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 4^th to 6^th 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.

As the 2024 Barbados National Female chess championship reaches the half-way stage, woman FIDE master Hannah Wilson of Queens College has made a major claim to the title when she defeated the second ranked woman candidate master Chanon Reifer-Belle and also Laura Nicholls in the last two rounds.
Wilson now leads the event with 5 points from her five matches so far, and looks in good form to take the title overall.
Sitting in second position is Reifer-Belle, who has three points from her four games as she defeated Leshay Springer in her last round match. Reifer-Belle has a game in hand over the leader Wilson and will be hoping that she can take advantage of any slip up by the current leader.
Two players sit in third spot. These are Springer and Jaeda Herbert. Both players have two points and will be hoping that they can still have an impact on the higher placings in the event.
Action will wrap up this weekend at the Coles Building, Bay Street in Bridgetown.

Barbados’s women chess team again took honors at the 2024 Chess Olympiad as they won their round 8 match against Malawi 3 – 1.
Winning for Barbados was Hannah Wilson, Katrina Blackman and Chanon Reifer – Belle. Reifer – Belle won her game by default, while Wilson quickly disposed of Woman FIDE master Linda Jombo. Blackman then sealed the match with a victory over Tupokiwe Msuukwa. The only blemish in the match was Kiarra Eversley losing on board 4 against Rachel Jaylos.
This result has propelled Barbados up to position 89 in the 169-team event. The only English-speaking Caribbean team above Barbados is Jamaica who has 9 of 16 match points while Barbados has 8. Barbados will next play Angola in round 9 of the event. India continues to lead the women’s section even though going down to Poland in round 8.
Unfortunately, in the Open section, the Barbados team suffered an upset defeat at the hands of Myanmar. Kemp Lynch and Fide master Philip Corbin both lost, the board four, Lawrence Depradine salvaged a draw, while the top board Justin Blackman was efficient in his win against Maung Min Than. Barbados thus lost the match 1 ½ – 2 ½ .
India continues to lead the Open event with another impressive win 3 ½ – ½ over Iran. The Indian Open team is the only team to have won all their matches so far. They will face the defending champions Uzbekistan in the next round.