Following hard on the heels of T&T’s triumph at the Pan Am Scholastic Chess tourney in Port of Spain, four local juniors went on to win medals at the Carifta Chess Championships in Jamaica last week.
Della Marie Walcott earned gold, Joshua Johnson and Javanna Smith silver and Kyron Agostini bronze as the six-member local team participated in Reggaeland’s 2013 edition of the Carifta Chess Championships.
Walcott played unbeaten with five wins and two draws to tally six points from a possible seven, while Johnson had four wins and three draws to tally 5.5 points and Smith four wins and two draws to score five points. Agostini had five wins and two losses to finish with five points at the end.
The Carifta Chess championships in Jamaica attracted 190 players, with host country Jamaica having 85 locals in the contest, which played off from April 4 – 10.
Prior to the Carifta, the T&T squad got three gold, five silver and four bronze, as T&T finished ahead of Venezuela and Barbados in the Pan Ams, to capture the country title at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain. T&T’s outstanding player at the Pan Ams was Sean Yearwood, who got eight points from a possible nine.
“We are seeing the benefit of our investment in the juniors,” said Russell Smith, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association. Many of them are performing well in regional and hemispheric chess competitions, making their parents and supporters proud and giving satisfaction to the TTCA Executive, who have persisted with these children over the last few years.”
He added: “It is also a boost for our Chess in Schools programme, which is co-funded by the Ministry of Education and monitored by FIDE, the governing world chess body. This year, the pilot project is targeting 100 primary schools throughout Trinidad and Tobago.”