2014 Jamaica National Championships

It all came down to the final round to decide the winners of the 2014 Digicel National Chess Championships. In the end there were two new champions, National Master (NM) Andrew Mellace and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Rachel Miller.

Andrew Mellace went into the final round leading by 1 point and needing at least a draw from his game against Shreyas Smith. Following closely was defending champion Candidate Master (CM) Damion Davy on 5.5 points and in a must-win situation vs NM Russel Porter. In the end Davy did win his match but still could not catch Mellace, who turned back Shreyas to finish on 7.5 points.

In 3rd place was NM Daren Wisdom on 6 points who won his last round game against a struggling Miguel Asher. NM Malaku Lorne slipped into fourth on 5 points, with a victory over Women’s International Master (WIM) Deborah Richards-Porter.

The top 5 of the Nationals will represent Jamaica at the Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway but, in 5th – 6th position tied on 4.5 points each was NM Russel Porter and NM Brandon Wilson. The 5th player on the Olympiad Team is as yet undecided.

Rounding off the rest of the table was Deborah Richards-Porter, NM Paul Brooks and Shreyas Smith on 3 points each, while Miguel Asher finished on 2 points.

14-year old Rachel Miller, 2014 Jamaican Women’s Champion

History was created in the Women’s Nationals, as 14 year-old Rachel Miller became the youngest female to win the championships in Jamaica. She finished on 5.5 points, a full point ahead of her nearest rival WCM Melisha Smith. With a win in the last round, Melisha could have finished tied with Rachel but she faltered against WCM Ariel Barrett and finished on 4.5 points.

Third place went to the dethroned champion Annesha Smith on 4 points and 4th and 5th went to Krishna Gray on 3.5 points and Ariel Barrett on 2.5 points, respectively.

Apart from chief sponsors Digicel, other sponsors were Norman Manley Law School, Christar Villas Hotel and Magnificent Chess Foundation. The closing ceremony for the Championships will be at Christar Villas Hotel on Friday May 16, 2014 at 6:00PM.

Both the Absolute and Female teams will begin training immediately for the 2014 Chess Olympiad.

Regards,

FM Warren Elliott
PR Committee Chairman
Jamaica Chess Federation
1876-470-8340

2014 Jamaican National Championship April 25th – May 11th, 2014 (Christar Villas Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica)
Players (Absolute)
#	Name	Title	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	Pts.
1	Mellace, Andrew	NM	2076		½	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	½	7.5
2	Davy, Damion	CM	2173	½		½	½	1	1	1	1	0	1	6.5
3	Wisdom, Daren	NM	1974	0	½		0	½	1	1	1	1	1	6.0
4	Lorne, Malaku	NM	2073	½	½	1		½	0	1	½	0	+	5.0
5	Porter, Russel	CM	2123	0	0	½	½		1	½	½	1	½	4.5
6	Wilson, Brandon	NM	2098	0	0	0	1	0		1	½	1	1	4.5
7	Richards-Porter, Deborah	WFM	2031	0	0	0	0	½	0		1	1	½	3.0
8	Brooks, Paul		2072	0	0	0	½	½	½	0		1	½	3.0
9	Smith, Sheryas		1944	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	3.0
10	Asher, Miguel		1888	½	0	0	–	½	0	½	½	0		2.0
Absolute (Games, Results)

2014 Jamaican National Championship April 25th – May 11th, 2014 (Christar Villas Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica)
Players (Women)
#	Name	Title	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	Pts.
1	Miller, Rachel	WCM	1750		0½	11	11	10	5.5
2	Smith, Melisha	WCM	1750	1½		01	01	10	4.5
3	Smith, Annesha		1797	00	10		01	11	4.0
4	Gray, Krishna		1717	00	10	10		½1	3.5
5	Barrett, Ariel	WCM	1754	01	01	00	½0		2.5
Women (Games, Results)