District chess championships held

They were looking for a few good boys and girls and, apparently, they found them.
The Central Canada Chess League, which is holding tournaments throughout Northern Ontario in September and October, stopped at St. Francis School here, Crossroads School in Devlin, and Riverview School in Rainy River last week to find qualifiers for the ninth-annual Northern Ontario Schools Chess Championships next month in Thunder Bay.
Eighteen students from Donald Young School in Emo, Rainy River High School, and Crossroads vied for the 15 positions in four different age categories last Friday in Devlin.
According to organizer John Rutherford, there was a lot of talent there.
“Believe it or not, there are more kids playing chess in Northern Ontario than anywhere in Canada, including southern Ontario,” Rutherford claimed.
That’s why for these purposes, Northern Ontario is considered a province in its own right (as in curling and bowling, for instance).
A total of 300 students will be going to Thunder Bay on Oct. 25 for a chance to qualify for the national championship next July in either Kapuskasing or Vancouver.
The format at the qualifier was based on a five-game round-robin in which a competitor is awarded a single point for a victory and half-a-point for a draw.
In most cases, the players needed a minimum of 2.5 points in order to advance—unless there were fewer than three players in each age group.
As well, girls and boys compete in separate categories at the provincial level but they all played each other at this qualifier.
The only player in the oldest age group (14-15) was Ethan Swentik from Rainy River High School, who qualified with a total of 4.5 points in his five matches.
The other qualifiers from the tournament at Crossroads were:
•Age 12-13—Steven Hillier (DYS), Mike Badiuk (Crossroads), Robbie Brandrick (Crossroads), Matt Mutz (Crossroads), Matt McQuaker (Crossroads), Case Grant (DYS), and Jordan King (DYS)
•Age 10-11—Owain Lloyd-Jones (Crossroads), Alyssa Kupila (Crossroads), and Alyssa Mutz (Crossroads)
•Age nine-and-under—Maxwell Williams (DYS), Jordan McTavish (Crossroads), Robbie Rea (Crossroads), and Dakotah Sutherland (Crossroads)
At St. Francis School, the qualifiers were:
•Nine-and-under—Gavin Moorhouse (St. Francis)
•Age 10-11—Ethan Jordbro (St. Francis)
•Age 12 and over—Whitney O’ Donnell (St. Francis), Jimmy Whitburn (St. Francis), Joey Theriault (St. Francis), Michael Brady (St. Francis), Miriah Botsford (St. Francis), and Robert Ellis (St. Francis)
In Rainy River, the qualifiers were:
•Nine-and-under—Cody Mason (Sturgeon Creek), Derek Lauzon (Riverview), Caiden Fileccia (Riverview), Ericka Tymkin (Riverview), and Wendy Smith (Sturgeon Creek)
•Age 10-11—Brandon Pratt (Sturgeon Creek), Breanna Sheppard (Sturgeon Creek), Dallas Jewett (Sturgeon Creek), Ben Miller (Sturgeon Creek), and Justin Borger (Sturgeon Creek)
•Age 12-13—Jordan Jenson (Riverview), Kalan Ewald (Riverview), Jaden Chorney (Riverview), Peter Atkinson (Riverview), Dan Usiski, Jr. (Riverview), and Travis Borger (Sturgeon Creek)
•Age 14-15—Marty Johnston (RRHS) and Matt Morrison (RRHS)
•Age 16-17—Kyle Jewett (RRHS)
The qualification tour is in Timmins today (Wednesday), Kapuskasing tomorrow, and Hearst on Friday. It wraps up Oct. 8 in Hornepayne.