Cupid clinches PALIG National Open Chess crown

Cupid won the internationally- rated tournament with 6.5 point, topping Candidate Master (CM) Esan Wiltshire who finished second on 5.5 points. They were followed by Harper, (FM) Mario Merritt and Colin Knight, all on 5.0 points. Not too far behind on 4.5 points were (CM) Ravishen Singh, (CM) Dev Soondarsingh and Leonard Duncan.

In the two Open Blitz championship, Cupid won both with Singh second and Soondarsingh third.

Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Soondarsingh topped the females with 3.5 points, followed by (WCM) Shemilah James, Marliyah Phillips- Mason and Akesha Jones, all on 3.0 points.

Brad Munroe-Brown, 10 years of age, showed his potential among the senior players, gaining 3.5 points while winning the top junior prize from Kriston Mason and Juninho La Fleur who both ended on 3.0 points.

And in the keenly contested Primary Schools Individual Championship which featured the best 25 primary school players, Munroe-Brown again showed his class, winning with full 7.0 points and stopping two-time champion (CM) Rayden Rampersad who finished a point behind on 6.0, followed by Marliyah Phillips-Mason and Juninho La Fleur on 5.0 points each.

The PALIG annual chess series is organised by Paladins Chess Club.

Bhisham Soondarsingh was the Tournament Director and Chief Arbiter.

Paladins will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next year.