2025 Canadian Youth Chess Championship Event Report by Victoria Doknjas, Co-Chair
A Week of Champions, Chaos, and Community in Surrey, BC
The 2025 CYCC made a long-awaited comeback to British Columbia — returning to Surrey for the first time since 2012 — and it came back in style. With 537 of Canada’s top young talents gathering under one roof, it became the second largest CYCC in history, hosted once again at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel. This national showdown featured 12 intense sections (technically 11, due to a merger of the U16/U18 Girls divisions), showcasing future stars in the U8 to U18 age brackets. From nail-biting time scrambles to heartfelt post-game hugs, it was chess at its most human.
But no amount of planning could predict a curveball: a labour dispute erupted just before Round 1. With rooms not available on time and some services disrupted, the Sheraton stepped up, offering free breakfast for guests and opening a large ballroom for families. The chess community adapted with grace and resilience. 🎉
Beyond the Board CYCC 2025 wasn’t just about classical chess. Players and parents immersed themselves in an electric lineup of side events:
- 2025 CYCC Blitz Championship
- 2025 CYCC Bughouse Championship
- Simul with GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux
- Master class sessions with Team Canada Head Coach GM Gergely Szabo
- “How to Grow a Competitive Chess Player”
- “How to Be a Supportive Chess Parent”
- Youth Chess Presentation with Christina Tao and GM Szabo
- Master Lecture with GM Gergely Szabo and GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux
- Review of select games from WYCC 2022 including how prep was done.
Whether you were playing, learning, or cheering, there was something for everyone.
👑 Crowning Champions
The U18 Open was the crown jewel, stacked with an IM, two FMs, a CM, and a WCM. It drew ambitious players choosing to “play up” into this elite bracket.
🥇 IM Aaron Reeve Mendes was unstoppable with 6.5/7
🥈 FM Ethan Song (BC) took second with 5.5
🥉 WCM Kate Jiang (BC) edged out on tiebreaks to take 3rd Place with 5/7
4th: FM Ryan Yang, also with 5 points
Other standout BC finishers include: Karson Lu (🏆 U8 Open Champion), Xavier Zhang (U8 Open tied 3rd Place), Anh C N Nguyen (U8 Girls tied 3rd Place), Evelyn Lou (U10 Girls tied for 1st Place), Kai Zhongkai Zhang (U12 Open tied for 1st Place), Zoya Singh and Anny Peng (U12 Girls tied for 3rd Place), Johan Aljo and Justin Xu (U16 Open tied for 3rd Place), Gillian Mok (U18 Girls for 2nd Place).
🙌 The People Behind the Magic
An event of this scale doesn’t happen without two things: strong sponsors and an even stronger team.
- Event Sponsors:
We want to thank our wonderful Sponsors: Province of British Columbia, Sport Surrey, Surrey Hotel and Motel Association, BC Chess Federation, Tangible Software Solutions Inc., TD Bank, Chess Federation of Canada, Sheraton Vancouver Guildford, Victoria Chess.
- Organizers and Officials:
Co-Chairs: Tyler Sanderson and Victoria Doknjas
Organizing Team: GM Gergely Szabo, Murray Chu, Mats Philipzig, NM Neil Doknjas, FM Joshua Doknjas, Dave Doknjas, FM John Doknjas, Tony Vu.
Chief Arbiter: Alex Ferreira, FA
Deputy Chief Arbiter: Abel Talamantez, IA
Appeals Committee: Vlad Drkulec, Vlad Rekhson, GM Gergely Szabo
Special Guest: GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux
Arbiter Team: Umang Banatwala, Brian Davidson, Christina Tao, Brandon Zhu, Gideon Tang, Huaicheng Su, WCM Joyce Zhang, Aaron Holmgren, Julius Villamar, Cindy Ren Zheng, Kaitlyn Tao, Joshua Imoo, Ryan Leong.
Outside Tournament Room Team: Joanna Imoo, Jason Imoo, April Chruszcz, Bryan Chruszcz, Jiyang Gao, Dr. Ashifa Nurani, Sabrina Jiang, Yao Wang. Brian Davidson, Umang Banatwala, and Christina Tao each scored a FIDE Arbiter (FA) Norm from their work at the CYCC.
Congratulations to Brian and Umang who now have fulfilled all their requirements to achieve the FIDE Arbiter Title!
For more photos: https://www.facebook.com/juniorstomasters
📊 Full Results: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30&tno=1212500
