St Jago's Christie cops Harold Chan Online Open

 

International Chess Federation (FIDE) Master (FM) Joshua Christie turned back all challengers and handily won the National Master (NM) Dr Harold Chan Open Online Chess Tournament on Saturday, October 9.

He won with a perfect six wins from six games. FM Raheem Glaves was second with five points, and third place belonged to Candidate Master (CM) Kevin Merritt who finished with 4.5 points. FM Christie, who played Board One for Jamaica in the recent FIDE Online Chess Olympiad, continued his excellent play and showed why he is one of Jamaica's leading players. In the Open section, there was great anticipation of the round four meeting of the top two seeds, FM Christie and FM Glaves. They did not disappoint and both turned in terrific performances which resulted in an exciting Queen's Gambit Declined game. The plays and counter plays continued until the eventual winner was decided.

In the U1600-rated section, Nathaniel Hope won with 5.5 points. Nathan Hare came second on tiebreak after finishing with five points and, on tiebreak, Sven Johnson-James came third, also with five points. Amy Stephenson was the top female participant in this section, finishing on four points in eighth place.

In the U1300 Absolute section, Geordan Sinclair turned in a great performance, finishing with a perfect six points to claim first place. Second went to Zuberi Edwards who finished on tiebreak with five points. On tiebreak, Luc Sinton came third, also with five points.

The U1300 Female section also resulted in a perfect performance, with rising star Emilia-Rose Leake winning with six points. Victoria Salazar finished with five points in second place and Niara Mcleod placed third with 4.5 points.

The tournament is named in honour of a Jamaican chess pioneer Dr Harold Chan, a five-time senior Jamaica Chess Champion. He was one of Jamaica's first national masters and one of the founding fathers of the Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF). Originally from Guyana, he settled in Jamaica and studied to become a pathologist. The Jamaica Chess Federation and Nicki Chan, daughter of the late Dr Harold Chan, sponsored the tournament, which had over 140 participants competing in four sections, these included players from Guyana, Cayman Islands, and South Africa.

The JCF was founded in 1969 and has been affiliated with FIDE, the governing body for chess, since 1972. In its capacity as the governing body for chess in Jamaica, the JCF is devoted to extending the role of chess in the Jamaican society.

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