Pascal Charbonneau
Encyclopedia
Pascal Charbonneau is a Canadian Grandmaster of chess
, a financial analyst, and an avid supporter of the NYC Club, Tenjune. He has won two Closed Canadian Chess Championship
s, in 2002 and 2004, and has represented Canada in four Chess Olympiad
s: 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
scholastic programs in Montreal, while he was in grade one. He showed talent and, coached by FM Richard Bérubé, he won a clutch of provincial and national grade school championships over the next several years.
Reaching National Master strength by age 14, he shared 2nd-3rd places in the Canadian Cadet Championship (under 16) at Victoria
1997 with 6.5/9. A few months later, he made a big step forward when he placed 2nd in the 1997-98 Junior Canadian Chess Championship
in Winnipeg
with 9/11. In 1998, he won the Canadian Cadet (Under 16) Championship in Saskatoon
with 7/9. Then he won the 1998-99 Junior Canadian Championship in Vancouver
with 10/11. This qualified him into the 1999 World Junior Championship at Yerevan
, where he scored 6/13. Charbonneau won the 1999 Canadian Youth Championship (U16 group) at Vancouver with 4.5/5. He tied for 1st-2nd places, with Danny Goldenberg, in the 1999–2000 Canadian Junior Championship in Montreal, but lost the playoff match. He won the 2000 CYCC, Boys' Under 18 group, in Calgary with 5.5/6. He won the knockout-style provincial Quebec Championship in 2000.
He defeated Grandmaster Igor Miladinović
by 3.5-2.5 in a 2000 exhibition match in Montreal
; this was impressive, since at the time, Charbonneau did not have an international title. He followed this up by winning the 2000-01 Canadian Junior Championship in Montreal with 6.5/8. He then won the 2001 CYCC at Sackville
with a perfect score, 7/7. A below-standard result was only shared 4th-6th place in the 2001-02 Canadian Junior Championship at Winnipeg
with 5/8.
, at Turin.
. In the fall of 2005 he played Board 1 on the winning Baltimore Kingfishers team in the online US Chess League and won the MVP title. He studied Mathematics and Finance, and graduated in 2006, taking a job on Wall Street
.
at Richmond, British Columbia
. He tied 1st-2nd places with Kevin Spraggett
on 8.5/11, then won the two-game playoff match by 1.5-0.5. Charbonneau earned the International Master title for his victory. He continued his excellent play by sharing 1st-3rd places in the 2002 Open Canadian Chess Championship
in Montreal
on 8/10, along with Jean-Marc Degraeve
and Jean Hebert
.
Charbonneau made his first Grandmaster norm at the Montreal
International 2003, where he scored 6.5/11 for 5th place with 9 GMs in the field. Shortly afterwards, he scored his second GM norm in the Americas Continental Championship at Buenos Aires
2003, with 8/11, which was good for a shared 3rd-8th place. He lost his World Championship first-round knockout match to Alexey Dreev
at Tripoli
2005 by 2-0.
at Toronto
2004, again in a playoff. He tied with Eric Lawson on 7/9, then won the two-game playoff match by 2-0. Charbonneau was mugged at gunpoint at the 2005 World Open in Philadelphia. He scored his final GM norm by winning the 2006 Chicago
Winter Invitational with 6/9. In the Closed / Zonal Canadian Chess Championship
at Toronto
2006, Charbonneau shared 2nd-5th places with 6.5/9, behind new champion Igor Zugic
. The story of his becoming a Grandmaster is in the book King's Gambit: A Son, A Father and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman, 2007.
Charbonneau is married to WGM / IM Irina Krush
, the 2007 U.S. Women's Champion. His younger sister Anne-Marie Charbonneau won the 2002–2003 Canadian Junior Girls' Championship, is a Candidate Master level player herself, and was a member of the winning team from the University of Montreal, at the 2006 Canadian Post-Secondary Championships in Montreal.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, a financial analyst, and an avid supporter of the NYC Club, Tenjune. He has won two Closed Canadian Chess Championship
Canadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
s, in 2002 and 2004, and has represented Canada in four Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s: 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
Early years
Pascal Charbonneau was introduced to chess through the Chess'n Math AssociationChess'n Math Association
The Chess'n Math Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing chess into Canadian schools...
scholastic programs in Montreal, while he was in grade one. He showed talent and, coached by FM Richard Bérubé, he won a clutch of provincial and national grade school championships over the next several years.
Reaching National Master strength by age 14, he shared 2nd-3rd places in the Canadian Cadet Championship (under 16) at Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
1997 with 6.5/9. A few months later, he made a big step forward when he placed 2nd in the 1997-98 Junior Canadian Chess Championship
Canadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
with 9/11. In 1998, he won the Canadian Cadet (Under 16) Championship in Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
with 7/9. Then he won the 1998-99 Junior Canadian Championship in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
with 10/11. This qualified him into the 1999 World Junior Championship at Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, where he scored 6/13. Charbonneau won the 1999 Canadian Youth Championship (U16 group) at Vancouver with 4.5/5. He tied for 1st-2nd places, with Danny Goldenberg, in the 1999–2000 Canadian Junior Championship in Montreal, but lost the playoff match. He won the 2000 CYCC, Boys' Under 18 group, in Calgary with 5.5/6. He won the knockout-style provincial Quebec Championship in 2000.
He defeated Grandmaster Igor Miladinović
Igor Miladinovic
Igor Miladinović is a Serbian chess grandmaster. On the November 2009 FIDE list his Elo rating was 2553.Miladinović won the 1993 World Junior Chess Championship and at the end of the year was declared for the athlete of the Year in Yugoslavia. In 1994 he played for Yugoslavia in the Moscow...
by 3.5-2.5 in a 2000 exhibition match in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
; this was impressive, since at the time, Charbonneau did not have an international title. He followed this up by winning the 2000-01 Canadian Junior Championship in Montreal with 6.5/8. He then won the 2001 CYCC at Sackville
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
with a perfect score, 7/7. A below-standard result was only shared 4th-6th place in the 2001-02 Canadian Junior Championship at Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
with 5/8.
Canadian Olympian
Charbonneau earned his first Canadian national team selection at the age of 17 in 2000, and has gone on to play for Canada in the next three Chess Olympiads as well. He earned his FIDE Master (FM) title from his performance at Istanbul 2000, as well as from the Montreal International a few months earlier. A summary of his Olympiad results follows (from olimpbase.org). His aggregate to date is (+14 =12 -17), with his most memorable moment coming from a victory over the world's top-rated player, Viswanathan AnandViswanathan Anand
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
, at Turin.
- Istanbul 200034th Chess OlympiadThe 34th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, took place between October 28 and November 12, 2000, in Istanbul, Turkey.- Chess competition :...
: board 4, 4.5/9 (+2 =5 -2) - Bled 200235th Chess OlympiadThe 35th Chess Olympiad took place from October 25th to November 11th, 2002, in Bled, . In the men's tournament there were 136 teams, and in the women's, 92 teams...
: board 3, 6/11 (+5 =2 -4) - Calvià 200436th Chess OlympiadThe 36th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 14 and October 31, 2004, in Calvià on the Spanish island of Majorca.-Chess...
: board 1, 5/12 (+3 =4 -5) - Turin 200637th Chess OlympiadThe 37th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open and women's tournament and the general assembly of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs , took place between 20 May and 6 June 2006, in Turin, Italy.-Open tournament:...
: board 1, 4.5/11 (+4 =1 -6).
Chess scholarship
Charbonneau earned a chess scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, beginning in 2001, and represented that school in the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships. He got to work on his chess with GM Alexander OnischukAlexander Onischuk
Alexander Onischuk is an American chess grandmaster. Originally from Ukraine, he immigrated to the US in 2001 and currently lives in Northern Virginia. He was the 2006 U.S. Chess Champion...
. In the fall of 2005 he played Board 1 on the winning Baltimore Kingfishers team in the online US Chess League and won the MVP title. He studied Mathematics and Finance, and graduated in 2006, taking a job on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
.
Canadian Champion
Charbonneau won the 2002 Closed / Zonal Canadian Chess ChampionshipCanadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
at Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
. He tied 1st-2nd places with Kevin Spraggett
Kevin Spraggett
Kevin Spraggett is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He is the fourth Canadian to earn the grandmaster title, after Abe Yanofsky, Duncan Suttles and Peter Biyiasas. Spraggett is the only Canadian to have qualified for the Candidates' level, having done so in 1985 and 1988...
on 8.5/11, then won the two-game playoff match by 1.5-0.5. Charbonneau earned the International Master title for his victory. He continued his excellent play by sharing 1st-3rd places in the 2002 Open Canadian Chess Championship
Canadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on 8/10, along with Jean-Marc Degraeve
Jean-Marc Degraeve
Jean-Marc Degraeve is a Grandmaster of chess from France.-Accomplishments:Degraeve won the French Junior Championship in 1987, and had attained the title of International Master in 1991, followed by the Grandmaster title in 1998. He played for France in various international tournaments,...
and Jean Hebert
Jean Hébert
Jean Hébert is a Canadian International Master of chess, an International Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and a chess writer, journalist, and commentator. He is the current Canadian chess champion, a title he first won in 1978. He tied for this title in 2007 as well, but lost in playoffs...
.
Charbonneau made his first Grandmaster norm at the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
International 2003, where he scored 6.5/11 for 5th place with 9 GMs in the field. Shortly afterwards, he scored his second GM norm in the Americas Continental Championship at Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
2003, with 8/11, which was good for a shared 3rd-8th place. He lost his World Championship first-round knockout match to Alexey Dreev
Alexey Dreev
Alexey Dreev is a chess grandmaster from Russia. His career peak Elo rating was 2705, attained in October 2003 and again in April 2005.He qualified for the Candidates Tournament in 1991, but lost his Quarter Final match to Viswanathan Anand in Madras .Then in the FIDE World Championship...
at Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
2005 by 2-0.
Grandmaster
Charbonneau won his second Closed / Zonal Canadian Chess ChampionshipCanadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
at Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
2004, again in a playoff. He tied with Eric Lawson on 7/9, then won the two-game playoff match by 2-0. Charbonneau was mugged at gunpoint at the 2005 World Open in Philadelphia. He scored his final GM norm by winning the 2006 Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Winter Invitational with 6/9. In the Closed / Zonal Canadian Chess Championship
Canadian Chess Championship
This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
at Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
2006, Charbonneau shared 2nd-5th places with 6.5/9, behind new champion Igor Zugic
Igor Zugic
Igor Zugic , is a Canadian International Master of chess who was the 2006 Canadian Champion. He is an engineer by profession.Zugic was born in Yugoslavia and emigrated to Canada with his family at age 12, settling in Toronto...
. The story of his becoming a Grandmaster is in the book King's Gambit: A Son, A Father and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman, 2007.
Charbonneau is married to WGM / IM Irina Krush
Irina Krush
Irina Krush is an American chess player who won the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 1998, 2007, and 2010. Born in Odessa, USSR , she is widely known for her series of chess training videos, the "Krushing Attacks" series.Krush learned to play chess at age five, emigrating with her parents to...
, the 2007 U.S. Women's Champion. His younger sister Anne-Marie Charbonneau won the 2002–2003 Canadian Junior Girls' Championship, is a Candidate Master level player herself, and was a member of the winning team from the University of Montreal, at the 2006 Canadian Post-Secondary Championships in Montreal.
Notable chess games
- Igor Miladinovic vs Pascal Charbonneau, Montreal match 2000, game 4, Queen's Indian Defence (A47) 0-1 As an untitled player facing a Grandmaster, Charbonneau scores an upset win.
- Pascal Charbonneau vs Viorel Iordachescu, Bled Olympiad 2002, Modern Defence (B06), 1-0
- Pascal Charbonneau vs Gilberto Milos, Americas Continental Championship, Buenos Aires 2003, Caro-Kann Defence, Advance Variation (B12), 1-0 The strong Brazilian GM loses in a major upset as Charbonneau scores his second GM norm.
- Pascal Charbonneau vs Alexander Huzman, Montreal International 2005, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B96), 1-0 Very nice positional victory over the experienced Israeli GM.
- Eugene Perelshteyn vs Pascal Charbonneau, Chicago Winter Invitational 2006, Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack (B78), 0-1 A key win from the event where Charbonneau became a Grandmaster.
- Pascal Charbonneau vs Viswanathan Anand, Turin Olympiad 2006, Sicilian Defence, Paulsen Variation (B44), 1-0 Anand attacks and Charbonneau defends precisely.