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Bajans Husbands and Wilson win Sub zonal 2.3.3 Open and Women chess championships

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International master Orlando Husbands receiving his first place trophy.

Winner Hannah Wilson accepting her trophy from Carol Pesquiera

 

Barbados chess history was created this week when local players won both the Subzone 2.3.3 Women and Open Chess Championships 2025 played in Trinidad and Tobago. The event contained the best players from the English and Dutch Caribbean along with Haiti. 
International master Orlando Husbands lived up to his top ranking in the 96-player field from 15 different countries and won the Open section with 7 ½ points from a possible 9 matches. He won 6 games and drew three, with his last round draw against FIDE master Joshua Christie of Jamaica sealing the title.
International master Vishnu Singh of Trinidad placed second with 7 points, just ahead of a young Jason Yeung of Surinam on the tie-break also on 7.
Another Barbadian, ace road tennis player Emar Edwards put in an impressive performance to finish joint 4th, but 7th on the tie-break with 6 ½ points. His last round draw against the second seed FIDE master Joshua Johnson of Trinidad climaxed a good tournament result for Edwards. He was among the prizes and with his score more than two thirds, he will be provisionally awarded the FIDE master title. Chess has several titles which start with candidate master, rise to FIDE master, then to international master and finally grandmaster. They are based on performances at specific events and a players’ rating.
Justin Parsons, the other local participant in the Open section lost his last round game against Trini Yogendranath Ramsingh to finish with a creditable 4 ½ points.
Queen’s College’s 15-year-old Hannah Wilson then did herself, country, parents and all proud when she clinched the Female section by winning her last round game against Polina Karelina of the Bahamas to finish with 8 points from her 9 rounds. With this victory in such a prestigious event, Wilson will now have her woman FIDE master title upgraded to woman international master.
Barbados then had more glory as Wilson’s school mate , Chanon Reifer-Belle and also 15 years, drew her last round game against Victoria Kaslan of Suriname to finish in clear second with 6 ½ points, just ahead of Ysvett Hermoso Rodriguez of Trinidad with 6. Chanon will have her title upgraded from woman candidate master to woman FIDE master due to her placing.  Both young ladies played tough chess throughout the event, and I believe that their fierce rivalry pushes both players to excel.
To justify the young ladies’ talents, Wilson’s only loss in the event came at the hands of Reifer-Belle. However, Wilson’s last wrong victim Karelina has defeated the Open winner Husbands over 8 years ago in a standard tournament game.
With their victories both Husbands and Wilson have qualified for the next chess FIDE World Cup. This is a knock out event that is part of the World championship cycle with the best players in the world from which the top three players will move forward to the candidates’ event, where the eventual winner of that will go on to challenge the current world champion Dommaraju Gukesh of India in the men and Ju Wenjun of China in the women for the world championship title.
As Husbands and Wilson will be the first participants to take part in a World Cup event from the English, Dutch or French speaking Caribbean, this is a momentous achievement by these young players. The only chess achievement, that I can say is as comparable for Barbados, is when Kevin Denny became the first international master from the English, Dutch or French speaking Caribbean in 2001 at the then Subzonal 2.3.5.  
Kudos must go to these players, but also to their parents, coaches and supporters. In Husband’s case, special mention must be made of Dr. David Jordan who would have taught him the game at Lodge school and supported him in many of his early chess endeavors. In Wilson’s case , to her parents Albert and Jenita who have sacrificed a lot to support Hannah’s love for chess. These two players will now have to prepare earnestly for their next big challenge. Congratulations on an incomplete journey of hard work and dedication.

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Barbados chess players making strong moves in Trinidad

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Five Barbados chess players are currently participating in the Subzone 2.3.3 Absolute and Female Chess Championships 2025 being played in Trinidad and Tobago over this week at the Cascadia hotel.

The tournament is a 9-round event being played as separate Open and female events whereby the winner of each separate event will progress to the 2025 World Cup which is a qualifier for the world chess championship. All the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean from Bermuda in the north to Suriname in the south, along with Haiti are invited to take part.

Barbados is represented in the open section by international master Orlando Husbands, candidate master Justin Parsons and Emar Edwards. There are 96 players from 15 countries participating.

Husbands is the top-rated player in the event and after the first day, he has two victories to be one of the leaders. He defeated Jayden Foreshaw of Jamaica and Kael Samuel-Bisnath of Trinidad. Edwards has one and a half point so far, having defeated Gennard Roberts of Grenada and drawn with Kaieem Elizee of St. Lucia. Parsons had a fair day with a victory over Arthur Superville of Trinidad in round one, before going down to FIDE master Joshua Christie of Jamaica.

Other favorites to win their first two games included the second ranked FIDE master Joshua Johnson of Trinidad, Christie and Kevin Cupid of Trinidad.

In the female section Barbados’s representatives are woman FIDE master and current national champion Hannah Wilson and woman candidate master Chanon Reifer-Belle. They are the third and fourth ranked players in the 27-player field with representatives from 13 countries.

Wilson won her first two matches against Adaya Johnson of Trinidad and Chika Pride of the Bahamas. Reifer-Belle started well with a victory over Jessica Callender of Guyana but then fell to an upset defeat to Samantha Dolly of Trinidad.

Other favorites doing well with two victories, also include Ysvett Hermoso Rodriguez of Trinidad and woman FIDE master Polina Karelina of the Bahamas.

The Bajans will look to keep the local flag high as the participate during the week.

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Harrison College “A” team takes Secondary School Team Under 20 Chess championship

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Melvin Terence (boarrd 5) of harrison College A

Mileke Sinckler (board 1) of Harrison College A team.

Players in action in the Under 20 School team chess championship

Harrison College “A” team won the 2025 Secondary School Under 20 team chess championship which was played at their school at Crumpton Street over the last weekend.
Harrison College “A” edged out the number one seed Queen’s College “A” by a mere one and a half game points as the former scored 26.5 points, while the later garnered 25.
Harrison College’ s “A” team of Mileke Sinckler, Aaron Jaikaran, Charis Stuart, Joseph Yeung-Chou and Melvin Terence won all their 6 matches, and none was more important than the head-to-head clash with Queen’s College “A” in round three.
In this match, Kolij “A” edged the Queen’s College “A” team 3 – 2 in a very tense affair. On board one, Mileke Sinckler upset the higher rated Chanon Reifer-Belle in a tough battle, while the other victory for them came on board 5, where Melvin Terence defeated Loki Clarke. Loki’s brother Noah won for Queen’s College “A” on board three from Charis Stuart, while the other two matches ended in draws.
After this match Harrison College “A” held a very slim one-point lead and to secure the title they would have to rely on no slip ups and another team taking some valuable points away from the Queen’s College “A” team. As such would happen in that the Combermere “A” team would take a vital 2 points from Harrison College “A” team in their round 5 match-up. The heroes for Combermere “A” were Leshay Springer and Nathan Griffith who won their games even though the team eventually went down 2 – 3.
Combermere “A” eventually came third on 19 points while Queen’s College “B” came fourth on 15 ½ points in the dozen team field.
The outstanding players were Mileke Sinckler and Melvin Terence who won all their games. Noah Clarke won all his games as well. Aaron Jaikaran and Joseph Yeung-Chou scored 5 ½ points from their 6 games, as well as Amari Blackett form Queen’s College also scored 5 ½ on board 4.
The top 5 finishers were
Rank.   Team              Points
1    Harrison College A      26,5     
2    Queens College A       25        
3    Combermere A         19         
4    Lester Vaughn A        16,5      
5    Harrison College B      16 
 
The next event on the Barbados Chess Federation calendar is the 2025 Under 8 – 18 Youth Championships at the St. Leonard’s Secondary school over the weekend of April 5 – 6 beginning at 9. 00 a.m.    

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Six lead the CB Gilkes Open chess event

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Dr. Philip Corbin will be looking to win the event as the number one seed

Second seed the multi talented Emar Edwards

CB Gilkes Open participants in action

After two rounds of the 2025 CB Gilkes chess tournament currently being held at the Coles Building, Bay Street, Bridgetown, St. Michael, 6 players are in the lead of the 7- round event with 2 points each.
These players include FIDE master Dr. Philip Corbin, candidate master Justin Parsons, woman candidate master Chanon Reifer- Belle, Ronaldo Rochester, Lawrence Depradine and Emar Edwards.
In the last round played  on Errol Barrow day, Parsons defeated Allan Herbert, Reifer-Belle won from Isaiah Archer, Rochester defeated veteran Cyprian La Touche, Depradine defeated Aaron Jaikaran, Edwards won from wily veteran Othneil Harewood, while Dr. Corbin won from Amari Blackett. Blackett would have felt hard done as he played a good game and could have held on for a draw in the ending. However, a slight inaccuracy, Corbin was able to capitalize and claim victory.
Savion Little and newcomer Rasmakonnen  Lowe sit in joint 7th – 8th with one and a half points. These two battled to a hard-fought draw in round 2, with Lowe showing great competence in his play to push Little all the way.
Other players obtaining victories in round two of the event were Boris Thompson, Noah Clarke, Mileke Sinckler, Jerimiah Farley, Alfred Sparman and Janiyah Browne.
With only two rounds of the event completed so far, the battle is definitely on for the top three places who would qualify for the 2025 Open National chess championship final later in the year.
The action concludes over the coming weekend with games played at the Coles Building on Saturday and Sunday with games at 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m.

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Husbands sweeps National Blitz chess championship

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Winner IM Orlando Husbands (file photo)

Over the last weekend Barbados’s top rated active chess player international master Orlando Husbands put in a stellar performance to capture the 2024 national Blitz chess championship when he scored an unblemished 9 wins from 9 games to clinch the title from the two dozen competitors at the Coles Building, Bridgetown.

Blitz chess is where the two players in a game each have less than 5 minutes to complete the whole game. As such the action is fast and furious and many blunders can occur due to the time pressure. It is like T-20 cricket due to its phonetic pace.

Husbands had hit the front by round four, when he had overcome Kemp Lynch, the winner of the recent Governors Cup blitz event. He then kept his foot on the gas pedal and by round 8 when he defeated the current female champion woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson, it would be of academic interest what happened in the last round as Husbands had now taken an unassailable lead. Husbands, however, did not waiver and dispatched Emar Edwards in the last round to record an emphatic victory.

Veteran Philip Corbin turned back the clock to finish second with 7 points from his 9 games. Corbin only losses were  to the champion Husbands and the junior Jerimiah Farley.

Kemp Lynch finished in third with 6 ½ points, while a group of players inclusive of Noah Clarke, Hannah Wilson and Justins Parsons finished joint 4th to 6th on 5 ½ points. Wilson won the prize for the highest placed female, while Jerimiah Farley with his 5 points won the prize for the best performance of a player with a rating below 1600.

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Parsons continue his winning ways in chess

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Rapid chess champion Justin Parsons is among the leaders (1)

Justin Parsons continued his winning ways over the weekend when he clinched the 2024 Michael Forde Memorial chess tournament played at the Coles Building, Bay Street, Bridgetown.
Parsons went into the last round with a point lead over his two nearest rivals Ronaldo Rochester and Travis Grant and he knew that all he had to do was to avoid defeat, and the championship would be his.
In this final round, Parsons faced the plucky junior Savion Little who had already upset the number two seed Chris White of England and once again Parsons found himself under some pressure out of the opening. He however was able to navigate the turbulent waters and was able to steer his game into a balanced position before offering a draw to which Little agreed. With this result Parsons had reached an unassailable 6 points from his 7 games.
Ronaldo Rochester finished in clear second place with 5 ½ points after he defeated Noah Clarke in a relatively short affair. Rochester was in second place alone because Travis Grant, who went into the last round on the same points as Rochester fell to defeat against junior Amari Blackett. Grant finished on 4 ½ points to claim third position.
Other results in the last round saw victories for Boris Thompson, Mileke Sinckler and Jerimiah Farley. The event is named after Michael Forde who was an educator at St. George Secondary and was responsible for coaching chess at the school as well as to many junior national players during the nineteen eighties.
The next event on the Barbados Chess Federation calendar is the 2024 National Blitz championship to be played this upcoming Saturday at the Coles Building. Parsons will be looking to continue his good form recently by adding this title to his trophy cabinet

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Lynch takes Governors Blitz chess challenge

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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

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.

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Michael Forde memorial chess tournament begins

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Rapid chess champion Justin Parsons

Young Savion Little won from second seed Chris White of England (1)

WFM Hannah Wilson of Barbados left forefront at Continental Ladies Chamoionship (1)

Leshay Springer upset Amari Blackett (1)

After the first round of the 2024 Michael Forde Memorial chess tournament, the newly crowned Rapid chess champion Justin Parsons is among a group of 5 players who have won their first game. The event is named after a former teacher Michael Forde of the St. George Secondary school, who was instrumental in the development of junior chess in the nineteen eighties.
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.

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Justin Parsons leads Rapid Chess Championship

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Current leader Justin Parsons

Young Amari Blackett of Queens College sits in joint second (1)

After four of the seven rounds of the 2024 National Rapid chess championship, defending champion candidate master Justin Parsons is the sole leader with four points. Rapid chess is where the players have an hour between them or less to complete the entire game. Its akin to one-day cricket.
In round four, he defeated the then joint leader Amari Blackett. In a tense game Parsons playing with the black pieces played actively from the opening and after  a keen struggle he was able to overwhelm Blackett.
Blackett is one of three players that sit in joint second with three points from their four games. The others are Chanon Reifer-Belle and Louis Wilson. In the last round four, Reifer-Belle  defeated Mileke Sinckler, while Louis Wilson won from Aaron Jaikaran.
Four players then sit in joint 5th to 9th with two and a half points each in the 20-player field. These are Noah Clarke, Jaikaran, Jeremiah Farley and Jacob Layson. These players are all still in the hunt for the top trophy and will be looking to move up in the field in the successive rounds.
The event will conclude on Sunday evening at the Coles Building, Bay Street in Bridgetown.

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Wilson captures her second national female chess championship

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New Barbados female chess champion woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson

After the final round of the 2024 National Female chess championship on Monday evening at the Coles Building in Bridgetown, woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson has been crowned the triumphant winner with a maximum of 8 wins from her 8 matches.
Wilson was the top – rated player in the field and lived up to her billing as the favorite. She was very efficient in executing victory in all her matches and played with great determination. Going into the last round Wilson faced Laura Nicholls and had already won the tournament as she sat two points clear of the field with only this sole round remaining. However, Wilson was in a no – nonsense mood and she won Laura’s queen for a minor piece just after the opening was completed.
With this clear advantage Wilson duly converted the match and with that won, to officially claim her second national female title, having won her first in 2022.
Woman candidate master Chanon Reifer-Belle finished second in the event with 6 points, two clear points behind the leader. In her final round game, Reifer-Belle played very tactically to force Leshay Springer to resign as she could not keep from losing her pieces. Springer finished in third position with four points in the event.
The next event on the Barbados chess Federation calendar is the 2024 National Rapid chess championship slated for next Saturday and Sunday at the Coles Building, Bay Street, Bridgetown.

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