On Wednesday, May 28, no fewer than 300 young chess masters will gather in Wawa to participate in the ninth Franco-Northwest Chess Tournament. Presented by Saint-Joseph School (Wawa), this competition will bring together French-speaking students from the following elementary and secondary schools: Ste-Marie (Azilda), Sacré-Coeur (Chapleau), ÉSC Trillium (Chapleau), Alliance St-Joseph (Chelmsford), St-Joseph (Dubreuilville), Notre-Dame (Hamner), Saint Nom de Jésus (Hornepayne), St-Paul (Lively), Val-des-Bois (Marathon), Notre-Dame-du-Sault (Sault-Ste-Marie), Écho-des-Rapides (Sault-Ste-Marie), ÉS Notre-Dame-du-Sault (Sault-Ste-Marie), Sainte-Anne (Spanish), St-Denis (Sudbury), Ste-Thérèse (Val Thérèse), l'Escalade (Wawa), Saint-Joseph (Wawa) and ÉS Saint-Joseph (Wawa). This year, students from nearly 20 French-speaking Catholic and public schools will participate in the tournament.
The tournament will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Wawa Community Centre (3 Chris Simon Road, Wawa). Each participant will have the opportunity to play five games. The tournament offers four categories: Grades 3 and 4, Grades 5 and 6, Grades 7 and 8, and Grades 9 to 12. There will be prizes in each category for the winning teams and top-performing students.
Saint-Joseph School in Wawa is renowned for its students' passion for chess, a discipline that requires strategic finesse, memory, and problem-solving skills. The organizers of this friendly French-language competition hope to allow more students from northwestern Ontario and beyond to discover chess and hone their skills in this discipline.
