May 14, 2013

Several Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario students displayed great skills during the recent Franco-Ontarian Chess Tournament that took place in Haileybury from May 2 to 4. Among the 400 students measuring their skills in this discipline that requires much strategizing and memory and problem-solving abilities were young chess masters from École Saint-Joseph (Wawa), École St-Denis (Sudbury) and Collège Notre-Dame (Sudbury) who won tournament medals and qualified for the national chess championship.

Sudbury’s Collège Notre-Dame continued its long-standing tradition of excellence in chess by dominating the competition at the secondary school level. Two Collège Notre-Dame students took home gold medals in their age category. Grade 10 student Frédéric Rochon finished first in the Boys 16 years of age and under category, while Zacharie Gagné, a grade 11 student, took top honours among boys 18 years and under. Mackenzie Gaskin, a grade 12 student, claimed the silver medal in the boys 18 years of age and under division.

Among the chess aficionados competing in the elementary division were students from Wawa’s École Saint-Joseph. Grade 8 student Kyle Mills won the silver medal in the Boys 14 years of age and under category, while grade 7 student Gordon Godbout took home the bronze in the same category. Bianca Ricard, a grade 4 student at Sudbury’s École St-Denis, competed in the Girls 10 years of age and under category and was rewarded with a bronze medal.

As a result of their strong performance at the Franco-Ontarian Chess Tournament, these six young chess masters earned the right to compete at the 2013 Canadian Youth Chess Championship that will be held in Ottawa from July 10 to 13. Next year, the Franco-Ontarian Chess Tournament will be held in May 2014 at North Bay’s École secondaire catholique Algonquin.