The Caribbean is quite a diverse region with its different colonial legacies and proud cultural traditions.  It's chess traditions are just as varied with Cuba being the standard bearer for the region. Other Caribbean nations are a bit less established in their traditions, but Barbados is beginning to make strides to strengthen its tradition.

Bolstered by the return of IM Kevin Denny, the "Bajan" side fielded their strongest team in the past Olympiad and has a strong youth initiative. In the past month, Barbados hosted a "Heroes Day Cup" which featured four International Masters and two FIDE Masters in a double round-robin. The four IMs represented Martin Neubauer of Austria, Denny of Barbados, Humberto Pecorelli of Cuba and Martica Fierro of Ecuador. FMs Philip Corbin and Delisle Warner completed the field.

The historic event was  by Neubauer on 7½-1½ with Denny taking the vice-crown with 7-2. Neubauer happens to be the trainer for the Barbados national team and has also visited Jamaica. What's important to note here is that the Caribbean has begun to draw strong competition from distance parts of the globe as noted by the GM-level tournaments in Bermuda and Curacao. Of course, Cuba has been hosting such tournaments for many years, but this type of activity is likely to bode well for Caribbean nations who lack stiff competition and the resources to travel great distances.

The Heroes Cup also hosted a Candidate's Section which attracted players from Trinidad, Curacao, Martinique and Venezuela. FM Terry Farley won the event on 7½-1½ followed by Olympiad bronze-medallist Ravishen Singh of Trinidad, Cesar Ramos of Venezuela and Dirk Austin of Barbados… each with 6-3. Perhaps this tournament is the beginning of a regional initiative to attract stronger competition to the warm climes of the Caribbean. This would provide opportunities for young talent in the Caribbean to flourish and would lessen the burden on federations to overreach their budgets for travel expenses to the U.S., Europe and Asia. Let us hope that this is only the beginning for the Caribbean region!

Heroes Cup coverage (Master's  Section … Candidates Section)

Posted by The Chess Drum: 11 May 2005