Taiye Estwick top Bajan performer in chess event

Taiye Estwick was the top Barbadian performer at the recently concluded II IRT Teams of Americas hybrid chess event over the July 16 –17 weekend. A hybrid chess event is one where the players play via the internet all from one location under the supervision of a referee.

The tournament was played in three sections with Estwick and veteran Cyprian LaTouche playing in the Under 1500 rating section, while Emar Edwards, Adam Roachford, Louis Wilson and ladies national champion Hannah Wilson played in the Under 1700 section and Derick Boyce, Kanye Williams and Jonathan Griffith participated in the Under 1300 section.

Estwick put down a solid performance to finish second from 25 players with four and a half points from six games. He had three wins and three draws to play unbeaten throughout the event. Having started with a draw against Andrea Ocampo of Ecuador, Estwick then rattled off three consecutive wins before two hard draws in the final rounds. His last round game against the eventual winner of that section Allesandro Ramirez (5 points) of Peru propelled Estwick to second spot on tie-break ahead of Vincenzo Palladino of Venezuela and Alipio Trujillo of Peru.

Barbados’s other representative in the section Cyprian LaTouche finished in fifth position on four points.

In the Under 1700 rating section Hannah Wilson was the top Bajan performer finishing in seventh place with three and a half points from six games. Adam Roachford was eighth and Emar Edwards a little further down the field also on three and a half points. Louis Wilson scored three points. The Bajan players were always among the leaders but had mostly losses in their last round games, which led to them slipping down the final standings.

This was however a final warm up eventbefore these players head off to the chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, which begins next week.

The section was won by Cesar Ruiz (Ecuador) on five points ahead of Henry Morales (Peru) on tie-break.

In the Under 1300 section, Derick Boyce was the top local performer scoring three and a half points from six games. Kanye Williams and Jonathan Griffith finished with three points each. Their results put the trio mid table in the final event standings. This section was won by Joseph Poma Ecuador with an outstanding five and a half points.

The hybrid chess event had approximately 120 players from six Latin America and Caribbean countries.

(KD)