Jamaicans battle at 2015 World Youth Chess Champs
Jamaica is participating in the World Youth Chess Championships being held in Porto Carras, Halkidiki, Greece, from October 24 to November 6, 2015.
After being absent from this level of competition for two decades, Jamaica has two entrants in this prestigious event.
Fifteen-year-old Rachel Miller, Jamaica’s 2014 Women’s Champion, is playing in the very tough Under-16 section with 95 competitors from approximately 90 countries. Miller, getting better as the tournament has progressed, has notched three wins and two losses after five rounds and is in the top half of the standings on a positive score.
In the sixth round she was slated to play on board 14 against Spain’s much higher-ranked WFM Marta Garcia, who is also on three points. Then leader of the 11-round tournament was Uzbekistan’s WFM Bakhora Abdusattorova, who had won all five of her games.
Miller, widely regarded as the future of Jamaica’s Women’s Chess, is the only player from the English-speaking Caribbean in the event. She has the distinction of being awarded both the Women’s FIDE Master title (WFM) and Candidate Master (CM) title by the World Chess Federation.
Jamaica is also represented by Kishan Clarke who is playing in the Open Under-8 section with 134 players from approximately 90 countries. After five rounds of intense battle, Clarke was on an even score after two wins, two losses and a draw. He was in the middle of the pack with six more rounds to go.
In the sixth round Clarke was to have the black pieces on board 32 against India’s Saxena Medhansh, who was also on 2 1/2 points. This section was being jointly led by Kazakhstan’s CM Aldiyar Ansat and India’s CM Shah Dev, who were tied on a perfect five points having won all their games. They were to face each other in the sixth round in a top-of-the-table clash.
Clarke, who turned eight on the October 30, was the only player from the English-speaking Caribbean in this section. He is the current Under-8 Jamaica champion as well as the defending two-time Under-8 Carifta Junior Chess champion.
