International master Orlando Husbands continues to add to his recent accolades when he captured the Blitz chess championship in dramatic fashion over the last weekend.

Blitz chess is a fast form of chess played where each player has three minutes with a 30 second increment from move one for each player and is akin to T20 cricket.

Husbands had to hold off a stiff challenge from Justin Parsons and had to go to a tie-break 3 game playoff to defend his title as both players had finished the initial tournament with 8 points from 9 games.

Eventually after two competitive games Husbands won the play-off two games to nil and begun the year as he finished last year with a coveted tournament victory

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Both Husbands and Parsons had showed their recent good form by topping the event, Parsons had one lost to Husbands and Husbands suffered a massive upset against the top female junior player Hannah Wilson in round 8. This result is what led to the playoff.

Finishing in third position was Adam Roachford who scored 6 ½ points. He suffered losses against the two top players but again gave the eventual winner of the event a run for his money.

Louis Wilson took the 1600 – 1400 Rating prize with 5 points from 9 but struggled in some of his games due to the faster time control.

Dr. Carlos Chase and Samuel Greenidge shared the Under 1400/ Unrated prize, both scoring 5 points also. Dr. Chase would have garnered bragging rights in the event when he defeated fellow physician Dr. Alfred Sparman in the penultimate round.

Hannah Wilson wins female championship

Again, the female championship was played with the open as it was undersubscribed. Hannah Wilson proved her prowess by winning the title with 7 ½ points from 9. Chanon Reifer-Belle finished in second with 5 ½ points, while Kiarra Eversley finished third with 4 points. The winner of the Under 1400/ Unrated prize was Erika Alkins with 3 points.

Twenty players partook in the event, with a mixture of youth and experience to make it an exciting start to the chess year.

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