Johnson earns International Master Norm at Continental Chess

TT Fide Master (FM) Joshua Johnson, 24, improved his ranking considerably with a strong performance at the Continental Chess Championships in the Dominican Republic, from May 14-23.

Johnson, who had an initial ranking of 52 out of 158 players coming into the tournament, which boasted 23 Grand Masters and 29 International Masters, with participation from 24 countries, ended the tournament ranked 31st.

He earned 6.5 points out of 11 and had the best performance ever by a TT player at the Continental Championships. In the process, he earned another International Master Norm and an increase of rating by 59 rating points, which will take his rating to 2,304 and to the position of the second highest FIDE-rated player in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Attaining a rating of 2,400 will make him eligible for the International Master title as he has the requisite three norms to meet the title requirements.

Johnson's rating at the beginning of the tournament was 2,249 while his opponents had an average rating of 2,452. He had two wins and five draws against Grand Masters, which was unprecedented at this championship.

Johnson said, “I was very happy with my overall standard of play. After my second-round win against GM from Cuba I felt energised and up to the task to give it my all. I also felt very motivated seeing that I only had two losses for the entire tournament, one in the final round against a GM and another in round seven against an IM.

"Also, the support that I received from players across the region really heartened me while also encouraging me to continue pushing. This is also the first time I have participated in back-to-back high level events, as I played in the historic Capablanca Open in Cuba a few days before. I believe this exposure, together with my training over the past few months, played a major role in my performance.”

TT Chess Association president Sonja Johnson, the mother of Joshua, was thrilled. She said, “Joshua’s performance really was outstanding. Up to the 6th round, Joshua had no losses after already playing five Grand Masters. He has really flown the flag high for TT and we look forward to more inspired performances from him.”