Top chessists in de Verteuil Open

The tournament started last Thursday night at RHAND Credit Union Building, 57-61 Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain and is being sponsored by RHAND Credit Union Co-operative Society Ltd.

The annual event is dedicated to the memory of Faustin de Verteuil, who was a long standing member of Knights Chess Club and became well known as the “grand old man of chess” because of his devotion to the royal game and especially to the development of the playing skills of young players.

As has now become the standard for local open tournaments, and a first for a local club in last year’s ground-breaking de Verteuil, the contest will be FIDE rated and has attracted no less than 16 of the country’s FIDE-rated players.

Unlike last year’s de Verteuil, which was a nine-round contest, this year’s event is a seven-round Swiss and is being run off on Thursday nights until the last round on October 9.

At stake is a prize fund with an enhanced structure which allows for a greater number of players to share in the following very attractive prizes: 1st– $1,500; 2nd– $800; 3rd– $500; 4th– $300; 5th– $200 and 6th $100. Two prizes are offered to Juniors, namely $200 for Best Junior with a second prize of $100 for Junior runner-up. Other special category prizes of $200 each are on offer for Best Female, Best U-1700 ELO, and Best Unrated Players.

First round results (white player named first): Ryan Harper def Prakash Persad; Jonathan Paul lost to Christo Cave; Ravishen Singh def Jarryon Paul; Avinash Maharaj lost to Frank Yee; Marcus Joseph def new comer Brian Leemoon; Rohan Heerah def Colin Knight; Shamah Khan lost to David Christopher; Dr. Eddison Chang def Joshua Johnson; Gabriella Johnson lost to Marcus Cobham; Keron Cabralis def Carl Jacobs; Adrian Fraser lost to Andrew Bowles; Jayson Paul def Kenneth Fitzpatrick; Roderick Noel def John Everon; Chantal Fitzpatrick lost to Hayden Lee; Sylvan Seaforth def Ian Ali; Leonard Duncan defaulted to Sean Lastique; Daryl Davis def Louis Wiltshire; Neil Sooknanan lost to Nicholas Chin; Prince Primus defaulted to Adeniji Adebayo; Kyle Andrews drew with Ian Solomon. Christopher Raphael – bye.

Second round fixtures (points standing in brackets, white player named first): A. Bowles (1) vs R.Harper (1); C.Cave(1) vs Jayson Paul(1); C. Raphael (1) vs R. Singh (1); F.Yee(1)vs R.Noel (1); H. Lee (1) vs M. Joseph (1); S. Lastique (1) vs R. Heerah (1); D Christopher (1) vs S. Seaforth (1); N. Chin (1) vs E. Chang (1); M. Cobham (1) vs D. Davis (1); A. Adebayo (1) vs K. Cabralis (1); I. Solomon (1/2) vs N. Sooknanan (0); L. Wiltshire (0) vs K.Andrews (1/2); P. Persad (0) vs G. Johnson (0); J. Johnson vs Jonathan Paul (0); Jarryon Paul (0) vs A. Fraser (0); C. Jacobs (0) vs A. Maharaj (0); B. Leemoon (0) vs K. Fitzpatrick (0); C. Knight (0) vs C. Fitzpatrick (0); J. Everon (0) vs S. Khan (0); I. Ali – bye.

Play starts at 7.30 p.m.