NATIONAL chess player, Jessica Callender, finished tied for first in the U-1400 class(rating) at the Annual Margaret Prince Memorial Women’s Rapid Tournament, which was held online earlier this month.
The talented Guyanese finished with the same points as Barbadian, Alesha Lovell.
The tournament, hosted by the Barbados Chess Federation’s Women’s Sub-Committee, was held on October 1st – 2nd and attracted 26 participants from ten countries – Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherland Antilles, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
BETTER PERFORMANCE
Callender finished 10th overall, which is an improvement from last year’s inaugural event, where she placed 15th in the seven-round tournament.
This year, she won matches against Philana Johnson, Shanelyh Fabias, Alexandra Kumar and Kayla Martin. Callender continues to improve; she registered an exceptional performance at this year’s FIDE Chess Olympiad where she was one of the top performers on Guyana’s Women’s team and also earned her conditional Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) title. Guyana’s Ciel Clement, a 13-year-old up-and-coming player, gave a stellar performance in the tournament as well, finishing 18th overall. The youngster from Region Six had impressively won the women’s division of the National U-14 Rapid Open Tournament just a few months prior.
