B.C. kids make their moves at chess nationals
Hundreds compete for a chance to play at the world championships in Slovenia
By Michael V’Inkin Lee, Vancouver SunJuly 3, 2012
Alexandra Botez was almost six years old when she led her first army to victory on the battlefield. Her tactical blows finally broke her opponents, leaving the enemy king at the mercy of her troops.
But her father, Andrei Botez, remembers his daughter’s tentative foray into the chess world in a more mundane light.
“[Alexandra] was much too young for judo,” he said. “When she was five, my wife and I wanted her to have extracurricular activities before going to school.”
After besting her mother on the checkered war zone, Alexandra Botez found herself playing in a tournament a year after she ventured into the world of competitive playing. Even today, she revels in the constant training and satisfaction of seeing it all pay off.
===
===
“I love the feeling of seeing good results in a tournament that I’ve worked for,” said the Burnaby native. “And when you do better than you expected.”
Although she did not win her very first contest, she would clinch the top spot in the next competition she attended. Within two years — before she was 10 — she held a chess championship title and attended the World Youth Chess Championship tournament in Greece in 1999.
Now 17 and the winner of numerous tournaments, she’s competing in Surrey this week for a chance to be one of an elite group of Canadians attending the next World Youth Chess Championship in Slovenia this November.
The 2012 Canadian Youth Chess Championship, which runs from Tuesday to Friday, will choose winners from six age groups — under-eight, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 — to attend the international match.
The CYCC 2012 is a great Chess Project that I’ve contributed some artwork to with pleasure.
Wonderful initiative from those involved.
Mike Magnan
my girlfriend is pretty popular!
I think I might be in love