BCF, Author at Barbados Chess Federation

Husbands leads National Championship at the half-way point

October 16, 2020/0 Comments/in Nationals, Tournaments/by BCF

Husbands leads National Championship at half-way point

Two-time defending champion Orlando Husbands has reeled off a perfect record to hold a narrow lead in the Barbados Chess Federation’s 2020 National Championship at the half-way stage.

Aiming to become the fifth player to achieve a hat-trick of national titles in the last 45 years, the 23-year-old top seed has a maximum five points in the nine-round event which pushed off last weekend at the Chess Centre on Exmouth Gap, Brandons, St. Michael.

Two youthful players are close on Husbands’ heels with 20-year-old no. 5 seed Nitin Mahtani holding second place with four and a half points and 18-year-old no. 3 seed Kyle Sandiford occupying third place on four points.

Emar Edwards is in fourth place on three points and is followed by three players – Justin Parsons, Akeem Cox and Othneil Harewood – on two points.

Husbands, one of only four International Masters Barbados has produced, benefitted from a default win against Parsons in the first round before beating Louis Wilson in the second round last Saturday.

The defending champion defeated Adam Roachford in the third round last Sunday and maintained his winning form with victories over Harewood in the fourth round on Tuesday and over Mark Lowe in the fifth round on Thursday.

Husbands will face off against Edwards in the sixth round on Saturday morning before clashing with Sandiford in the seventh round in the evening.

In the absence of some of the island’s leading players, Mahtani and Sandiford have grabbed the chance to show their mettle and both defeated no. 2 seed Cox.

Mahtani, captain of the Barbados team at the 2018 and 2019 CARIFTA Championships, also won against Harewood, Lowe and Edwards while playing to a draw against Sandiford in the fourth round.

Sandiford’s victories were against Cox, Roachford and Parsons and he also drew with Edwards.

Ten players are competing in the Championship which is being played on a round-robin format – all the players face off against each other. They are battling for a top prize of $1 000 and a trophy with the second place finisher earning $600 and a trophy and third place $400 and a trophy.

After Saturday’s two rounds of games, the action will continue on Sunday at 5 p.m. with the final round set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. (BCF)

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Husbands takes aim at hat-trick of national titles

October 9, 2020/0 Comments/in Nationals, Tournaments/by BCF

Husbands takes aim at hat-trick of national titles

Barbados’ top rated chess player Orlando Husbands starts his quest to complete a hat-trick of titles when the Barbados Chess Federation’s 2020 National Championship pushes off on Saturday.

The 23-year-old International Master is the favourite to win the nine-round event given the absence of some of the island’s top players who opted out of the three qualifiers this year.

While Husbands boasts of a FIDE rating of 2324, the no. 2 seed Akeem Cox is more than 500 points behind with a rating of 1819. The list of top five seeds is completed by Kyle Sandiford (1807), Justin Parsons (1754) and Nitin Mahtani (1729) and ten ten-player field is rounded off by Emar Edwards (1705), Mark Lowe (1653), Othneil Harewood (1603), Louis Wilson (1499) and Adam Roachford (1369).

In Saturday’s first round, which starts at 10 a.m. at the Chess Centre on Exmouth Gap, Brandons, St. Michael, Husbands faces Parsons before coming up against Wilson in the second round at 5 p.m.

Husbands, who won last year’s title with a 100 per cent record and captured the 2018 championship by scoring ten and a half out of a maximum 11 points, is seeking to join four other players to achieve a hat-trick of national titles in the past 45 years.

Philip Corbin claimed a hat-trick from 1975 to 1977; Ron Buckmire won four successive national titles from 1983 to 1986; Kevin Denny achieved a record six straight championships from 1991 to 1996 and Martyn Del Castilho won four in a row from 2009 to 2012.

FIDE Master Del Castilho, the second highest rated player in the island, is among some of the leading players who did not complete in any of the three qualifiers which were won by Sandiford, Harewood and Wilson. Others opting out included International Master Terry Farley, FIDE Master Justin Blackman and Candidate Master Bryan Prescod.

The Championship, which will be played in a round-robin format – all the players face off against each other – is offering a top prize of $1 000 and a trophy with the second place finisher earning $600 and a trophy and third place $400 and a trophy. It will continue with the third round of games on Sunday with the remaining days set for October 13, 15, 17, 18 and 20.

Under the COVID-19 protocols for over the board tournaments, players will be required to compete in masks and no spectators will be allowed at the venue. (BCF)