De the Magalhaes siblings involved in the 21e Mont-de-Marsan International Chess Open, until Monday December 30, it is Sophie, the smallest, who we first notice. At 6 years old, almost 7 years old, his head barely protrudes from the table and above the pieces of the chessboard. Then we say to ourselves that Louise, at the next table, at 9 years old, is not very tall either. Next to them, their big brother, Enzo, 12, would seem almost tall.
All three are members of the Échiquier Monois, organizer of the tournament, and came to take advantage of the opportunity to practice playing long games, before the Aquitaine championships in Saint-Macaire (Gironde) at the end of February. All three of them qualified by winning, each in their category, the title of Landes champion, in Hagetmau, on December 15. “The games are mixed and the girls are poorly represented,” explains their dad Sébastien, to explain the coronation of Sophie and Louise after only nine months of practice. “But they still won games,” he emphasizes.
“Boosters”
The training will consist of nine rounds over five days. “It has to remain a game and they have to have fun,” adds their mother, Audrey. The two parents are stationed at the refreshment bar of the Auberge Landaise, on this first day, not very far from the gaming tables.
Louise, in the foreground, and Sophie, in the second, during their first game Thursday morning.
Matthieu Sartre
It's Sophie who returns first, smiling, after half an hour of play. “She played really well, she saw all my attacks and made some great shots in defense. She just lost concentration when she was defeated,” says Florian, her opponent, who came from Bonneuil-sur-Marne (94).
The one who came to Mont-de-Marsan to reconnect with real games – “I’m tired of online gaming” – works on a daily basis… teaching children, with the magazine “Europe Chess”. “It’s great for the future to have players like Sophie, it shows that it’s not an old man’s game, or that it’s complicated. I only have one comment, it is that booster seats are needed so that she can see the chessboard clearly! »
Small world, but not airtight
“Are you finished yet?” We'll have to play slower,” the club president, Bernard Dubertrand, comes to tease her, who comes to inquire about the youngest player's result. “It’s a small world, we often find the same faces, but it’s not a hermetic world,” notes Sébastien Magalhaes. His family is proof of that.
With three children playing at home, we imagine games that follow one another, and that the parents are fans too. Well not at all. “It's not their main activity,” reflects the mother, who also lists Wednesday days punctuated by basketball, rollerblading, climbing, football. “I got started,” says the dad. I learned some openings, the first moves, because I was tired of being beaten by Enzo. »
Matthieu Sartre
Enzo Magalhaes, 12 years old, concentrated during his first game, Thursday November 26, of the 21st Mont-de-Marsan International Chess Open.
The eldest is the one who fell in first, all alone, while watching a cartoon episode devoted to chess. “He invented a chessboard with cards and Legos, so we bought one anyway,” the parents laugh. It was three years ago.
“I like the strategy side. Pose problems with white, and find the trick to defend with black”
“I like the strategy side. Pose problems with white, and find the trick to defend with black then attack,” explains Enzo, very concentrated. He left his first game (lost) frustrated on Thursday, after an hour and a quarter of play. Louise finished the last one after more than two hours of play: “I lost but I almost won,” she says. , with childish enthusiasm. He has eight rounds left to secure a victory, but for the experience, it is well won.
The tournament continues until Monday December 30, last round in the morning before the prize giving ceremony in the afternoon. The first three tables can be followed online here.
