Chessist Joseph back with a bang

After an absence of five years,  Jerome Joseph, 25, has made an impressive return to competition and is joint leader  after six rounds with one more round remaining in the New India Assurance  National Chess Championship.

This is in the second  qualifier of the East Zone at the Arima Government Secondary School on weekends. Joseph, who attented  Holy Cross and St Mary’s Colleges where he played as a top junior went on to further his studies at the University of  the West Indies (UWI),  St Augustine. He  defeated two of last year’s finalists — National Master John Raphael  and  Kirby Hope.  Joseph’s other victims are Ian Ali, Rawle Henry and  Carl Jacobs. David Jones defeated Jerome Joseph in the sixth round  to remain in contention.

The championships, organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association are again sponsored by New India Assurance. This is the second of three qualifiers from each zone (North/West, East, South/Central and Tobago). Three players from each zone in Trinidad  and two from Tobago will qualify to meet  defending champion Fide Master Ryan Harper in the finals. Already qualifying from the North/West Zone are Fide Master Mario Merritt, Fide Master Frank Yee  and  veteran National Master Cecil Lee. Set to qualify from the East Zone are Jerome Joseph,  National Master John Raphael, who represented us at the 35th  World Chess Olympiad held in Slovenia last October, and either David Jones or Kirby Hope. The third qualifier for a place in the finals is at the Education Block, UWI beginning on Saturday, March 29. Registration closes at 2.30 pm. Players interested in taking part can contact:  P Araujo at 637-5702,  Dr G Boyce at 640-1118,  David Jones at 667-8574 or Sean Pascall at 664-0214