Golden Knights Chess Club News 2005-06

Year in review
Last updated: Sep 15th, 2006

August - December, 2005
Our club activity started earlier this year with 2 meetings in August. We continued using the same 2 groups setup for beginners and advanced. Both groups were exposed to a regular shedule consisting of:
- chess course
- homework
- puzzle tests
- in-house/ club tournaments

You can read details about our club monthly tournaments as follows:
- September HERE
- October HERE
- November HERE
- December HERE

Our players also participated in the most important junior tournaments around Lower Mainland. Each tournament was used as a good measuring stick to judge our level of preparation at the time being. Here is a list of the these tournaments:
- Chess by the Sea 2005 - a tournament dominated by our girls!
- BC Open 2005 - 4 of our members played in it.
- BC Junior Championship 2005 - our top players between the best in BC.
- Thomas Hook Cup - our second open tournament with a record participation of 40 kids!
Click on each tournament name for more details!

January - July, 2006
We start the new year with the desire to continue playing good and enjoy chess! As long as we do that, the results we wish for will easily happen.

Our club monthly tournaments:
- January HERE
- April Open HERE
- (Feb-May) HERE
- Club Championship HERE
Congratulations to our 2005-2006 club champions:
Dylan Parker - Club Champion. He has improved his game steadily, becoming a player hard to beat in any competition.
Bryant Vergara - Rookie Champion. Last year he finished 3rd in this group. This year his attention to details has improved, his opening repertoire became wider and as a consequence he has become a stronger player.

We have also participated in a few important provincial tournaments. For the first time we had a team representing Port Moody Secondary involved in the BC School Team Championship 2006. Our club members forming the team played exceptionally well, winning the competition with a convincing result.

Provincial Chess Challenge 2006 brought us not only experience for the young ones, but also results: a title and 3 trophies. Overall this proved to be a good opportunity to prepare for the following tough tournaments.

One important exam for everyone after a year of work is BCYCC. First it tells us where we stand compare with the other top kids and juniors in the province and secondly it qualifies the "creme de la creme" for the nationals. This year we managed to win 4 provincial titles and 4 medals out of the 10 titles and 20 medals available. Our juniors finally had a breakthrough year in the older age groups, coupled with a very promising participation of our young ones!

Last in the school year calendar, but without a doubt the most important tournament of them all is the Canadian Youth Chess Championship. This year we attended it in person, travelling all the way to Kitchener, ON. Please follow the link to read our daily reports and re-live the excitement of those days of competition. We are proud of our members! They are the ones creating the tradition, as 2006 is the third year in a row when we have 2 students qualified for team Canada.

Thank you everyone for your efforts!