Sandiford defends Chess title

KYLE Sandiford of Harrison College has defended his National Under 14 Chess Championship crown, to cement his place as the premier Under 14 player in Barbados.

Kyle swept to victory in the hard fought tournament by scoring an impressive 6 points from 7, with 6 wins and only one draw against current reigning Under 12 Carifta girls champion, Azaria Johnson of Charles F Broome.

In his last round game, Kyle defeated Azari Gittens to ensure he would have ended in clear first position, as a loss to Gittens would have meant Gittens would have moved into first place.

There was a double celebration, as Leigh Sandiford of Providence school, Kyle’s younger brother, defeated Johnson in the final round, to slip into second position on 5 points, just ahead of Gittens in third, on tie-break.

Aaron Haynes finished in fourth, ahead of a large group of 5 players on four and a half points, as he drew with Kiarra Eversley of Queens College in the last round. This pushed him ahead of Gittens, Joshua Hinds, Yeshua Hill and Taiye Estwick, in that order, in the tiebreak.

Other final round results saw victories for Hinds, Hill, Estwick, Joshua Desir, Nathan Russsel-Griffith, Jadyn Gill, Chaddeus Franklin, Joshua Harris and Shacorey Simmon.

Johnson won the prize for the girl with the most points, while Hill won the best Under 12 prize and Gill the best Under 10 prize.