Barbados’s two best female junior chess players shone brilliantly at the XI IRT Híbrido del Sur Sub-1800 2023 hybrid chess event over the weekend, as both Hannah Wilson and Chanon Reifer-Belle finished second in their respective rating categories of the tournament.

A hybrid chess event is where the players play online via a chess platform and are monitored by screen sharing and having their cameras on via Zoom and being all in the same location and under the supervision of an arbiter(referee).

Under 1800 section

Hannah finished on 5 points from 7 games, to finish ½ point behind the eventual winner Angel Gonzalez Viana of Venezuela.
She was steady throughout the event, winning four games, drawing two and only losing to the overall winner.

Hannah’s second place joy in this section was mirrored by the sorrow of her elder brother Louis, who would have led the event going into his final round 7 game with a half point lead over the rest of the field. A draw would have been enough to win the event by tie-break, but Louis played tentatively against Benjamin Romero Espana of Venezuela and eventually he got a piece, his rook, cut off behind enemy lines and as the game progressed Espana was able to use his now mobile piece to eliminate Louis’s pawns that would allow Espana to win the game. With this Louis finished fourth in the tie-break also on five points.

Barbados’s other participant in this section Cyprian La Touche had a subpar outing finishing on three points from his 7 games.

Under 1400 section

Chanon Reifer Belle put in a great performance to finish joint first but second on tie-break on 5 ½ points from her 7 games. Again, just like Louis , Chanon had a tragedy in her final round. She went into that round a clear half point ahead of the field and was set for victory when she allowed herself to repeat the position three times. In chess when this occurs the game is declared a draw. With this result she had to settle for second as Erick David Matos Parra of Venezuela had won his last round game to catch Chanon on points.

Mileke Sinckler, Barbados’s other participant in this section finished on three and a half points and continues to develop.

Under 1200 section

In this 50 players section, Barbados had 6 participants and two players Aaron Jaikaran and Isaiah Archer managed to finish in the top ten. Jaikaran finished in 7^th and Archer in 9^th , with both players in a large group of player finishing on 5 points. Jaikaran was again solid, only losing one game against the eventual third place finisher Oscar Alejandro Amelunge Moreno of Panama.

Of the other Bajan participants, Derick Boyce scored 3 ½ , Rhys Francis – 3, while Ephraim Hope and Samuel Richards scored 2 points each.

In the three sections combined, approximately 90 players from Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados participated organized by the Panama Chess Federation. The next tournament on the Barbados Chess federation calendar is the National Under 8, 10 and 14 Youth Championships, to be held on Thursday and Friday this week at Harrison College.