Players from across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will go head to head in the eighth annual Grand Pacific Open Chess tournament at the Hotel Grand Pacific on Easter Weekend.
The event will feature the toughest competition to date with 17 chess masters registered.
Top ranked player is International Master David Cummings of Toronto. Cummings was awarded the IM title in 1984. He was the top player on the Welsh National Team during the 1990s and also played for the Canadian National Team in the 2000 Chess Olympiad.
The top BC player is Jack Yoos of Vancouver. Yoos, last year’s Grand Pacific Open champion has won the B.C. championship five times.
Victoria’s Jason Cao is the local favourite. Cao won the 2010 World Under 10 Championship in Halkidiki, Greece and has been working his way up the overall standings in B.C. Chess. He currently ranks sixth in the province.
The top American competitor is Women’s Grandmaster Katerina Rohonyan. Rohonyan is a former Chess Olympiad bronze medalist with the Ukrainian National Team who now calls Seattle home.
This year’s event will feature more than 100 competitors.
Play begins at 6 p.m. Friday (April 18) and continues during the afternoon and evening on Saturday and Sunday, concluding with the final round Monday at 10 a.m.