Going for checkmate
Published:Friday | December 2, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Claire Clarke, Contributor
Volume 1. No 1
Welcome to Chess-Mate, Jamaica's first chess column.
Chess is one of the fastest growing sports in Jamaica. While there is debate about whether chess is a sport or a game, ChessMate makes no comment - except it will refer to chess as a sport! Weekly, ChessMate intends to inform players, non-players and the quietly curious about chess happenings in Jamaica and the world.
We will analyse specifics in games, have profiles on players, updates on tournaments, growth and activities in clubs, the federation, the politics of chess, the business of chess, highlights on the key movers and shakers in the sport, as well as a weekly glossary for the chess neophytes. This column will be interactive so comments, reflections and instructions from readers are welcomed and can be sent to yourchessmate@yahoo.com.
Exuberant members of the Jamaican chess fraternity estimate more than 10,000 Jamaicans play chess - accurate or not, there is no doubt about the explosion in the number of players and chess events locally. The first black Grandmaster, Maurice Ashley, who visited the island last month, is a Jamaican, hence our international pedigree in this sport cannot be discounted.
ChessMate Analysis 1.
Tournament round-up
The high school chess tournament is currently on. The zonal rounds are in progress to culminate in the crowning of a rural champion, urban champion and all-island champion by March 2012. The defending rural champions are Clarendon's Glenmuir High School, urban champions are St Andrew's Campion College and reigning all-island champions are Campion College. This year, there are 47 teams from 28 schools. Iona High, Happy Grove and Titchfield are yet to play. Results so far are:
Kingston
Zone 1A
| Excelsior | 12 | |
| Wolmer's Boys | 6 | |
| KC A | 6 | |
| Camperdown B | 4 | |
| St George's B | 4 | |
Zone 1B
| Wolmer's Girls | 13 | |
| Camperdown A | 12.5 | |
| St George's A | 8 | |
| KC B | 6.5 | |
| Tivoli | 5 | |
| Charlie Smith | 3 | |
St Andrew
Zone 2A
| Campion A | 13 | |
| Calabar A | 12 | |
| Ardenne B | 11 | |
| Campion C | 9 | |
| JC | 7 | |
| Calabar C | 7 | |
| Immaculate A | 5 | |
Zone 2B
| Ardenne A | 15 | |
| Meadowbrook A | 11.5 | |
| Campion B | 8.5 | |
| Ardenne C | 6.5 | |
| Calabar B | 5.5 | |
| Immaculate B | 1 | |
Cornwall
Zone 3A
| Mannings B | 10 | |
| Mbcc A | 7 | |
| Munro College A | 7 | |
| Lacovia B | 0 | |
Zone 3B
| Mannings A | 9 | |
| Munro College B | 8.5 | |
| Mbcc B | 6.5 | |
| Lacovia A | 0 | |
Middlesex et al
Zone 4A
| Glenmuir | 4 | |
| Denbigh High | 2 | |
| Clarendon College | 2 | |
| Old Harbour High | 0 | |
Zone 4B
| St Jago A | 7 | |
| St Catherine A | 6.5 | |
| St Catherine B | 5 | |
| St. Jago C | 4.5 | |
| Dinthill | 4.5 | |
| St Jago B | 2.5 | |
| Charlemont | 1.5 | |
| St Jago D | 0 | |
Games in the high school chess tournament continue this week.
It is move 56 with white to play. White won the game 16 moves later, but the position is a clear draw!
In post-game analysis, National Master Daren Wisdom schooled the two juniors playing a round five match in the Jamaica Open tournament in October about this position where there is a forced stalemate once black is to move. The Black king has no legal moves, so once Black is able to pursue White's king with relentless checks, the game is drawn.
So, move 56. Kh6?? is an error which creates the draw opportunity for Black. 56. ... Rc6+; 57. Kh5 Rc5??. While Rc5 pins the pawn to the king it allows white to recover from his earlier error. But the game takes yet another turn with 58. Kg4 Rc4+. 59. Kf3 Rc3+. Black should have defined the draw by playing 59. ... Rf4+, should white capture the rook, Kxh4 the game is drawn, if white does not capture the rook the checks continue. But this was not recognised and 10 moves later the position 67. Kh5 Rc5 reappears on the board. White finally recognises the futility of trying to hold on to the h7 pawn, gives it up with 68. Ra8+ Kxh7 and goes on to win the game.
NM Davy wins overseas
Congrats to National Master and National Champion Damion Davy who won the Umada Chess Challengers Cup in Barbados last month with eight points from nine games. National Women's Champion Deborah Richards-Porter was second in the female category of this competition. The prize fund pool in the Umada Cup was US$15,000. Last year FIDE (World Chess Federation) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced a US$100,000 per year, five-year sponsorship deal to fund two new tournaments in the Americas - the Latin America Cup and the Umada Cup. Trinidad hosted the Umada Cup in 2010.
Last weekend, Peter Myers won the Middlesex Open [formerly the Clarendon Open] with five points from six games. Best Female player went to Krishna Gray.
ChessMate Glossary
Grand Master:
Also Grandmaster (GM) or International Grandmaster (IGM), is the highest chess title awarded by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). It is a life title awarded to players who achieve an international rating of 2500 or more. GM Maurice Ashley is the only Jamaican with this title.
Email feedback or send in your games to yourchessmate@yahoo.com or join the Facebook page chessmate. Claire Clarke is a former Women's National Champion, three-time Jamaica women's team Chess Olympiad representative, trained journalist and editor.