Tarquin Clark has won the 2023 Under 16 Open chess championship after defeating Kanye Williams after a play-off at the Coles Building in the city over the weekend.

The playoff was necessary after both players had finished with 5 ½ points from 6 games in the initial 26 player , 6 round event.

Both players had won all their games and had only drawn their individual encounter with each other. As such when they both went into the last round of the initial event, a half point ahead of their final round opponents and the closest players in the field Eden Gibson and Zarek Greaves who were both on 4 points.

In this final round Clark duly defeated Gibson after a tough battle, while Williams won form Greaves to set up the playoff. In the playoff battle, Clark and Williams drew the first game of the two match series after some enterprising play by both players. In the second game, Clark now with the white pieces was the slightly better out of the opening and after pressing during the middle game he went on a king hunt which paid dividends with him gaining victory allowing him to capture the title.

Mileke Sinckler finished in clear third place with four and a half points with a final round victory from the highly touted Samuel Greenidge. He thus edged out 6 players who finished on four points. These included Gibson, Greaves, Noah Clarke, Nicholas Maxwell, Kimari Holder, and Nathan Griffith.

Refer Belle wins Girls Under 16 Title

Chanon-Refer Belle dominated the Girls Under 16 event in emphatic fashion after winning all her 7 games in the 8 – player round-robin event. After defeating her fierce competitive rival Hannah Wilson in the third round, tournament victory was a mere formality as she racked up consecutive wins to romp to her title. Wilson finished in second on 6 points, while Leshay Springer put in a credible performance to come third with 4 ½ points.