THE Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) will be staging the fourth NM John Powell Memorial Chess Open at the Campion College Auditorium this weekend.

The tournament will be divided into three sections, an open section in which anyone can play, an intermediate section for entrants with a JCF rating under 1600 and an amateur section for entrants with a JCF rating under 1300.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three players in each section, the best Under 10, 12 and 14-year-old players, best rural player, best female player, best junior and best new player.

The open section will be rated by the World Governing Body for Chess, FIDE.

The tournament, which was previously called the New Year’s Open, was renamed in honour of National Master John Powell, a founding member of the JCF and former president, who passed away in October of 2007.

Powell was considered to be an extraordinary chess administrator, who was one of the catalysts for the growth and development of the sport in Jamaica, particularly at the secondary school level during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Powell was also one of the strongest players in Jamaica at the height of his chess-playing career during the 1970s and 1980s, achieving the title of National Master in 1975. He was widely considered to be the strongest Jamaican player never to have won the National Championships outright. He tied for first three times, 1973, 1980 and 1988, however, he lost on tiebreak to NM Harold Chan in 1973, NM Robert Wheeler in 1980 and 1988.

Powell represented Jamaica at many Chess Olympiads, winning a silver medal for Jamaica on Board Four in the Olympiad of 1984, which was held in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Powell was still actively playing up to his untimely passing in 2007.

The defending champion is one of Powell’s protégé, National Master Peter Myers, who has indicated his intention to retain this title.