Rochester wins hybrid chess tournament

Ronaldo Rochester had a memorable last weekend when he captured the Under-1800 rating section of the XIV IRT Híbrido del Sur chess tournament.

The competition which was played online on the Tornelo chess platform, saw the 10th ranked Rochester shock the 16-player field which included players from Venezuela, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.

So dominant was his performance that he wrapped up the tournament with a round to spare after comprehensively winning his first five games.

Rochester served notice from the opening round when he confidently outplayed the number two seed Anthony Jose Narvaez Martinez of Venezuela.

He suffered his only defeat of the competition in the sixth and final round to Josue Alejandro Cabeza Marquez of Venezuela with the title already assured.

Narvaez Martinez finished second in the section on 4.5 points, while Hugo Oriundo Mamani of Peru came third on four points.

Barbados was also represented by Justin Parsons, and Lawrence Depradine, who placed seventh and eighth respectively after they both finished on three points, while Emar Ewards scored two and a half points.

In the Under-1400 rating section, Mileke Sinckler and Ernest King were the best local performers, with both players recording four points from their six games.

Sinckler finished in fifth spot on the tie-break, while King finished eighth with a weaker tie-break.

Sinckler was among the leaders at the end of the first day after winning all three of his games, but suffered two consecutive defeats in rounds four and five to ruin his chances of a podium finish.

King, meanwhile secured a solitary win on day one but won his last three games. His victory over Alexis Jesus Rivas De Olival of Venezuela in the final round was most gratifying.

Aaron Jaikaran finished on three and a half points, while Chaz Reifer-Belle, Jerimiah Farley and Tyrell McCollin all finished on three points. Charis Stuart scored two and a half points, while Leshay Springer and Isiah Archer both finished on two points to round out the local performances in this section. (PR/RB)