Winnipeg chess tournament gives players foothold to build ratings

Competitors old and young contemplate their next move at the 4th annual Maria Helena Open Chess Tournament. Tournament director Darius Punay got involved because his son loves the game. My personal satisfaction is to see kids, especially kids that are gaining rating, they develop their skills from first Maria Helena to right now. The tournament's registered with the Chess Federation of Canada and the International Chess Federation. That means what happens here affects a player's official rating, which they need to move up the ranks. Punay says before this, there weren't many tournaments like it in Winnipeg. It's kind of expensive because we have to travel to other provinces to compete with other really better players. The tournament's officiated by Chief Arbiter Olashagun Petunbi and his deputy Julius William RFa. Petunbi says he hopes tournaments like this will raise Manitoba's chess reputation. We've got quite a number of different groups of people, the demography from grade 1 through 8, 9 through 12, the people in their 50s and a lot of young people who are interested. But when they don't get to play, they don't get to improve. And so it's one of the reasons that we have tournaments like this. It's become a place for nearby prodigies to score titles as well, such as Sofia Guzman, an 11-year-old from Saskatoon who was one of last year's champions. I like when my rating grows and I like playing higher rated people because then if I win I get a lot of points. She says there's not a lot of local tournaments in Saskatoon. She's been coming to this one for the last three years. Organizers say at the next tournament, they might even invite some grandmasters. Alicia Wang, CBC News, Winnipeg.