UNDER 20S CREATE EXCITEMENT IN ORCHARD GRAND PRIX CHESS

 The second leg of the Orchard Grand Prix Chess tournament hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Foundation attracted 68 junior players from as far as Point Fortin in the South and Valencia in the East.  The competition was keen as players sought to increase their points standing in order to share in the $3,000. cash prize fund donated by title sponsor Orchard.   Prizes will be awarded at the end of the third and final leg of the series in December.

 Christopher Raphael National Under 14 Champion played unbeaten to win the second leg of the Under 20 section with 4 points. Raphael had to settle for draws against Kevin Cupid of Holy Cross College and Arima Boys’ R.C’s Keron Cabralis, in rounds one and three.  However, his other three opponents: Esan Wiltshire of Queen’s Royal College, Amrit Ramdass of Presentation College, Chaguanas and Kiran Maharaj of Trinity College East fell victim to his aggressive play.  Kiran Maharaj and Keron Cabralis trailed Raphael in second and third places respectively, with 3.5 points each.

 In the Under 10 section, Prasanna Ramakrishnan of Dunross Preparatory School ended the second leg with a perfect score of 7 points, thereby increasing his accumulative points to 13 and maintaining his lead in the Under 10 section. Kellee John of Christian Primary Academy who placed second in the first leg of the Orchard Junior Chess Grand Prix repeated her second place performance, with 5 out of 7 games, pushing her accumulated points by the end of the second leg to 10. Newtown Boys’ Darron Bristol placed 3^rd with 5 points, increasing his overall standing to 10 points, sharing the 2^nd  place with Kellee John.

 Queen’s Royal College’s Jayson Paul played unbeaten to take the top spot in the Under 14 section with 4.5 points. Paul was held to a draw in game 4 against Joseph Gill of Fatima College. Kerry Singh of Presentation College, San Fernando trailed with 4 points in 2^nd place, followed by Joseph Gill also with 4 points. Prithvi Ramakrishnan of the International School of Port of Spain who led the Under 14 section at the end of the 1^st leg, ended 4^th in this 2^nd leg, but still maintained is overall lead in the section, with an accumulated score of 9 points.      

 The Grand Prix Chess tournament backed by Orchard comprises 3 separate contests spread throughout the country. The first took place in San Fernando, the second in Port of Spain and the third and final will be held in December at Nestle’s Sports Club in Valsayn. Winnings of the $3,000. cash prize fund will be shared accordingly:  the first three places in each category: Under 20 - $800., $400., $200.; Under 14 - $500., $300., $200.; Under 10 - $300., $200., $100. In addition, special prizes for the best performing female in each section and best performing male and female players in the Under 12 and 6 categories will also be presented.   

 The following are the accumulated points for the top 3 players in the 2^nd leg of the tournament: