The battle of the disciples
Published: Friday | December 9, 2011
Claire Clarke, Contributor
Volume 1. No. 2
The wheat from the chaff separation began in the 38th renewal of the Jamaican High School Chess tournament last week as the first eight quarter-finalists in the rural and urban competitions surfaced. Zone winners are automatic quarter-final qualifiers.
Urban Area:
Ardenne High A – 19 points in Zone 2B,
Camperdown High A – 16.5 points in Zone 1B;
Excelsior High – 12 points, in Zone 1A;
Campion College A – 13 points, in Zone 2A;
Rural Area:
St Jago A 13 points, in Zone 4B
Glenmuir 11 points, in Zone 4A,
Manning’s B 10 points, in Zone 5A
Manning’s A 9 points in Zone 5B
More quarter-finalists will emerge from the play-offs between the second and third-place zone finishers.
In search of four spots on the urban side are: Wolmer’s Boys, Kingston College, St George’s College A, Wolmer’s Girls, Campion College B, Campion College C, Meadowbrook A and Calabar High.
Competing for three slots on the rural side are: Clarendon College, Denbigh High, St Catherine A, St Jago C, Montego Bay Community College A, Montego Bay Community College B, Munro A and Munro B.
Iona High, Happy Grove High and Titchfield are yet to play. The winner of this group will join the other rural quarter-finalists with the losers joining the play-offs. Quarter-finals will be played in January 2012
ChessMate Analysis 2.
(See ChessMate Diagram 2)
It was the battle of the disciples: Peter vs Paul to decide the winner of the Middlesex Open (formerly Clarendon Open) played at Glenmuir High School two weekends ago. On this occasion, the namesake of the key holder for heaven’s gates reigned supreme. NM Peter Myers going needed only a draw against young turk Paul Brooks to win the tournament.
“Everyone assumed I would have offered Paul an early draw since he is rated lower than me …,” said NM Myers, graduate of defending All-Island Champions Campion College, who played with Jamaica’s only International Master (IM) Jomo Pitterson from 1989-1992 when they represented his alma mater.
Offering draws without reason, however, is not a book in NM Myer’s bible, he told The Gleaner: “I, however, don’t play chess like that, I am a purist and Paul had to prove that he could draw with me. That he did.” NM Myers is rated 2197 while Brooks is 2056.
Brooks, playing black, was not interested in a draw. He knew victory against NM Myers would put him in a position to win the tournament plus inch him closer to that coveted NM title.
Full articleL http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111209/sports/sports4.html
Great move.