Canadian Grandmaster of chess
Which title was conferred to Pascal Charbonneau in 2003?
Pascal Charbonneau Pascal Charbonneau ( born May 6 , 1983 in Montreal ) is a Canadian Grandmaster of chess , and a financial analyst . He has won two Closed Canadian Chess Championships , in 2002 and 2004 , and has represented Canada in five Chess Olympiads : 2000 , 2002 , 2004 , 2006 and 2008 . Early years . Pascal Charbonneau was introduced to chess through the Chessn Math Association 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 . 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 . 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 worlds top-rated player , Viswanathan Anand , at Turin . - Istanbul 2000 : board 4 , 4.5/9 ( +2 =5 -2 ) - Bled 2002 : board 3 , 6/11 ( +5 =2 -4 ) - Calvià 2004 : board 1 , 5/12 ( +3 =4 -5 ) - Turin 2006 : 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 Championship . He got to work on his chess with GM Alexander Onischuk . In the fall of 2005 he played Board 1 on the winning Baltimore Kingfishers team in the online United States Chess League and won the MVP title . He studied Mathematics and Finance , and graduated in 2006 , taking a job on Wall Street . Canadian Champion . Charbonneau won the 2002 Closed / Zonal Canadian Chess Championship at Richmond , British Columbia . He tied 1st-2nd places with Kevin Spraggett with 8.5/11 , then won the two-game playoff match 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 with 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 2–0 . Grandmaster . Charbonneau won his second Closed / Zonal Canadian Chess Championship at Toronto 2004 , again in a playoff . He tied with Eric Lawson on 7/9 , then won the two-game playoff match 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 Kings Gambit : A Son , A Father and the Worlds Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman , 2007 . Charbonneaus younger sister , Anne-Marie Charbonneau , won the 2002–2003 Canadian Junior Girls Championship , is a Candidate Master level player , 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 , Queens 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 .