Chess champs compete against world's best
Two Ottawa teens join 1,300 players in 'pivotal' experience
Bruce WardOttawa Citizen
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The 14-year-old chess whiz is being interviewed over the phone about competing in the 2007 World Youth Chess Championship, which begins tomorrow in Antalya, Turkey. But the pauses between the questions and Lloyd's answers are growing longer and longer. Then it dawns on a reporter that Lloyd is actually playing chess on the Internet as the interview limps along.
And, really, who could blame him? Lloyd, a Grade 9 student at Glebe Collegiate, prefers to let his game speak for him, rather than answer a bunch of dopey questions.
He ranks first in Canada among players born after 1993, and is rated among the top 100 chess players in the country, regardless of age. He earned the Canadian National Master title at 14, after being the grade champion of Canada from Grade 2 to Grade 7.
Sonja Xiong, a Grade 10 student at Lisgar Collegiate, is also making the trip to Turkey. She is ranked sixth among girls born after 1991 and has been the national girls chess champion three times in her age category. She will compete in the under-16 girls category in Turkey.
Chess "expands your views, it helps us to see more possibilities," says Sonja.
"We see it as a map with a destination. Roads could fork off here and there, so what you need to do is watch for the important roads."
Ask Lloyd why the game so fascinates him, and the answer comes with no delay: "It's the logic. You have to play every move."
That's because every move has consequences. These consequences can emerge late in the game, and often make the difference between winning and losing.
Sonja and Lloyd qualified for the event after top finishes at the 2007 Canadian Youth Chess Championship, held in Ottawa last summer. The world championship brings together more than 1,300 competitors aged 18 and under.
Chess has become their ticket to see the world. Both have represented Canada abroad before. Lloyd participated in the 2005 World Youth Chess Championships in Belfort, France, while Sonja took part in the 2004 World Youth Chess Championships on the Greek island of Crete.
Lloyd and Sonja will each play 11 matches in the championship competition, which ends Nov. 29. They join a team of 25 youths from across Canada who are competing, thanks to the support of the Chess Federation of Canada, an Ottawa-based charitable organization.
Lloyd began playing chess before his sixth birthday. His father, Loc Mai, bought a chess board after his son became intrigued when he saw people playing chess at a shopping centre.
"My dad was a beginner, too," says Lloyd. Pretty soon the boy was beating his father with ease. In Grade 1, he joined the school chess club and improved so quickly that he began beating the teacher.
In Turkey, Lloyd hopes to finish in the top 10 in the under-14 boys category. An American and a Russian are among the favourites, outranking Lloyd on paper.
However, Lloyd has risen to the occasion before, and this summer at the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship, he held the legendary Serbian Grandmaster Borislav Ivkov to a draw.
The championship is seen as a turning point for promising chess players.
"The WYCC is often a pivotal experience for the youth who compete in it," says Patrick McDonald, the Chess Federation of Canada's youth co-ordinator.
"Our Canadian youth usually have no previous experience with international chess and this important exposure to the popularity of chess around the world really opens up their eyes to how widespread and important chess is to many different cultures.
"On top of that, competing at such a high level and in an almost always well-run event will excite and inspire the player to become even better."
© Ottawa Citizen 2007
