GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago are in a strong position to repeat as champions of the CARICOM Classic Chess Team tournament after establishing a comfortable lead at the halfway stage.
Playing at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre, T&T tightened their grip on the trophy with a 2.5-1.5 win over second placed Jamaica in round five of the nine-round competition, to move to 18 points.
They had earlier blanked Guyana B 4-0 in the previous round.
Not far behind in second position is Jamaica on 16.5 points, with third placed Suriname 16 points and Barbados in fourth on 12 points.
Barbados dropped valuable points after being held to a 2-2 draw by Guyana A in round four, but roared back to thump Dominica 3.5-0.5 in the fifth round to remain within striking distance.
Meanwhile, in the Under-16 individual division, Barbadian Mileke Sinckler and Surinamese Ravish Ramesar jointly sit at the top on 17.5 points, followed by Nicholas Zhang of Guyana on 16.5 points.
Kataleya Sam, Jeremy Cole and Arysh Raghunauth, also of Guyana, are on a joint score with Barbadian Noah Clarke (15.5).