02 July 27, 2002 - ObserverXtra

INSHORT
Consultant to temper
negotiations between
council and CCB’s
Wellesley council will hire the services
of a local mediator to help negotiate the
future organization and responsibilities of
the township’s community centre boards.
Bob Foulds of HarVAN Consulting in New
Hamburg will oversea a workshop
designed to rework the bylaw pertaining
to the responsibilities and duties of the
areas five community centre boards.
The decision was made following Mayor
Doug Bergman’s concerns that some
board members were usurping council.
The proposal to hire Foulds was made
during a committee meeting on July 23
and will not be ratified until the next
council meeting on Aug. 6.
School sale confirmed
The sale of the old Heidelberg school
property to the St. Clements Bible
Fellowship was confirmed on July 14.
Congregation member Paul Hoffman
said plans for the building’s renovation or
any further construction won’t be decided
upon until the fall, although the school will
be used as is in the coming weeks for the
church’s vacation bible school.
The school had been for sale since it was
closed over a year ago.
CCB in St. Clements
gets a new chair
A new chair has been selected to head up
the St. Clements’ Community Centre Board.
St. Clements resident, Peter Straus
replaces former chair Richard Brick.
The volunteer position is responsible for
overseeing and raising money for local
recreation facilities and events.
Lantz out, Batabyal
still in Hamilton
The condition of the two passengers
taken to the Hamilton General Hospital on
July 9 continues to improve.
Matt Lantz was discharged from the
hospital on July 23, while Taposhi
Batabyal remains in a general ward and is
still listed in fair condition.
Staff Sgt. Scott Diefenbaker said that
investigators met July 24 with crown
attorneys in Kitchener in an attempt to
determine the appropriate charges for the
three-vehicle accident, which occurred on
Arthur St. S. south of Elmira. He said that
an announcement in regards to these
charges should be made sometime within
the next week.
Wellesley to discuss
nurse practitioner
The first meeting between provincial and
local health officials to discuss the
appointment of a nurse practitioner in
Wellesley Township will be held on
September 9, 2002 at 7 p.m.
The chief nurse and director of
programming at the policy branch of the
Ministry of Health Mary Beth Valentine will
meet with the district health council and
local health officials to decide how and
when a nurse practitioner will be
integrated into the township.
As a severely under serviced community,
Wellesley is one of 20 communities
earmarked to receive a practitioner.
UPFRONT
JULY 27, 2002 • NEWS • WOOLWICH OBSERVER 3
King of the board
Breslau boy takes third at national youth chess tournament
HUGO RODRIGUES
CHECK Justin McDonald recreated the last move that forced his opponent to forfeit in Justin’s last game at the chess tournament he attended in
Montreal July 9 – 12. The move put Justin into third place overall, making him eligible to attend the world championship in November.
By By Hugo Hugo Rodrigues
Rodrigues
Rodrigues
OBSERVER STAFF
While others his
age were pawns
to the excitement
of a second week
off from school, 11-year-old
Justin McDonald was working
hard in front of a chessboard
in Montreal at the
Canadian Youth
Chess Championship.
McDonald, who
lives in Breslau
and will be attending
Grade 6
at William G.
Davis Senior PS
in Cambridge
come September,
ended up placing third in
his under-12 age group at the
tournament, held at McGill
University from July 9-12. In
an interesting twist of fate, his
third place finish was decided
on points since the secondplace
boy forfeited the game he
played against McDonald but
ended up ahead of McDonald
by only half a point.
“Sometimes you can draw,”
said McDonald, explaining the
situation where both chess
players agree to end the game
without a decided winner.
Justin experienced
this during the tournament,
which gave
him the
half-point
he needed
to advance.Ultimately,
however,
the draw placed
him behind the second-place
finisher, who had
clear wins or losses throughout
the whole tournament.
The third-place showing in
Montreal giave McDonald the
right to attend the World Youth
Chess Championship taking
place on the island of Crete in
Greece later on this year. The
McDonalds haven’t decided if
that trip’s a go yet, although
Justin’s enthusiasm to go at
this point could carry them
there regardless of the fact
that only the first-place player
from each age category gets
their airfare and accommodation
paid, said Justin’s father,
Patrick McDonald.
“We’re going to have to talk
about it because Justin will
have to commit, so that if we
are going to go then he’s going
to have to do a bit more work
on it,” said Patrick, alluding to
Justin perhaps undertaking
some fundraising or approaching
some local business to help
the family defray the travel
costs. The trip, however, could
be the next step for Justin and
his chess-playing travel.
Father and son figured that
over the last few years Justin’s
chess has taken him to 11 cities
in Ontario ranging from Ottawa
in the east to Parry Sound
in north and as far west as
Hanover. Justin has also travelled
to New Brunswick for last
year’s championship, as well
as to the U.S.
Of course he also plays a lot
of chess in the K-W area,
where international federation
master Hans Jung is currently
coaching him. Under his
tutelage, Justin has been able
to achieve a score of 1,708 in
the chess world, where scores
are based on a regulated system.
“It’s [based on] how well you
do against other players because
other players have ratings,”
explained Justin. “And
if you win against other players
who are ranked higher
than you go up a lot of points
and he goes down. If you win
(SEE CHESS PAGE 7)