Lynch takes Governors Blitz chess challenge

Winners from left to right, Aaron Jaikaran, Noah Clarke, Dr. Kevin Greenidge, Jeremiah Farley, Orlando Husbands and 1st place Kemp Lynch.

Winner Kemp Lynch (facing) against Dr. Kevin Greenidge

Players in the Governors Blitz Championship

Lynch takes Governors Blitz chess challenge

Kemp Lynch won the 2024 Central Bank Governor’s Blitz chess challenge on Independence Day with 7 ½ points from his 9 rounds. Lynch played unbeaten with 6 wins and three draws to cop the title.

The event was played under the patronage of the governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. Kevin Greenidge, who also graciously allowed the event to be played at his residence at Newlands, sponsored the prizes, as well as partook in the event.

Lynch, who in September, represented Barbados in the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Hungary was in good form and had taken the lead in the 34-player field by round 5 of the event. He then faced off against the top seed in the event international master Orlando Husbands in round 6. Lynch showed his resilience and after dispatching Husbands, Lynch coasted to victory with three consecutive draws. His final round draw against the rapid national champion Justin Parsons secured him victory as by then, no other players could surpass him.

Top seed international master Orlando Husband finished in second place on 7 points. Husbands who was by far the highest rated player in the event, would have been slightly disappointed in his placing. He, however, might have felt he was in for a tough outing when he fell to a heavy upset in round 3 against Mark Lowe. This was only emphasized when he lost again a couple of rounds later to the eventual winner Lynch.

The governor himself, Dr. Kevin Greenidge amassed 6 ½ points to finish in clear third position. Going into the final round, Dr. Greenidge was among five players who sat in third spot with 5 ½ points. He however was able to defeat the junior Aaron Jaikaran to pull himself out of this group. Dr. Greenidge is a former national representative, having played chess at such top-level events like the chess Olympiad and the Sub-Zonal. He remains an active chess enthusiast and has been supporting the game locally and encouraging his staff to learn since becoming the Central Bank governor.

Three players finished on 6 points just missing out on the prizes. These were Justin Parsons, Mark Lowe and his sparring partner Stephen Browne. A host of 6 players then finished on 5 ½ points and included Noah Clarke, Adam Roachford, Chris White, Louis Wilson, Jerimiah Farley and Aaron Jaikaran. Clarke and Jaikaran split the best Under 16 age category prize, while Farley won the best Under 12.

Parsons, the number one seed in the event, had to fight long and hard to overcome veteran Cyprian La Touche in what was for most of its part, a dynamically balanced match. It was only in the ending where La Touche chose the wrong defensive plan was Parsons able to accomplish victory.

Other players winning their first round included the junior Savion Little who caused a major upset when he defeated the second ranked seed Chris White of England. In the final position many observers thought that White could have played on, but he chose not to.

Another upset came at the hands of Leshay Springer who downed Amari Blackett who was an Open national championship qualifier this year. With the black pieces Springer played steadily and was able to win a piece from Blackett in the ending from which he could not recover.

Other first round victors were Ronaldo Rochester and Travis Grant. A number of draws also occurred and these included Mileke Sinckler against Boris Thompson and Noah Clarke against Charis Stuart.

By the time of publication, the second round would have been completed, but the third round will continue at 10.00 a.m. at the Coles Building, Bay Street in Bridgetown.

Wilson participates in Dominican Republic

Current national female chess champion woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson is currently campaigning at the 2024 Continental female chess championship in Dominican Republic this week. She has however found the going tough and currently has 1 ½ points from her 6 games. Initially ranked 29th in the 50-player field, Wilson currently sits in 45th position. She will be hoping to catch form in her final three games to move up the field. Currently Zoey Tang of the USA leads with 5 ½ points.

Independence Event

The Barbados Chess Federation in collaboration with the Central Bank of Barbados will be hosting the Central Bank Independence Blitz chess event on Saturday, November 30th at the Governor’s residence. The event will take the format of a 9 round Swiss with a time control of 3 minutes sudden death. Entry is free and prizes will be on offer.