Woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson has struck the front of the 2025 Barbados National Female chess championship after an exciting fifth round was completed on Friday evening at the Fine Arts Gallery, Barbados Community College.

Wilson took the clear lead in the 10- player round robin event when she defeated former national player Gaybrianna Moore after a tough battle. Wilson had taken the advantage in the early middle game when she clearly won a piece for a couple pawns. However, she then miscalculated and in a tactical melee she lost the exchange and allowed Moore to regain some parity. Moore however, over stretched in the position allowing Wilson to penetrate with a knight and capture several pieces. From here she did not renege and stormed on to victory.

 Chanon Reifer-Belle, who was also a co-leader of the event up to that point, slipped from that position after she was held to a draw by Janiyah Browne. Going into the game, Chanon would have favored her chances against the much lower rated Browne. However, she soon found herself in a blocked position where even after a lot of piece maneuvering, she could find no advantage and had to settle for a draw.

Other results in this round saw Sameera Jaikaran defeat Laura Nicholls, Kayla Culpepper won from Daisha-Rose Parris, while Jaeda Herbert upset Leshay Springer.

As it currently stands, Wilson leads with 4 points, with Chanon in second with 3 ½ points. Sameera Jaikaran has 3 points, while Janiyah Browne and Leshay Springer have 2 ½ points each. It must be noted the two leaders have a game in hand on their closest rivals.

On the other side of the world, Chaz Reifer- Belle continues to find the going rough as he lost his second-round match against Andrew Tzu Chun Chao of South Korea at the FIDE 2025 World Cadet Under 12 Open Chess Championships in Almaty Kazakhstan.  We wish him better luck in his round three game against Damba Gun-Erdem of Mongolia.