Qiuyu Huang: 7 - time Quebec champion and Canadian champion 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 and 2013.
Grade 8
| 1 | Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux | Montréal | Sophie-Barat | 4.5/5.0 |
| 2 | Xi Ming Yu | Brossard | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 4.0/5.0 |
| 3 | David Zhou | La Prairie | Collège Jean de la Mennais | 3.5/5.0 |
| 4 | Wenxuan Zhong | Montréal | Internationale | 3.0/5.0 |
| 5 | Alexis Demers | Longueuil | Collège Durocher | 3.0/5.0 |
| 6 | Mathias Grandmont | Drummondville | St-Nicéphore | 3.0/5.0 |
| 7 | Leo Shi | St-Laurent | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 3.0/5.0 |
| 8 | Caroline Wang | Longueuil | Collège Jean-Eudes | 3.0/5.0 |
| 9 | Chen Yu Bi | Longueuil | Collège Durocher | 3.0/5.0 |
| 10 | Tong Cheng Wei | Brossard | Collège Durocher | 2.0/5.0 |
Top 3 - Grade 8
FM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux: 4 - time Quebec champion and Canadian champion 2017.
Grade 9
| 1 | Gabriel Philip Tinica | Montréal | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 4.5/5.0 |
| 2 | Zi Yu Guan | Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 4.0/5.0 |
| 3 | Marin Kiryakov | Montréal | Joseph-François-Perreault | 3.5/5.0 |
| 4 | William Zhao | St-Hubert | Collège Durocher | 3.0/5.0 |
| 5 | Parth Kumar Modi | Brossard | Antoine-Brossard | 3.0/5.0 |
| 6 | Alexandre Petelle | St-Bruno | De la Mosaïque | 3.0/5.0 |
Top 3 - Grade 9
Gabriel Philip Tinica: 3 - time Quebec champion.
Grade 10
| 1 | Maïli-Jade Ouellet | St-Lambert | Collège Durocher | 4.5/5.0 |
| 2 | Yoakim Turgeon | Montréal | Collège Jean-Eudes | 5.5/7.0 |
| 3 | Alexandru Ciufudean | Delson | De la Magdeleine | 3.5/6.0 |
| 4 | Étienne Latreille | Val-des-Monts | Enseignement à la maison | 3.5/6.0 |
| 5 | Abil Becerra-Herrera | St-Hubert | Collège Charles-Lemoyne | 3.0/5.0 |
| 6 | Hampig Derderian | Laval | Saint-Maxime | 3.0/5.0 |
For second place:
Yoakim Turgeon won the playoffs against Alexandru Ciufudean and Étienne Latreille.
Top 3 - Grade 10
WIM Maïli-Jade Ouellet: 4 - time Quebec champion and Canadian champion 2013 and 2016.
Grade 11
| 1 | Ananda Saha | Montréal | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 4.5/5.0 |
| 2 | Yi Lin Li | Lasalle | Collège Notre-Dame | 4.5/6.0 |
| 3 | Evan Zhang | Brossard | Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf | 3.5/6.0 |
| 4 | Zachary Saine | Outremont | Collège Notre-Dame | 3.0/5.0 |
| 5 | Matthieu Johnson-Constantin | Montréal | Collège Notre-Dame | 2.5/5.0 |
For second place:
Yi Lin Li won the playoff against Evan Zhang.
Top 3 - Grade 11
Ananda Saha: 4 - time Quebec champion.
Grade 12
| 1 | Ling Yun (Linda) Shi | Montréal | Collège Notre-Dame | 3.5/5.0 |
| 2 | Michaël Simoneau | Drummondville | La Poudrière | 2.5/5.0 |
| 3 | Iliass Bourabaa | Sherbrooke | du Soleil-Levant | 2.0/5.0 |
Top 3 - Grade 12
Linda Shi: 3 - time Quebec champion.
Trophy awarded to Lefong Hua:
Written on the trophy:
1988 - Canadian Chess Challenge - 2018
LEFONG HUA
10: Quebec champion
8: Canadian champion
Captain Team Quebec since 2006
Thank you!
Here, in Quebec, we play chess in every city and municipality and the Chess Challenge is proof of that.
First of all, we want to congratulate all the players for qualifying for this tournament and we hope to have treated you as you should, champion!
We especially want to thank the parents of these young players. Whether you come from Rouyn-Noranda or Montreal, your dedication and patience are exemplary!
And this tournament would not have the same meaning without the work of our regional coordinators. People who give so much heart and so much time to the task is largely why the practice of chess is so popular in the life of our young people!
Take a look at the Quebec Chess Challenge 2018:
Photo - Stephen Dibblee
Our team: Assistant (Claude Lalumière), Chief Referee (Thierry Libersan) and referees. A work of pro!
We proudly wear the badge!
Some players prefer playing standing up ...
It's all about concentration! 
Between games, we relax playing ... chess!
Chess'n Math Association is ready for the next generation!
The whole team thanks you!
Virginie Roux, Tournament Director; Maria Manuri, Quebec Chess Challenge Coordinator; invite you for next year!
Special thanks to Lefong Hua and Ron Moore for the photos.
Tournament results
Lefong Hua and his photos
Ron Moore and his photos
VIDEO: Click on the next photo to see the video made by Lefong Hua at the Quebec Chess Challenge. Video on YouTube:
Vidéo
Author of the article: Maria Manuri, Coordinator, 2018 Quebec Chess Challenge.