FOR the second year in a row, Ardenne High, Calabar High, Glenmuir High and defending National Champions St Jago High will do battle in the regional finals of the PCJ Group National Schools’ Chess Championships.

The penultimate showdown of the Championships is scheduled for today at the PCJ Auditorium in New Kingston. In a double repeat of the 2014 finals, Ardenne will again face off with Calabar in the Corporate Area final, and Glenmuir will have a rematch with St Jago High for the Rural Area title.

In last year’s Corporate Area final, Calabar and Ardenne had battled to a 2-2 scoreline, but then Calabar went on to trounce their rivals 3-0 in a best-of-four tiebreaker. This year Calabar will start as favourites, but a close contest is anticipated.

Calabar’s board one reigning national junior champion, National Master Shreyas Smith, is favoured to win his game and maintain his perfect score in the Championship. He will need any one of his three teammates to win their game and at least leave the match at 2-2, similar to last year. This would result in a tiebreak lightning chess match between the best player on each team, which would give Calabar a significant advantage with Smith as their top player.

Conversely, Ardenne’s strategy will be to avoid a tiebreak by closing out the match during regulation play. They have the players to do it, but getting the right match-ups on each of the four boards will be critical.

Last year’s rural final was not as close as the Corporate Area match, as St Jago swept Glenmuir 4-0. St Jago enter the 2015 final as the overwhelming favourites as they have since strengthened their team, while Glenmuir have lost their top player.

All of St Jago’s players have won all of the games they have played since the first pawn was pushed in the Championships in December last year. All indications are that they will close out the championship with a perfect record.

Calabar are coached by Candidate Master Russel Porter of the R&D Chess Academy, Ardenne are coached by National Master Ryan Blackwood of the Chess Whiz Kids Chess Club, Glenmuir are coached by recently crowned national champion World Chess Federation Master Warren Elliott of the Warren Elliott Chess Academy, and St Jago are coached by National Master Mikhail Solomon of the Royale Chess Academy.

Winners of the regional finals will face off for the All-Island title next Thursday at the Auditorium in New Kingston. The top school will win the PCJ Championship Trophy and $150,000 cash from the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) and its subsidiary, Petrojam.