After three of the seven rounds of the 2023 VEXX chess tournament, Kemp Lynch is the sole player in the lead with three points.

Lynch, the second ranked player in the field, has looked impressive in his play and in the last round he defeated woman candidate master Julissa Figueroa with the black pieces. While Lynch’s victory allowed him to stand alone at the top, it was only so because Allan Herbert had defeated Travis Grant, after a long tough battle.

Grant had so far been the giant killer in the field and had defeated the number one and three ranked players in the field in the form of Philip Roach and Chris White. He found Herbert, a bridge too far to cross and after stubborn resistance , he succumbed to defeat.

Other important results in the round saw Roach defeat Ernest King, White win from Othniel Harewood, Kiarra Eversley got the point from Mileke Sinckler and Aaron Jaikaran defeat Jerimiah Farley.

Thus, Lynch leads 7 players in joint second on 2 points, which include all the winners in the afore mentioned paragraph as well as Figueroa, Herbert and Grant.

In the next round over this weekend at the Coles Building on Bay Street, Bridgetown, Lynch will try to stay in the lead as he battles Chris White, while the number one seed Philip Roach will hold the black pieces against Kiara Eversley.

Wilson campaigns in Puerto Rico

Top local junior player and current Under 16 Central American and Caribbean female champion Hannah Wilson is currently representing Barbados at the 2023 Central and Caribbean women’s chess championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

She currently sits in 6th position on two and a half points from four matches in a field of 20 players representing 10 countries from across the region.

Wilson started well by defeating the second highest ranked player in the event, Obdulis Hermoso Rodriguez of Trinidad, but then she lost to Polina Karelina of Bahamas in round two. Wilson then bounced back in round three with victory over Gabriela Vera Perez of Puerto Rico before drawing her fourth-round game against Daniel Juarez Garcia of Guatemala.

The event, is currently led by Danitza Maccarini Vasquez of Puerto Rico on three and a half points, ahead of her teammate Natasha Morales, Karelina and Katherine Kaslan of Surinam, all on three points. Five games remain and the matches should become more intense as a championship winner is to be crowned