German, Venezuelan win Open categories at Trinidad and Tobago Chess

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago International Open 2022, which took place at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre in St Ann's, ended on July 7.

What an amazing six days of chess! The atmosphere was filled with positive vibes and all-round good camaraderie. The event fielded ten players in the Masters category and 58 players in the Open section.

There was also a Blitz tournament on the final day with 54 participants. In every round, there were intense battles over the board with each player bringing their A-game.

FM Ryan Harper and FM Joshua Johnson made Trinidad and Tobago proud, taking second and third place respectively in the Masters section, both obtaining a score of six points, behind Dutch Grandmaster (GM) Robby Kevlishvili who won the section with eight points.

It was quite inspiring to see the performances of the TT players against their higher-ranked opponents. FM Ryan Harper lead the notable performances with his victories over GM Robby Kevlishvili and GM Alonso Zapata from Colombia. FM Joshua Johnson also secured a victory against GM Alonso Zapata and a draw against GM Juan Borges Matos from Cuba. FM Isaiah Mc Intosh who scored 5.5 points, earning him 4th place in the section, defeated GM Juan Borges from Cuba in the fifth round.

The top under 2200 player was awarded to FM Kevin Cupid who finished in seventh place, improving from his initial tenth place ranking.

The Open Category also saw very competitive games. In the end, Patrick Terhuven of Germany retained his initial first seed ranking with eight points. He was closely followed by former national champion, CM Ravishen Singh on 7.5 points. There was a tie for third place between Emar Edwards from Barbados and TT's Kishore Ramadhar, both on seven points. Kishore was also the top over 50 player.

The best female player prize went to Ysvett Hermoso Joel Rodriguez from Venezuela who ended with six points. She was closely followed by WCM Shemilah James on 5.5 points (who was also the top Under 20 player) and third place female was awarded to Amy Ali who scored four points. Other females on four points were Denique Absolam, Kayla Martin, Kiara Brathwaite, and Celine Mohammed.

The best Under-20 player was awarded to Keagan Ragobar on five points followed by Amir Mahadeo and Kayla Martin both on four points.

There was fierce competition in the Under 16 section with five players who tied on five-and-a-half points. Kael Samuel Bisnath placed first on a tie-break followed by Brad Munroe Brown and Chandresh Prabhakar. The top U-16 female was Kiara Brathwaite.

In the Under 12 category, there was also a tie for first place with Tristan Balliram and Kyan Muradali both scoring five points. Tristan, however, came first on tie break. They were followed by Luke Gillette on 4.5 points who placed third and Taydan Balliram, also on 4.5 points, but fourth on tie break. The top Under 12 female was Adaya Johnson.

In the Blitz event, once again Kevlishvili emerged as the winner with a perfect score of 9/9 followed by Johnson (7.5/9) in second, and FM Kevin Cupid (7/9) in 3rd. The top female was Jennika Lynch who ended with five points and the top Junior was 11-year-old Kyan Muradali who scored 5.5 points.