2010 Caribbean Chess Carnival (Trinidad)

Scholastic All-American Josh Colas will be playing in the Chess Carnival in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Date : August 3rd, 2010

To : Sport Editor

From : Trinidad & Tobago Chess Foundation

Contact : Edison Raphael – President 678-0132

Chess Carnival in the Oval!

Seven Chess masters vie for top honours in The Caribbean Chess Carnival which got off to an exciting start on Tuesday 3rd August with over 150 players from across the globe. The six-day tournament organized by the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Foundation is taking place at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club with participants from Barbados, Cuba, Jamaica, Holland, Nigeria, St. Lucia, Suriname, United States of America, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. It has attracted US Grandmaster Gennady Sagalchik and International Chess Masters Rafael Prasca and Julio Ostos of Venezuela, Oladapo Adu of Nigeria, Nestor Velez of Cuba, Kevin Denny and Terry Farley of Barbados and Jomo Pitterson of Jamaica.

After the first day’s play which included two rounds, Ashwari Akloe of Suriname jointly leads the field of 33 players in the Under 10 age group with 2 points together with Jeremy Ammon of Trinidad and Tobago. In the Under 14 section, twenty-eight players are competing for the top spot. Six are tied on two points after two rounds, T & T’s Joshua Johnson, Jarryon Paul, Christian Ammon and Melchizedek Pegus and Pierre Chang of Suriname.

Five players out of a field of 22 players share full points thus far in the Under 20 division after two rounds. They are FIDE Master David Finol and Eduardo Valasquez of Venezuela together with T and T’s Keron Cabralis and Vishnu Singh and Suriname’s Calvin Tjong Tjin Joe.

Trinidadian Mario Merritt is among five players in the Open section on full points following the first two rounds. Merritt, a FIDE Master is the only local player in the top ten places in this section. He is tied with Grandmaster Sagalchik of USA together with International Masters Rafael Prasca and Julio Ostos of Venezuela and Oladapo Adu of Nigeria.

The 9-round Swiss-style tournament will end on Sunday 8th August, where trophies will be presented to the first ten places and a total prize fund of $30,000 will be distributed to the first five winners, across all four categories: under-10, under-14, under-20 and Open.

Full details are available on the tournament website daily: https://www.caribbeanchesscarnival.com.

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Date : August 6th, 2010

To : Sport Editor

From : Trinidad & Tobago Chess Foundation

Contact : Edison Raphael – President 678-0132

US GM Gennadij Sagalchik took over the lead in the Open category of the Caribbean Chess Carnival with a win today over Nigerian IM Oladapo Adu in the sixth round. Adu, who played unbeaten up to round 6 blundered in his match with Sagalchik and slipped to 5th place in the ranking. Sagalchik’s win pushes him to the top of the rankings after the 6 round. Sagalchik who had two draws in rounds 3 and 4 has played unbeaten so far. However, in hot pursuit is Cuban Ariel Marichal with 5 points. Trailing the Cuban are Rafael Prasca and Julio Ostos of Venezuela on 4.5 points each.

Young Venezuelan Fide Master David Emmanuel Finol is the top ranked player in the under 20 section. Finol, who is on 5 points, lost his third round game to Vishnu Singh of Trinidad and Tobago but went on to win his next 2 games including his highly anticipated match against Trinidad and Tobago’s new Fide Master, Keron Cabralis. Finol and Cabralis are on equal points but Finol’s victory over Cabralis pushes him to the top spot in the rankings after 6 rounds. Trailing on 4.5 points are Trinidadians Vishnu Singh and Christopher Raphael and Eduardo Velasquez of Venezuela.

In the under 14 division T&T’s Christian Ammon ended his winning streak today with a loss to T & T’s Junior Champion Joshua Johnson putting Johnson in the lead with 5.5 points after 6 games. Johnson is followed by Allon Richards of Barbados and Christian Ammon who are jointly ranked second with 5 points. Pierre Chang of Holland is in fourth on 4.5 points.

Lawrence Foreman of Jamaica leads the under 10 section with 5.5 points after 6 games. Three players, Ashwari Akloe of Suriname, Justin Labastide and Safiya Lambert of Trinidad and Tobago trail in second with 5 points each. They are followed by Aliard Jerome and Gabriella Johnson both from T & T with 4.5 points each.

The six-day annual tournament organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Foundation is taking place at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club with participants from Barbados, Cuba, Holland, Jamaica, Nigeria, St. Lucia, Suriname, United States, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

The 9-round Swiss-style tournament which started on the 3rd will end on Sunday 9th August, where trophies will be presented to the first ten finishers and a total prize fund of $30,000 will be distributed to the first five winners, across all four categories: Under-10, Under-14, Under-20 and Open.

Date : August 7th, 2010

To : Sport Editor

From : Trinidad & Tobago Chess Foundation

Contact : Edison Raphael – President 1-(868)-678-0132

Subject : TT’s Fide Master Ryan Harper upset by 11 year old American.

Trinidad and Tobago’s top ranked player Fide Master Ryan Harper was upset by 11 year old Joshua Colas of the USA on the penultimate day of the 9th Annual Caribbean Chess Carnival at the Century Ballroom at the Queen’s Park Club in Wood brook. In what can be considered the most surprising result of the tournament, Harper, a four-time national champion with an international rating of 2262 was out-played by the unrated youngster who is playing in his first international tournament.

Harper, playing the black pieces, started with the Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defence against Colas’ King’s Pawn opening. The White Plains New York resident gained an early advantage when Harper who did not play the main line of the Dragon variation. Colas built on the lead and maintained the edge until the T and T star player played conceded defeat on the 77th move. Harper has represented at the most prestigious tournament of the world, the Chess Olympiad is currently preparing for this year’s contest in Siberia, Russia.

Speaking after the match, Colas said he was elated. “I feel happy and proud of myself.” Going into the game the White Plain Middle School student said he eager to play his more experienced opponent. “I felt excited. I was really into the game and was focused and wanted to win.” Joshua Nick Colas has been playing chess for four years will celebrate his 12th birthday. He trains with his dad, Guy Colas who was present to see his charge score the upset win. He said he said the tournament is going very well for him and is looking forward to acquiring an International rating at the end.

Colas opted to play in the Open category instead of the Under 14 division because he was looking for experience. “I wanted to see how it is to play with the big people”. He plays his final match on Sunday morning at 9 o”clock.