TOP RATED Barbados junior player Yutien Poon covered himself in glory when he won the gold medal in the Under-14 Open section of the just ended Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Youth Chess Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Poon finished with seven-and-a-half points from a possible nine after making an impressive start with wins against Andres Chaves Williams of Costa Rica and Steven Sanches of Nicaragua.
He also played to a hard fought draw
against Juan Marquez of Venezuela in a long and tedious match. The third game saw Poon valiantly trying to convert an advantage in the end game but was unable to do so and had to settle for the draw.
Another Barbadian Orlando Husbands barely missed out on championship honours, earning the silver medal in Under-16 division.
Husbands tied on first place with seven points out of a maximum nine but lost on tie-breaker to the top seed Emmanuel Vaglio Mattey of Costa Rica.
In this division where they were 38 players from ten countries, Husbands had to use his tactical prowess to overcome three Costa Rican juniors, Daniel Carvajal, Elias Acre and Benjamin Rojas in his first three games.
Both Poon and Husbands will also receive FIDE master titles for their performances.
The tournament which ended last weekend brought together the best youth players in the region where they competed in the Under-8, 10-, 12-, 14-, 16- and 18 age groups as well as the Open and female categories.
The Caribbean was represented by players including Trinidadians Shamelia James, Gabrielle Johnson, Javana Smith, and Sean Harewood along with Bahamian Nathan James. (EZS)
