December 2021 - Barbados Chess Federation

Husbands retains National Blitz Championship

December 21, 2021/0 Comments/in Nationals, Tournaments/by BCF

Husbands retains National Blitz Championship

International Master Orlando Husbands put in an almost flawless performance to retain the Barbados Chess Federation’s National Blitz Championship last weekend.

Competing in his first domestic event of the year, Husbands scored eight and a half out of a maximum nine points to secure top honours in the Championship that was played as an online event due to COVID-19 restrictions on indoor sports.

The 24-year-old Husbands , the No. 2 seed, defeated the majority of his opposition but was denied a clean sweep, having had to settle for a draw against top seed and fellow International Master Delisle Warner in the sixth round.

Husbands’ success followed his outstanding performance to share top spot at the recent Sub-Zonal Qualifier to the 2023 FIDE World Cup in the Dominican Republic after which he achieved the highest ever FIDE (International Chess Federation) rating by a Barbadian.

Warner, who won last month’s National Rapid Championship, finished second in the Blitz with seven and a half points. In addition to the draw against Husbands, Warner suffered a defeat to veteran FIDE Master Dr Philip Corbin in the third round.

Corbin took third place with seven points while Justin Parsons was fourth on six points.

Hannah Wilson, who finished fifth on five and a half points, won the prize for the Best Female, while five players who ended on five points – Yeshua Hill, Chanon Reifer-Belle, Louis Wilson, Melvin Terence and Christian Mayers – shared the prizes for the Best Player rated between 1600 and 1401 and the Best Player rated Under 1400.

The Championship, played under a fast-paced format that is considered as chess’ equivalent to cricket’s Twenty20, attracted 21 players.

It came on the heels of last month’s National Rapid Championship where Warner, who has been resident in St Kitts in recent years, triumphed with six and a half out of a maximum seven points.

FIDE Master Justin Blackman took second place with six points, while Corbin and Emar Edwards shared third place with five points.

Gaybrianna Moore and Chanon Reifer-Belle, who both ended on four and a half points, shared the prize for the Best Female, while Louis Wilson, Melvin Terence, Adam Roachford and Travis Grant, who all scored four points, shared the prizes for the Best Player rated between 1600 and 1401 and the Best Player rated Under 1400. (BCF)

Delisle Warner finished second in the National Blitz Championship last weekend and won the National Rapid Championship last month.

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Husbands achieves highest ever FIDE rating by a Barbadian

December 4, 2021/0 Comments/in Rating, Tournaments/by BCF

Husbands achieves highest ever FIDE rating by a Barbadian

International Master Orlando Husbands has achieved the highest ever FIDE (International Chess Federation) rating by a Barbadian.

In the latest ratings published by the world governing body at the beginning of the month, Husbands moved his rating to 2374 to surpass fellow International Master Kevin Denny’s all time highest rating of 2367 achieved in 2007.

The 24-year-old Husbands improved his rating by 26 points following his impressive performance to emerge joint top of the table in the Venezuela and Caribbean Islands Sub-Zonal Qualifier to the 2023 FIDE World Cup held in the Dominican Republic last month.

Husbands, one of only four International Masters Barbados has produced, expressed his delight at attaining the new record rating.

“Breaking the 14-year record set by Kevin Denny is a very special feeling. It is also an honour. He is someone I have enormous respect for, for how high he has set the bar and for what he has been able to do for Barbadian chess. It is really good to be able to move that bar even higher,” he said.

At the Sub-Zonal Qualifier, which was Husbands’ first over the board tournament in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the four-time national champion scored seven and a half out of a maximum nine points and in the process earned a performance rating of 2467, the best by a Barbadian in a FIDE rated event.

Husbands described the event as one of the strongest Sub-Zonals he has competed in.

“It came at a pretty strange time for me because I was out of form. Due to COVID, I hadn’t played a serious competition in over a year and a half. Nevertheless it was a big opportunity for me,” he said.

“It’s the start of the World Championship cycle. We start in the Sub-Zone 2.3.5. A few persons qualified from there to go to the Zonals. The top three in the Zonals go on to the World Cup which is a pretty huge achievement. Qualifying for the Zonals for me is very big. I’m focused on trying to win that tournament next year.”

Husbands has made tremendous strides on the chess boards over the past decade, attaining the tiles on Candidate Master in 2013, FIDE Master in 2014 and International Master in 2017 when he became the first Barbadian since Denny to win the gold medal in Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Under-20 Championships. He is also a three-time CARIFTA Under-20 gold medallist and in 2018 and 2019 he achieved the unprecedented feat of winning a treble of local national titles – Open, Rapid and Blitz.

The former Lodge School student now has his sights set on becoming the first Grandmaster from the English-speaking Caribbean.

“My primary focus has to becoming Grandmaster. This is the highest honour any chess player can achieve. I actually took a big step towards this back in 2017 when I became the first person from the English-speaking Caribbean to win a Grandmaster norm. I did so by winning the CAC Under-20 Championships,” he said.

“Funding has and continues to be the biggest constraint in my way. For this reason, securing sponsorship is absolutely vital as I continue on my journey to become the first Grandmaster in the English-speaking Caribbean.” (BCF)

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Wilson, Johnson win gold for Barbados at CAC Youth Chess Festival

December 2, 2021/0 Comments/in CAC, Tournaments/by BCF

Wilson, Johnson win gold for Barbados at CAC Youth Chess Festival

Hannah Wilson and Azaria Johnson won gold as Barbados secured four medals at the Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival.

Wilson took top spot in the Under-12 Female section while Johnson was the winner of the Under-18 Female division when the five-day event concluded on Wednesday night.

Barbados also won silver through Gaybrianna Moore in the Under-18 Female category and bronze by way of Chanon Reifer-Belle in the Under-12 Female section in the five-day event played over nine rounds.

The Festival, which was contested under the aegis of the Confederation of Chess for Americas and hosted by the El Salvador Chess Federation, was played under a hybrid format given the COVID-19 pandemic – players resident in one country assembled at a location in that country to play their games online on their computers under the supervision of arbiters.

Barbados were represented by a ten-member team which competed from the Coles Building on Bay Street in Bridgetown.

Given the insufficient number of female entries, the Open and Female categories were merged in all five age-groups but prizes were awarded in both sections.

Wilson, who was seeded no. 2 among the nine girls entered in the Under-12 section, finished with six and a half out of a maximum nine points and her gold medal followed her capture of a silver in the same age-group at the Pan American Youth Chess Festival in September.

Reifer-Belle ended with six points but missed out on the silver medal on the tie-break with Araya Sofia Mayorga of Costa Rica.

Wilson went into the last round with a half-point lead and a draw against Lopez Monroy of Guatemala was enough to confirm her as the champion while Reifer-Belle also drew with top seed Carlos Roberto Ibarra of El Salvador to ensure a podium finish.

Johnson and Moore were the only two female competitors in the Under-18 category and were guaranteed medals given the lack of other entries. Johnson secured gold with two points and Moore took silver with one point.

In the Under-18 Open division, Aaron Haynes finished fifth with four and a half points while Louis Wilson was seventh on four points.

Among the Under-16s, Yeshua Hill scored three and a half points to finish ninth in the Open section and Alesha Lovell had three points that placed her sixth in the Female division.

In the Under-14 Open section, Melvin Terence was tenth with four and a half points and Tarquin Clark 12^th on four points.

The Festival attracted 89 players from five countries – hosts El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. (BCF)