Harrison and Queens College split junior divisions at Secondary Interschool chess

Queens College “A” team edged out Queens College “B” team to claim the Under 15 Secondary Interschool chess championship team competition which wrapped up at Crumpton Street recently.

Q.C. “A’’ scored 55 points out of a possible 60 to pip the B team who scored 52 points. The race for the title was always a two-horse race from the start and in round one when the Q.C. “A” team won 6 – 4 from its “B” team, pundits knew it would have been a case of who held their nerves best.

Both teams would have initially fallen behind the Combermere “A” team which won 10 – 0 against its respective “B” team but by round 4, the Q.C. teams had each defeated the Combermere “A” team and were into their two-horse battle.

It was just a case of who would drop those 1 or 2 critical points per match. Q.C. “A” dropped a point in Round 3 as they downed Combermere 9-1. Then Q.C. “B” dropped two points against the same team in Round 4. Both teams then registered 10 – 0 victories in the last two rounds. Q.C. “A’ was able to put their hand on the winners’ cup.

Q.C. A team of Kanye Williams, Eden Gibson, Noah Clarke, Samuel Greenidge and Alexei Frederick can feel proud in their achievements as well as the “B” teams Javier Hoyte, Yhden Layne, Daniel Nurse, Zarek Greaves and Kayode Nurse, who showed they were no “B” team at all.

Finishing in third were the Combermere “A”team of Caleb Latchman, Tedra Johnson, Joanna Hunte, Gavin Beckles and Demar Parris on 40 points, some distance ahead of Lodge, Princess Margaret and the others.

Kolij takes Under 13 Section

In the Under 13 section of the event Harrison College “A” team edged out Queens College “A” team by 2 points, 42 – 40 points, as it came down to one last game which would determine the overall championship and when the last pawn was pushed it was Kolij from Crumpton Street who were celebrating.

In a small field of four teams, it was always neck and neck between the two teams as one team was ahead then the other as they continuously jockeyed for position. The event was set up as a double round robin, where each team would play the other twice with each player playing the white and the black pieces against their stated opponent.

After the first day, Q.C. “A” was one point ahead of Harrison 22 points to 21 points. In their first head-to-head clash, the two teams had drawn with Harrisons having victories to Mileke Sinckler and Nathan Reid, for Queens Liam Valdes-Desroachers and Liam Yearwood reciprocated while Aaron Jaikaran and Derick Boyce drew on the top board.

By round five, Q.C. “A” had stretched the lead to two points and the final round results would determine the championship. Harrison College was matched against Queens College “C”, while the Queens College “A” and “B” team would clash. Knowing the points situation, one might have been a little suspect of the result, but young children have no such predispositions.

Harrison College defeated Queens “C” 8 – 2, but lo and behold Queens “B” upset their “A” team 6 – 4, with wins by Savion Little, Amari Blackett and Jeovani Pennegan, while Desroachers and Yearwood won for Q.C. “A”.

The final top positions came down to one game, a clash between Naomi Lewis of Harrison College and Darya Samaroo of Queens “C”. In a game which went on ways after all the others were finished, the two young ladies gave it their all Samaroo knew a win would allow her “A” team compatriots at least a tie of the championship, while Lewis knew a win by her would mean Kolij’s glory. It was Lewis who won out in the endgame and with that she crowned herself and school in glory.

Kolij’s victory was on the back of their top three boards as Aaron Jaikaran and Nathan Reid score 5 wins and one draw from their 6 games, but Mileke Sinkler was excellent and won all his games in impressive fashion.

It was good to see at least a third of the government Secondary school turning out over the three age categories in the first interschool team event in three years. Next year hopefully more schools will return to the fold.