P.E.I. chess champion wins 19 games at once

It’s a show of incredible skill, taking on 19 players at once, but Jorge Moreno isn’t worried at all.

The Prince Edward Island chess champion moved from Peru to Canada to study at Holland College last year. He’s taken part in eight tournaments since then and hasn’t lost a ranked game since December.

The challenge Saturday was a fundraiser for the Charlottetown Chess Club, which raised money to help six of its players who will be representing P.E.I., alongside six more scholastic players from other clubs at the Canadian Chess Challenge in Montreal this month.

Moreno won all 19 games and said there’s no trick to it, but there is a strategy.

“To avoid any kind of surprise during the openings, and to be willing to play long games, really long games. I mean you have to be mentally prepared,” said Moreno. “Also, you have to be really focused but you gain that with years of experience.”

He says he developed the skills to take on this many players without realizing it by studying chess and taking it seriously.

Moreno started late for a chess player, only beginning serious competition in university.

“I wanted to compete, and I had two options, because I have to beat really strong players to be on the chess team of my university,” said Moreno. “I learned really quick or I leave this forever.”

That hasn’t slowed him down though. Fred McKim, President of the Charlottetown Chess Club, said this is the first time in nearly 20 years an Island player has taken on this many simultaneous games.

“Certainly, we didn’t have anyone of his calibre,” said McKim. “Jorge is close to masters’ strength at the moment.”

Moreno said he hopes the demonstration will raise the profile of chess on the island, and said he wants to see it recognized by the province as an official sport.