Hillview edge 'Naps' in Secondary School Chess Champs

HILLVIEW College got the better of Naparima Boys' College on a tiebreak in the recently contested National Secondary Schools' Chess Championship, held on October 11 and 12 at Presentation College Chaguanas. It was double the celebration for national chess coach and FIDE instructor/candidate Master Dev Soondarsingh as he coached both schools.

The surprise individual winner of the tournament was Isaiah Vassell of Hillview, scoring eight points from nine games. In second place was Presentation's Zachary Murray with 7.5 points. Trishan Siewdass of Hillview College and Luke Balliram of Naparima tied for third spot, also scoring 7.5 points.

In the team competition, joining forces with Vassell and Siewdass for Hillview was Caleb Campo, who all scored seven points. Andre Rupert contributed six points.

Naparima were led by Balliram brothers Luke and Taydan, together with Sameer Sookraj and Dereon Bramble, all scoring seven points.

In third place was Presentation, led by Murray and last year's individual winner Kael Samuel Bisnath scoring 6.5 points each, while Nicholas Dolly, Arjun Rambally and Ved Rampersad ended with six points.

Fourth place went to the Fatima College team comprising Luke Gillette (seven points), Zhan Julian (6.5 points), Xavier Nurse (six points) and Choi Jinhyeok (six points).

There were many commendable individual performances in the team competition from Reaz Ali of Presentation College San Fernando (seven points), Levi James of Trinity College East (6.5 points), Joshua Martin of St George's College (6.5 points) and Justin Lopez of Bon Air Secondary (6.5 points).

The tournament was organised by the TT Chess Association and it was sponsored by Genesis Insurance Brokers and Benefits Consultants Ltd. Around 170 players competed from approximately 15 schools.