PREPARATION was the key to the success of Barbados’ medallists at the 7th Carifta Chess Championships in Suriname.
Both Vanessa Greenidge and Kyle Sandiford reflected on the long hours they spent in the lead-up to and in the competition.
Greenidge, competing in the Girls’ Under-16 category for the first time, won a silver medal after earning a similar prize in the Under-12 division last year.
“Under-16 this year was tough because it was my first time. Knowing that it was going to be my first time, my training sessions were going to be longer and the information I had to retain would have been more,” she said,
“It was really difficult. I had to make a lot of sacrifices. Some nights I probably didn’t get any sleep but you know what, after all of it, it worked. It was worth it.”
Greenidge, a 12-year-old Queen’s College student, finished with six out of a maximum seven points and her only blemish was a fourth-round defeat to gold medallist Jamaican Adani Clarke.
One of Greenidge’s most satisfying moments came in the next round when she defeated another Jamaican, Johmoi Blake, to avenge a defeat she suffered against same opponent last year that saw her lose out on the gold medal on the tie-break in the Under-12 division.
“Last year, she beat me. That was something psychological to me. I would have come to this Carifta thinking that Johmoi is better than me. I was saying that if she plays against me in this tournament, I really have to beat her,” said Greenidge, who also took home the gold medal for the Under-14 sub-category.
“I came into the game confused. I didn’t know what to think but my coach reassured me that I had this and I went on to play my best chess.”
Sandiford also captured a silver medal in the Boys’ Under-16 category, earning five and a half points in a hotly contested section where was he one of seven players on the same number of points ahead of the final round.
The silver medal added to two bronze the 15-year-old Harrison College student collected at previous championships.
“This one is special because in my three other years, it has all been bronze. This time I am getting a silver. I feel ecstatic,” Sandiford said.
“Before we got to Suriname, I was doing an hour’s training every day and on Sundays I was doing three hours. While I was here, it was training in the morning from 6 until 7 and in the evening from 10 to whenever.”
The efforts of Greenidge and Sandiford helped Barbados finish third in the team standings on 56 points – one fewer than last’s winners Jamaica, while hosts Suriname, benefiting from strength in numbers given that points were awarded for the first ten places in the three official categories, were runaway champions with 129 points.
Barbadian Shane Maughn, who placed fourth in the Boys’ Under-20 category with four and a half points and won a bronze medal in the Under-18 sub-category, also spoke about the value of preparation.
“It was a tiresome and hard journey. You had to invest a lot of time into preparing with respect to openings and your overall play. As I do CAPE, studying at Queen’s College, it was very tiresome.”
Rory Prescod, who won a bronze in the Under-10 sub-category after placing 11th in the Boys’ Under-12 division, described the moment as “special”. (BCF)
