Del Castilho lead Philip Corbin Open Chess Event

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After three rounds of the seven rounds in the 2024 Dr. Philip Corbin Open chess tournament, Fide master Martyn Del Castilho has struck the front of the field with three impressive victories from his three games.
In the last round Del Castilho showed his playing prowess in a tough game against the ever-improving Adam Roachford. At the start of the game, many pundits believed that Roachford had caught the former national champion out in the opening as Del Castilho moved his king early in the game and this is one of the moves that you are told from a junior not to do. However, Del Castilho played the line correctly and after soaking up some initial pressure he was able to turn around the attack and score a hard-fought victory.
Kemp Lynch lies a half point behind the leader with two and a half points after defeating Jerimiah Farley in the third round. Also sharing the second spot is Lawrence Depradine who won from veteran Cyprian LaTouche to also have two and a half points.
Other players recording victory in this third were Travis Grant, Julissa Figueroa and the ever-green Othneil Harewood.
The highlight game of the fourth round will see Del Castilho facing off against Lynch, while Depradine battles Roachford. Action will continue at 5.00 p.m. this Saturday at the Coles Building, with the final two rounds being on Sunday at 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m.
The first three finishers from this event will be the final qualifiers for the 2024 Barbados Open National chess championship finals.
 Wilson campaigns at PanAmerican Youth Chess Championship
Top rated female player Hannah Wilson is the only Barbados player taking part in  the 34th PanAmerican Youth chess championships, being played in Florida, U.S.A. Wilson is playing in the Under 16 female section of the event, which has hundreds of players participating in the 12 age categories open and female/.
In the classical format of the event, Wilson currently sits in 11th position in the 23 player field with 3 ½ points from her 6 games so far. She has won two games, drawn three and lost only one to Hema Vikas of the U.S.A. Wilson sits 2 ½ points off the leader, woman’s international master Sofia Mayorga Araya  of Costa Rica who has won all 6 of her matches so far. Wison would be looking to close the gap at the backend of the event.
In the blitz section of the event, Wilson finished the event in joint third position on 5 ½ points from 10 games. She lost out on the tie-break to Vikas. Anika Rajaram of the U.S.A won the event with 8 points. Moyarga Araya was second on 7 points. Blitz is a fast form of chess where players have 3 minutes with a 30 second increment per move in order to complete the game.

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Charles F Broome’s A team wins Primary Interschool Team Chess Championship

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Charles F Broome Primary School ‘A’ team swept aside all the opponents it faced to emphatically win the 2024 Barbados Interschool Primary Chess championship held at the Wildey Gymnasium earlier in the week.
 Charles F Broome finished on a perfect 25 game points to finish a commanding 7 points ahead of the second-place team St. Giles ‘A’. The Charles F Broome B team came in third position on 15 points, edging out two other teams on the tie-break. Those teams were St. Giles ‘B’, Beyond the Box Education and Sharon Primary.
The event was played over two days with a 5-round format. Each team consisted of 5 players and up to two reserves. The event consisted of 20 registered teams from just over a dozen separate primary schools.
The winning team in descending board order of Chaz Reifer-Belle, Nathan Simmons-Patterson, Janiyah Browne, Darren Toppin, Nathan Culpepper with Kymani Gayle as the reserve went through out the two days with an unblemished record to make themselves and school very proud. It was always expected that the  Charles F Broome ‘A’ team would have been the favorite team as it possesses several age-category champions or national representatives in its ranks in the likes of Reifer-Belle, Browne, and Gayle. However, its total domination was of credit to their erstwhile coach Mr. Corie Elcock. The first five members of the team won the board prize, meaning that they score 100% from their respective games. A feat only repeated by two St. George ‘C’ players Shakeem Applewaithe and Joash Sealy, playing on board 4 and 5 for their team.
The St. Giles ‘A’ team comprising of Nyall Bushell, Aaron Tash, Kyi chai Straughan, Callum Foster and Donte Christian finished a commendable second. They won four of their five matches, suffering  only one defeat at the hands of the eventual winners. Tash, Straughan and Foster all won special prizes in their respective boards, meaning that they scored more the 67 % of the available maximum score.
The Charles F Broome ‘B’ team of Amelia Mottley, Nia Clarke, Daisha Rose-Parris, Liam Byer, Arielle Gittens and Akeli Grazette came in third to give their school more glory, but it was a close-run thing. They finished ahead on tie-break from St. Giles ‘B’ and Beyond the Box Education who also had 15 points and only a half-point ahead of Sharon Primary and St. George ‘C’ who scored 14 ½ points respectively.
This was a restart to the Primary Interschool team championship after the Covid pandemic and President of the Barbados Chess Federation(BCF) lamented that he was very happy to see the over a hundred plus students taking part in the event. Students received their prizes from the National Sports Council (NSC) director Mr. Neil Murrel, General manager  of the Barbados Olympic Association(BOA) Glyne Clarke and woman’s candidate master and 2023 Central American and Caribbean  Under 14 female bronze medal winner Chanon Reifer-Belle, a product of the last 2019 event.

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Justin Parsons wins CB Gilkes Open chess event

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Justin Parsons won the recently completed 2024 CB Gilkes Open chess tournament to lead two other qualifiers to the final of the 2024 Open National Chess championships to be held later in the year.
Parsons, the second ranked player in the event, won with 6 points out of a possible 7. Ronaldo Rochester finished in second on 5 points, just ahead of women’s candidate master Hannah Wilson in third on the tie-break. These other two also qualified for the National finals.
The final qualifying spots came down to the last round of the event, where at least 5 players had a chance to capture the three spots. The important final round matchups saw Parsons against Wilson on the top table, Lawrence Depradine had the white pieces against veteran Othneil Harewood on the second board, while Under 13 scholastics champion Aaron Jaikaran battled against Rochester on the third board.
The results saw Rochester defeating Jaikaran, Depradine winning from Harewood and Parsons defeating the current Central American and Caribbean Under 16 champion Wilson. These results saw Parsons, Rochester and  Wilson being the ones rewarded with a qualification spot in the National Open finals.
Other final round results saw Noah Clarke defeating Cyprian La Touche, Chanon Reifer-Belle winning from Jerimiah Farley and Alfred Sparman defeating compatriot Ernest King. There were draws between Mileke Sinckler and Savion Little, as well as Allan Herbert and Chaz Reifer-Belle.
With these three latest qualifiers for the national finals, there are only three spots left for the taking.
The next event on the Barbados Chess Federation’s calendar will the return of the Primary Interschool Team chess championship which will be held next week on Monday and Tuesday at the Wildey Gymnasium.

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New Under 13, 9 & 7 Scholastics Chess Champions Crowned

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Aaron Jaikaran of Harrison College is the new Under 13 Scholastics Chess Champion after winning the event from a field of two dozen players when the event was completed recently at the Crumpton Street, the city venue of the school.

It came down to the final round of the event as at that time. Jaikaran was co-leader of the event with Chaz Reifer-Belle with both players on four and a half points from five of their 6 games. However, two other players in the form of Andrew Tash – Turton and Savion Little sat just a half point adrift of the leaders on 4 points and with favorable results in the final round, any of these four players could become the champion.

In the final round the fate of the players would thus be in their own hands and the matchups would see Jaikaran against Tash-Turton and Little versus Reifer-Belle. It would be a case of which player would hold their nerves best and to the victors would go the spoils.

Jaikaran was the first to press his claim to the event as he easily gained the advantage over Tash-Turton and duly went on to win the game. However, it did not go to plan for the then co-leader Reifer-Belle. Little had moved the game into a complicated position and Reifer-Belle, under some pressure did not calculate accurately and found himself at the wanting end of a tactical melee. Little would then go on to claim a memorable victory leaving his younger opponent in tears.

With this result Jaikaran had finished first on 5 ½ points, Little had finished clear second on 5 points while Reifer-Belle came third with his 4 ½ points.

Jaeda Herbert and Kayla Culpepper will have to playoff for the Under 13 girls’ scholastic championships after both players scored a credible 3 points from their 6 matches. The girls had initially played with the boys due to low subscription. Makeda Fergusson finished in third place.

Sameera takes Under 9 Girls Scholastics

Another Jaikaran was able to clinch another Scholastics age category championship over the same weekend. It came in the form of Aaron’s younger sister, Sameera. In the Under 7 & 9 Open and Girls combined event, Sameera scored 5 points for a possible 6 to clinch her age category. Kymani Gale had a similar score and duly clinched the Under 9 Open scholastics.

Raef Clarke also scored 5 points in the combined section to win the Under 7 Open scholastics, while Nia Snow-Clarke won the Under 7 girls’ equivalent.

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Husbands leads Masters after Round 3

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Barbadian chess International Master (IM) Orlando Husbands (Rating 2290) extended his unbeaten run in the Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) 2024 Heroes Day Masters with a win over Venezuelan national champion IM Felix Jose Ynojosa Aponte in round three at Coles Building in the city.

Playing with the black pieces on Saturday evening, Husbands, who is the reigning Barbados national champion, surged to the top of the standings on 2.5 points after three rounds, ahead of Sunday morning’s fourth-round encounter against top-rated Grandmaster (GM) Luis Lazaro Aguero Jimenez (2469) of Cuba.
The Cuban was held to a draw in round three by Trinidadian FIDE Master and national champion Joshua Johnson (2324) who sits tied second behind Husbands after two draws and a round two upset over Panamanian IM and national champion Roberto Carlos Sanchez Alvarez (2407).
Undeterred from the loss, Alvarez recorded his second victory by defeating Barbadian FM Martyn Del Castilho (2226) who also went under to his Bajan compatriot Husbands in round two.
After three rounds, Husbands leads with 2.5 points, with the Trinidadian Johnson and Alvarez tied in second on two points.
Top-seeded Grandmaster Jimenez will have to play catch up having only scored one point after two draws and a loss to Alvarez in round one.
Aponte sits above Del Castilho with one draw in two matches, while Del Castilho is yet to register a point.
However, the Barbadian Del Castilho and Aponte do have a game in hand after their round one encounter was postponed.
There is little to separate the top crowd after two rounds in the Challengers section, with Guyanese Anthony Drayton (1978), Englishman Chris White (1902), 15-year-old Barbadian Women’s Candidate Master Hannah Wilson (1843), and Trinidadian Enen-Sa-Tefa Ab Khafra (1824) all on a perfect record after two rounds.
Wilson defeated Mileke Sinckler and Joseph Yeung-Chou to set up a tasty third-round encounter with the second-seeded Drayton.
Top-rated Chinedu Benjamin Enemchukwu (1998) of St Vincent and the Grenadines sits seventh on 1.5 points after a second-round draw with Barbadian Justin Parsons.
Ememchukwu meets top-rated Barbadian Justin Kirton who first defeated Women’s Candidate Master Chanon Reifer-Belle (1638), before going under to Ronaldo Rochester (1756) Barbados.
Thus far, three rounds of the ten-round double round-robin Masters section have been completed, with the 29 Challengers so far tested over two rounds out of the total nine.
A prize of US $1 000 is up for grabs for the winner of the Masters, with second and third position receiving $700 and $500 respectively.
Eight countries – Barbados, Cuba, England, Guyana, Panama, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela are represented at the tournament, while the Barbados Olympic Association have supported with sponsorship.
 
 

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Barbados Under 14 and 16 chess championships playoff

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Over the Easter weekend two playoffs to crown winners for the Barbados National Under 14 and 16 age category chess championships were played at the Harrison College school on Crumpton Street, Bridgetown.

Firstly, on Easter Saturday, Mileke Sinckler held the home advantage and duly delivered the Under 14 crown to himself and school as he battled through the four-player field to finish with two and a half points from a possible three to be clear first.  He was only held to a draw in the last round by Savion Little and by then no one could catch him as he had already defeated the two other players Aaron Jaikaran and Amari Blackett. Both Blackett and Jaikaran finished a point behind the winner.

On Easter Monday, it was Queen’s College’s Kanye Williams turn to strike glory as he battled through two bruising games to capture the Under 16 title. Firstly, he defeated Jaikaran, but then he had to play against the defending champion in Noah Clarke, who had also defeated in Jaikaran.

In a game full of missed opportunities, it was Williams who first had the advantage as under a withering kingside attack, he won Clarke’s queen for two minor pieces. But Clarke with a no surrender attitude, continued to play actively and Williams would lose another piece to put Clarke in the ascendency. He however, in an attempt to side step some mating threats by Williams, eventually lost his rook and would resign shortly after.

Playoffs were necessary in both age categories as the players had all come joint first in the initial phase of the championships.

While the juniors were doing their thing locally, two senior players were competing abroad. Locally based Englishman, Chris White campaigned in Martinique with some success  in the 11e Open International de Martinique – Memorial Joel Gratien to score 5 points from a possible 9 and finish in 19th position from 65 players. The event was eventually won by French grandmaster Christian Bauer.

President of the Barbados Chess Federation Allan Herbert, played in the Canadian Championship Festival last week and finished in 32nd place from 66 players. He was initially the 17th ranked players and would have fancied himself with a better showing. The event was won by Hanuel Park of South Korea, ahead of Sarthak Deshpande of Canada, after both players scored 6 points from a possible 7.

…

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Wilson and Lamm are Under 20 Chess Champions

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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.

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Toppin and Browne are national Under 12 chess champions

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Darren Toppin of Charles . F. Broomes Primary school is the new National Under 12 Open chess champion when he won the event over the weekend at Harrison College from a stacked field which included the defending champion Jonathan Griffith, the current Under 10 champion Charis Stuart and the Under 9 champion Jerimiah Farley. It also included the top rated under 12 player Chaz Reifer-Belle.

It came down to the final round in an intense finish as three players from the two dozen participants went into the final round with possible chances to win the event. These included Toppin and Farley on four points, as well as the then leader Nathan Simmons – Patterson, who led with 4 ½ points.

In the final 6th round, Toppin faced Simmons-Patterson, while Farley faced Stuart. In a round which saw these players spending as much time looking at the neighboring games as much as their own, the results saw Toppin toppling Simmons-Patterson and Stuart defeating Farley.

The final results thus saw Toppin in first place with 5 points with Simmons-Patterson on four points edging out Stuart on the tie-break. Farley, Reifer-Belle and Kymani Gayle finished just off the podium on four points. Toppin thus claimed his first title and will be looking to win more throughout the year.

Browne wins Under 12 Girls championship.

Janiyah Browne turned the tables on last years defending champion Jaeda Herbert to capture the national Under 12 female championships. She was in dominant form as she won all six of her games in emphatic fashion with her only challenging match being against the eventual second place finisher Herbert. Herbert finished in clear second on 5 points. Sameera Jaikaran finished in third spot with 3 points from her 6 matches. It was thus a double victory for the Charles F Broomes school. Kudos to the coach Mr. Corie Elcock. 

The junior players will all be looking to compete over the next weekend in the Under 8. 10 and 14 championships to be played tentatively at the St. Michael school.

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Emar Edwards wins I.M. Kevin Denny Open

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Amari Blackett, came in third (1)
Second paced Muralidhar Areti (1)

The I.M. Kevin Denny Open came to an exciting conclusion over the weekend and Emar Edwards won the event in the last round to lead two other players Muralidhar Areti and Amari Blackett into the 2024 national chess championship final.

Going into the final round of the event, played on a glorious sunny evening at the Coles Building, Bay Street, Bridgetown, they were at least 5 players in the field who still had a chance of winning the event, far less moving forward to the finals later this year.

These players included the versatile Emar Edwards who led with 5 points from 6 games, while on four points were the top seed Muralidhar Areti, Cyprian La Touche who was the early leader in the field, wily veteran Othneil Yearwood and the unheralded Amari Blackett.

In the final round Edwards was pitted against the dangerous Harewood, while La Touche would have fancied himself against the junior Blackett and Areti played against current Under 9 scholastics  champion Jerimiah Farley. The overall final position would be determined by the results of these three games.

First it was Areti who put himself in contention when he gained the initiative against Farley and duly went on to record victory. Next it was Edwards who was pressing for victory against Harewood which he eventually achieved with some accurate play. All during this time, the veteran La Touche was building up a clear advantage against the junior Blackett and many pundits thought he would be the final one to join the aforementioned winners as the final qualifier for the 2024 national chess finals. However, in this battle of experience versus youth it was Blackett who would eventually turn the tables and record a memorable victory which would qualify him for his first national chess final. A devasted La Touche was left to rue his chances after having been an early leader in the event. Areti would also celebrate his first trip to the national chess finals.

Other results in the round saw victories for Chanon Reifer-Belle, Ronaldo Rochester, Derick Boyce and Alfred Sparman. Allan Herbert was held to a draw by Aaron Jaikaran.

When the dust had settled, it was Edwards who was the outright winner with 6 points, with Areti, second having edged Blackett on tie-break, with both a point behind Edwards. Reifer-Belle was the best female finisher on 4 ½ points from her 7 games, while Noah Clarke won the best Under 16 prize.

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Bajans start chess year right

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Loki Clarke, winner of the Open Section

Husbands leads qualifiers for national chess championship finals

Bajan chess players got the new year off to a rousing start when two local players Loki Clarke and Jerimiah Farley won their categories in the XIV IRT Híbrido de Las Américas hybrid chess event played over the last weekend.

A hybrid chess event is one where players compete from a central location and play via an online chess platform under the supervision of a chess referee.

 

Clarke captures Open Section

Loki Clarke went into the Open section of the event as the 15th ranked player in the field of 27 players representing the countries of Venezuela, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Barbados. Clarke however made his intentions clear from the first round when he defeated the 2nd highest ranked player in the form of Christian Gabriel Allen Leydenz of Venezuela. He then racked up victories against two more Venezuelan opponents, before falling to Armando Jose Zanella Gonzalez also of Venezuela in round 4. Loki then regained his winning ways and by the final and 7th round, he was one of three players who led with 5 points from 6 matches. In this winner takes all round, Clarke would face fellow Bajan Adam Roachford, while the other co-leader Armando Jose Zanella Gonzalez of Venezuela was matched against veteran Terrence Lindo of Jamaica.

A quick draw ensued between Gonzalez and Lindo, and this would immediately mean that the winner of the Bajan clash would take the event. It was a hard-fought battle, but when Loki was able to exchange two minor pieces for a rook, it was Loki who was slightly ahead in the game. With his combative style Loki pushed for victory and eventually Roach would succumb to defeat to his lower rated opponent. It was a memorable victory for Loki as he not only won the event but defeated 6 players who were initially higher rated than him.

Of the other 6 Bajans in this part of the event Roachford was the best in third place, with 5 points.

 

Farley takes the Under 10 section.

Jerimiah Farley dominated the Under 10 section with 6 points from his 7 games in a masterful display of chess from the other Venezuelan and Peruvian players in his section. He missed a round due to previous engagement, but his play showed a level of tactical awareness beyond that of his opponents. If he keeps on his development trajectory, he will no doubt become a very competent player. He is currently being exposed to special training provided by the world governing chess body FIDE, and this hopefully will see him improving more quickly.

 

In the Under 16 section of the event, Noah Clarke finished in 4th place in a small 8 player field consisting of players form Venezuela, Peru and St. Lucia also with three and a half points. He started with two victories but struggled in the middle of the event, suffering three consecutive defeats.

 

Barbados had two players in the under 14 section of the event. Mileke Sinckler missed some opportunities to finish midfield in the 25-player event with three and a half points, while Isaiah Acher finished slightly behind on three points.

Overall, the event had 88 players participating in the 5 sections and representing 6 countries from the Caribbean and South America. Such events allow Bajan players to get regional competition without having to seek airfare and accommodation to attend overseas events.

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