Canadian Jason Cao - New U 10 World Chess Champion

[Bob Armstrong]

An article by Arnold Lim, News staff, in the BC Goldstream Gazette of Nov. 9, on Jason ( on Oct 15, Arnold did an article on Jason, before he went to the WYCC - see other thread below on Jason ):

Practice makes perfect for world chess champ

Jason Cao’s golden prediction has proven prophetic.

The nine-year-old Saanich resident returned from the World Youth Chess Championships in Halkidiki, Greece last Wednesday victorious in the under-10 category at the biggest youth-chess tournament in the world.

Just like he said he would.

“That was my first time playing the serious international games,” Cao said. “It was really hard.”

Finishing with a score of 9.0 out of 11, Cao competed in one match every day for 11 days. His record was eight victories, one loss, and two draws along the way. After all rounds were completed, the Campus View elementary student was tied for first but won the tie breaker on the merit of defeating higher-ranked opponents, including Samuel “Bobby Fischer 2” Sevian.

He admits he wasn’t confident stepping up to face Sevian in a battle of undefeated players.

“I was really nervous, I felt that I was going to lose,” he said.

Even a parent of one of the other Canadian players told Cao he would likely lose. But despite the odds, the 89th ranked player went on to defeat the No. 1 ranked player in his category and heavy favorite coming into the tournament.

His friends and teachers at Campus View couldn’t be happier.

“We had a mounting amount of happiness and shock,” said Cao’s Grade 5 teacher Brenda Kohlruss. “Excitement kept building with every piece of news we heard about him.”

The Grade 5 class gathered any information they could, checking the Internet and getting more and more excited as the tournament rolled on. With his victory, Cao became the only Canadian to place in the top five in any age category, male or female.

“I don’t think I have enough words to express how amazing it is to have him representing our whole county. I couldn’t think of a better candidate to represent (us),” Kohlruss said. “I think we are so incredibly proud to have such a hero in our class. He is an extremely inspiring student.”

The sacrifice of giving up TV, video games, playing with friends and taking time off school was worth it for Cao, especially when he stood victorious with the Canadian flag wrapped around him.

“It felt cool that way,” he said of donning the flag. “It meant that I was Canadian.”

His next chess-related goal is to prepare for next year’s WYCC where he will compete in the under-12 category as a 10 year old. While he is tempering expectations, his confidence is still running high.

“Practice makes perfect,” he said.

- the article can be found at : http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver...106975273.html