Earning silver at nationals

Chess champion
For the second year in a row, Kap’s Samantha Powell earns silver at nationals
Posted By Mark Gentili

Samantha Powell is the second best chess player in Canada under the age of 17. Not only that, but also this is the second year in a row that the Cité des Jeunes student can claim that distinction.

Last weekend she returned from her third visit to the Canadian Youth Chess Championships, held in Windsor, Ontario this year, the proud owner of yet another silver medal. She joined Emmanuel Nadeau, Justin Gagnon and Justin Jean as one of four Kapuskasing youngsters who qualified for the national championship.

By “really tough” she means there was not one of the seven games she played that was under three hours. In fact, a couple of them hit four hours.

On the first day, she played to a tie in her first game and a win in her second, a four-hour chess marathon that she won with a pawn. Not an easy match to say the least. The second day she met up with a tough opponent, but battled to a tie again. Her second game of the day was a bit easier. She won it fairly easily, Samantha said.

“I didn’t give a rook away — I did a whole lot better,” she said.

She lost her fifth game against top-rated Alexandra Botez, then earned a bye in game six. And so it all came down to her last match of the tournament.

“I had to win the game to guarantee me second place or tie it to share,” Samantha said.

Here is the full article.