Jorge Moreno was calm, but his parents were crying.
The P.E.I. chess player’s recent performance at a tournament in Montreal qualified him for the international title of FIDE Candidate Master.
“I was in a video call with them. So they started crying, and then I started crying because I realized what I just did,” he said in an interview on CBC’s Mainstreet P.E.I.
“For any chess player, getting a title is the main goal. It’s like a proof of your strength…. That’s the difference between an amateur player and a professional player.”
LISTEN | Island chess player secures prestigious title of chess master:
The 29-year-old Island resident, who’s originally from Lima, Peru, is the province’s No. 1-ranked classical chess player and a two-time provincial champion.
He was in Montreal representing the province — P.E.I.’s first representative since 1999 — at the Canadian Closed Chess Championship, which consisted of nine rounds.
He scored five out of nine points against some of the country’s strongest chess players, finishing 25th overall in the field of 85 — earning him the prestigious chess master title, the first for a P.E.I. representative.
The title is obtained by a strong performance in a high-level tournament. The Canadian Closed Chess Championship is the only tournament in the country that offers the title directly through performance.
Moreno got his start in chess at a late age.
He learned the game’s theory at 17 years old, while most masters dive in between ages four and seven. He had some experience playing chess through his grandfather from the age of four, but it wasn’t until years later he became more competitive.
“When I found this world — the world of chess, competitive chess — I realized that I didn’t know anything,” he said.
“I had to [make] a decision [to] quit to focus on my career in that moment or to continue and try to do it in the best way possible…. So I decided to try.”
After stepping away from the game to focus on his career, Moreno says he found himself playing chess again online during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Submitted)
Moreno said chess is viewed as an official sport in Peru, complete with scholarships and benefits. Universities make efforts to obtain the best players, making competition for a role on the team fierce.
Prior to coming to P.E.I., this provided Moreno “a crucial experience” that helped him grow as a player.
He would eventually quit the game to focus on his career as a journalist and in public relations in his home country.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic began, he found himself working from home. He began playing chess again, online.
Moreno is studying at UPEI, but plans on working toward his next chess title. (Submitted)
Moreno came to P.E.I. in 2022 and sought a place to play. He found the Charlottetown Chess Club after sending a message to Chess P.E.I. president Fred McKim, who invited Moreno to participate in a weekly meeting.
“When I went there, I remember that I defeated everyone in the first night,” he said. “I was very consistent in the way in which I was playing, and that’s something that Fred told me.”
Moreno would eventually compete in the 2022 Maritime Chess Festival in Summerside, which featured players from throughout Atlantic Canada. He finishing in second place.
“I remember [McKim] covered the hotel expenses and he told me, ‘No, you have to participate because you’re a good player and I would love to have you there playing for P.E.I.,'” Moreno said.
“That was the beginning.”
The road to master
Earning the title of master wasn’t easy.
Moreno said chess players in the Maritimes don’t have access to as many high-level tournaments as players in larger provinces.
His first two days in Montreal exhausted him, and he witnessed his opponents recovering more quickly. By the third day, Moreno found his groove and won three consecutive games.
He said becoming a master will “open many doors” because the title is an international recognition. On a personal level, he called it “very meaningful” because it’s “something that any chess player would love to have.”
Moreno is currently studying at UPEI, but he has plans to continue working toward his next title.
“Chess is not about who is the smartest one,” he said.
“When parents here ask me, ‘How can I help my son to become a competitive player?’ … I don’t have a secret. The secret is, I just give them a list of books…. It is about who is willing to do the effort and who is willing to invest the time.”