Hannah, Chanon finish mid-table at Pan Am Youth Championship

Barbadian chess players Hannah Wilson and Chanon Reifer-Belle landed mid-table finishes at the 32^nd Pan American Youth Championship in Uruguay.

The two Queen’s College students both ended with four and a half out of a maximum nine points in the Girls’ Under-14 category when the week-long event ended on Saturday at the Radisson Victoria Plaza Hotel in Montevideo.

The two Bajans were among seven players level on points as Wilson took ninth place and Reifer-Belle 13^thout of the 19 entrants in the section.

Wilson, who won silver in the Under-12 division at last year’s Pan American Youth Festival which was played under a hybrid format, was in medal contention after seven rounds but lost her final two games.

The 2022 national ladies champion, who was seeded at no. 6, scored victories against Maria Costa of Uruguay in the first round, Sadhana Arivoli of United States in the third round, Carrascal Isabela Brito of Colombia in the third round and Flores Soliz of Bolivia in the seventh round. Her defeats were against higher rated players, losing to the four of the top five seeds.

Reifer-Belle, who won gold in the online rapid and blitz events at the Pan American Youth Championship a few weeks earlier, was seeded at no. 17. She defeated Soliz in the third round and Maria Costa of Uruguay in the eighth round and also played to three draws, one of which was against Wilson when the two Barbadians clashed in the fourth round.

Canadian Rachel Chen, who was seeded at no. 3, won the gold medal with seven and a half points, while the silver went to top seed, Ernestina Adam of Argentina who ended with seven points. No. 2 seed Gabriela Goes Da Cunha of Brazil took the bronze with six and a half points.

The event attracted close to 300 participants from 15 countries and was contested in six age-groups. (BCF)