Connecting cultures at high school chess championship

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This article was published 28/03/2023 (951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yaroslav Kolesnykov hardly says a word as he settles in for his fourth match at the Manitoba high school chess championship.

The 15 year-old refugee immigrated from Ukraine six months ago, transitioning into academic life at Calvin Christian School in Winnipeg. He is not yet fluent in English, but does not need to speak to play.

For Kolesnykov, and others like him, chess is a universal language.

Around 70 students competed in the second annual provincial championship at Sisler High School (1360 Redwood Ave.) on Tuesday.

“I heard about the tournament and I just wanted to play (some good games),” Kolesnykov said, minutes after registering his first loss of the day.

“Here, a lot of Ukrainians who need help, they can speak or understand Canadian culture and people.”

Some 10 Ukrainian students — most displaced by the Russian invasion of their homeland — participated in the tournament, each teen vying for provincial glory.

Participants played by Swiss tournament rules, in which no players are eliminated and the winners earn points and move on to compete against one another. The tournament included six rounds, with a max playtime of 24 minutes per match.

Kolesnykov said he hoped one of his countrymen or women would be crowned the winner, and by 4 p.m., he had his wish.

Ievgeniia-Diana Furda secured the title after going undefeated during the tournament.

Ievgeniia-Diana is in Grade 11 at Kelvin, and immigrated with her family before the war.

The Sisler Chess Club took home the championship title for the team portion of the tournament.

“I’m thrilled. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than seeing a room full of people that are keen to play chess,” Blair Rutter, president of the Manitoba Chess Association, said during the event.

“It’s been a great success. It’s something we plan to do every year now.”

The 2022 edition of the high school championship was its first in more than a decade, Rutter said. Thirty-eight students competed, with the number of registrants nearly doubling this year.

The association president attributes the rise in interest to a resurgence of chess in popular culture.

In 2021, Netflix mini-series The Queen’s Gambit garnered critical acclaim and collected numerous Emmy awards and nominations. Elsewhere, players such as Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen have harnessed the power of the internet to livestream matches online, captivating younger audiences.

“You’re matching your wits against someone else. It’s a battle of strategy and there’s no luck involved; it’s pure skill,” Rutter said of why people are drawn to the strategy board game that has been played for centuries.

Sisler teacher Orysya Petryshyn was instrumental in bringing the high school championship back to life, seeing it as an opportunity to facilitate connections between refugees and their new peers.

She teaches Canadian history at the Winnipeg high school and immigrated from Lviv, Ukraine, in 1995.

“I started thinking: what can we do; what can I do as a teacher, as a mom and a Ukrainian Canadian… I did not sleep for days and nights while preparing for this,” Petryshyn said.

“You do not have to be Ukrainian to play chess, you can be any nationality; any background. Chess is a global language.”

Registration for the event was free, but organizers collected donations and dedicated the proceeds to Ukrainian non-profit relief organizations.

Petryshyn did not have exact figures, but estimated the event generated thousands of dollars.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca