Veteran Harewood leads National Chess Championship 2nd Qualifier

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Othneil Harwood (left) started the tournament with a win against Hannah Wilson and has a perfect record after four rounds. (BCF Pictures)

Veteran Harewood leads National Chess Championship 2nd Qualifier

Veteran Othneil Harewood has reeled off a perfect streak to take the lead at the half-way stage of the Barbados Chess Federation’s (BCF) National Championship 2nd Qualifier.

The 68-year-old Harewood has scored four successive victories to maintain a 100 per cent winning record in the first over the board tournament hosted by the BCF in the COVID-19 environment.

Harewood, the no. 2 seed in the absence of some of the island’s top-rated players, started the tournament with a victory over youthful Hannah Wilson when the event pushed off last week Saturday at the Chess Centre on Exmouth Gap, Brandons, St. Michael.

He sustained his winning run throughout the week by completing wins against Hannah’s older brother, Louis, Taiye Estwick and Cyprian La Touche.

Harewood, the first president of the BCF when the Federation was established in 1981, heads the standings with a maximum four points and his followed by three contenders on three points – Louis Wilson, Mark Lowe and Adam Roachford.

The top five is completed by La Touche, who is on two-and-a-half points.

Harewood will look to maintain his winning streak when he faces off against top seed Lowe in the fifth round of games on Sunday starting at 4 p.m. The sixth round will be played on Tuesday with the seventh and final round set for Thursday.

The event has attracted 14 competitors and the top three finishers will advance to the National Championship finals scheduled for October 10 to 20. The final three qualifiers will come from the 3rd Qualifier which will be contested from September 6 to 19. The nine qualifiers will attempt to dethrone two-time defending champion Orlando Husbands.

Special COVID-19 protocols have been established for the Qualifiers which require players to wear face masks and undergo temperature checks on entering the venue.

Additionally, spectators are not allowed but the BCF is providing live streaming of the event to allow fans to follow the games in real time. (BCF)

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Blackman wins Caribbean Blitz Online Tournament

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Barbadian Justin Blackman was the champion in the Caribbean Blitz Online Tournament. (BCF Picture)

Blackman wins Caribbean Blitz Online Tournament

Barbadian FIDE Master Justin Blackman put in an almost flawless performance to emerge as champion in the Caribbean Blitz Online Chess Tournament last weekend.

Blackman, the reigning national blitz champion, won the event by securing six-and-a-half out of a maximum seven points to claim top honours in the 15-player field.

The 28-year-old was comfortably clear of his nearest rivals as second-placed FIDE Master Joshua Johnson of Trinidad and Tobago and third-placed Candidate Master Casanova Sanches of Suriname both finished with five points.

For his performance, Blackman has earned free accommodation for the 2021 Sub-Zonal Championships in the Dominican Republic.

“It was a pretty good tournament. I don’t think it was that easy. I got six-and-a-half points out of seven, but there were some close calls. Overall I would say there was a good level of play,” Blackman said.

“My plan was to always play in the Sub-Zonal. We don’t know when it will happen but to get free accommodation will be a cost saving.”

Blackman, the only Barbadian competing in the event, defeated Sanches, Trinidadians Amadeus Singh, Allan Monroe and Courtney Lee, Angelo Evens of Haiti and Edgardo Almedina of Puerto Rico. The only game he failed to win was his fourth round contest against Johnson which ended in a draw.

The tournament was contested in the fast-paced blitz format where each player is allotted three minutes plus two seconds for every move.

Blackman was Barbados’ best player at the 2018 over-the-board FIDE Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia and was also part of the national team that competed in the recent FIDE Online Olympiad.

The Caribbean Blitz Online Chess Tournament was part of a series of online tournaments organised by the Confederation of Chess for Americas in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. (BCF)

 

Barbadian Justin Blackman was the champion in the Caribbean Blitz Online Tournament. (BCF Picture)

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Over the board chess tournaments set to resume

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Over the board chess tournaments set to resume

Over the board chess tournaments are set to resume this weekend with the start of the National Championship 2nd Qualifier at the Chess Centre on Exmouth Gap, Brandons, St. Michael.

It will be first event hosted by the Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) in the COVID-19 environment and protocols have been put in place to ensure the health and safety of participants.

Competitors and officials will be required to have temperature checks on arrival at the venue; they are required to wear face masks; they are encouraged to sanitise their hands liberally and players should stay three feet away from all other players bar their opponent. Additionally, no spectators will be allowed in the playing hall.

This over the board event follows Barbados’ participation in the inaugural FIDE Online Olympiad in which they finished seventh in Division 3 which was contested from August 7 to 9.

The Qualifier pushes off on Saturday at 4 p.m. with the first of seven rounds. Given the size of the Chess Centre, if the number of entries exceeds 20 players, each round of games will be played over two days with the top half of the draw playing on one day and the bottom half the next day. As a result, the Qualifier will run until September 4.

The top three finishers will advance to the National Championship finals set for October 10 to 20 and the last three players will come from the 3rd Qualifier which is scheduled from September 6 to 19. Awaiting the qualifiers in the finals will be the defending champion Orlando Husbands.

When the 1st Qualifier was staged in January, teenager Kyle Sandiford prevailed by upstaging senior rivals with Emar Edwards finishing second and Akeem Cox third.

The BCF was hoping to resume over the board tournaments with the conclusion of the Secondary Inter-Schools Championships on August 15 at the Wildey Gymnasium. However, after consultations with representatives of the eight competing schools on their willingness to conclude the Championships, a decision was taken not to continue with the Championships. The competition started on March 14 and was due to finish on March 21 but was suspended on March 18 after the island recorded its first COVID-19 case.

The BCF also took a decision not to stage the Primary Inter-School Championships but most of the tournaments on its original 2020 calendar have been included in a revised schedule. (BCF)

 

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Barbados end off with a victory at Online Chess Olympiad

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Barbados end off with victory at Online Chess Olympiad

Barbados defeated Dominican Republic in their final game of the FIDE Online Olympiad to claim seventh place in Pool E of Division 3 on Sunday.

The Bajans beat fifth-placed Dominican Republic 4-5-1.5 to finish off strongly after losing to eventual Pool winners Mexico 5-5-0.5 and second-placed Costa Rica 4-2 earlier in the day.

With four wins from nine games over three days of competition, Barbados ended with eight points which represented a commendable showing against mainly opponents with higher ratings from the Americas region.

The impressive win against Dominican Republic was set up by victories from Orlando Husbands, Katrina Blackman, Julissa Figueroa and Vanessa Greeenidge. Nitin Mahtani played to a draw, while Martyn Del Castilho suffered defeat.

In the penultimate round against Costa Rica, Barbados were in contention for victory after going ahead 2-1 with the help of a win by Husbands and draws from the two Under-20 representatives, Mahtani and Azaria Johnson.

Costa Rica, however, pulled back as Del Castilho, Figueroa and Blackman lost their games.

Barbados found the going tough in their first match of the day against top rated Mexico where Justin Blackman prevented a clean sweep by earning a draw.

Terry Farley, Gaybrianna Moore, Kiarra Eversley, Aaron Haynes and Johnson all went under against the Mexicans.

Mexico topped the Pool with seven wins and a draw to finish with 15 points while Costa Rica took second place with 14 points from six wins and two draws. Guatemala rounded off the top three with 12 points which came from five wins and two draws.

Mexico, Costa Rica and have Guatemala have advanced to Division 2 which will be contested from Friday.

Jamaica, the only other English-speaking Caribbean team in Division 3, finished sixth in Pool D, collecting ten points from four wins and two draws.

The Online Olympiad, which has attracted more than 1 500 participants from 163 countries, has been organised by the world governing body for chess in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (BCF)

 

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Mixed fortunes for Barbados in Online Chess Olympiad

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Mixed fortunes for Barbados in Online Chess Olympiad

Barbados enjoyed mixed fortunes on the second day of competition in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad on Saturday.

The Bajans defeated Suriname 4-2 but lost to Guatemala 4.5-1.5 and went under to El Salvador 4-2 as the battle intensified in Pool E of Division 3.

With the results, Barbados slipped to sixth place in the ten-team pool after holding their own on the first day with wins against Honduras and Panama that left them in third place.

It was a tall order for the Bajans in the fourth round when they took on the higher rated Guatemala.

Martyn Del Castilho registered the only victory for Barbados to maintain his 100 per cent winning record, while Justin Blackman managed a draw in his first game of the competition. The rest of the team, however, found it tough, resulting in losses for Katrina Blackman and Kiarra Eversley and the two Under-20s, Nitin Mahtani and Vanessa Greenidge.

Barbados bounced back in the fifth round to beat Caribbean rivals Suriname with Del Castilho, Orlando Husbands, Mahtani and Greenidge achieving victories. Katrina Blackman and Julissa Figueroa, however, were on the losing end.

The Bajans were unable to sustain the winning tempo in the sixth round and lost to the higher ranked El Salvador.

Terry Farley scored the only win for Barbados by completing his second victory in as many games, while there were draws for Figueroa and Azaria Johnson, who was playing her first game on the Under-20 female boards.

Del Castilho lost for the first time in five games while Katrina Blackman and Haynes also suffered defeats.

Having recorded three wins and as many losses, Barbados are on five points and in sixth place. They are level on points with fifth-placed Guatemala and seventh-placed Panama.

Costa Rica lead the table on nine points, leading top seeds Mexico on the tie break. The first three teams will advance to Division 2.

The Bajans, who are playing at the Chess Centre on Exmouth Gap on Brandons, will round off their Division 3 campaign today with games against Mexico at noon, Costa Rica at 1 p.m. and Dominican Republic at 2 p.m. (BCF)

Captions:

Vanessa Greenidge completed her third win on the Under-20 female boards. (BCF Pictures)

Terry Farley has won both of his games.

Note: Live streaming of the FIDE Online Olympiad with a focus on teams from the Americas region can be viewed by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavysChessChannel

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