National Chess Qualifiers named after Denny, Corbin, Gilkes

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Kevin Denny
The National Championship 1st Qualifier is named in honour of Kevin Denny.
Philip Corbin
The National Championship 2nd Qualifier is named in honour of Philip Corbin.

National Chess Qualifiers named after Denny, Corbin, Gilkes

The first face-to-face chess tournament for 2021 pushes off on Friday as the Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) honours three stalwarts who have made an outstanding contribution to the sport.

As part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, the BCF has named its National Championship Qualifiers after three of the most decorated players the island has produced – Kevin Denny, Philip Corbin and Charles Gilkes.

The Kevin Denny Open – National Championship 1st Qualifier, which will be played at the Coles Building on Bay Street in Bridgetown, will be the first over-the-board event for this year which has been limited to only online events due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The way has been paved for a return to face-to-face competition after the BCF was granted approval from the COVID-19 Protocols Monitoring Unit following the submission of protocols to govern its events.

Under the protocols, competitors and officials will be required to have temperature checks on arrival at the venue; they are required to wear face masks; they are encouraged to sanitise their hands liberally and players should stay three feet away from all other players bar their opponent. Additionally, no spectators will be allowed in the playing hall.

The 1st National Championship qualifier will be contested over seven rounds and will be played over five consecutive days, culminating on Tuesday. It will feature double headers on Saturday and Sunday with morning games scheduled for 10 a.m. and evening games at 4 p.m. The games on Friday, Monday and Tuesday will start at 5:30 p.m.

The top three finishers from each of the three Qualifiers will advance to the National Championship finals in September to face defending champion Orlando Husbands.

The second Qualifier, which is set for August, will be named after Corbin, while the third Qualifier the following month will be in honour of Gilkes.

Denny, Corbin and Gilkes are three of Barbados’ most successful players in the history of National Championships. Denny won 14 national titles between 1996 and 2008; Corbin was national champion seven times between 1975 and 1997 and Gilkes won the first of his 12 national championships in 1927. (BCF)

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Blackman wins final Grand Prix, Del Castilho takes overall honours

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Justin Blackman won the final event of the series with a perfect record.

Blackman wins final Grand Prix, Del Castilho takes overall honours

Justin Blackman won the final event with a clean sweep of the boards last weekend but Martyn Del Castilho claimed the overall honours in the Barbados Chess Federation’s online rapid Grand Prix Series.

Blackman, the reigning Caribbean Blitz champion, defeated Del Castilho in a top of the table fourth round clash and went on to finish with a perfect seven points in the final event of the series.

Akeem Cox took second place with five-and-a-half points while the youthful Rory Prescod, who ended with five points, finished third on the tie-break ahead of Emar Edwards and Hannah Wilson.

It was Blackman’s third tournament triumph in the six-event series, but Del Castilho, who won the three preceding events, still comfortably emerged as the Grand Prix champion.

Del Castilho, a six-time national champion, placed sixth in the final event with four-and-a-half points but sealed the overall title with 512 points – under the format of the series, players were awarded Grand Prix points in each event based on their percentage score in each tournament

Fellow FIDE Master Blackman, who missed the fourth event of the series, finished second overall with 455 points while Cox, a former national Under-20 champion rounded off the top three with 419 points.

Edwards, a well-known figure in road tennis circles and a former national Under-18 chess champion, was fourth with 391 points and also claimed the prize in the sub-category for the Best player rated between 1300 and 1599.

The 13-year-old Prescod, the 2020 national Under-14 and Under-12 champion, was fifth with 363 points and also won the prize in the sub-category for the Best player rated between 1000 and 1299.

The 12-year-old Wilson, last year’s national female Under-14 and Under-12 champion, finished sixth with 347 points and also secured honours as the top female player.

The list of the top ten was completed by Julissa Figueroa (342 points), Gaybrianna Moore (327), Melvin Terence (304) and Adam Roachford (299).

Taariq Callender, who placed 16th with 226 points, won the prize for the Best unrated player.

The final event attracted 25 players and there were 35 competitors in the series which started in February and was organised as an online completion in view of the COVID-19 restrictions on sporting events. (BCF)

BCF - Martyn Del Castilho (4)
BCF - Rory Prescod
BCF - Emar Edwards
BCF - Hannah Wilson

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Del Castilho wins third straight Grand Prix event

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BCF - Martyn Del Castilho
Martyn Del Castilho captured his third successive Grand Prix event. (BCF Pictures)
BCF - Akeem Cox
Akeem Cox placed third for the third time in the series to maintain third place in the overall standings.

Six-time national champion Martyn Del Castilho captured his third successive event in the Barbados Chess Federation’s online Grand Prix Series last weekend to take a firm stranglehold to secure the top honours.

The 32-year-old FIDE Master is on the verge of clinching the series with one event remaining after again overturning the challenge of Justin Blackman, the winner of the first two events.

Del Castilho, the top seed, defeated no. 2 seed Blackman in a top-of-the-table fifth round clash at the start of Sunday’s second day and duly went on seal the event with six and a half out of a maximum seven points.

Blackman, the reigning Caribbean blitz champion, took second place with six points while no. 3 seed Akeem Cox, who ended with five points, placed third for the third time in the series which be being played under the rapid format.

Emar Edwards was fourth on the tie break ahead of Louis Wilson after both players finished on four and a half points.

Under the format of the six-event series, players are awarded Grand Prix points in each event based on their percentage score in each tournament. Del Castilho, therefore, gained 92 Grand Prix points, Blackman 85 and Cox 71.

With three wins and two second places in the series, Del Castilho moved 448 points with Blackman, who opted out of the fourth event of the series, in second on 355 points and Cox third on 341 points.

Emar Edwards is in fourth place on 320 points and maintained his lead in the sub-category for the Best player rated between 1300 and 1599, while Rory Prescod is in fifth place on 292 points and still heading the sub-category for the Best player rated between 1000 and 1299.

The list of the top ten is completed Julissa Figueroa (278 points), Gaybrianna Moore (277), Hannah Wilson (276), Melvin Terence (262) and Chanon Reifer-Belle (256).

Figueroa heads the race for the top female sub-category in which just three points separate the first three players.

Taariq Callender moved into the lead in the sub-category for the Best unrated player with 169 points, one more than Joshua Blanchard, who missed the fifth event which featured 21 players.

The series will conclude next month with the sixth and final event. (BCF)

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Blackman, Del Castilho advance in American World Cup knockout

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BCF - Justin Blackman (2)
Justin Blackman defeated the higher rated Cuban International Master Gonzalez Lopez to advance to the round of 64.
BCF - Martyn Del Castilho (3)
Martyn Del Castilho progressed after his opponent failed to show up for both games.

Two Barbadian chess players have advanced to the third round of the American World Cup 2021 Qualification Stage event.

Reigning Caribbean blitz champion Justin Blackman and six-time national champion Martyn Del Castilho secured places in the round of 64 after scoring victories in contrasting fashion when the knockout rounds pushed off over the weekend.

Blackman, after battling to two draws against Cuban International Master Gonzalez Lopez over the standard time control, prevailed 2-0 in a tie-break under the faster rapid format. Blackman, who entered the knockout rounds seeded at no. 78 out of 114 players from 20 countries, had also defeated Lopez, who is seeded at no. 51, in the preliminary phase two weeks earlier.

Del Castilho’s passage to the next round was made without a challenge as his opponent, German Spata of Argentina, was a no-show for both games.

The round of 64 begins on Monday afternoon with the two Barbadian FIDE Masters coming up against Grandmasters. Blackman will face no. 14 seed, Perez Quesada of Cuba while Del Castilho, the no. 63 seed, is up against no. 2 seed Ramirez Delgado of Paraguay. The return games are scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Reigning national triple crown champion Orlando Husbands, who entered the tournament from the knockout rounds, lost against fellow International Master Jonny Cueto of Bolivia in the opening game on Saturday before playing to a draw on Sunday.

The four other Barbadians in the knockout rounds – Katrina Blackman, Julissa Figueroa, Cyprian La Touche and Keon Lashley – lost both of their games against Grandmaster opponents.

The knockout rounds are using a hybrid format – players resident in one country assemble at a venue to play their games online on their computers under the supervision of arbiters. The Barbadians are playing from the Massy Training Facility in the Coles Building on Bay Street in Bridgetown.

The top eight players in the event, which is organised by the Confederation of Chess for Americas, will advance to the World Cup finals in Sochi, Russia, from July 10 to August 6. (BCF)

 

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Husbands makes entry to American World Cup knockout

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Reigning national triple crown chess champion Orlando Husbands is set for his first competitive action of 2021 this weekend when the knockout rounds of the American World Cup 2021 Qualification Stage push off.

The 24-year-old Husbands, who did not contest the preliminary round – each Federation in the Americas was allowed to enter one player directly to the knockout phase – faces fellow International Master Jonny Cueto of Bolivia in the first round of the knockouts tomorrow.

Husbands, who holds a FIDE rating of 2348, is seeded at no. 59 among the 114 entries from 20 countries and will fancy his chances of overcoming Cueto, the 70th seed who has a rating of 2241.

Six-time national champion Martyn Del Castilho, with a rating of 2304 and seeded at no. 63, clashes with German Spata of Argentina, who is seeded at no. 66 and has a rating of 2290. Reigning Caribbean blitz champion Justin Blackman, the no. 78 seed with a rating of 2192, comes up against Cuban International Master Gonzalez Lopez, who is seeded at no. 51 with a rating of 2379. Blackman defeated Lopez during the preliminaries two weeks ago.

Four other Barbadians who did not originally advance to the knockout rounds, will now get the chance play after other players who progressed opted out. They will all face Grandmasters.

Five-time national women’s champion Katrina Blackman, seeded at no. 107, meets no. 22 seed Duany Martinez of Cuba; one-time national women’s champion Julissa Figueroa, seeded at no. 108, faces no. 21 seed Darcy Lima of Brazil; veteran Cyprian La Touche, seeded at no. 112, clashes with no. 17 seed Quintana Almadra of Cuba; and the youthful Keon Lashley, seeded at no. 113, opposes no. 16 seed Akshat Chandra of United States.

While the preliminary phase was played as an online event under the fast rapid format where games lasted around 25 minutes, the knockout section will use the standard time control with games going more than four hours. It will also be played using the hybrid format – players resident in one country assemble at a venue to play their games online on their computers under the supervision of arbiters.

The Barbadians will play their games from the Massy Training Facility in the Coles Building on Bay Street in Bridgetown. Each round will feature return games. The first game of the first round is on Saturday at 3 p.m. and the second game on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The top eight players in the event, which is organised by the Confederation of Chess for Americas, will advance to the World Cup finals in Sochi, Russia, from July 10 to August 6. (BCF)

 

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Del Castilho wins fourth online Grand Prix event with another clean sweep

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Six-time national champion Martyn Del Castilho enhanced his bid to win the Barbados Chess Federation’s online Grand Prix Series by capturing his second successive event with a perfect record last weekend.

Taking advantage of the absence of Justin Blackman, who won the first two events, Del Castilho registered a maximum seven points to comfortably stave off his opposition in the fourth event of the series which is being played under the fast rapid format.

Three players finished with five points with Akeem Cox taking second place on the tie break ahead of the youthful pair of third-placed Gaybrianna Moore and fourth-placed Rory Prescod.

With two events remaining in the series, Del Castilho, who celebrated his 32nd birthday last week, has established himself as favourite to win the new onilne series that has been organised to provide some form of competition for local players against the background of restrictions on over the board tournaments in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the format of the six-event series, players are awarded Grand Prix points in each event based on their percentage score in each tournament. Del Castilho, therefore, gained 100 Grand Prix points, with Cox, Moore and Prescod each earning 71.

FIDE Master Del Castilho is now the runaway leader in the series with 356 points, sitting comfortably ahead of his nearest rivals. Blackman, despite missing the fourth event ahead of his participation in this weekend’s knockout rounds of the American World Cup 2021 Qualification Stage, is in joint second place with Cox on 270 points.

Emar Edwards remained in fourth place on 256 points and Prescod moved up a notch to fifth place on 235 points.

The list of the top ten is completed Moore (227), Julissa Figueroa (221), Hannah Wilson (219), Melvin Terence (205) and Chanon Reifer-Belle (199).

Moore has replaced Figueroa has the leader among the females, while Edwards (Best player rated between 1300 and 1599), Prescod (Best player rated between 1000 and 1299) and Joshua Blanchard (Best unrated player) have retained their front-running positions in the other sub-categories.

For the third successive event, there were 26 players and overall 35 players have participated in the series which will move into the fifth event next month. (BCF)

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Blackman, Del Castilho advance to American World Cup knockout rounds

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BCF - Martyn Del Castilho (1)
BCF - Justin Blackman (1)

Leading Barbadian chess players Justin Blackman and Martyn Del Castilho landed top half finishes to advance to the knockout rounds of the American World Cup 2021 Qualification Stage event.

Both Blackman and Del Castilho earned five out of a maximum nine points in last weekend’s preliminary phase which was played as an online event under the fast rapid format.

Blackman was joint 31st to emerge as the highest placed finisher from the English-speaking Caribbean while fellow FIDE Master Del Castilho placed 46th in the two-day event that attracted 107 entrants from 16 countries.

The 29-year-old Blackman, the reigning Caribbean blitz champion who was seeded at no. 43, enjoyed the satisfaction of defeating two Cuban International Masters with higher ratings – Gonzalez Lopez and Perez Diaz.

Five other Barbadians participated in the preliminary phase of the event which was organised by the Confederation of Chess for Americas. Veteran Cyprian La Touche (88th), five-time national women’s champion Katrina Blackman (89th), fellow Woman Candidate Master and one-time national women’s champion Julissa Figueroa (92nd) and the youthful Keon Lashley (93rd) all finished with three points, while another youngster, Tarquin Clark (103rd) ended with two points.

The event was won by no. 6 seed Brazilian International Master Roberto Molina who finished with eight and a half points. Mark Polkin of Canada was second with seven and a half points and Sebastian Sanchez of Colombia third with seven points.

In addition to Justin Blackman and Del Castilho, teenaged Jamaicans Darren McKennis and Jaden Shaw also earned five points to progress to the knockout stage.

Justin Blackman and Del Castilho will join reigning national triple crown champion Orlando Husbands in the knockout phase which starts on May 22. Husbands, the highest rated Barbadian in the FIDE rankings, was entered directly for the knockout stage.

The knockout phase, which will feature 128 competitors, will be played under a significantly longer time control – games are expected to last more than four hours – and will be contested in a hybrid format where players in one country assemble at a single location to play their games online on their computers under the supervision of arbiters. (BCF)

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Seven Bajans to compete in American World Cup prelims

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Seven Bajans to compete in American World Cup prelims

Six-time national chess champion Martyn Del Castilho and reigning Caribbean blitz champion Justin Blackman are among seven Barbadians entered for this weekend’s preliminary phase of the American World Cup 2021 Qualification Stage event.

Del Castilho, the highest ranked Barbadian in the first phase of the event that has attracted 106 entries from 16 countries, is seeded at no. 27, while fellow FIDE Master Blackman is the no. 43 seed.

With 80 places up for grabs to advance to the knockout phase later this month, both Del Castilho and Blackman will fancy their chances of progressing.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the event, which was originally scheduled as an over-the-board competition in Chile, will be contested as a combination of an online and hybrid format. The preliminary phase will be held online with players competing from where they choose, while the knockout section will use the hybrid format where players resident in one country assemble at a venue to play their games online on their computers under the supervision of arbiters.

The preliminary phase will be played as a rapid event – games last about half hour – over nine rounds on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. Barbados time each day, while the knockout segment, which is restricted to 128 players, will be played as a hybrid event under a standard format with games running for about four hours.

Five-time national women’s champion Katrina Blackman, who is seeded at no. 80 and fellow Woman Candidate Master and one-time national champion Julissa Figueroa, the no. 82 seed, are also entered for the preliminary phase.

The other Barbadians vying for honours in the preliminaries are veteran Cyprian La Touche and the youthful pair of Tarquin Clark and Keon Lashley.

Reigning national triple crown champion, International Master Orlando Husbands, the island’s highest rated player, is entered directly for the knockout stage which starts on May 22.

The preliminary phase, which features players from United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago among others, has attracted 60 players with FIDE titles, including four Grandmasters, 22 International Masters and four Women International Masters. (BCF)

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Del Castilho wins third online Grand Prix event with perfect record

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Martyn Del Castilho captured the third Grand Prix event with a 100 per cent winning record. (BCF Picture)

Del Castilho wins third online Grand Prix event with perfect record

Martyn Del Castilho turned the tables on Justin Blackman to win the third event of the Barbados Chess Federation’s online Grand Prix Series with a clean sweep of the boards last weekend.

Top seed Del Castilho, who placed second to Blackman in the first two events of the series in February and March, bounced back to take the honours and set the stage for an keen battle in the remaining three events.

The two FIDE masters won all four of their games on Saturday’s opening day before meeting in a top-of-the-table clash in the fifth round at the start of Sunday’s action.

Del Castilho, a six-time national champion, prevailed over Blackman and duly won the next two games to finish with a maximum seven points.

Blackman, the no. 2 seed a reigning online Caribbean blitz champion, was second with six points, while Emar Edwards claimed third place on the tie-break ahead of Cyprian La Touche and Hannah Wilson after the trio ended with five points.

The competition attracted 26 players, the same as the previous event a month earlier. Under the format of the six-event series, players are awarded Grand Prix points in each event based on their percentage score in each tournament. Del Castilho, therefore, gained 100 Grand Prix points, Blackman 85 and Edwards, La Touche and Wilson 71.

Blackman is the overall Grand Prix leader at the half-way stage of the series with 270 points, followed by Del Castilho on 256 points. Edwards and Akeem Cox, who placed third in the first two events, share third place with 199 points while Julissa Figueroa is fifth on 171 points.

The top ten places are completed by Rory Prescod (164), Gaybrianna Moore (156), Hannah Wilson (155), Melvin Terence (148) and Chanon Reifer-Belle (148).

The Guatemala-born Figueroa, the wife of Del Castilho, leads among the females, while the front-runners in the other sub-categories are Edwards (Best player rated between 1300 and 1599), Prescod (Best player rated between 1000 and 1299) and Joshua Blanchard (Best unrated player).

The series, which has attracted 32 players, is being played under the short rapid format on an online platform due to the existing restrictions on physical gatherings in view of the C0VID-19 situation.

The dates of the fourth Grand Prix event will be determined at a later stage. (BCF)

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Blackman sweeps boards to win second online Grand Prix event

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Justin Blackman won the second event of the new online Grand Prix Series with a clean sweep of the boards. (BCF Picture)

Blackman sweeps boards to win second online Grand Prix event

Justin Blackman completed a clean sweep of the boards to capture the second event of the Barbados Chess Federation’s new online Grand Prix Series over the weekend.

Blackman, the no. 2 seed who also won the first event last month, finished with a perfect seven points in the two-day tournament played under the short rapid format on an online platform due to the existing restrictions on physical gatherings in view of the C0VID-19 situation.

The reigning Caribbean blitz champion established himself as favourite to take the honours when he triumphed against no. 1 seed Martyn Del Castilho in a top-of-the-table fourth round clash at the end of Saturday’s opening day.

The 29-year-old Blackman duly cemented his position with a further three victories on Sunday’s final day to comfortably win the event ahead of fellow FIDE Master Del Castilho who took second place with five and a half points.

Akeem Cox edged Nitin Mahtani on the tie-break to seal third place with five points. It meant that there was a carbon copy of the top three finishers from the first event which was held on February 6 and 7.

Emar Edwards, who finished fourth in the first event, ended with four and a half points to take fifth place on the tie break ahead of Adam Roachford and Rory Prescod.

The tournament attracted 26 players, six more than the first event. Under the format of the six-event series, players are awarded Grand Prix points in each event based on their percentage score in each tournament. Blackman, therefore, gained 100 Grand Prix points, Del Castilho 78 and Cox 71.

The player with the most Grand Prix points at the end of the series will be crowned champion. There will also be prizes for the second and third place finishers, Best Female, Best Player rated between 1300 and 1599, Best Player rated between 1000 and 1299 and the Best unrated player.

The dates of the third Grand Prix event will be determined at a later stage. (BCF)

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