DEFENDING DIVISIONAL champions Harrison College will be playing with a special incentive when the Massy United Insurance Secondary Schools Chess Championship climaxes next month.
College, the Under-15 and Under-20 champions, will be saying goodbye to FIDE Master Yu Tien Poon from the ranks of secondary schools chess and are aiming to give him a winning send-off.
Poon, who started with The Lodge School, is in his final year of 6th Form at Harrison College and will be the top bill on Board 1 in the Under-20 Division.
This makes this year’s edition of the Massy United Insurance tournament critical to the preparation of the top juniors as they play for honours and bragging rights after Queen’s College captured the overall title in 2016.
At the tournament launch last weekend, Barbados Chess Federation president Allan Herbert also noted that his organisation will be hosting the Central American and Caribbean Under-20 Championships for the first time in June and will be vying for a historic third CARIFTA Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, next month.
Performances at this year’s tournament will be a factor in the selection process.
The contribution of Massy United Insurance continues to be critical to the development of chess in Barbados as trophies for teams and individual prizes in the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-20 divisions and the overall champions all derive from their sponsorship.
The championship, which ends on April 1, is a team competition played in three age categories, Under-13, Under-15 and Under-20, and is open to all public and private secondary schools. (PR)