Chess players met their match at the annual Lake City Chess Tournament last weekend.
Long-time chess rivels and champions Kai Richardson of Williams Lake and Andrew Martin of Quesnel faced off, providing some nail-biting moments for everyone to watch.
Richardson won when Martin’s clock ran out. Three seconds were remaining on Richardson’s clock.
Tournament organizer Scott Richardson said the annual event, held Oct. 14, was the best they’ve ever had despite the small numbers in attendance because of the poor weather.
A new format with faster games was daunting to some of the Open players but after a few games they had settled into the time control and were enjoying the competition, Richardson said.
“Nine rounds, ten minutes on each player’s clock, 20-minute games maximum, tested everyone’s endurance,” he said.
Returning players included four youth veterans, with two having played in the last three tournaments and two in all four.
There were three new faces in the Open; Roy Argue who came in third, Ted Bosman, who ranked seventh and Sam Ballan who came in tenth.
The youth played a double round robin, eight rounds. High competition and fast games, ten minutes each on their clocks with ten seconds added with each player’s move (ten second increments).
Youth rankings saw Jeff Obexer take first, Matthew Martin in second, Timu Kruus in third and Nic Gysel in fouth.
