This week's articles:
- Quebec Junior Championship
- PEI School Team Championship
- Nova Scotia School Team Provincials
Quebec Junior Championship
Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratté: Quebec junior champion 2016
Sixteen players took part in the 2016 Quebec Junior Championship, held on April 22-24 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The five round tournament, which decides the provincial champion for players under 20 years old, was organized by the Fédération Québécoise des Échecs in collaboration with the Chess'n Math Association.
FM Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratté captured first place with 4½ points, followed by NM Zong Yang Yu (4) and Houji Yao (3½). In addition to a beautiful trophy, the top three players also divided a $900 scholarship, to be used towards their chess training.
Houji Yao worked hard to achieve third place. In addition to the five regular games (90 minutes + 30 seconds increment), he also had to face HongRui Zhu and Qiuyu Huang in two rounds of armaggeddon* tiebreaks. After winning the first game against HongRui, who just finished a fierce battle with Olivier Kenta, he then won the second game over Qiuyu with just 2 seconds left on his clock. Phew!
Houji has kindly provided the following analysis of his game vs. Maïli-Jade Ouellet.
*Armageddon: a blitz playoff game in which White receives an extra minute and Black has draw odds. (If the game ends in a draw, Black is the winner.)
B28
White : Yao, Houji 2048
Black : Ouellet, Maïli-Jade 2004
Quebec Junior Championship 2016 (5) – 24-04-2016
[Yao, Houji]
Here is my game from the fifth round of the Junior Championship against young star WCM Maïli-Jade Ouellet. It was our first confrontation.
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 a6
3. c3
[ 3.d4!? cxd4 4.Nxd4?! Nf6 5.Nc3 e5! Without Ndb5, this is correct.] [ 3.Nc3 is another option. ]
3. ... d5
4. exd5 Qxd5
5. d4 Nc6
[ 5...Nf6]
6. Be2 cxd4
7. cxd4 Bg4
She told me after the game that she played 2... a6 in order to play ...Bg4 if White chose the Alapin system. But, if she had played 2... e6 as usual, I would have gone 3. d4!
8. Nc3 Qd6
9. 0-0 Nf6
10. Be3 e6
I have an isolated pawn, but her king is still in the centre and I am preparing to push this pawn.
11. h3 Bh5
12. Qb3
Objectively, I do not believe this is a good move, but knowing that she plays a Kan with 6...b5, I wanted to provoke ...b5.
12. … b5
[ 12...Qb4!? ]
13. Rfd1 b4??
[ 13...Rd8 14.d5 exd5 15.Rac1 ]
14. d5!
Opening the position!
14. … bxc3
15. dxc6 cxb2
16. Rab1?!
I thought for ten minutes. It was better to take the b-pawn now since I will have to take it in the future. [16.Qb7 Qb8 17.Rab1 was another option] [16.Qxb2 Qxc6 17. Rac1 The white pieces are too active.] [16.Rxd6 bxa1Q + 17.Rd1 Qxd1 + 18.Qxd1 my first idea but I found that it was not enough.]
16. ... Nd5?
[ 16...Qb4 ]
17. Qb7!
The black pieces are under attack.
17. … Rd8
[ 17...Rb8 18.Rxd5!! Rxb7 ( 18...exd5 19.c7!! Rxb7 20.c8Q+ Qd8 21.Qxb7) 19.Rxd6 Rc7 20.Rd7 Rxc6 21.Ra7 with an extra piece ] [ 17...Qb8?? 18.Qd7# ]
18. Bb6
[18.Rxb2 This quiet move was best. 18...Be7 19.c7 Qxc7 20.Rxd5! My queen is protected.]
18. ... Be7
19. Bxd8
[ 19.Rxd5! ]
19. ... Bxd8
20. Rxb2 0-0
21. Qxa6 Bc7
22. g3 Qc5
Without a dark square bishop, I had to stay alert!
23. Nd4 Bxe2?!
The more pieces that were traded, the better I felt :) [ 23...Nc3 ]
24. Nxe2 Bb6
25. Nd4 Nc3??+-
26. Rc2?
Played instantly.
[ 26.Qxb6 Qxb6 ( 26...Nxd1 27.Qxc5 Nxb2 28.c7+-) 27.Rxb6 Nxd1 28.c7+- ]
26. ... Qh5
27. Rd3 Nd5
28. Kh2
[ 28.Kg2 Nb4 29.Qxb6 Nxd3 and the king must still go to h2. ]
28. ... Qg6
29. Qc4 e5?
30. Nf5 Qxf5
31. Qxd5 Bc7
32. Qd7 Qxd7
33. Rxd7 Rc8
34. a4 Kf8
35. Kg2
There were several ways to win here, but I was patient and wanted to improve the position of my king.
35. … Ke8
36. Kf3 Bb6
37. Rd5 Bc7
38. a5 Ra8
39. Ke4 g6
40. g4 h6
41. Rcc5 Ra7
42. h4
It is almost zugzwang.
42. … f6
43. Rd7 Rxa5
44. Rxa5 Bxa5
45. Kd5
1-0
As you can see, I missed plenty of chances to win the game faster. Yet I am very pleased with the outcome. This victory allowed me to participate in the tiebreaker for third place with Qiuyu and HongRui. Eventually, I was able to beat them in two rounds of Armageddons, a beautiful ending to my career as a junior!
Olivier Kenta and Houji Yao in the first round.
For the complete tournament results, see http://www.fqechecs.qc.ca/cotes/tournois/id/5199
PEI School Team Championship
Fifty-six players attended the Prince Edward Island School Team Championship on April 17 at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown. Here are the top teams in each section. Special congratulations to Spring Park for winning all 16 of their games in the K-4 section. And how about those team shirts?
Primary K-4
1. Spring Park
Seamus MacEachern
Anderson Arseneau
Alex Forbes
An Vo
2. Westwood A
3. Westwood B
Elementary K-6
1. West Kent
Luke Dickie
Ronan Lantz
Samel Sunil
Paul Kingston
2. Spring Park
3. West Kent B
Junior High
1. Queen Charlotte
High School
1. Colonel Gray
2. Kensington
Spring Park, K-4 champions, with organizer Dwayne Doucette.
West Kent, K-6 champions.
For complete results, see PEI School Team Championship.
Nova Scotia School Team Provincials
The 2016 Nova Scotia School Team Provincials were held in Halifax on April 24 at Mount Saint Vincent University. Sixty-six players took part. The winning schools in all four sections also placed first in 2014 and 2015, “three-peating” as champions.
Grades K-4
1. Oxford School
2. St. Joseph/Alex McKay
Grades 5-6
1. Oxford School
2. Park West
3. Oxford School B
Grades 7-9
1. Park West
2. Oxford School
3. Oxford School B
Grades 10-12
1. Halifax West
2. Charles P. Allen
3. Halifax West B