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

     
1Maksim Ivanov Yuan   Montréal Iona5.0/5.0
2Nsifa NanwoMontréalInternationale4.5/5.0
3Gabriel AdamLavalSte-Dorothée5.0/6.0
     
4Oscar ChenSt-LambertGuy-Drummond4.0/6.0
5Alejandro LopezMontréalMarie-de-France3.5/5.0
6Victor ScorteanuMontréalInternationale3.5/5.0
7Elliot BogueSt-MathieuJacques-Barclay3.5/5.0
8Stephan WuLachineAcadémie Ste-Anne 3.0/5.0
9Sicheng JiangMont-Royal  St-Clément3.0/5.0
10Heidi RamosMontréalCollège Stanislas3.0/5.0


Pour third place:

Gabriel Adam won the playoff against Oscar Chen.

                                      Top 3 - Kindergarten
 

Grade 1

     
1Edouard WangSt-Laurent  Cardinal-Léger5.0/5.0
2Stephen ButlerMontréalNotre-Dame-de-Grâce4.5/5.0
3Sebastian ArevaloMontréalLa Vérendrye6.0/7.0
     
4Hugo GuillemetteBlainvillede Fontainebleau5.0/7.0
5Jingwei (Leo) Wang BrossardNouvelle école Secteur C 5.0/7.0
6Richard HuBrossardMarie-Victorin4.0/6.0
7Yasser BourasMontréalFernand-Seguin4.0/6.0
8Rolf BertomeuMontréalFernand-Seguin3.0/5.0
9Weixuan QinLongueuilSainte-Claire3.0/5.0
10Ilya DjurovichMontréalMerton3.0/5.0


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

     
1Yunqi (Lucas) LiuBrossardMarie-Laurier6.5/7.0
2Chen ChenBrossardInternationale5.5/7.0
3Luca Georgescu-Nicolau Mont-Royal St-Clément4.0/5.0
     
4Nikita RamamonjisoaMontréalFernand-Seguin4.0/5.0
5Michel DingMontréalFernand-Seguin4.0/5.0
6Saad MemonMontréalSt-Léon-de-Westmount 4.0/5.0
7Chu Fan FangMontréalFernand-Seguin4.0/5.0
8Joseph FarageLavalLes Trois-Soleils4.0/5.0
9Patrick He Zheng YinSt-LaurentLaurentide4.0/5.0
10Christ BlawjianLavalPaul VI4.0/5.0


Yunki Liu won after two playoffs against Chen Chen.


                             Top 3 - Grade 2


Grade 3

     
1James LiSt-LaurentFernand-Seguin5.0/5.0
2Alex Jikai YanVerdundes Marguerite5.5/6.0
3Mathéo HuardRouyn-NorandaNotre-Dame-de-Grâce 4.5/6.0
     
4Eric LiuLachineVictor-Thérien4.0/5.0
5Christophe Dufresne Rouyn-Noranda St-Joseph4.0/5.0
6Lily MaLavalLa Source4.0/5.0
7Alexandre GhislainMontréalNotre-Dame-de-Grâce4.0/5.0
8Kevin ZhangMontréalNotre-Dame-de-Sion4.0/5.0
9Travis LiMontréalFernand-Seguin4.0/5.0
10Michel MouradMontréalCollège-Stanislas4.0/5.0


For second place:

Alex Jikai won the playoff against Mathéo Huard.



                                   Top 3 - Grade 3               


Grade 4

     
1Kevin ZhongPierrefondsCollège Beaubois5.0/5.0
2Alexander ChangMontréalAcadémie Michèle-Provost4.5/5.0
3Gwyn Chapdelaine MontréalEnseignement à la maison4.0/5.0
     
4Vincent LatorreMontréalSte-Cécile4.0/5.0
5Richard BocanMontréalSte-Catherine-de-Sienne4.0/5.0
6Mathieu BéliveauBoischatelExternat Saint-Coeur de Marie 4.0/5.0
7Zekai HeLachineDes Berges de Lachine4.0/5.0
8Ze Yue LiMontréalInternationale4.0/5.0
9Kenneth HeMontréalFernand-Seguin4.0/5.0
10Annie Le Yi LiSaint-Laurent Fernand-Seguin4.0/5.0

 



                                                    Top 3 - Grade 4 

CM Kevin Zhong: 4 - time Quebec champion.



Grade 5

     
1Richard Q. ZhengMontréalNotre-Dame-de-Grâce6.0/6.0
2Prince Eric Jr Guipi Bopala Blainvilledes Semailles5.0/6.0
3Ankita JainWestmount Westmount Park7.5/9.0
     
4Nicolas LimMontréalThe Priory5.0/7.0
5Mikaël PigotMontréalEnseignement à la maison 4.0/6.0
6Edgar CaoSt-LaurentGuy-Drummond4.0/6.0
7Edouard Fernandez BustoMontréalCollège Marie-de-France4.5/7.0
8Robert WangMontréalNotre-Dame-de-Grâce3.5/5.0
9Zhongxuan LiMontréalIona3.5/5.0
10Kevin LiuMontréalInternationale3.0/5.0


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

     
1Haruaki OmichiMontréalLe Plateau6.5/7.0
2David CraciunMontréalLa Vérendrye5.5/7.0
3Hunter WeiSt-LaurentBeau-Séjour6.0/7.0
     
4Jiaqi HeLachineDes Berges de Lachine5.0/7.0
5Anahita FarahdelNotre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot Collège Ste-Marcelline4.0/6.0
6Kevin DengBrossardCharles-Bruneau4.0/6.0
7Siyathi Thisathma Bandara Eragoda Arachchilage MontréalLucille-Teasdale3.5/5.0
8Julia TsukermanMontréalAkiva3.0/5.0
9DeRen MaiLavalEnfant-Soleil3.0/5.0
10Storm LeiWestmountSt-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

     
1Qiuyu HuangMontréalCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf  5.0/5.0
2Léo RichardLorraineAcadémie Ste-Thérèse5.0/6.0
3Daniel-Tianqi Yu Mont-RoyalInternationale4.0/6.0
     
4Tyler TanakaWestmountLower Canada College3.5/5.0
5Isabelle WangMontréalCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf3.5/5.0
6Hugo LarocheSt-Cyrille-de-Wendover St-Charles3.5/5.0
7Eric LuMontréalCollège Ste-Anne3.5/5.0
8Arturo HallMontréalF.A.C.E.3.0/5.0
9Owen LiuLavalCollège Beaubois3.0/5.0
10Tani BercuvitzMontréalRoslyn3.0/5.0


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

     
1Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux  MontréalSophie-Barat4.5/5.0
2Xi Ming YuBrossardCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf4.0/5.0
3David ZhouLa PrairieCollège Jean de la Mennais 3.5/5.0
     
4Wenxuan ZhongMontréalInternationale3.0/5.0
5Alexis DemersLongueuilCollège Durocher3.0/5.0
6Mathias GrandmontDrummondville St-Nicéphore3.0/5.0
7Leo ShiSt-LaurentCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf3.0/5.0
8Caroline WangLongueuilCollège Jean-Eudes3.0/5.0
9Chen Yu BiLongueuilCollège Durocher3.0/5.0
10Tong Cheng WeiBrossardCollège Durocher2.0/5.0

 


                                                       Top 3 - Grade 8

FM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux: 4 - time Quebec champion and Canadian champion 2017.
 

Grade 9

     
1Gabriel Philip Tinica  MontréalCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf  4.5/5.0
2Zi Yu GuanSainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf4.0/5.0
3Marin KiryakovMontréalJoseph-François-Perreault3.5/5.0
     
4William ZhaoSt-HubertCollège Durocher3.0/5.0
5Parth Kumar ModiBrossardAntoine-Brossard3.0/5.0
6Alexandre PetelleSt-BrunoDe la Mosaïque3.0/5.0



                                                        Top 3 - Grade 9

Gabriel Philip Tinica: 3 - time Quebec champion.


Grade 10

     
1Maïli-Jade OuelletSt-LambertCollège Durocher4.5/5.0
2Yoakim TurgeonMontréalCollège Jean-Eudes5.5/7.0
3Alexandru Ciufudean DelsonDe la Magdeleine3.5/6.0
     
4Étienne LatreilleVal-des-Monts Enseignement à la maison3.5/6.0
5Abil Becerra-HerreraSt-HubertCollège Charles-Lemoyne 3.0/5.0
6Hampig DerderianLavalSaint-Maxime3.0/5.0


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

     
1Ananda SahaMontréalCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf  4.5/5.0
2Yi Lin LiLasalleCollège Notre-Dame4.5/6.0
3Evan ZhangBrossardCollège Jean-de-Brébeuf3.5/6.0
     
4Zachary SaineOutremont Collège Notre-Dame3.0/5.0
5Matthieu Johnson-Constantin MontréalCollège Notre-Dame2.5/5.0


For second place:

Yi Lin Li won the playoff against Evan Zhang.


                                                    Top 3 - Grade 11

Ananda Saha: 4 - time Quebec champion.


Grade 12

     
1Ling Yun (Linda) Shi  MontréalCollège Notre-Dame  3.5/5.0
2Michaël SimoneauDrummondville La Poudrière2.5/5.0
3Iliass BourabaaSherbrookedu Soleil-Levant2.0/5.0

 

                                                      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.


About us

The Chess and Math Association (CMA) is a non-profit organization which, with our provincial coordinators, aims to promote chess in schools in Canada.