San Fernando Mayor praises youth involvement at FEMS chess tournaments

SAN Fernando Mayor Robert Parris highlighted the benefits of chess when he officially opened the FEMS Chess Club Rapid and Blitz tournaments at San Fernando City Hall on Harris Promenade, San Fernando last week.

Parris expressed satisfaction at the number of young players who turned up for the tournaments. He said chess teaches lessons that can be applied to everyday life and fosters the same strategic thinking he brings to his managerial duties.

The tournaments were organised by the NGO Friends and Servers of the People, which is headed by Marvin Ramnarine. They were played on two successive days.

President of FEMS Chess Club, Aditi Soondarsingh, is a record ten-time national female champion who has represented Trinidad and Tobago in several World Chess Olympiads.

Fide Master (FM) Marcus Joseph led the list of highly rated players who competed and he did not disappoint, winning both tournaments which carried cash prizes.

In the rapid competition Joseph, a former national chess champion, ended on the maximum seven points.

Former national female champion/Woman Candidate Master Shemilah James and current national junior champ/ Woman Candidate Master Zara La Fleur tied for second place on 5.5 points. Both James and La Fleur are coached by FIDE instructor Dev Soondarsingh who served as chief arbiter.

Soondarsingh also coaches at various top schools, including national secondary schools champions Naparima College.

Good scores also came from Andrew Bowles, Enen-Sa Khafra and Brad Munroe-Brown, the national under-18 champion. They all ended on five points.

Following closely behind were Sanjiv Joseph and Jesu Paul on 4.5 points, while Gabriel Ramdial, Amir Mahadro, Cayleigh Manocha, Daniel Rajkumar, Kevin Maharaj, Zac Bassant, Trishan Siewdass, Ty Humphrey and Leonov Nobert all ended with a respectable four points.

In the blitz competition, Joseph played unbeaten to record a maximum nine points, followed by Aradhana Ramnarine Singh, a member of TT's Olympiad team, on seven points, Daniel Rajkumar on 6.5 points and Brad Munroe-Brown and Jesu Paul who each scored six points.

Marvin Ramnarine, president of Friends and Servers of the People, promised to continue supporting chess at the San Fernando City Hall.