Lambeau Anglican’s Nicholas McLetchie defends primary schools chess crown

LAMBEAU Anglican Primary School student Nicholas McLetchie successfully defended his 2023 crown, when the 2024 C3 National Individual Primary School Chess Championship was held at Preysal Secondary on April 20-21.

With over 130 eager young chess players from 43 primary schools putting their wits to the test, Lambeau’s McLetchie emerged as the top player for the second straight year as he copped the title with a flawless 9/9 score. St Theresa’s Girls’ RC School’s Annabelle Austin also impressed with her clever moves and she grabbed second spot with a 7.5 score.

Cedar Grove Private Primary School’s Caleb Harry grabbed third spot with seven points. Adam Laing, Adrian Allum, Sameer Sookraj, Spencer George, Ty Humphrey, Nicholas Dolly, and Eli Lalla also racked up seven points and they occupied fourth spot through to tenth spot on tiebreaks.

Scarborough RC’s Alexandra Kumar was awarded the female prize after accumulating six points.

The bragging rights among the 40-plus schools was also evident, and the Cedar Grove team were displaced from the top spot they earned in 2023 after an almighty battle with St Monica’s Preparatory School and Montrose Government Primary. After strong individual performances, George and Lalla teamed up with their schoolmates to bring St Monica’s success as they took home the top spot with 26 points.

With the quartet of Liam Ramlal, Kaveer Soom and Ved and Veer Rampersad featuring heavily, Montrose Government grabbed the second spot with 24.5 points.

With Harry, the third-place finisher in the individual competition within the Cedar Grove ranks, the outgoing champions put up a fight as they tried to retain their title. They weren’t able to lift the coveted top spot but they rallied to tally 24 points to grab third.

TT Chess Association (TTCA) president Sonja Johnson thanked the players, parents and coaches for playing their varying roles “to develop the sport of chess as a constructive avenue for the youth of TT.”

Johnson said, “To see the response to this event in terms of diversity and actual participation is truly positive for chess.

“We continue to focus on inclusivity and to see schools from across TT is heartening and evidence of the work that is being done by the TTCA, coaches and clubs to ensure access to chess is widely available.”