Persistence and determination are two of the qualities that any good sportsman should possess, and Justin Parsons has demonstrated these erstwhile qualities throughout the year and was rewarded with victory in the final chess event of the year, the 2023 National Rapid Chess Championships played on the last day of 2023 at the Coles Building, Bay Street in the city.

Parsons went into the event as the third highest rated player in the 20-player field, but it was a stacked field which included multi event winners over the past year like Chris White of England and locals like Kemp Lynch, Ronaldo Rochester and top junior Hannah Wilson.

Parsons was not deterred and in round four he took the clear lead in the event when he defeated White with the black pieces in a hard-fought battle. A draw with Lynch in round 5, a win in the next one and a final round victory against Rochester allowed Parsons to sit on the top of the podium with 6 ½ points and crown himself as the rapid champion. Rapid chess is where players have more than 10 minutes but less than 60 minutes and is akin to one day cricket.

Kemp Lynch finished in second with 6 points, a half point behind the winner, while the multi-talented Emar Edwards came in third with 5 points. The top female prize was garnered by Hannah Wilson, who scored a respectable 4 ½ points from her 7 matches.

The top 1600 – 1401 rating prize was shared by Rochester and veteran Cyprian LaTouche, while Mileke Sinckler and Stephan Wijnhof shared the Under 1400 and below category prize. All these players scored 4 points and it was a very credible performance for Wijnhof who was participating in his first competitive local event.

The Barbados Chess Federation will have a packed 2024 schedule locally, regionally, and internationally. It will start locally with the international master Kevin Denny Open in late January, the first Qualifier for the 2024 Barbados National Chess Championship final. The first Caricom team championship to be played in Guyana in early March will be the highlight of the regional events and then in September, Barbados will join all the other chess playing nations in the world to participate in the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Hungary.  As the world governing chess body F.I.D.E celebrates 100 years of existence, Barbados will hope to also make this a memorable year for chess. Happy New year to all and keep pushing those pawns.