In their long-awaited return to chess over the board, the Jamaican representatives of FIDE Master (FM) Joshua Christie, Woman International Master (WIM) and Candidate Master (CM) Rachel Miller and Darren McKennis excelled at the Subzonal 2.3.5 held last week in the Dominican Republic.

National Junior Chess Champion, FM Christie closed out a successful tournament, as he beat the Dominican Republic’s International Master (IM) Manuel Dominguez in the final round. This allowed FM Christie to finish in third place overall, an outstanding performance providing an anticipated IM norm consideration. He finished tied with Puerto Rico’s Jaime Rodriguez Santiago on 6.5 of nine points, finishing higher on tie break. “It’s a very good feeling to get an International Master norm in this very tough tournament where I faced strong players in every round,” Christie said.

After starting out as the 64th ranked player, Darren McKennis, the youngest member of the Jamaican contingent, finished on six f nine points, ending up tied for fifth place, and in 13th place on tie break. This came after incurring only one loss in the entire event, and drawing his final game against Trinidadian FM Joshua Johnson. McKennis netted 190 rating points after starting out with a 1735 FIDE rating. His amazing performance qualifies him to become Jamaica’s latest FM-elect subject to passing the 2100 rating bar. McKennis said that it was a very competitive tournament but thankfully there was room for a few draws to enable him to attain his goal of FM-elect.

As the sole female player in the Absolute section of this Subzonal, WIM and CM Rachel Miller finished on a very respectable five of nine points. She added 15 rating points to her international rating, gained a wealth of experience, and truly enjoyed getting back to over the board chess on the international stage. “It was really nice to play in-person chess again. I was so happy to be able to actually move the pieces again, and the tournament was a lot of fun,” Miller said.

The Subzonal is the first step in the qualification cycle leading up to identification of the next World Championship Challenger. Seventy-three participants, representing more than 10 countries, played in this nine-round event in the Dominican Republic.

Jamaica Chess Federation President Peter Myers praised the team: “Well done, Jamaica! And well done to our Caribbean neighbours!”

In the Absolute section, the Dominican Republic’s IM Jose Lisandro Munoz Santana claimed first place on tiebreak, over IM Orlando Husbands, from Barbados after both ended with 7.5 of nine points. They both drew with each other in their eighth round encounter. Trinidad and Tobago’s FIDE Master (FM) Joshua Johnson and Barbados’ FM Justin Blackman also performed well, finishing with six of nine points and 5.5 of nine points, respectively.

In the women’s section, Dominican Republic’s Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Patricia Evarista Castilla Pena claimed first with 7.5 points. Raydily Rosario Almanzar and Karen Libell Coronado Paulino were second and third on seven of nine and six of nine points, respectively, while The Bahamian WCM Polina Karelina and Franchesa Ramirez Luzon, also from the Dominican Republic, were the next highest finishers.