Two Barbadian chess players finished among the top three of the recently concluded 2011 Suriname Open Rotary International Chess tournament played in the Suriname capital Paramaribo.
Kelvin Daniel finished third in the masters section, while The Lodge School student Jerome Harewood was second in the open section which attracted players from Suriname, Barbados, French Guiana, Guyana, Egypt, Trinidad, Aruba and Cuba.
Harewood, in his first tournament there, played with great determination and a maturity that belied his age. He strove for victory in all his games and finished on 5½ points from a possible seven in a large field of over 45 players.
He drew one game against Vicke Tewarie Ramdat (Suriname) and had only one loss against eventual tournament winner Immanuel Kromosoeto, also of Suriname.
In a tense battle in the penultimate round that went to an endgame involving queen and pawn, Harewood overstepped the time limit seeking victory in a position most pundits believed that was drawn.
This defeat pushed him back into a large chasing field behind Kromosoeto, but a smooth victory in the final round against Zubir Wirodikromo put him in the tie-break ahead of Joel Fridje and Geryen Dos Ramos of Suriname, also with 5½ points.
Daniel continued his good showing in Suriname tournaments. Having finished second and fifth in previous outings, he capped a competent performance in a tough field with three wins, three draws and only one loss to the eventual winner International master Samy Shoker of Egypt in the final round.
Daniel gave it all he had to try to blemish Shoker’s perfect record, but a bad choice of plan in the ending allowed Shoker to convert the point and finish with seven points from seven games.
The Barbadian did have a solid tournament, holding former Trinidad champion Marcus Joseph to a draw in round 2 and former Suriname champion FIDE master Dewperkash Gajadin to the same result the following rounds, both with the black pieces. (PR)
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