Jamaica Chess Champs Heads For Photo Finish!

Jamaica Chess Champs Heads For Photo Finish!

The Jamaica National Chess Championships will come to a thrilling end this weekend at the Norman Manley Law School. The tournament, which is in its 44th edition, headlines with the highest ranked players in the history of the game in Jamaica competing in a new twenty-four player format. Super National Master (SNM) Duane Rowe, International Master Jomo Pitterson, defending champion Damion Davy and FIDE Masters Warren Elliott and Shane Matthews started as clear favorites. However, they have already faced serious opposition from their competitors.

Jamaica’s number one rated player Duane Rowe saw the curtains close on his hopes of capturing his fourth title, when he lost to National Master Andrew Mellace in the seventh round. This catapulted Mellace up to tied first with 5 points and places him in serious contention for the title. Pitterson and Elliott continued their advance to the top of the table by defeating Adrian Palmer and Stuart James respectively in the fifth round. In the rounds that followed, both drew with Matthews and Rowe, and finally met in round seven when they settled for a draw to both claim 5 points. Matthews, who had been leading for the first 6 rounds, was set back by Davy who has now ascended to tied first place despite an early first round loss. National Master Malaku Lorne also surprisingly joined the leaders, after he defeated National Master Peter Myers in the seventh round.

Eighth round action will see exciting clashes between Davy and Elliott, Mellace and Pitterson, and Lorne and Matthews.

The National Women’s Championship, which is taking place concurrently, features the top eight female chess players in the island competing in a closed round-robin. Krishna Gray is leading the event with 4.5 points from 5 games, and will challenge Kadian McGlashan in a seventh round clash that is likely to determine the eventual champion. Gray is trailed closely behind by Candidate Masters Hui Zhu and Ariel Barrett, who both have 3 points.

The tournament concludes on April 29 at 10:00 am at the Norman Manley Law School and is sponsored by the Sports Development Foundation, the Spanish Court Hotel, the Norman Manley Law School, and the Magnificent Chess Foundation.

Photo Caption: International Master Jomo Pitterson (left) and Super National Master (SNM) Duane Rowe (right) in an exciting clash at the 2012 Jamaica National Chess Championships. The game ended in a draw.