JCF names team for Olympiad in Istanbul

Claire Clarke, Contributor

Volume 1. No.32

The national team for next month's Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey has been selected.

The registered names currently listed on the FIDE website are: Open team: Fide Master Warren Elliot, International Master Jomo Pitterson, Candidate Master Duane Rowe, National Master Damion Davy and National Master Andrew Mellace. Women's team: Women's Fide Master Deborah Richards-Porter, Krishna Gray, Women's Candidate Master Zhu Hui, Melisha Smith and Women's Candidate Master Ariel Barrett.

Council member Robert Wheeler confirmed these registrations and added that the Open team will be captained by Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) president Ian Wilkinson and the Women's team be led by National Master Russel Porter.

Ja at 40th annual World Open

Jamaican chess players were on show at the World Chess Open tournament which ran from July 2-8 at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Centre Hotel in Philadelphia.

Representing Jamaica were Malik Buchanan, Leighton Barrett and Jason Lawson. Buchanan finished with a score of 6.5 from 9 to win the unrated section in the U900 and also finished eighth from a field of 88 players.

Lawson did the best with an impressive 7.5 points from nine games ahead of 96 players in the U1200, he also won his category in the Blitz Championship. Barrett scored seven points from nine games and finished third in the U900 section, he also played in the Under-13 Booster where he scored 4.5 from six games and finished fifth. More details on the results of this tournament are available at: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/tag/world-open-2012-standings/.

St Jago Chess Open 2012

There were no repeat winners when the dust settled on Sunday night at the St Jago Chess Open tournament 2012 - 'battles where the best meet the best.' It was year two and the repeat mode for winning had been switched off in all categories.

With registration numbers up by nearly 100 per cent over last year (144 players in 2011, 270 players in 2012), a number of sponsors were back on board to fund the execution of the event.

Sponsors who provided more than $200,000 in cash prizes, trophies, baskets and books included NCB Insurance, The Gleaner Company, JMMB, Western Union, Carimed, Go-Global Couriers, DaCosta Construction, Oxford University Press, Sunshine Snacks, Computers and More, Island Grill, Magnificent Chess Foundation, Royale Chess Academy, WE Chess and Chess Enterprise. All these were supported by St Jago High past students.

Fide Master Warren Elliot ended the St Jago Chess Open's Ravensworth Elite Unit unbeaten with a score of 4.5 from five games. FM Elliot seems to be on a tournament winning streak having shared top honours the week before in the National Blitz Championships. This after a less-than-prime placement in the National Championships completed in April, FM Elliot's form appears to be returning.

Women's Fide Master Deborah Richards ended second with four points from five games in the Elite Unit after starting off with a bang and taking out Devlin Sinclair who flew in from New York to play in this tournament. Last year's Ravensworth Elite Champion and current National Champion, National Master Andrew Mellace, ended fifth in the 16-player field.

St Jago High's Alistair Walker, who will enter fourth form in September, was on top for the St Jago Open Unit, unbeaten with a score of 5.5 from six games. Walker, a member of the St Jago High Champion High School team from earlier in the year, also won the last tournament he played in two months ago. The St Jago Open Unit chock-full of wannabe-Elites turned out to be the competitive minefield that the entries suggested it would be. Defending champion Miguel Asher, finished outside the top three.

Matthew Blake ended top of the pile in the St Jago Open Intermediate Unit with a perfect score of five from five games. Blake, also a member of the champion St Jago team, was the highest rated player in his section and he started on board one and finished on board one. Last year's winner Randy Stewart, upgraded by his rating, had to play in the St Jago Open Unit this year.

Orane Watson, with a perfect score of six from six games was the winner of the St Jago Amateur Unit.

HIGH DRAMA

There was high drama in the primary and preparatory sections where the two rivals Tahj Grannel and Javauny Green had to square off yet again in a sudden-death three-match blitz play-off after ending the six-round tournament tied on 5.5 points.

The theatre set for the play-off on the giant chess mat in the centre of the St Jago High lawn, the crowds gathered to witness the swift flight of fingers to decide the champion. Grannel, as he did the last time these two met under similar circumstances four weeks ago, claimed the spoils to be crowned. St Jago Chess Open Primary and Preparatory Under 12 Open Champion.

The 2012 St Jago Chess Open tournament is the last major tournament before the Jamaican team flies off to Istanbul, Turkey to play in the Chess Olympiad this summer.

Other winners were:

St Jago Primary and Preparatory Under-10 Open - Lontae Walker six from six.

St Jago Primary and Preparatory Under-8 Open - Gabrielle Simpson six from six.

St Jago Primary and Preparatory Girls Open - Kalicia Miller.

Best Female Player - Deborah Richards.

Top Overseas Player - Devlin Sinclair.

Top Player from the West - Mark Holness.

Best High School Team - Glenmuir Kings (Michael Bailey, Alexie Campbell and Samuel Haywood).

Best University Team - UWI Kings (NM Damion Davy, Miguel Asher and Warren Cornwall).Best St Catherine Team - St Jago Champs (NM Mikhail Solomon, Alistair Walker and Matthew Blake).

Best Primary and Preparatory Team - Immaculate Warriors, (Gabrielle Simpson, Destiny Stewart, Antonio Irons).

Best Business Team - Magnificent Ambassadors (Ian Wilkinson, Kevron Campbell and Leon Bennett).

Best St Jago Player - Matthew Blake.

Best Urban Player - Orane Watson.

Best Team - WE Spartans (FM Warren Elliot, Rachel Miller and Laurence Davy).

Best St Jago Player - Matthew Blake and the Principal's award to the most promising primary and preparatory player - Tahj Grannel.

Arbiters for the tournament were Malaku Lorne and Dain Dixon.

Upcoming tournaments:

Harold Chan Open: September 29 and 30, venue to be announced.

Olympiad: August 27-Sept-ember 10, Istanbul, Turkey.

Email feedback, send in your games or upcoming tournaments to: yourchessmate@yahoo.com and join the facebook page chessmate. Claire Clarke is a former Women's National Champion, three-time Jamaica Women's team Chess Olympiad representative, trained journalist and editor.