jamaica chess federation player profiles
ORRIN TONSINGH, NATIONAL MASTER
ORRIN TONSINGH
National Master
The year was 1982. The year Orrin Tonsingh cemented his name in Jamaica’s chess history.
Tonsingh had some good performances in junior events as a student of Cornwall College and the Norman Manley Law School late in the 1970s and similarly good performances at the senior level, including winning the 1981 staging of the Thomas Figueroa Memorial Open. He was ready to shake up the empire that seemed to belong to Harold Chan and Robert Wheeler during the 1970s and early in the 1980s.
The 1982 National Championship was the first time in ten years that someone named Wheeler, Wong or Chan did not win the National Champion title. Tonsigh ended on top with 8.5/11, losing only to the enigmatic Patrick Ewbank. Interestingly, Wheeler and Chan were the only unbeaten players at the end of the Championship, however, Tonsingh was ruthless against the lower ranked players, taking no prisoners, while Wheeler and Chan had mercy on a few, giving away too many draws which left them short of another hold on the crown.
Tonsingh would go on to represent Jamaica on Board 1 at the 1982 Chess Olympiad in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he scored 5/12 or 41.7%.
In 1983, Tonsingh was able to maintain the 2200+ rating he attained to qualify for the National Master title, which he was awarded and which made him only the eighth player to earn the title.
Tonsingh came close to winning another National title in 1986 when he finished second to Shane Matthews. He represent Jamaica at the Chess Olympiad in 1986, 1988 and 1990.
It was not until 1990, that Tonsingh would rise to the top again, when he won his second and last National Champion title.
Tonsingh also did a short stint as President of the Jamaica Chess Federation.
Tonsingh died on July 30, 1993. He was at the Supreme Court on King Street in Kingston, at approximately 2:00 in the afternoon there were several small explosions from the powerhouse and fire began, the electricity went out and the ground floor was engulfed in smoke. People ran out of the building, and Orrin did too but he was overcome by the smoke and collapsed upon making it outside the building. He was rushed to the hospital in the back of a police car but did not survive.
He was survived by his beautiful wife Cheryl.
END