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Surrey family dominates chess tourney

A Surrey family swept all the honours at the 2017 Bowser Builders Chess Tournament over the weekend.
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Louise Leblanc photo The Doknjas family dominated the 2017 Bowser Builders Chess Tournament winning the top honours in the junior and open competitions. From left: Proud father Dave; mother Victoria, the winner of the Ladies trophy; Neil, winner of the under 16 years title; Joshua, second place in the open; and John first place in the open with Robert McFetridge of the Bishops of Bowser presenting the prizes.

A Surrey family swept all the honours at the 2017 Bowser Builders Chess Tournament over the weekend.

The annual tournament held at the Bowser Legion Hall drew 25 contestants from as far as Campbell River to Victoria on the Island, Surrey and Burnaby on the Mainland and one contestant returning from New Zealand.

The Doknjas family stole the show when they clinched all the trophies from the junior level to the open competition.

After four rounds, brothers John and Joshua Doknjas were tied for first place. A sudden death blitz round of five minutes was played but it ended in a draw forcing a second blitz. This time, the oldest of the two, John, emerged triumphant to claim the top trophy.

The junior competition was also a closely contested affair. William Landstrom and Neil Doknjas were tied after four rounds and required blitz game to settle who brings home the trophy. Neil won the tiebreak to win the under-16 event.

Victoria Doknjas won the ladies competition.

—NEWS Staff



Michael Briones

About the Author: Michael Briones

I rejoined the PQB News team in April 2017 from the Comox Valley Echo, having previously covered sports for The NEWS in 1997.
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