This 12-year-old from northern Ontario is headed to a national chess tournament

A 12-year-old from the small northern Ontario town of Cochrane is headed to the Canadian Youth Chess Championship in Surrey, B.C.

Greyson Mineault said he started playing chess thanks to his father.

"I was four years old, I started playing with my dad and he was letting me cheat," Mineault said.

He stopped playing the game for a while, but said he picked it up again when he was in Grade 4, when one of his teachers was running a chess club. 

Mineault has played in regional chess tournaments around northern Ontario, but he said this will be his first time at a national championship. 

"I'm used to only seeing people from Ontario, I'll see people from Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C.," he said.

Greyson's father, Rodger Mineault, said his son has progressed quickly at chess.

"He keeps his skills sharp. He's always learning and watching videos. And I'm no longer doing that," he said.

Every time he plays at a chess tournament, Mineault said he has a lucky T-shirt he wears that has a question mark on it.

"That was the shirt I wore when my school brought back the trophy for the first time in five years," he said.

Mineault said he hopes to climb the chess rankings and eventually become an international master, or even a grandmaster.

Canadian Youth Chess Championship runs from July 8 to July 11.