New India sponsor junior chess

New India Assurance have strengthened their bonds with the local chess community by sponsoring the Trinidad and Tobago Open Junior Chess Tournament from July 5-8 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. Hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Foundation (TTCF) the second edition of the tournament is the result of the TTCF’s school training programme held over the school year. And New India’s support of this tournament falls into the company’s commitment toward the development of the discipline in Trini-dad and Tobago.

New India, which is based in Bombay, now Mumbia, India is represented in Trinidad and Tobago by Srinivasan Gopalan whose office is in the Guardian Building, St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain. The tournament is open to all chessists Under-20 and will take on an Eight-Round Swiss Style format with five age-group categories —  Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-20. The winner of each division will receive a return ticket plus hotel accommodation in Barbados to attend the Barbados International Junior Chess Tournament between July 12 and 16.

The first five finishers in each division, the top three  players under age in the Under-10 division and the top female players in each section will receive trophies, chess equipment and chess books for their performances during the course of the tournament. Top juniors Vandoff  Smith, Rafael Guerrero, Prithvi Rama-kishnan, Alpacino Smith, Santosh Srinivsan, Christopher Raphael, Justin Salloum, Mark Richards, Alex Winter-Roach, Rene Holder, Malini Srinivasan, Chantal Fitzpatrick, Desire Derrick and Sinead Furlong are expected to compete in the tournament. Call 628-8130 for further details and advance registration.