Reigning National Chess Champion, Super National Master (SNM) Shreyas Smith, shook off a poor start to rally from a game-one loss to win two back-to-back games and draw the fourth, to capture the 2017 Proven Investments Masters Knockout Chess Championship (MKO) at the Jamaica Olympic Association recently.

The final itself was an epic clash, with Damion Davy securing game one and Smith roaring back with two wins, which meant in game four Smith needed only a draw to secure the title.

After 19 moves in a Sicilian Game a draw was agreed, which meant SNM Smith became the newest MKO champion with a 2.5-1.5 win over FM Davy.

The Masters Candidates tournament, which was held simultaneously with the MKO, saw St Jago High student Michael Christie securing victory over St Catherine High’s Raheem Glaves 2.5-1.5.

After a peaceful draw in game one, each player secured a point between games two and three, which led to an exciting game-four battle for the title. Glaves fought valiantly in a French Defence game, but he had no answer for Christie and resigned at move 67 to leave Christie the Masters Candidates champion.

The MKO main event is open only to national or internationally titled chess masters and uses an exciting knockout format until there is one king left standing. The tournament, which was organised by the Jamaica Chess Federation, was made possible with the kind support of Proven Investments Limited, the Jamaica Olympic Association, and the Kasparov Chess Foundation.