P.E.I. returns to Canadian chess championship after 27 years with top-ranked player

Jorge Moreno is the first-ever player from P.E.I. to be represented at the world-renowned chess competition. Maria Sarrouh reports.

CHARLOTTETOWN - For the first time in nearly three decades, Prince Edward Island was back at one of Canada’s top chess championships this month, and one player’s performance could mark a major moment for the game in the province.

The province’s top-rated player, Jorge Moreno, competed at the Canadian Closed Chess Championship in Montreal from April 2 to 7. He scored five points over nine rounds, a result Chess PEI says puts him on track for the International Chess Federation’s, or FIDE’s, Candidate Master title, pending a formal process and rating requirement.

According to the club’s records, that would make him the first player to achieve that while representing P.E.I.

“It was an emotional moment,” said Moreno, 29. “It might sound a little cheesy or maybe unbelievable, but I remembered my whole life in that moment, like in the movies.”

Moreno said each game lasted about four hours on average, with the shortest taking three hours and the longest five. He said it’s easy to lose focus during a long tournament, but he stayed grounded in his preparation and his motivation.

“You have to be confident in your experience and your knowledge,” he said. “I knew that I was doing this for my parents… and my wife. It was really meaningful for them.”

Originally from Peru, Moreno moved to P.E.I. in 2022 and is now an English major at the University of Prince Edward Island. He said he wasn’t planning to compete when he arrived in Canada, but support from the local chess community changed that.

Members of the Charlottetown Chess Club offered rides to and from tournaments when buses were no longer running, and Chess PEI president Fred McKim helped cover hotel costs so he could compete at the Maritime Chess Festival in Summerside a few years ago.

McKim told CTV News in an email that Moreno’s result may have seemed unexpected to people who don’t know him well, but not to those who saw how seriously he trained for the event.

He also pointed to Moreno’s work coaching his own youth chess team, which speaks to the example he’s setting.

“He is clearly a role model for them as well as many other juniors in P.E.I,” said McKim, who was the last player to compete at the Canadian Closed Chess Championship in 1999.

Moreno also gives back to the community in other ways, taking part in fundraisers for scholastic players and serving as an arbiter at children’s tournaments.

He said some parents ask whether they should move to bigger cities to give their children more opportunities.

“It was, for me, important to do this now to show that it was possible to do it from a small province,” Moreno said. “It’s difficult, but it’s possible if you take it seriously.”

FIDE grants four open titles: Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster. Moreno said he plans to continue climbing the ladder, with his sights set on the FIDE Master title, which will require more internationally rated tournaments at home and abroad.