Barbados end off with a 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)