Trinidad and Tobago earned six medals – two gold, two silver, two bronze – at the 2023 CAC Youth Chess Festival at the Cascadia Hotel, St Ann's. The tournament, held from August 21-26, attracted 230 players from 15 countries: TT, Jamaica, Barbados, Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guyana, Suriname, the Bahamas, Haiti, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominican Republic, and Panama.
The TT medallists were Adrian Allum (gold in U-10 Open); Kael Samuel Bisnath (gold in U-14 Open); Caleb Harry (silver in U-8 Open); Alexandra Kumar (silver in U-12 female); Nicholas Mc Letchie (bronze in U-10 Open); Joshua Medina (bronze in U-16 Open).
[caption id="attachment_1032948" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chess players compete at the CAC Youth Chess tournament at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann's. -[/caption]
Each of these players will obtain a conditional title (Candidate Master, Woman Candidate Master, or FIDE Master). The title will only be confirmed by the FIDE qualification commission once a certain rating is attained.
The performances from national players who placed in the top five in their category contributed to the hosts copping the second place country prize. Jamaica came out on top while Cuba were third.
TT Chess Association president Sonja Johnson was heartened by the performance of the local players. She said, "Words can hardly express how happy we are as the TTCA to see our vision for this event become a reality. We have received so many compliments about the tournament: the conditions, the hospitality, the thoughtful details which all resulted in an event to make all participants comfortable and ready to participate in this event in 2024.
"Apart from the actual event, the icing on the cake was the two gold, two silver and two bronze medals TT obtained, which is the best showing by Team TT during any edition of the CAC Youth Chess Festival.”
Johnson said the results show that the future of chess in TT is bright.
[caption id="attachment_1032949" align="alignnone" width="768"] PENSIVE: A player ponders his next move at the recently concluded CAC Youth Chess tournament at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann's. -[/caption]
During the week of the event, the participants, parents and coaches were treated to a guest lecture by Spanish journalist Leontxo Garcia, a specialist in the area of chess in education. He also met Ministry of Education officials to promote chess as part of the curriculum.
The TTCA thanked its sponsors/partners including The Office of the Prime Minister Sport and Cultural Fund, the Massy Foundation, National Gas Company and Blue Waters.
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