Kemp Lynch, of the Garrison Secondary School, is the new Under-16 chess champion of Barbados.
He won a keenly contested championship at the Bridgetown Chess Centre last week on tiebreak with six points from a possible seven ahead of current Central American and Caribbean Youth Festival Under-14 champion Orlando Husbands, of Lodge School, who also had the same number of points.
Lynch struck the front of the tournament alone after defeating joint leader and top-rated junior Yutien Poon in round three. Even after being held to draws by Husbands in round four and defending champion Allon Richards, of Foundation School, in round five, he was able to close with two more victories.
Husbands, who entered the tournament late and conceded only a draw against Lynch, would have felt a little hard done in losing on tiebreak.
Richards was third on five-and-a-half points, while Poon and the top girl’s finisher, O’shara Mason, were fourth.
Other players recording victories in the last round were Kyle Sandiford over Delano Edwards and Paul Mondesir over Iz Hustler.
This tournament was final preparation for the 2012 Sagicor Open Junior Championships which began yesterday and continues today at 9 a.m. at the Bridgetown Chess Centre, Cavans Lane in The City.
Barbados’ top juniors will be joined over the next four days by players from Trinidad & Tobago, Martinique and Guyana to vie for honours in the Under-12, Under-16 and Under-20 categories.
Now in its 28th year, the tournament has played a major role in the development of junior chess in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Many of its winners have become national champions of their country and internationally titled by FIDE, the world governing body for chess. (PR)
