2022 Battle of Alberta
By: Lars Lowther
9/4/2022 5:32:49 PM
On September 3, 2022, the annual Battle of Alberta was held in Red Deer.
The Battle of Alberta is the among the most prestigious tournaments in Alberta. The North and South produce 12 strong players each, who face off against each other to determine the superior chess region of Alberta for the year.
This year, a strong team comprised of: FM Gary Ng, FM Dale Haessel, NM Maxim Vasic, Hemant Srinivisan, Jinghui Bai, NM Roy Yearwood, Sammy Yao, Emil Soberov, Anand Rishi Chandra, Belly Cacho, Jim Daniluk and Nicholas Zacharias took down their counterparts from the North by a final score of 15 - 9. Zeeshan Munir performed admirably as both captain and the tournament director for the event.
The squad was the perfect combination of experienced and young members which worked perfectly to deliver the results this year, another year running.
Jim Daniluk and Roy Yearwood yet again proved themselves as highly skilled chess players at the top level by both of the them scoring 2 points each over their opponents. Not to be bested by the seasoned veterans of the Calgary Chess Club, young talent Jinghui Bai put up a similar 2/2 performance against Edmonton notable Mike Zeggelar.
Every member of Team South was able to walk away with at least a half point and contributed to the final tally.
Team South has not lost since 2018. In 2019, the Battle of Alberta ended in a 12:12 draw, in 2020, the online battle ended 26:22 in favourTeam South, in 2021 Team South scored a record 18.5 : 5.5 victory.
With 2022 in the bag with a 15:9 score, Team South looks forward to repeating the feat next year in Red Deer.