Campion College student Darren McKennis, who started the 2018 Humphrey Gayle Memorial Chess Invitational (HGM) as the lowest rated player, surprised everyone on the weekend as he shot to first place after defeating Dr Valence Jordan in the third round at the Jamaica Olympic Association.

After playing his first-rated tournament only two years ago at Carifta, the 12-year-old McKennis surely has asserted his ability on the chess scene with his meteoric rise. His first round game saw him toppling the number one seed Adrian Palmer in what was a game for the books. The second and third round games were just as impressive as he proved his endgame skills to defeat Andre Soares and Dr Jordan, respectively, to secure his first place position and a 100 elo gain.

Not far behind is the athletic Jamaica College student Christopher Lyn who defeated second seed National Master (NM) Ryan Blackwood and Markland Douglas to end up in second place on 2.5 points. If Lyn maintains his current momentum, he will be rewarded with the FIDE Candidate Master (FCM) at the end of the tournament and be Jamaica’s 19th FCM.

Despite his loss to Lyn, NM Blackwood is tied with Caribbean Maritime student Nathan Belifante in third place on two points. Belifante is the only other undefeated player after defeating Michael Diedrick and securing two draws.

After the third round, Palmer currently occupies fifth on 1.5 points while Brandon Lobbon, Soares, Dr Jordan and Diedrick are tied for sixth on a point with Douglas yet to score so far in the tournament.

The next rounds will see McKennis taking on NM Blackwood and Lyn facing the top seed Palmer in a must-see battle at the PCJ Auditorium.

The HGM is a closed 10-player round-robin tournament that is open to players without a title and have a Jamaica Chess Federation rating between 2001 and 2099.

This tournament which was previously called the Council Candidates tournament was renamed in honour of the Jamaican Olympian, legend and ‘Stonewall’ proponent Humphrey Howard Gayle who passed away in 2016. Gayle’s achievements for chess in Jamaica were numerous.

He represented Jamaica at the Olympiad in Greece in 1998. He was a vice-president of the Kingston and St Andrew Chess Association, and he served in helping the Jamaica Ambassadors Chess Academy get more of Jamaica’s players internationally rated and to become National Masters. He also received several JCF Awards including Most Active Player in 2001, and during that year also captured what was known as the Easter Open.

The sponsors of the tournament included the Sports Development Foundation, Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, Jamaica Olympic Association, and Magnificent Chess Foundation.

— David Rose