BCF, Author at Barbados Chess Federation

Grandmaster Short win Blitz chess event

October 8, 2025/0 Comments/in Nationals, Tournaments/by BCF

While English grandmaster Nigel Short, the Director for Chess Development in the world governing body of chess, FIDE was in Barbados on a courtesy visit, he took part in several chess playing activities. These included a simultaneous exhibition against several of Barbados’s top junior players, but also, he partook in a grandmaster blitz chess challenge tournament, where he played against nine of Barbados’s top ranked players.

A blitz event is where the players each have a limited amount of time to complete their moves, and a game will are completed in less than 15 minutes. The action is fast and furious and is akin to T-20 cricket.

In the event, GM Short lined up against some of the top players from Barbados including current National champion FIDE master Martyn Del Castilho, former champions international master Terry Farley and FIDE master Dr. Philip Corbin along with the like of national representatives Kemp Lynch, Emar Edwards and Justin Parsons.

Short however, showed why he was once a challenger to the great Garry Kasparov’s title and was able to defeat all his opponents to finish on 9 points from his 9 games.

After 4 of the 9 rounds were completed, it was GM Short sharing the lead with Terry Farley as both players had won their previous matches. In this pivotal matchup of the leaders, Short playing with the white pieces, was however able to capture an early positional advantage and duly went on to win the game. Short then showed great competence in winning the remainder of his games, including a tricky last round one against Dr. Philip Corbin.

Two players finished the event in joint second place. These were Terry Farley and Justin Parsons. Both players finished with 7 ½ points from their 9 games having both lost to grandmaster Short and drawing with each other. Kemp Lynch finished on 5 points to finish in 4th spot, while Emar Edwards scored 4 ½ points to round out the top 5 finishers.

It was a memorable experience for the local players to play against such an esteemed player, who in his prime would have been in the top 10 players on the official rating list. I am sure that they would have benefited from his post analysis and anecdotes from the games.

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Grandmaster Short win Blitz chess eventOctober 8, 2025 - 3:14 pm
Wilson takes clear lead in national female chess championshipSeptember 20, 2025 - 2:14 pm
Wilson and Reifer-Belle share National Female chess championship leadSeptember 19, 2025 - 4:12 pm
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Wilson takes clear lead in national female chess championship

September 20, 2025/0 Comments/in Nationals, Tournaments/by BCF

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.