CANADA'S CHESS MAGAZINE FOR KIDS

FEBRUARY 2015

number 126

CHESS SUMMIT
DAY ONE: CHANGING COLOURS
ROOK AGAINST PAWN

SCHOLARS MATE
SCHOLARS MATE is Canadas Chess Magazine For Kids.
You can enjoy it on-line, for free!

HEllo,
Chess P als!

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w w w. c h e s s - m a t h . o r g
If you have any questions about the magazine,
please contact us at:

scholarsmate@chess-math.org

SCHO L A R S M ATE
3423 St. Denis #400
Montreal, Quebec H2X 3L2

EDIT OR

Jeff Coakley

I l lustrator

Antoine Duff

Is everybody enjoying the great winter weather?

There sure have been a lot of snow days. What do
you do when school is closed? If youre like me,
you play outdoors for a while and then warm up
inside with a game of chess and hot chocolate!
The Chess Challenge regionals have begun already,
and the provincials are only a month or two away.
If you need information for tournaments in your area,
just ask the local coordinator. See pages 40-42.

photos page 15, 33 John Upper

Scholar's Mate is published five times per year by the

Chessn Math Association. Dates of issue : October 15,
December 15, February 15, April 15, June 15
Reproduction by any means, mechanical or electronic, is
forbidden except by permission of Scholar's Mate.

Congratulations to McGill University for winning the

Canadian Universities Chess Championship for the
third time in a row.
Heres the mag.

Kiril

February 2015 (date of issue)

2

Scholars Mate 126

Scholars Mate 126

MARCH BREAK
CHESS C AMPS
TORONTO

MONTREAL

The Chess Studio

701 Mt. Pleasant Rd.

Chessn Math Building

3423 St. Denis

MARCH 16 - 20

MARCH 2 - 6

OTTAWA
Parkdale United Church
429 Parkdale Ave.

MARCH 16 - 20

S C H O L A R ' S M AT E
FEBRUAR Y 2015 # 1 2 6

CONTENTS
ROOK AGAINST PAWN
Kirils Klass
Do You Know This Basic Ending?

TACTICS 102

11

Level Two Tactics

Pin And Fork

CANADA AND WORLD NEWS

OPEN TO STUDENTS AGE 5 - 14

from BEGINNERS to RATING 1500
groups divided by rating and age
classes and tournaments
CAMP FEES VARY BY LOCATION

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION FEES

CHESS N MATH A SSOCIATION

Toronto
Montreal
Ottawa

416 488-5506
514 845-8352
613 565-3662
Scholars Mate 126

14

Quebec Youth Championships

McGill Wins University Title

CHESS SUMMIT
FULL DAYS 9 am to 5 pm
HALF DAYS 9 am - 1 pm or 1 - 5 pm

22

Ki ri l's Korner
Day One: Changing Colours
March Camps
You Are Here!
Canada Top Ten
Tactics 102
Master Profile
Combo Mombo
News
Mates
Kirils Address
Lilys Puzzler
Scholars Mate 126

4
5
10
11
12
13
14
16
18
19

Kirils Kontest
Maze & Loyd
Regional Top 10s
Ratings
Top Girls
Chess Challenge
Tournaments
Links & Contacts
Chess Notation
Solutions

20
32
34
38
39
40
41
42
44
45
5

KIRILS
KLASS

ROOK
AGAINST
PAWN
This lesson looks at the
endgame K + R vs.K + p.

If you want to be a strong player, its important to know

basic endgames. This class covers king and rook against
king and pawn. Its not as simple as you might think.
Surprisingly, the pawn sometimes wins! In diagram #1,
White plays 1.g7 and there is no way to stop the pawn
from promoting. After 1...Rh2+ 2.Kg1 Rd2 3.g8=Q, White
has Q vs. R. With accurate play, the queen wins.
If Black moves first in diagram #1, they score the point
quickly by 1...Rh6 2.g7 Rg6, followed by taking the pawn.
Generally, to have a chance of drawing, the pawn needs
the support of its own king, and the opponents king must
be far away. See diagram #2. White draws with 1.e7 Re1
2.Kd7 Rd1+ 3.Kc7 Re1 4.Kd7. Black has no time to bring
up their king. (4...Kb2 5.e8=Q Rxe8 6.Kxe8 draw)

w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwiwdwdw]
wdwdwdPd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwIwd]
dwdwdwdr]
ww

w________w
wdwdkdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdPdwd]
dwdKdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdw4wdw]
ww

w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdPdwd]
dwdKdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwiw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdw4wdw]
ww

When the side with the rook has their king in front of the
pawn, the victory is easy. In diagram #3, the pawn is lost
without a fight. 1.Kd6 Rd1+ 2.Ke5 Ke7 3.Kf5 Re1 and then
4...Rxe6.
Things are trickier when the king is not in front of the
pawn, but he is not too far away either. A single move can
make the difference between winning, drawing, or losing.
With White to play in diagram #4, the game is drawn after
1.Kd6 Kf4 2.e7 Kf5 3.Kd7 Kf6 4.e8=Q Rxe8 5.Kxe8.
But if Black moves first, the king catches up to the pawn
and wins. 1...Kf4 2.Kd6 Kf5 3.e7 Kf6 4.Kd7 Rxe7+.

w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwIPdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
iwdwdwdr]
ww

Scholars Mate 126

Scholars Mate 126

w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdPdwd]
dwdKdwdw]
wiwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdw4wdw]
ww

Diagram #5 is the same position

except that the black king is on
b4 instead of g3. The game is a
draw now even with Black to play
because the white king blocks
the approach of the black king.
After 1...Kb5 2.Kd6 Rd1+, White
must answer 3.Kc7! to hold the
draw. Black would win if the king
moved to the e-file. 3.Ke7? Kc6
4.Kf7 Re1 5.e7 Kd2 6.e8=Q Rxe8.
Another line (from diagram #5) is 1...Kb5 2.Kd6 Kb6.
Here 3.e7! is an easy draw. But lets look at what happens
after 3.Kd7 Rd1+. White must be careful. 4.Ke8? loses to
4...Kc7 5.e7 Re1 6.Kf7 Kd7. So White must play 4.Kc8!
when 4...Kc6 5.e7 Re1 6.Kd8 draws. (6...Rd1+ 7.Kc8! Re1
8.Kd8 Kd6 9.e8=Q Rxe8 10.Kxe8. w________w
This basic endgame often arises wdwdwdwd]
from positions where both sides dwdwdwdw]
have a king, rook, and pawn and wdwdwdwd]
one player is forced to give up dwdKdwdw]
their rook to stop a promotion. In wdwdPdwd]
diagram #6, Black plays 1...Kc1 dwdwdwdw]
and White has no choice. They wdk0wdw$]
dwdw4wdw]
must capture with 2.Rxd2.

w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdK)wdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwiwdwd]
dwdw4wdw]
ww

Here is the position following

2...Kxd2 3.e5. Its a tight battle.
Can Black to play win?
After 3...Kd3 4.e6!, Black has
to settle for a draw because the
approach of their king is slowed
down by the white king.
But the black king can take a
different path to victory. 3...Ke3!
4.e6 Kf4!, crossing over to the
kingside and reaching the same position as in diagram #4.
5.Kd6 Kf5 6.e7 Kf6 4.Kd7 Rxe7+ 0-1.
Next time we look at rook against two pawns. So long!

MORT and MARLEY

ww

Hey, Marley, how do we stop bouncing?

I dont know, Mort. Maybe there is an off switch.
8

Scholars Mate 126

Scholars Mate 126

canada top ten

KINDERGARTEN
1 HUARD Matheo
2 KOMIAK Jacob
3 YU Marcus
4 KHUBLARYAN Suren
5 LAMONTAGNE Christophe
6 KHENI Kush
7 FAN Samuel
8 LIU Eric
9 LI Bruce
10 BRUDNO Vera
GRADE 1
1 OFFENGENDEN Ron
2 WANG Daniel
3 CHANG Alexander
4 TAO Neilson
5 ATANASOV Anthony
6 CHEN Freddy
7 HANNAH-LEE Toro
8 JACKES Cole
9 ZHONG Kevin
10 SU Ethan
GRADE 2
1 GUIPI BOPALA Prince
2 ZHENG Richard Q.
3 LIU Kevin
4 CHEN Max
5 XU Andrew
6 DINATOLO Zack
7 CHEN Derek
8 GHAZARIAN Tigran
9 SUN Justin
10 NAYAK Anuj
GRADE 3
1 ISSANI Nameer
2 ZHOU Aiden
3 RUSONIK Max
4 NOORALI Aahil
5 GU Chuyang
6 JEYAKUMAR Bhavatharshan
7 JIANG David
8 WU Lucian
9 KULESHOVA Julia
10 SHEN Isamel
GRADE 4
1 LOW Kevin
2 HUANG Qiuyu
3 HUANG Patrick
4 ZHU Harmony
5 DOKNJAS Neil
6 SUPERCEANU Andi
7 ZHAO Jonathan
8 ENGLAND Max
9 JAMES Rowan
10 LAU Julian
GRADE 5
1 RODRIGUE-LEMIEUX Shawn
2 ZHONG Wenxuan
3 VETTESE Nicholas
4 QU Leo
5 DURETTE Francis
6 LIN Benjamin
7 AKOPHYAN Nick
8 LIU Lambert
9 MAH Sean
10 WASHIMKAR Arhant
GRADE 6
1 NORITSYN Sergey
2 MING Wenyang
3 HUA Eugene
4 PULFER Luke
5 WANG Kaixin
6 TALUKDAR Rohan
7 RICHARDSON Kai
8 GUO Thomas
9 LIU Daniel
10 SURYA Benito

10

802
583
578
520
511
510
495
490
479
475

QC
NL
ON
AB
QC
ON
BC
QC
ON
ON

1316
1228
1106
1036
975
959
936
925
922
839

AB
BC
QC
QC
ON
BC
BC
ON
QC
BC

1383
1254
1196
1154
1147
1123
1075
1057
1031
1028

QC
QC
QC
ON
BC
ON
ON
ON
QC
ON

1566
1556
1506
1398
1388
1371
1310
1301
1276
1266

ON
BC
ON
ON
BC
ON
BC
BC
QC
ON

1805
1702
1675
1638
1618
1588
1586
1556
1549
1473

BC
QC
BC
ON
BC
AB
ON
ON
BC
AB

1820
1757
1660
1633
1629
1618
1571
1543
1529
1503

QC
QC
ON
BC
QC
ON
ON
QC
AB
ON

2149
1922
1848
1821
1776
1754
1729
1708
1656
1625

ON
ON
ON
BC
AB
ON
BC
ON
ON
ON

GRADE 7
1 DOKNJAS Joshua
2 OUELLET Maili-Jade
3 GROSSMANN Lenard
4 ZHAO Yue Tong
5 FAN Run Kun
6 SU Michael
7 YAO David
8 CAI Jason
9 YIE Kevin
10 LIANG Hairan
GRADE 8
1 ZHANG Yuan Chen
2 WAN Kevin
3 CHEN Richard
4 BALENDRA Harigaran
5 GEDAJLOVIC Max
6 XU Jeffrey
7 SHEN Chris
8 ZOTKIN Daniel
9 ZHAO Harry
10 SHAMRONI Dennis
GRADE 9
1 CAO Jason
2 ZHOU Qiyu
3 BELLISSIMO Joseph
4 ZHONG Joey
5 SONG Sam
6 LEI Sean
7 WANG Eric
8 YU Wenlu
9 KASSAM Jamil
10 SHI Linda
GRADE 10
1 PREOTU Razvan
2 SONG Michael
3 YU Zong Yang
4 CHIKU-RATTE Olivier Kenta
5 SHI Diwen
6 DOKNJAS John
7 AWATRAMANI Janak
8 ZHU HongRui
9 LI Yinshi
10 KONG Dezhong
G R A D E 11
1 PLOTKIN Mark
2 DORRANCE Adam
3 LIN Tony
4 NASIR Zehn
5 ADRIAANSE Adam
6 HERDIN Mathew
7 SONG Terry
8 PENG Jackie
9 THANABALACHANDRAN Kajan
10 HUI Jeremy
GRADE 12
1 WANG Richard
2 KNOX Christopher
3 LI Kevin
4 SEMIANIUK Konstantin
5 FU James
6 LO Ryan
7 KALRA Agastya
8 LUO Zhao Yang
9 WU Ray
10 NYAMDORJ Davaa-Ochir
HONOUR ROLL
1 PREOTU Razvan
2 WANG Richard
3 SONG Michael
4 YU Zong Yang
5 KNOX Christopher
6 PLOTKIN Mark
7 CHIKU-RATTE Olivier Kenta
8 CAO Jason
9 LI Kevin
10 ZHANG Yuan Chen

2203
1936
1912
1897
1886
1874
1873
1726
1697
1632

BC
QC
AB
ON
QC
BC
AB
ON
ON
ON

2293
2254
2188
2093
2081
2038
2008
1988
1896
1852

ON
ON
ON
ON
BC
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON

2394
2242
2218
2216
2164
2078
2042
1868
1854
1755

BC
ON
ON
ON
NB
ON
ON
ON
AB
QC

2579
2441
2439
2403
2279
2270
2227
2147
2136
1980

ON
ON
QC
QC
AB
BC
BC
QC
ON
BC

2409
2284
2273
2227
2202
2200
2180
2090
2012
1968

ON
NS
ON
ON
ON
BC
ON
ON
ON
BC

2484
2427
2326
2272
2241
2180
2161
2096
2042
2041

AB
ON
MB
ON
ON
BC
ON
QC
BC
BC

2579
2484
2441
2439
2427
2409
2403
2394
2326
2293

ON
AB
ON
QC
ON
ON
QC
BC
MB
ON

Scholars Mate 126

TACTICS 102
PIN & FORK

White to play and win material.

solutions page 45

w________w
rhwdkdw4]
0p0wdp0p]
wdqdwgwd]
dwdN0wdb]
wdwdPdwd]
dwdBdNdP]
P)Pdw)Pd]
$wdQIwdR]
ww

w________w
wdwdqdkd]
dwdwdp0w]
pdwdwdb0]
dpdNdwdw]
wdwdwdw)]
)wdwdQ)w]
w4wdw)wd]
dw$wdwIw]
ww

w________w
wdkdrdwd]
0pdwdwdw]
wdpdqdw0]
dwdwdw0w]
PdNdwdwd]
dPdBdwdP]
wdPdw)Pd]
dwdwdRIw]
ww

w________w
wdw4w4kd]
dpdwdw1w]
p$wdwdn0]
dwdNdp0w]
wdPdwdwd]
dwdwdwdP]
PdQdw)Pd]
dwdRdwIw]
ww

Scholars Mate 126

11

VASILY SMYSLOV
(1921 - 2010)

SPOTLIGHT ON PERPETUAL CHECK

This mild-mannered grandmaster from Moscow,

Russia learned to play chess at age 6 and became
city champion while still a teenager. In 1954, he
tied a match for the world championship against
Mikhail Botvinnik. Three years later, he won the
title by defeating Botvinnik 12-9.

In chess, as in life, a person is

his own most dangerous opponent.
Smyslov Variation (Caro-Kann Defence)
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7

Vasily Smyslov was a very hard man to beat. He

played over a hundred games at Chess Olympiads,
losing just twice. He was also a talented operatic
singer. Appropriately, his book of best games and
autobiography is called In Search of Harmony.
12

C O M B O M O M B O !!

Scholars Mate 126

w________w
rdwdw4kd]
dpdwdp0p]
wdbdwdwd]
dw0wdQdw]
w1B)pdwd]
dwdw)wdw]
Pdwdw)w)]
Iwdw$wdw]
ww

Drawing a game is better

than losing. Sometimes we
can save a bad position by
forcing a perpetual check.
K White is down a rook and
pawn, and the black queen is
forking the bishop and rook.
Thats pretty bad! But White
can score half a point with
1.Rg1!, going for the perp.
If Black takes the bishop by 1...Qxc4, then 2.Rxg7+! Kxg7
3.Qg5+ Kh8 4.Qf6+ Kg8 5.Qg5+ Kh8 6.Qf6+ draws.
If Black defends with 1...g6, White perps by 2.Rxg6+! hxg6
3.Qxg6+ Kh8 4.Qh6+ Kg8 5.Qg6+ Kh8 6.Qh6+.
k After 1.Rg1 h6, White plays 2.Qg6!,
threatening mate on g7. Black is in trouble
then, and they must force the perpetual
check! 2...Qc3+ 3.Kb1 Qb4+ 4.Ka1 Qc3+.

w________ww________w
w!wdwdwd]wdwdwdwd]
0wdwdpiw]dwdwdwdk]
wdw0w1pd]wdw$wdp0]
dwdwdwdr]dwdwdwdw]
Pdwdwdwd]w0wdNdwd]
dPdRdBdw]4wdwdP)w]
wdPdwdP)]wdwdwdPI]
dwdwdwdK]dwdw1wdw]
wwww
BLACK TO MOVE
Force a Draw
Scholars Mate 126

WHITE TO MOVE
solutions page 45

Force a Draw
13

CANADA

AND

QUEBEC YOUTH

CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES

The 2015 Quebec Youth Chess

Championships took place on
January 16- 18 in Montreal, with
78 participants in the five round
event. Here are the champions
and runners-up.
< 8 Kevin Liu
4
Neilson Tao
4
Prince Guipi Bopala 4
<10 Daniel Yu
5
Alexander Mocanu
3
Haruaki Omichi
3
<12 Francis Durette
4
S. Rodrigue-Lemieux 4
Wenxuan Zhong
3
<14 Run Kun Fan
4
Mali-Jade Ouellet
4
M. Johnson-Constantin 3
<16 Zong Yang Yu
4
HongRui Zhu
4
Olivier K. Chiku-Ratt 3
<18 Nicholas Johnson
4
Alexander Vorobev
3
Gabriel Harris
3

The University of Toronto hosted

this years Canadian Universities
Championship on January 10-11.
Twenty-three teams from twelve
different schools competed. The
winner, for the third straight year
was McGill University (Montreal).
The team of Raven Sturt, Keith
MacKinnon, Felix Dumont, and
Michael Kleinman did not lose a
single game! See page 33.
Western Ontario came second,
and Waterloo third.

WORLD

NEWS

WORLD TOP TEN

The best ten players on the planet, according to the World Chess
Federation (FIDE) are listed below, showing their country, current
rating, and year of birth.
1 Magnus Carlsen
2 Fabiano Caruana
3 Alexander Grischuk
4 Veselin Topalov
5 Anish Giri
6 Viswanathan Anand
7 Wesley So
8 Vladimir Kramnik
9 Levon Aronian
10 Hikaru Nakamura

Norway
Italy
Russia
Bulgaria
Netherlands
India
USA
Russia
Armenia
USA

2865
2811
2810
2800
2797
2797
2788
2783
2777
2776

(1990)
(1992)
(1983)
(1975)
(1994)
(1969)
(1993)
(1975)
(1982)
(1987)

CALGARY
The 2015 Calgary Youth Chess
Championships were played on
January 24th at Renert School,
75 kids took part.
<8
<10
<12
<14
<16
<18

Vishruth Sharma
Andi Superceanu
Nikita Taranik
Jeff Wang
Zacchary Schlegel
Elvin Limpin

VANCOUVER ISLAND
The Victory City Championship
was held on January 25th. The
tournament, which was split into
three sections by grade, had 19
players. The winners were:
K-3
Anthony Xu
4-7
Patrick Huang
8-12
Matthew Geng
14

Scholars Mate 126

Canadian Universities Championship

Scholars Mate 126

Hart House, University of Toronto

15

CHECKMATES
WHITE TO MOVE

w________w
wdwdwdQd]
0wdrdp$w]
w4ndkdw0]
dwdwhwdw]
wdPdwdwG]
1PdwdwHw]
Pdwdw)w)]
dwdw$wIw]
ww
MATE IN 1

w________w
wdw4w4kd]
0bdndp0w]
w1w0wdw0]
dw0wdwdw]
wdw)w!wd]
dBdwdw$w]
PdwdNdP)]
dw$wdwIw]
ww

w________w
w________w
wdw4w4kd]
wdwdw4kd]
dp1wdpdp]
db1rdpdp]
pdb0w!pd]
w0w0wGpd]
dwdwdwdw]
0wdwdwdw]
wdPHwdwd]
PdBdwdwd]
dPdw$wdP]
dP!wdwHP]
Pdwdw)Pd]
wdwdw)Pd]
dwdwdwIw]
dwdw$wIw]
ww
ww
MATE IN 2

Wow! Nice move.

MATE IN 2
16

solutions page 45

MATE IN 2

w________w
wiwdwdw4]
0p0Bdw0w]
wdwdwgwd]
dwdpdpdw]
wdwHwdn1]
)wdw!wdw]
w)wdw)P)]
dwdw$wIw]
ww
MATE IN 3

Scholars Mate 126

17

CHESSN MATH
ASSOCIATION
Canadas National Scholastic
Chess Organization
visit our website for information on

TOURNAMENTS
CLASSES
CAMPS

w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
One queen can attack 27
wdwdwdwd]
squares by herself. Or as
few as 21 on an open board. dwdwdwdw]
What about three queens? wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
Dont forget that a piece
wdwdwdwd]
does not attack the square dwdwdwdw]
it stands on.
ww
Hi boys and girls!

Good luck!

RATINGS
ON-LINE CATALOGUE
OF BOOKS AND EQUIPMENT

w w w . c h e s s -m
math.org
Check it out!

..

LIL Y ' S P U Z Z L E R

solutions page 45

Q Q Q

Place three queens on the board so that ...

a. the most squares are attacked.
b. the fewest squares are attacked.
c. all dark squares are attacked.
d. the fewest dark squares are attacked.

HEY, FRIENDS!
IVE GOT E-MAIL.
Yo u c a n w r i t e m e a l e t t e r
or enter my contest at:

kiril@chess-math.org
18

Scholars Mate 126

Scholars Mate 126

19

KIRIL' S KONTEST
1
w________w
wdwdw4rd]
0w0wiwdw]
wdpdwdp0]
dwdwdphw]
w)wdwdwd]
gwdwHwdP]
wdwdw)Pd]
dwdR$wIw]
ww
MATE IN 2
White to play.
Force checkmate
in two moves.

Can you solve these puzzles?

Send in your answers and
maybe you will win the contest.
The prize is a chess tuque, just
like the ones were wearing.

Enter the contest by mailing your solutions to:

kiril@chess-math.org
Deadline: April 1, 2015
One lucky person will win the drawing for a
chess tuque (navy blue acrylic pullover cap
with an embroidered knight insignia).
20

2
w________w
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdw$wd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
$wdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwIwdwdR]
ww
TRIPLE LOYD
Place the black king so that:
A. Black is in mate.
B. Black is in stalemate.
C. White has mate in 1

There were 2 correct entries for Decembers contest.

1 Mate in 2

1.Qh8 Nc5 2.Qa1#

1...other 2.Qa8#

2 Triple Loyd

A.Kc1# B.Ka2= C.Ka4 (Bd7#)

The winner of the drawing for a chess tuque is:

George Raymond of Toronto, Ontario

21

K I R I L S
O
R
N
E
R

C
CH
HEESSSS SSU
UM
MM
MIIT
T:: D
DA
AY
YO
ON
NEE

CHANGING
COLOURS

It was a chilly day at the Lakeside Lodge. But when the

guests arrived, the sun was shining brightly over the
mountain, greeting them with a warm welcome.
A big conference called the Chess Summit was taking
place at the lodge. Leaders from around the world were
there to discuss important topics and make decisions
about the game of chess.
Several members of the royal family were attending.
Other dignitaries included Captain Bemo, Muzio Moose,
Dr. Checkle, Grandmaster Potatowoski, and Chief Blue
Moonie.
The host of the event was Major Dooper of the mounties.
He had plenty of help from his friends. Rocky Rook was
head of security. Lily Pawn was official photographer. And
Kiril had the title special assistant. He was in charge of
running errands!

22

Scholars Mate 126

That night they held a fancy banquet for everyone at

the Chess Summit. Besides a tasty meal, there were also
jugglers and clowns. And a blitz tournament too. A splendid
time was had by all.
Early the next morning they got down to business. After
an opening speech by Major Dooper, the delegates split
into smaller groups to begin their work.
The Queen of Hearts chaired the Design Committee.
Their main subject was a proposal to change the colour
of the pieces. She passed out pictures of red and yellow
pawns and said, Black and White are so boring. We need
to add more colour to the game.
Dr. Checkle, the noted professor of psychology, was the
first to answer, Your majesty, a change would be very
interesting. But studies have proven that blue and green
are the most soothing colours.
The Chief Blue Moonie, who represents the Ministry of
Alien Affairs, was quick to add, On my planet, everything
is blue!
Scholars Mate 126

23

Thank you, Chief. Does anyone else have an opinion?

The Queen of Clubs, a leading authority on kids chess
and afterschool programs, raised her hand. I agree that
new colours would be nice, but I believe that purple and
turquoise are a better choice.
Muzio Moose, ambassador of the International Animal
Chess Movement, had a different suggestion. Ive always
thought that brown is the most beautiful colour.
The debate went on for hours without any agreement on
the colours. Finally, just before dinner, Captain Bemo,
the famous chess explorer and negotiator, made a motion.
Your majesty, I move that the chess pieces keep their
traditional colours of black and white.
The Queen of Hearts smiled. I second the motion. All
those in favour?
Counting the votes was easy. Six ayes and not a single
nay. The decision was unanimous.

In the evening, many of the participants from the Chess

Summit got together in the game room to relax and have
fun. There was lots of friendly competition, especially at
the pool table. It turns out that Major Dooper was the
billiard champion of the Yukon Territory. Muzio didnt stand
a chance. But the moose was more optimistic when they
sat down at the chessboard.
White
Black

MAJOR DOOPER
MUZIO MOOSE

1. d4
Major Dooper is loyal to the
queen pawn openings.
1.

...

d5

Muzio holds his ground in the

centre.
2.
24

Scholars Mate 126

w________w
rhb1kgn4]
0p0w0p0p]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdpdwdw]
wdP)wdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
P)wdP)P)]
$NGQIBHR]
ww
QUEENS GAMBIT

c4

Scholars Mate 126

25

White offers the c-pawn in

return for central control.
2.

...

e6

Black declines the gambit.

Accepting with 2...dxc4 is
a good defence, but White
always wins the pawn back
anyhow.
3.

Nc3

c5

The main line goes 3...Nf6

4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0.

w________w
rhb1kgn4]
0pdwdp0p]
wdwdpdwd]
dw0pdwdw]
wdP)wdwd]
dwHwdwdw]
P)wdP)P)]
$wGQIBHR]
ww

Muzio mixes things up with

the Tarrasch Defence.

4.

5.

cxd5

The major follows standard

procedure and takes on d5.
4.

...

exd4!?

Now its the moose who

gives up a pawn, aiming for
quick development.
The usual continuation is
4...exd5 5.Nf3 (5.dxc5 d4!)
5...Nc6 6.e3 Nf6.

w________w
rhb1kgn4]
0pdwdp0p]
wdwdpdwd]
dwdPdwdw]
wdw0wdwd]
dwHwdwdw]
P)wdP)P)]
$wGQIBHR]
ww
5.

...

The knight gains a tempo

by attacking the queen.
The pawn on d5 is pinned.
(6.dxc6? Qxd4).
6.

Qd1

White retreats and keeps

the d-pawn protected.
The game is level after
6.Qc4 Nb4!? 7.Nb5 Nxd5 or
6.Qa4 exd5 7.Nf3 Nf6.
6.

...

7.

Qxd5

Qxd4

After this capture, the white

queen is guarding the pawn
on d5.
Major Dooper, always the
gentleman, politely thanked
his opponent for the pawn.
Thank you, kind sir.

Scholars Mate 126

exd5

Better than taking with the

knight. 7.Nxd5? Nf6! would
give Black the advantage.
(8.Nc3 Qxd1+ 9.Kxd1 Bc5!
or 8.Nxf6+ Qxf6)

7.

...

Bd7

Down a pawn, Muzio avoids

a trade of queens.

w________w
rdw1kgn4]
0pdbdp0p]
wdndwdwd]
dwdQdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwHwdwdw]
P)wdP)P)]
$wGwIBHR]
ww

This same position can be

reached by the move order
5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxd4 exd5
7.Qxd5 Nc6.
8.

Bg5

Developing the bishop with

a threat to the black queen.
Surprisingly, the opening
books recommend shutting
in the bishop with 8.e3 Nf6
9.Qd1 Bc5 10.Nf3 or 8.Nf3
Nf6 9.Qd1 Bc5 10.e3.
8.

...

Nf6

Defending against the

threat and attacking
the white queen.

Muzio is also known

for his good manners.
Youre welcome, sir.
Its my pleasure.
26

Nc6

Scholars Mate 126

27

w________w
rdw1kgw4]
0pdbdp0p]
wdndwhwd]
dwdQdwGw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwHwdwdw]
P)wdP)P)]
$wdwIBHR]
ww
9.

Bxf6?!

Major Dooper didnt want

to move his queen again, so
he takes the knight. But this
just helps Black develop.
Best is 9.Qd2. The position
is equal then after 9...Qa5
10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nf3 0-0-0
or 9...h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3
Qa5 12.e3 0-0-0.

9.

...

10. e3

Qxf6
0-0-0

The moose was happy to

castle queenside, bringing
his rook to the open d-file.
11. Qb3
The white queen exits the
file before she is forced to
leave later. 11.Rc1 would be
met by 11...Kb8 or 11...Bb4.
11.

...

Be6

Kiril was watching the game

and he thought to himself,
Boy, these guys sure like
to attack the other queen!
12. Qa4
Against 12.Bc4, Muzio was
planning to play 12...Bxc4
13.Qxc4 Qg6.

w________w
wdk4wgw4]
0pdwdp0p]
wdndb1wd]
dwdwdwdw]
Qdwdwdwd]
dwHw)wdw]
P)wdw)P)]
$wdwIBHR]
ww
12.

...

Bb4

Pinning the knight at c3 and

threatening to win a lot of
material with 13...Bxc3+.
13. Rc1?

...

14. Kxd2
The threats to b2 and f2 are
too powerful to ignore. It is
almost time to resign after
14.Nge2 Rxb2 15.a3 Bxc3+.
(16.Nxc3? Qxf2+ or 16.Rxc3
Rxe2+! 17.Bxe2 Qxc3+)
14.

...

Qxf2+

Here comes the moose!

Even though it blocks in the

bishop on f1, White should
have defended by 13.Ne2.
But the major had no idea
what was about to happen.
13.

How right he was. It looks

like Muzio is giving away a
rook for next to nothing. But
getting his queen to f2 will
be a major invasion.

15. Ne2
Moving the king loses fast.
15.Kd1 Rd8+ 16.Bd3 Rxd3#
or 15.Kd3 Rd8+ 16.Ke4 f5#.

Rd2!

w________w
wdkdwdw4]
0pdwdp0p]
wdndb1wd]
dwdwdwdw]
Qgwdwdwd]
dwHw)wdw]
P)w4w)P)]
dw$wIBHR]
ww
Kiril could not keep quiet.
Wow, what a move!

28

Scholars Mate 126

Scholars Mate 126

29

w________w
wdkdwdw4]
0pdwdp0p]
wdndbdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
Qgwdwdwd]
dwHw)wdw]
P)wIN1P)]
dw$wdBdR]
ww
15.

...

Bf5!

This master move prevents

the white kings escape to
c2. Now he is at the mercy
of the black invaders.
The rook check 15...Rd8+?
looks strong but White can
survive after 16.Kc2. Black
would have to settle for a
perpetual check. 16...Bf5+
17.Kb3 Be6+ 18.Kc2 Bf5+.
If White tries to avoid the
perp by 16...Bf5+ 17.e4!?,
things get very complicated
following 17...Rd4!

16.

16. Rd1
Clearing c1 for the king.
16.Rc2 Rd8+ 17.Kc1 Qe1+
18.Nd1 Qxd1# and 16.Kd1
Rd8+ 17.Nd4 Nxd4 18.exd4
Rxd4+ 19.Bd3 Rxd3# are no
better.
White could also try giving
up their queen, but 16.Qxb4
Rd8+ 17.Qd4 Nxd4 18.Nb5+
loses to 18...Nc2+! 19.Kc3
Qxe3+ 20.Kc4 Be6#.

w________w
wdkdwdw4]
0pdwdp0p]
wdndwdwd]
dwdwdbdw]
Qgwdwdwd]
dwHw)wdw]
P)wIN1P)]
dwdRdBdR]
ww
BLACK TO MATE IN 3

...

Rd8+

With the black bishop on f5,

this check is decisive.
17.

Kc1

The only move. Both white

knights are pinned.
17.

...

Qxe3+

18.

Rd2

Qxd2#

w________w
wdk4wdwd]
0pdwdp0p]
wdndwdwd]
dwdwdbdw]
Qgwdwdwd]
dwHwdwdw]
P)w1NdP)]
dwIwdBdR]
ww

Major Dooper stood up and saluted the moose. Nicely

played, Muzio.
Thanks, Major. Would you like a rematch?
No thank you, sir. Not now. I promised Kiril a game of
eight ball.
Okay, Ill see you in the morning. We have another full
day of work tomorrow. I better get to bed early.
All right, Muzio, sleep well.
Good night, guys.
Kiril was not that great at
pool, but he was very eager
to play. He already had the
balls racked and a cue stick
in his hand!
When the game was over,
and you can guess who won,
the major looked at his watch
to see what time it was.
Cmon, Kiril, lets go! I told
your mom Id have you home
by eight oclock.
Safety violation. Youll be glad to know that when Major Dooper
saw this picture, he immediately gave himself a traffic ticket for
not wearing a helmet. Kiril got off with a warning. Sorry, Major!

30

Scholars Mate 126

Scholars Mate 126

31

TRIPLE
LOYD

w________w
w$wdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
Rdwdwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwd]
dKdRdwdw]
ww
k Place the black king
on the board so that:

A. Black is in checkmate.
B. Black is in stalemate.
C. White has mate in 1.

McGill University

2015 Canadian Champions

Raven Sturt, Keith MacKinnon, Felix Dumont, Michael Kleinman

Chess
maze

w________w
wdwdwdnd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwHwdwd]
dwdwdndw]
wdndwdwd]
dwdwdwdw]
wdwdwdwi]
GwdwIwdw]
ww
BISHOP MAZE IN 10

Cheshire Cats. Postgame analysis.

32

Only the white bishop moves. Capture the black king

in ten moves (or less) without taking any pieces or
moving to a square where the bishop can be taken.
Black does not get a turn.
solution page 45
33

ONTARIO TOP TEN

KINDERGARTEN
1 YU Marcus
2 KHENI Kush
3 LI Bruce
4 BRUDNO Vera
5 WANG Nathan
6 HADAVI Matin
7 KSENYCH Drew
8 YAN Ivan
9 CHIU Karstan
10 ZHANG Lucas
GRADE 1
1 ATANASOV Anthony
2 JACKES Cole
3 ZHANG Angus
4 ETTIBARYAN Hovanes
5 XU Daniel
6 KUMAR Shreyas
7 CHEN Oliver
8 ZHANG Luke
9 NING Eric
10 MAK Joshua
GRADE 2
1 CHEN Max
2 DINATOLO Zack
3 CHEN Derek
4 GHAZARIAN Tigran
5 NAYAK Anuj
6 KOTHAPALLI Rohith
7 ZHAO Jeffrey
8 LI Dylan
9 SHAPIRO Idan
10 LIN Angela
GRADE 3
1 ISSANI Nameer
2 RUSONIK Max
3 NOORALI Aahil
4 JEYAKUMAR Bhavatharshan
5 SHEN Isamel
6 GILANI Mysha
7 RADIN Andrew
8 SYDYKHANOV Arman
9 FEDYUSHCHENKO Alexander
10 XU Yaorui
GRADE 4
1 ZHU Harmony
2 ZHAO Jonathan
3 ENGLAND Max
4 CHEN Hao
5 WU Nicholas
6 MILHOUTRA Ronith
7 YUAN Daniel
8 TANG Matthew
9 GAN David
10 MO Aidan
GRADE 5
1 VETTESE Nicholas
2 LIN Benjamin
3 AKOPHYAN Nick
4 WASHIMKAR Arhant
5 YANG Fan
6 LI Alan
7 MIRABELLI Aidan
8 TAN Kylie
9 ZHENG Ethan
10 HE Oliver
GRADE 6
1 NORITSYN Sergey
2 MING Wenyang
3 HUA Eugene
4 TALUKDAR Rohan
5 GUO Thomas
6 LIU Daniel
7 SURYA Benito
8 SIVAPATHASUNDARAM Manojh
9 FENG Richard
10 DEMCHENKO Svitlana

34

578
510
479
475
420
374
352
346
344
342
975
925
709
709
707
669
645
636
624
611
1154
1123
1075
1057
1028
991
984
969
925
914
1566
1506
1398
1371
1266
1242
1173
1113
1084
1082
1638
1586
1556
1461
1415
1359
1309
1250
1234
1215
1660
1618
1571
1503
1462
1461
1375
1366
1365
1309
2149
1922
1848
1754
1708
1656
1625
1523
1521
1520

GRADE 7
1 ZHAO Yue Tong
2 CAI Jason
3 YIE Kevin
4 LIANG Hairan
5 XUE Andrew
6 ZHANG Zhehai
7 HUANG Immanuel
8 IANSAVITCHOUS James
9 SEKAR Varun
10 PARAPARAN Varshini
GRADE 8
1 ZHANG Yuan Chen
2 WAN Kevin
3 CHEN Richard
4 BALENDRA Harigaran
5 XU Jeffrey
6 SHEN Chris
7 ZOTKIN Daniel
8 ZHAO Harry
9 SHAMRONI Dennis
10 NGUYEN Duy Thien An
GRADE 9
1 ZHOU Qiyu
2 BELLISSIMO Joseph
3 ZHONG Joey
4 LEI Sean
5 WANG Eric
6 YU Wenlu
7 PENG Janet
8 ZHANG Jeff
9 AGHAMALIAN Derick
10 SONG Eric
GRADE 10
1 PREOTU Razvan
2 SONG Michael
3 LI Yinshi
4 KUTTNER Simon
5 LI Michael
6 MICHELASHVILI Aleksandre
7 YE Hanyuan
8 TERRY Joshua
9 MUNTANER Daniel
10 TAO Rachel
G R A D E 11
1 PLOTKIN Mark
2 LIN Tony
3 NASIR Zehn
4 ADRIAANSE Adam
5 SONG Terry
6 PENG Jackie
7 THANABALACHANDRAN Kajan
8 ZHANG Kevin Z.
9 SAMETOVA Zhanna
10 LI Robert
GRADE 12
1 KNOX Christopher
2 SEMIANIUK Konstantin
3 FU James
4 KALRA Agastya
5 SUN Mike
6 GIBLON Rebecca
7 BOHAN BAO Tony
8 QIAN Owen
9 POSARATNANATHAN Juliaan
10 JEYAPRAGASAN Kuhan
HONOUR ROLL
1 PREOTU Razvan
2 SONG Michael
3 KNOX Christopher
4 PLOTKIN Mark
5 ZHANG Yuan Chen
6 LIN Tony
7 SEMIANIUK Konstantin
8 WAN Kevin
9 ZHOU Qiyu
10 FU James

QUEBEC TOP TEN

1897
1726
1697
1632
1631
1591
1535
1493
1481
1462
2293
2254
2188
2093
2038
2008
1988
1896
1852
1682
2242
2218
2216
2078
2042
1868
1605
1598
1597
1510
2579
2441
2136
1914
1894
1880
1865
1791
1686
1630
2409
2273
2227
2202
2180
2090
2012
1863
1838
1670
2427
2272
2241
2161
1938
1903
1900
1810
1683
1659
2579
2441
2427
2409
2293
2273
2272
2254
2242
2241

Scholars Mate 126

KINDERGARTEN
1 HUARD Matheo
2 LAMONTAGNE Christophe
3 LIU Eric
4 NOTTAWAY Emery
5 DEESEALL Rowan
6 FILLION Louis-Olivier
7 MUNRO Declan
8 ROBIN Simon
9 GEORGESCU Luca
10 MA Lily
GRADE 1
1 CHANG Alexander
2 TAO Neilson
3 ZHONG Kevin
4 CHAPDELAINE Gwynn
5 OMICHI Kevin
6 ST-GELAIS Olivier
7 BASSALETTI Julien
8 PU Victor
9 LI Ze Yue
10 XUE Freddy
GRADE 2
1 GUIPI BOPALA Prince
2 ZHENG Richard Q.
3 LIU Kevin
4 SUN Justin
5 ZHANG Chen Rui
6 LI Zhong Xuan
7 ZHANG William
8 YUEN Lok
9 ZHANG Chuhang
10 TESSIER Damien
GRADE 3
1 KULESHOVA Julia
2 OMICHI Haruaki
3 ZHONG Ziyi
4 CAI Tony
5 DIMITROV Philippe
6 HOWALD Connor
7 LEVESQUE Bastien
8 CHEN Jacques
9 HOANG Liam
10 XU Yihan
GRADE 4
1 HUANG Qiuyu
2 TANAKA Tyler
3 BERCUVITZ Tani
4 YU Daniel
5 WANG Isabelle
6 LI Johnson
7 RASMUSSEN Nicolas
8 MOCANU Alexander
9 LIU Owen
10 LAROCHE Hugo
GRADE 5
1 RODRIGUE-LEMIEUX Shawn
2 ZHONG Wenxuan
3 DURETTE Francis
4 LIU Lambert
5 LIU Robert
6 YU Xi Ming
7 SHI Leo
8 XIE Dazhuo
9 DEMERS Alexis
10 ZUO Dustin
GRADE 6
1 LAI William
2 TSYPIN Allison
3 TINICA Gabriel
4 GUAN Ziyu
5 ZHAO William
6 LIU Julia
7 SEGUIN Eliott
8 LI Tony
9 CAUCHY-VAILLANCOURT Marek
10 LI Jason

Scholars Mate 126

802
511
490
449
440
435
386
356
348
331
1106
1036
922
733
730
688
673
658
641
637
1383
1254
1196
1031
993
961
870
837
807
784
1276
1224
1091
1052
1029
982
928
922
919
903
1702
1308
1271
1267
1126
1125
1082
1072
1068
1040
1820
1757
1629
1543
1403
1354
1241
1204
1193
1155
1564
1547
1529
1445
1292
1253
1193
1164
1152
1145

GRADE 7
1 OUELLET Maili-Jade
2 FAN Run Kun
3 ZHANG Hou Han
4 LU Daisy
5 TURGEON Yoakim
6 LU Jasmine
7 LUO Muhan
8 GAO Catherine
9 YIP Mattew
10 WU Zhao Ran
GRADE 8
1 LI Yi Lin
2 SAHA Ananda
3 YANG Eddie
4 ZHANG Evan
5 JOHNSON-CONSTANTIN Matthieu
6 SAINE Zachary
7 SUN Benjamin
8 HUANG Junhao
9 ST-CYR Xavier
10 AUDET Olivier
GRADE 9
1 SHI Linda
2 WANG Kelly
3 LUO Alan
4 GAO Christine
5 LUO Wei Han
6 VAILLANT Charles-Etienne
7 XIONG Yi Wei
8 HE Haley
9 LI Frank
10 TINICA Sabina
GRADE 10
1 YU Zong Yang
2 CHIKU-RATTE Olivier Kenta
3 ZHU HongRui
4 LIU Yu Qing
5 CHANG Michael
6 POIRIER Alexis
7 NIKULICH Andrey
8 LI George
9 MUNSHI Rubayat
10 LIM Victor
G R A D E 11
1 JOHNSON Nicholas
2 YUN Chang
3 FARAJI Jafar
4 MANAILOIU Dragos
5 GU Sheng-Ming
6 NAZARIAN Ara
7 SAMIKOV Chingis
8 HARRIS Gabriel
9 JALALI Salar
10 TURCOTTE VAN DE RYDT C.
GRADE 12
1 LUO Zhao Yang
2 LEPINE Cedric
3 ALCANTARA Maximo
4 PAQUETTE Alexandre
5 SHI Sky
6 LIU Mu Dong
7 XIANG Qun Tian
8 LORANGER Erika
9 VOLKOV Vladislav
10 SMIRNOV Arteme-Iouri
HONOUR ROLL
1 YU Zong Yang
2 CHIKU-RATTE Olivier Kenta
3 ZHU HongRui
4 LUO Zhao Yang
5 LEPINE Cedric
6 OUELLET Maili-Jade
7 FAN Run Kun
8 LIU Yu Qing
9 JOHNSON Nicholas
10 YUN Chang

1936
1886
1572
1512
1459
1444
1423
1291
1289
1265
1803
1780
1763
1691
1605
1537
1522
1514
1491
1432
1755
1724
1648
1548
1404
1382
1350
1341
1288
1279
2439
2403
2147
1886
1853
1526
1363
1316
1299
1292
1878
1870
1803
1698
1614
1433
1431
1379
1318
1249
2096
2024
1604
1505
1440
1426
1403
1401
1387
1304
2439
2403
2147
2096
2024
1936
1886
1886
1878
1870

35

ATLANTIC TOP TEN

GRADE 1 / KINDERGARTEN*
1 KOMIAK Jacob *
2 MCINTYRE Malcolm
3 DAIGLE Alex
4 BEI Er
5 SONNIER William
6 LEBLANC Zachary *
7 BEI Warren
8 BURROWS Breckin
9 YANG Julia
10 BOURQUE Simon
GRADE 2
1 MCINTYRE Duncan
2 PAN Thomas
3 RICHARD Tristan
4 DICKIE Luke
5 SI Patrick
6 LEBLANC Cedric
7 CROWLEY Dylan
8 FARQUHAR Allister
9 LAPOINTE Dominic
10 CHEN Frank
GRADE 3
1 MACEACHERN Seamus
2 BROWN Alexander
3 FRANCOEUR Vincent
4 CASTONGUAY Ethan
5 BLANCHETTE Alain
6 CHRISTIANSEN Asher
7 LEBLANC Alex
8 LOCKE Sebastian
9 BHATT Tanish
10 LI Sarah-Grace
GRADE 4
1 RUSSELL Mark
2 LEBLANC Alexandre X.
3 KAPRA Jerjis
4 DORMODY Peter
5 LOTY Ezekiel
6 WEI Ronnie
7 ROGERS Alexander
8 KEEL Dylen
9 HIGGINS Harris
10 LANTZ Ronan
GRADE 5
1 CHEN Norman
2 KUNDU Arnab
3 BROWN Callum
4 BLANCHETTE Luc
5 WALSH Ian
6 DOUCETTE Luc
7 NORMAN Alex
8 HEFFERTON Harrison
9 ROBICHAUD Brandon
10 GALLANT Julien
GRADE 6
1 RUSSELL Brett
2 MCCALLUM Karla Lynn
3 CUI Cynthia
4 LI Kevin
5 LOTY Eric
6 DORNIEDEN Jonas
7 QIU Nicholas
8 KOSHI Benjamin
9 MACDONALD Cameron
10 CAMPEANU Cezar
ROOKIE ROLL top K-6
1 RUSSELL Brett
2 MCCALLUM Karla Lynn
3 CHEN Norman
4 CUI Cynthia
5 LI Kevin
6 RUSSELL Mark
7 KUNDU Arnab
8 BROWN Callum
9 BLANCHETTE Luc
10 WALSH Ian

36

583
534
478
452
436
430
427
425
418
417

NL
PE
NB
PE
NB
NB
PE
PE
NL
NB

874
741
646
641
619
570
551
527
504
488

PE
NL
NB
PE
PE
NB
NS
NS
NB
NL

994
831
812
789
732
714
708
689
688
669

PE
NS
NB
NB
NB
NS
NB
NL
NL
NL

1109
1014
992
937
888
803
743
710
691
689

NL
NB
NS
NL
NS
PE
PE
NS
NB
PE

1140
1101
1081
1051
1047
883
875
850
801
766

NL
PE
NS
NB
NL
PE
NL
NL
NB
PE

1321
1170
1127
1118
996
947
885
874
869
852

NL
PE
NB
NS
NS
NS
NL
NS
PE
PE

1321
1170
1140
1127
1118
1109
1101
1081
1051
1047

NL
PE
NL
NB
NS
NL
PE
NS
NB
NL

GRADE 7
1 JIA Jacky
2 HUANG Xingbo
3 MITTAL Ridhi
4 WEILAND Robin
5 KUNDU Arjun
6 KERR Ian
7 JIANG Harvey
8 GOSSE Daniel
9 CUI Leonardo
10 MANNHOLLAND Noah
GRADE 8
1 DORRANCE Lucas
2 BOON-PETERSEN Stefan
3 PICKARD Ryan
4 CHISLETT Benjamin
5 CHOWDHURY SoumyaDeep
6 TRAN Quoc
7 NAIDAPPUWA-WADUGE Dulhan
8 LOCKE Miles
9 NOLAN Justin
10 PETERS Brian
GRADE 9
1 SONG Sam
2 MCKEOWN Gary
3 ROBICHAUD Alexandre
4 MACDONALD Brandon
5 HE Kate
6 RONAHAN-WOOD Jack
7 WHITT Sheldon
8 VU Nam
9 WALSH Andrew
10 METHOT Jacob
GRADE 10
1 DAWSON Andrew
2 ANDERSEN Paul
3 SCHRADER Nathaniel
4 OLDFORD Noah
5 SNELGROVE Stephen
6 GREGORY Liam
7 MAKAROV Joshua
8 JACKMAN Luke
9 ONG Ivanseth
10 HUNT Thomas
G R A D E 11
1 DORRANCE Adam
2 FENG Bob
3 WANG Lee
4 MCKEOWN Brody
5 WILKS Darius
6 LUDOVICE Diego
7 KARFOUL Al Mothanna
8 HOLLAND Kevin
9 CAISSIE Sebastien
10 LEE Wonchan
GRADE 12
1 PETERS Jeremy
2 QIU Christopher
3 ROBICHAUD Nicolas
4 ZHANG MaoMao
5 WANG Jeffrey
6 CROWELL Iain
7 DARCY Matt
8 HINK Ian
9 BERNIER Thomas
10 CHURCHILL Shea
HONOUR ROLL
1 DORRANCE Adam
2 SONG Sam
3 PETERS Jeremy
4 FENG Bob
5 QIU Christopher
6 ROBICHAUD Nicolas
7 DORRANCE Lucas
8 BOON-PETERSEN Stefan
9 MCKEOWN Gary
10 ZHANG MaoMao

WESTERN TOP TEN

1398
1396
1085
1033
1021
982
963
958
956
900

PE
NL
NL
NB
PE
PE
NL
NL
NB
PE

1516
1448
1262
1244
1176
1127
1105
1086
1084
1071

NS
NL
NL
NL
PE
NS
NS
NL
NL
NS

2164
1429
1313
1276
1195
1075
993
982
960
950

NB
NL
NB
NS
NS
PE
NL
NB
NL
NB

1405
1311
1303
1286
1166
1152
1118
1050
1048
1032

NL
NL
NB
NL
NL
NL
NB
NL
NS
NB

2284
1765
1277
1178
1102
1070
1007
995
994
990

NS
NB
NS
NL
NS
NS
PE
NS
NB
NB

1823
1651
1549
1422
1375
1230
1192
1147
1142
1119

NS
NL
NB
NL
NS
PE
NS
PE
NB
NL

2284
2164
1823
1765
1651
1549
1516
1448
1429
1422

NS
NB
NS
NB
NL
NB
NS
NL
NL
NL

Scholars Mate 126

KINDERGARTEN
1 KHUBLARYAN Suren
2 FAN Samuel
3 TANG Jacky
4 MA Hovey HoDak
5 SHAO Brian
6 YEN Anson
7 BAKER Oscar
8 COLTELLARO Francesco
9 NIE Kevin
GRADE 1
1 OFFENGENDEN Ron
2 WANG Daniel
3 CHEN Freddy
4 HANNAH-LEE Toro
5 SU Ethan
6 GUO Vincent
7 ZHANG Roy
8 CHEN Jason
9 HAJIHOSSEINLOU Artin
10 PICHE Zachary
GRADE 2
1 XU Andrew
2 ZHANG Dustin
3 QIAN Jason
4 SHARMA Vishruth
5 WU Stanley
6 RIQUELME Martin
7 ZHANG Bruce
8 ZHU Max
9 LORTIE Sofia
10 LI YONG JIAN
GRADE 3
1 ZHOU Aiden
2 GU Chuyang
3 JIANG David
4 WU Lucian
5 LIU Kevin
6 IMOO Joshua
7 CHEN Noah
8 ZHANG Dan
9 SUN Elvin
10 TAN Brendan
GRADE 4
1 LOW Kevin
2 HUANG Patrick
3 DOKNJAS Neil
4 SUPERCEANU Andi
5 JAMES Rowan
6 LAU Julian
7 ZHANG Andy
8 BUTCHART Kevin
9 TIAN Sherry
10 ZHANG Aidan
GRADE 5
1 QU Leo
2 MAH Sean
3 ZHAO Ian
4 GUO Jim
5 DU Daniel
6 WAN Justin
7 ZHENG Victor
8 SASATA Alexander
9 ZHANG Daniel
10 CHEN Jerry
GRADE 6
1 PULFER Luke
2 WANG Kaixin
3 RICHARDSON Kai
4 CHITRAKAR Siddhartha
5 CHUNG Alec
6 LOW Ethan
7 LEHINGRAT Callum
8 ZHANG Brian
9 LIN Kaining
10 RENY Alex

Scholars Mate 126

520
495
466
449
349
329
293
291
268

AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC

1316
1228
959
936
839
802
739
727
722
718

AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
MB

1147
1019
983
903
839
797
788
786
757
717

BC
AB
BC
AB
BC
MB
BC
BC
SK
BC

1556
1388
1310
1301
1231
1174
1109
1094
1089
1076

BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
AB
BC
AB

1805
1675
1618
1588
1549
1473
1317
1314
1245
1224

BC
BC
BC
AB
BC
AB
BC
BC
BC
BC

1633
1529
1452
1387
1373
1350
1346
1298
1295
1271

BC
AB
AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
SK
AB
BC

1821
1776
1729
1548
1512
1501
1501
1499
1495
1445

BC
AB
BC
AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
AB
BC

GRADE 7
1 DOKNJAS Joshua
2 GROSSMANN Lenard
3 SU Michael
4 YAO David
5 MA Derek
6 LEONG Ryan
7 TOLENTINO Patrick
8 YU Rinna
9 DENG Yi
10 TRAN Colin
GRADE 8
1 GEDAJLOVIC Max
2 SHRESTHA Prayus
3 MCCULLOUGH Ian
4 ZHENG Maven
5 HAN Lionel
6 GENG Matthew
7 JAYAWEERA Lahiru
8 WU Chenxi
9 BREWSTER Paula
10 TOLENTINO Andre
GRADE 9
1 CAO Jason
2 KASSAM Jamil
3 NIE Mark
4 ZITA Matthew
5 SHAO Nathan
6 TAPP Ashley
7 YU Robin
8 KNOX Nathaniel
9 SAHEB Salar
10 MULIAWAN Lukas
GRADE 10
1 SHI Diwen
2 DOKNJAS John
3 AWATRAMANI Janak
4 KONG Dezhong
5 NYAMDORJ Uranchimeg
6 HOFFNER Noah
7 STANISLUS Allan
8 LEE Nicholas
9 RAHEMTULLA Adam
10 ZHANG Yutong
G R A D E 11
1 HERDIN Mathew
2 HUI Jeremy
3 SWIFT Ryne
4 MCCULLOUGH David
5 CUI Karl
6 SITU Dennis
7 ZHAO Chenxi
8 PAVLIC Stephen
9 DOBRZANSKI Joseph
10 BARTHA Jimmy
GRADE 12
1 WANG Richard
2 LI Kevin
3 LO Ryan
4 WU Ray
5 NYAMDORJ Davaa-Ochir
6 WANG YueKai
7 LAI Jingzhou
8 PERICO Jenry
9 PANG Michael
10 LUDWIG Michael
HONOUR ROLL
1 WANG Richard
2 CAO Jason
3 LI Kevin
4 SHI Diwen
5 DOKNJAS John
6 AWATRAMANI Janak
7 DOKNJAS Joshua
8 HERDIN Mathew
9 LO Ryan
10 GEDAJLOVIC Max

2203
1912
1874
1873
1607
1588
1541
1520
1465
1439

BC
AB
BC
AB
MB
BC
AB
BC
BC
AB

2081
1579
1534
1530
1485
1483
1467
1462
1452
1438

BC
AB
AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
AB
BC
AB

2394
1854
1715
1681
1661
1633
1632
1596
1588
1576

BC
AB
AB
AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
AB
AB

2279
2270
2227
1980
1864
1806
1742
1683
1482
1477

AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
AB
AB
AB
BC
BC

2200
1968
1813
1744
1714
1687
1577
1562
1499
1385

BC
BC
MB
AB
BC
AB
AB
AB
BC
SK

2484
2326
2180
2042
2041
1973
1952
1864
1836
1825

AB
MB
BC
BC
BC
AB
BC
AB
MB
AB

2484
2394
2326
2279
2270
2227
2203
2200
2180
2081

AB
BC
MB
AB
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC
BC

37

R AT I N G S

Frizoon LePawn presents

TOP
GIRLS

Scholastic ratings for all players who have taken part

in a CMA tournament during the last three years can
be found on the Chessn Math Association webpage:

w w w. c h e s s - m a t h . o r g

CANADA

Click the ratings tab on the homepage, which will

take you to the ratings page:

w w w. c h e s s ta l k . c o m / e l o / p u b
Once on the ratings page, with Kiril and the map of
Canada, you can search ratings by name, province,
age, or grade! You can also see a list of recently
rated tournaments at the bottom of the page. Click
on the tournament to see a crosstable of the event.
For information on how to rate your tournaments:

www .chess-math.org/ratings/rate.htm

W I N N I N G C H E S S For Kids
homepage of JEFF COAKLEY

Canadian Chess Master & Author

Information on
Winning Chess
For Kids series:

733
650
624
604
562

QC
BC
ON
SK
QC

914
757
675
631
595

ON
SK
ON
BC
ON

1276
1266
1242
1031
1026

QC
ON
ON
BC
ON

1638
1245
1155
1126
1071

ON
BC
ON
QC
BC

1366
1223
1209
1207
1174

ON
ON
ON
BC
BC

1547
1520
1389
1362
1271

QC
ON
ON
ON
ON

q P R I N C E S S PA
PA R A D E
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Book Descriptions,
Reviews, Errata,
Announcements.

www.coakleychess.com
38

GRADE 1
1
CHAPDELAINE Gwynn
2
YU Sophia
3
NING Eric
4
SASATA Natasha
5
WANG Jessica
GRADE 2
1
LIN Angela
2
LORTIE Sofia
3
ASEOCHE Chrisanne
4
GUO Veronica
5
XIE Austin
GRADE 3
1
KULESHOVA Julia
2
SHEN Isamel
3
GILANI Mysha
4
FAN Elaine
5
ATANASOVA Rada
GRADE 4
1
ZHU Harmony
2
TIAN Sherry
3
GUO Hazel
4
WANG Isabelle
5
VAN Anna
GRADE 5
1
TAN Kylie
2
MALE PATHIRANAGE Thisandi
3
CHERTKOW Sasha
4
YANG Angelina
5
ZHAO Cindy
GRADE 6
1
TSYPIN Allison
2
DEMCHENKO Svitlana
3
QIAO Cindy
4
ZHANG Taylor
5
ZHANG Jeannie

Scholars Mate 126

ZHU Harmony
TSYPIN Allison
DEMCHENKO Svitlana
QIAO Cindy
TAN Kylie
ZHANG Taylor
KULESHOVA Julia
ZHANG Jeannie
SHEN Isamel
TIAN Sherry

Scholars Mate 126

1638
1547
1520
1389
1366
1362
1276
1271
1266
1245

GRADE 7
1
OUELLET Maili-Jade
2
YU Rinna
3
LU Daisy
4
PARAPARAN Varshini
5
PENG Sarah
GRADE 8
1
LI Yi Lin
2
ZHU Jiarong
3
WANG Constance
4
LIU Dora
5
BREWSTER Paula
GRADE 9
1
ZHOU Qiyu
2
SHI Linda
3
WANG Kelly
4
PENG Janet
5
GAO Christine
GRADE 10
1
NYAMDORJ Uranchimeg
2
TAO Rachel
3
LI Kristen
4
POBERESHNIKOVA Agniya
5
GIBLON Melissa
G R A D E 11
1
PENG Jackie
2
YUN Chang
3
SAMETOVA Zhanna
4
SEDIGHI Nima
5
ROSCA Maria Alexandra
GRADE 12
1
GIBLON Rebecca
2
LORANGER Erika
3
XIA Linda
4
DAWSON Laura Jane
5
TSUI Pearl

1936
1520
1512
1462
1460

QC
BC
QC
ON
ON

1803
1548
1542
1527
1452

QC
ON
ON
ON
BC

2242
1755
1724
1605
1548

ON
QC
QC
ON
QC

1864
1630
1468
1465
1372

BC
ON
ON
ON
ON

2090
1870
1838
1259
1221

ON
QC
ON
BC
QC

1903
1401
1143
1115
1085

ON
QC
ON
NL
AB

q CANADIAN QUEENS
ON
QC
ON
ON
ON
ON
QC
ON
ON
BC

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

ZHOU Qiyu
PENG Jackie
OUELLET Maili-Jade
GIBLON Rebecca
YUN Chang
NYAMDORJ Uranchimeg
SAMETOVA Zhanna
LI Yi Lin
SHI Linda
WANG Kelly

2242
2090
1936
1903
1870
1864
1838
1803
1755
1724

ON
ON
QC
ON
QC
BC
ON
QC
QC
QC

39

CANADIAN
CHESS
CHALLENGE

TOURNAMENTS
FOR

TORONTO

The Chess'n Math Association, Canadas national

scholastic chess organization, is proud to announce
the 27th annual Canadian Chess Challenge. We hope
that you and your friends can take part this year.
The competition is played in three stages: regional,
provincial, and national. The finals will take place on
Victoria Day weekend in Quebec City.
For information on how to enter the Canadian Chess
Challenge, contact your provincial coordinator.
A l b e r ta
Bruce Thomas
(780) 473-1557

MONTREAL

Chess'n Math

2015 National Scholastic Championship

Nova Scotia
PROVINCIAL
COORDINATORS Stirling Dorrance

416 488-5506

O n ta r i o

Maxim Doroshenko
(604) 568-3283

Leslie Armstrong
(905) 841-1342

Manitoba

Prince Edward Is.

Jeremie Piche
(204) 237-1497

Tom Crowell
(902) 894-3660

Chessn Math

Marshall McLuhan Sec. School

1107 Avenue Rd.

Loisirs St-Henri
530 du Couvent

March 1
March 29
April 11
April 12
May 3

April 12
April 12
May 24

OCC qualifier
OCC qualifier
French Schools OCC qualifier
Grand Prix

OTTAWA
Chess'n Math

613 565-3662

Walter Baker Centre

100 Malvern Dr.
Barrhaven
February 22
March 29
April 19
May 31

514 845-8352

QC Girls Championship
QCC qualifier
Grand Prix

OCC qualifier

OCC qualifier

QUEBEC SCHOLASTIC
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Jean de Brebeuf College
3200 St.Catherine, Montreal
March 28 grades K-3, 7-11
March 29 grades K-6
4 Players From Same School

OCC qualifier
Grand Prix

CHESS CHALLENGE
Quebec Provincial Qualifiers

Verdun
St. Henri
La Ruelle
Outremont
The Priory
Drummondville
Montreal

(902) 678-4453

British Columbia

KIDS

March 8
March 14
March 21
March 22
April 11
April 11
April 12

Quebec Junior Championship

April 17-19
FQE 514 252-3034

New Brunswick

Quebec

Pierre Lambert
(506) 863-4821

Martine Lemaire
(514) 845-8352

Newfoundland
Chris Dawson
(709) 747-5217
40

National Office
3423 St.Denis #400
Montreal, Quebec
H2X 3L1
(514) 845-8352

New York State

Scholastic Championship

February 28 - March 1
Quebec players are eligible.

Saskatchewan
Lauri Lintott
(306) 924-5881
Scholars Mate 126

Chessn Math

Chessn Math Association

Scholars Mate 126

514 845-8352

www.chess-math.org
41

For tournaments and other chess events in your area, visit these websites or contact your local organizer.
BRITISH COLUMBIA

ONTARIO

Victoria
Victoria Junior Chess Society
victoriajuniorchess.pbworks.com

Ottawa
Chessn Math Association
chess-math.org
250 Bank St.

Brian Raymer
braymer@telus.net
Vancouver
Vancouver Chess School
vanchess.ca
Maxim Doroshenko
info@vanchess.ca

ALBERTA
Edmonton
Roving Chess Nuts
rovingchessnuts.com
Bruce Thomas
rovingchessnuts@shaw.ca
Calgary
Calgary Junior Chess Club
sites.google.com/site/calgaryjunior
chessclub
Paul Gagne
paul.gagne@cssd.ab.ca

SASKATCHEWAN
Saskatchewan Scholastic Chess
Association
ssca.saskchess.com

Brad Thomson
(613) 565-3662
ottawa@chess-math.org
Toronto
Chessn Math Association
chess-math.org
701 Mt. Pleasant Rd.
Francis Rodrigues
(416) 488-5506
toronto@chess-math.org
Toronto
Children Chess Scool of Toronto
chessforchildren.ca
Nathalia Khoudgarian
info@chessforchildren.ca
Toronto
Knights of Chess School
sites.google.com/site/theknights
ofchess
Yuri Lebedev
lebedev@post.com

Seneca Hill
Seneca Hill Chess Club
senecahillchess.com
Corinna Wan
oriolechess@rogers.com
Guelph
Chess Express
chessexpress.ca
Hal Bond
halbond@sympatico.ca
Kitchener
KW Youth Chess Club
psmcd.net/kwycc

Pierre Lambert
plambert1959@gmail.com

NOVA SCOTIA
Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess
Association
nssca.ca

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Windsor
Windsor Chess
windsorchess.com
Vlad Drkulec
vdrkulec@hotmail.com
Scholars Mate 126

NEW BRUNSWICK

Cornwall
Au Diapason Chess
audiapason.ca

MANITOBA

42

Martine Lemaire
(514) 845-8352

Chris Felix
chris.felix@cdevastation.com

Clifford Labre
clifford@audiapason.ca

Jeremie Pich
jeremie.piche@scholasticchess.mb.ca

Chessn Math Association

3423 St. Denis, Montreal
chess-math.org

Patrick McDonald
patrick@psmcd.net

Don MacKinnon
donmac451@sasktel.net
Manitoba Scholastic Chess
Association
scholasticchess.mb.ca

QUEBEC

Scholars Mate 126

PEI Youth Chess Association

peiyca.ca
John McIntyre
peiyouthchess@gmail.com

NEWFOUNDLAND
NL Scholastic Chess Association
www.chess.nl.ca
Chris Dawson
info@chess.nl.ca
43

* SOLUTIONS *

HOW TO READ A CHESS GAME

It's easy. The board has 8 files
and 8 ranks. Files are the rows
of squares that go up and down.
Each one is named by a small
letter. Ranks are rows that go
sideways. Each one is named
by a number.
Every square also has a name.
The first part is its file and the
second part is its rank. In this
diagram, a white pawn moved
to e4 and a black pawn to e5.
When moves are written down,
the first capital letter shows the
piece which moves. Q is queen.
B is bishop. R is rook. N is used
for knight because the king is K.
If there is no capital letter, that
means a pawn moves.
Next is the square that the
piece moves to. Bc4 says that a
bishop moves to the square c4.
When a piece is captured, an x
is put before the square. Qxf7
means a queen takes on f7.
If a pawn captures, the letter
of the file it starts on is given
first, then an x followed by the
square it takes on. exd5 says a
pawn on the e-file captures on
the square d5.
When two pieces of the same
kind can go to the same spot,
another letter is put after the
piece to show what file it came
from. Rae1 tells us that a rook
on the a-file moves to e1.
If the pieces that can move to
the same spot are on the same
file, then their rank number is
added. N6e4 means the knight
on the 6th rank moves to e4.
44

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

rhb1kgn4
0p0pdp0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdw0wdw
wdwdPdwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)w)P)
$NGQIBHR
a

check
checkmate
en passant
castles kingside
castles queenside
white wins
black wins
draw
excellent move
mistake
cool move
weird (weak) move

The game below is written in

algebraic notation. Kiril was
new to chess and fell into an
old trap called Scholars Mate !
1.
2.
3.
4.

ROCKY
e4
Qh5
Bc4
Qxf7 #

1
2
3
4
5

Here are some special symbols:

+
#
e. p.
O-O
O-O-O
1-0
0-1
-
!
?
!?
?!

MATES

KIRIL
e5
d6
Nf6 ?

Oh no! Kiril got mated in just

four moves. That was no fun!
Scholars Mate 126

TRIPLE LOYD

1.Rg6#
A. Ka6#
1.Bh8 any 2.Qg7#
B. Kc3=
1.Nf5 gxf5 2.Rg3#
C. Kc6 (Rc4#)
1...others 2.Qg7#
1.Qxh6 g6 2.Rxg6#
1...others 2.Qxg7# (or 2.Rxg7#)
1.Nc6+ bxc6 2.Qb3+ Ka8 3.Bxc6#
1...Ka8 2.Qxa7#

TACTICS 102
1
2
3
4

1.Bb5 Qxb5 2.Nxc7+ Ke7 3.Nxb5

1.Rc8 Qxc8 2.Ne7+ Kh7 3.Nxc8
1.Bf5 Qxf5 2.Nd6+ Kc7 3.Nxf5
1.Rxg6 Qxg6 2.Ne7+ Kg7 3.Nxg6

CHESS MAZE
Ba1-c3-b4-c5-a7-b8-c7-d8-g5-f4xh2

LILY'S PUZZLER
a. Qd4 Qe4 Qf4 54 squares attacked
b. Qa1 Qb1 Qb2 39 squares attacked
c. Qc5 Qe5 Qg5 all dark squares attacked
d. Qb1 Qd1 Qf1 16 dark squares attacked
There are other similar solutions for each part.

COMBO MOMBO
1 1...Rxh2+
2.Kxh2 Qh4+ 3.Kg1 Qe1+ 4.Kh2 Qh4+ perp
2.Kg1? Qh4! 3.Kf1 Rh1+ 4.Ke2 Qe1#
2 1.Rd7+
1...Kg8 2.Nf6+ Kf8 (2...Kh8? 3.Rh7#) 3.Nh7+ Ke8
4.Nf6+ Kf8 5.Nh7+ Kg8 6.Nf6+ perp
1...Kh8? Nf6! 1-0 (Rh7# cannot be stopped.)
Scholars Mate 126

45

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