Mark Holness, "National Masters Jomo Pitterson and Mark Holness to clash in Masters KO Semi Finals," 16 August 2004 (Kingston, Jamaica).

National Master Mark Holness secured a semifinal slot in the All Island Gypsum sponsored 2004 Masters KO Tournament when he defeated NM Robert Wheeler with the black pieces in game 4 to win 2½-½.

NM Holness will now face his Nemesis NM Jomo Pitterson who also reached the semi-finals by defeating Humphrey Gayle in their 3rd game at the Kaspablanca Chess Club. NM Holness came back into the match against all odds when he lost the first game with his favorite white pieces to trail the series 0-1.

However he won the second game with black , tied the 3rd and won another game with the black pieces in the 4th game on Sunday, when he played a rock solid Stonewall Dutch to steer the game into a technically won Queenless ending after 26 moves.

NM Pitterson also scored a convincing win against Humphrey Gayle when he used the black side of a kings Indian to win an easy ending, where he had a rolling pawn center and the Bishop pair. NM Pitterson will now face NM Holness in the Semi-finals, while NM Lorne will face NM Porter.

(clockwise L-R) Pitterson, Holness, Lorne, Porter

Although Pitterson and Holness and NM Porter will start as favourites, it is expected to be a tough semi-finals, since historically, NM Holness has always posed major problems for Pitterson, and in fact, in their last encounter NM Holness defeated Pitterson with the black pieces, while in their last masters series they defeated each other once each, and NM Pitterson went on to win the playoff.

NM Porter, the other favourite, has also had major problems with NM Lorne and has never beaten him in a match. In their only three encounters, NM Lorne has beaten NM Porter once and drawn with him twice.

Posted by The Chess Drum: 16 August 2004