Edison Raphael, "Local Chessists Sweep CMMB Contest," T&T Chess Foundation, 5 August 2006 (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago).

T & T's National Junior Champion, Marcus Joseph, together with FIDE rated Allan Munro and local rising star Justin Salloum share joint first place in the Under-20 category of the CMMB Caribbean Junior Chess Championships. The Championships, a seven-round Swiss organized by the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Foundation commenced on Tuesday 1^st August at Bishop Anstey High School in Port of Spain, attracted 87 players from Barbados, Curacao, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago who contested in three age categories for more than $10,000 in cash prizes and trophies.

The three top local chessists concluded the seven (7) round event with 5½ points, earning $1,300.00 each. Shardul Paricharah of Curacao, Shamel Howard of Barbados and Brandon Wilson of Jamaica trailed the T & T players with 5 points each to share 4^th - 5^th places. Chantal Fitzpatrick, National Under-16 Junior Champion took the award for the top Under 16 female player, while Avikaar Malgie of Suriname seized the award for best Under 16 male.

Marcus Joseph of Trinidad overcame a let down in the last two rounds and won the Caribbean Juniors on tiebreaks.

In the Under-14 division, T & T 's National Under-14 Junior Champion Christopher Raphael played unbeaten, ending the 7 game tournament with 6 points. Raphael had to settle for draws in his encounters in games 6 and 7 against Barbadian Alex Jackman and his local counterpart Rafael Guerrero who ended the event in second and third places respectively. Special prizes for the best Under-12 player male and female were awarded to Prithvi Ramakrishnan and Yanna Lopez.

T & T's Jarryon Paul edged out Omari Teka of Barbados by half point to win the Under-10 section with 6½ points. Teka trailed with 6 points to take 2^nd spot. Rosangela Dos Ramos of Suriname ended with 5 points in third place followed by T & T's Prasanna Ramakrishnan and Xavier Mansour of Barbados with 4½ points in 4^th and 5^th places respectively.

Robert Mayers, Managing Director of CMMB Securities Limited and Sunita Maharaj representatives from tournament sponsor CMMB, were on hand to address the audience and present prizes at the tournament's prize giving ceremony held on Friday 4^th August at Bishop's Anstey High School.

Posted by The Chess Drum: 5 August 2005