Lakecity chess prodigy Kai Richardson recently took his game to the Canadian Youth Chess Championships and the Canadian Open in Montreal.
The CYCC featured seven rounds while the CO took place over nine rounds, both in the ballroom at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
Kai, 11, competed in the under-12 section of the CYCC and faced off against 63 competitors. The tournament featured more than 300 players.
There, Kai won five of seven rounds, placing fifth overall.
“His crucial game, round six, if he had won it would have put him in a tie for first,” said Kai’s dad, Scott Richardson. “He lost placing him in fifth going into the last round.”
At the Canadian Open — which took part over five sections — there were 384 players from around the world. Kai competed in the under 2,000 section winning five of nine matches.
“All his opponents except one were higher rated than he is,” Scott said. “Tough games. Kai picked up some rating points putting him at 1,845. More than 1,900 will put him in the expert category.”
Overall, Kai won 10 out of 16 games with no draws through the course of the two tournaments.
“He was disappointed with his CYCC performance but was satisfied with his CO playing,” Scott said. “He’s doing amazingly well playing with the elite chess players, holding his own and winning.”
Kai has one more year to compete in the under-12 age division and has his sights set on qualifying for the World Championships in Greece.
He’s currently taking a two-month break from chess to reassess his game with hopes of coming back stronger.