Barbados maintained several medal hopes despite mixed results in the morning session on the third day of the 7th Carifta Chess Championships in Suriname yesterday.
Vanessa Greenidge and Kyle Sandiford moved into top three positions in their categories but Leigh Sandiford and Jaydn Gill suffered their first defeat of the championships to slip down the table after the fifth round of games at the Ministry of Finance Building in Paramaribo.
Greenidge and Kyle Sandiford bounced back from defeats against higher rated players on Saturday evening to complete their fourth victory in the Girls’ and Boys’ Under-16 categories, respectively.
Greenidge defeated Johmoi Blake to avenge a defeat she suffered against the Jamaican last year that saw her lose out on the gold medal on the tie-break in the Under-12 division. The win took Greenidge into a clear second place on four points, one behind leader Adani Clarke of Jamaica.
Kyle Sandiford jumped into joint third as one of six players on four points, but Leigh dropped down to 11th on three and a half points after losing to Suriname’s Ishwar Kalijan, a player with a lower rating.
Gill also slipped after losing to No. 1 ranked Jamaican Jaden Shaw in the Boys’ Under-12 division, where teammate Dominic Jackman scored his fourth win to move into joint third as one of four players on seven points. Both Gill and another Barbadian Rory Prescod were just behind on three and a half points.
While Kyle Sandiford and Yeshua Hill scored victories for Barbados in the boys’ Under-16 section, there were defeats for Leigh Sandiford, Aaron Haynes, Tyson Holder and Taiye Estwick but all remained in the top half.
Barbados Under-16 girls enjoyed success through wins for Greenidge, Azaria Johnson and Gaybrianna Moore, while Pritika Kandamaran secured a draw.
In the Under-20s, captain Nitin Mahtani and Shane Maughn registered wins among the boys and were in the top ten, while Gabriela Cumberbatch and Kiarra Eversley both lost among the girls.
Three other Under-12s also scored victories with Kimahri Holder winning among the boys and Hannah Wilson and Alesha Lovell in the girls’ division. (BCF)
