Hannah Wilson once again showed why she is the top junior chess player when she convincingly won the 2024 Under 20 Female chess champion recently. What was more impressive was that she won from a field which not only included the female players on show, but also involved the male players as the subscription of female players was small.

Wilson won all six of her games to achieve his first tourney win of the year and get her packed chess calendar year off to a perfect start. Wilson, who recently secured the Junior Outstanding Sportsperson Award 2023 in the female category in Barbados was only challenged by Simon Lamm of Jamaica in their round three clash. Lamm, who is studying at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies was the surprise of the event and according to Wilson played impressively in their encounter.

Lamm scored 5 points from his 6 matches and would eventually be  crowned the Under 20 Open champion.

Leshay Springer finished second in the female section with a credible 3 ½ points. She would have been elated by her performance, especially her defeat of Loki Clarke, a much higher rated player who had won the XIV IRT Híbrido de Las Americas Open chess event late last year. Sariah Mc Clean came third in the female section.

Nathan Griffith, with three points, finished in second in the open section while Clarke on two and a half, underperformed in the event finishing third in that section.

After three of the seven rounds of the 2023 VEXX chess tournament, Kemp Lynch is the sole player in the lead with three points.

Lynch, the second ranked player in the field, has looked impressive in his play and in the last round he defeated woman candidate master Julissa Figueroa with the black pieces. While Lynch’s victory allowed him to stand alone at the top, it was only so because Allan Herbert had defeated Travis Grant, after a long tough battle.

Grant had so far been the giant killer in the field and had defeated the number one and three ranked players in the field in the form of Philip Roach and Chris White. He found Herbert, a bridge too far to cross and after stubborn resistance , he succumbed to defeat.

Other important results in the round saw Roach defeat Ernest King, White win from Othniel Harewood, Kiarra Eversley got the point from Mileke Sinckler and Aaron Jaikaran defeat Jerimiah Farley.

Thus, Lynch leads 7 players in joint second on 2 points, which include all the winners in the afore mentioned paragraph as well as Figueroa, Herbert and Grant.

In the next round over this weekend at the Coles Building on Bay Street, Bridgetown, Lynch will try to stay in the lead as he battles Chris White, while the number one seed Philip Roach will hold the black pieces against Kiara Eversley.

Wilson campaigns in Puerto Rico

Top local junior player and current Under 16 Central American and Caribbean female champion Hannah Wilson is currently representing Barbados at the 2023 Central and Caribbean women’s chess championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

She currently sits in 6th position on two and a half points from four matches in a field of 20 players representing 10 countries from across the region.

Wilson started well by defeating the second highest ranked player in the event, Obdulis Hermoso Rodriguez of Trinidad, but then she lost to Polina Karelina of Bahamas in round two. Wilson then bounced back in round three with victory over Gabriela Vera Perez of Puerto Rico before drawing her fourth-round game against Daniel Juarez Garcia of Guatemala.

The event, is currently led by Danitza Maccarini Vasquez of Puerto Rico on three and a half points, ahead of her teammate Natasha Morales, Karelina and Katherine Kaslan of Surinam, all on three points. Five games remain and the matches should become more intense as a championship winner is to be crowned

The 5^th round of the 2023 National Ladies’ chess championship created an upheaval at the top, as current  Central American and Caribbean Under 16 female champion Hannah Wilson, defeated the then current leader Julissa Figueroa to now claim a share of first place with 4 points from 5 games.

In a clash of experience versus youth, it was the experienced Figueroa who was the one who built up a clear early advantage in the game. She however made a slight inaccuracy, and it was the youthful Wilson who turned the position around and with both players under time pressure, it was Wilson who pushed towards victory.

Two players sit jointly in third place on three and a half points. These are Katrina Blackman and Gaybrianna Moore. In the last round, Blackman outlasted Alesha Lovell, while Moore won quickly form Leshay Springer. Moore however has a game in hand.

Other results in the round saw Heather Leslie defeat Shernelle Padmore, while Kiarra Eversley and Channon Reifer-Belle battled to a hard-fought draw.

The Ladies National championship is being played as a round robin event at the Coles Building, Bay Street in Bridgetown. Action will continue over the weekend with games at 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m.