La Fleur, Medina to defend National Junior Chess titles

FROM 9 am at the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre in St Ann's on Saturday, the country's best young chess players will test their wits against each other at the 2024 National Junior (under-20) Chess Championships.

The tournament will span two weekends, with action on January 6, 7, 13, and 14. The event is open to both male and female Trinidad and Tobago players who have not yet attained the age of 20 as of January 1, 2024. Registration closes on Thursday at 6 pm. Last year's National Junior Chess Champions Joshua Medina and Zara La Fleur are both expected to defend their titles.

La Fleur emerged as one of the top individual players at the National Secondary Schools Chess Tournament in October after rattling off a maximum seven points. She also won the Knights Chess Club’s DeVerteuil Open in September.

TT Chess Association (TTCA) president Sonja Johnson said, "The National Junior Championship has been the platform to launch the success of many of the nation's current top players and we expect 2024 to be no different."

The champion players in the under-8 to under-18 age groups from the December 2023 National Youth Chess Championships are also expected to feature in the under-20 tourney. Under-18 Absolute champion Brad Munroe Brown, under-16 female champion Aradhana Ramnarine Singh and under-16 Absolute champ Kael Samuel-Bisnath are all set to put their skills and strategies to the test.

Registration can be done via the TTCA website.