JAMAICA Open Online 2021 winner, India’s Kartavya Anadkat turned back all challengers and won the International Arbiter (IA) FIDE Master (FM) John Powell Online Open 2022 tournament played on January 23.

Kartavya impressively won the Open section with five of six points. FM Joshua Christie of The University of the West Indies came second on tiebreak with 4.5 of six points, with 14-year-old Wolmerian Jaden Shaw finishing third on tiebreak, also with 4.5 of six points.

The top female player in the Open section was Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Malak Ismayal from Azerbaijan, who finished fourth overall with four points.

In the U1600 Absolute section, Chevaughn Grant won with a perfect six points. Jonathan Grant High School’s Nathan Hare was second with 4.5 points on tiebreak, from Mona Heights Primary’s Zahmir Smikle finishing third on tiebreak, also with 4.5 points.

The top females in the U1600 Absolute section were UTech’s Kahli Campbell who finished with three points (10th), followed by St Andrew High School’s Kaity Gayle (16th) and Meadowbrook High School’s WCM Zaina O’Connor (17th)in second and third places, respectively, with 2.5 points on tiebreak.

In the U1300 Absolute section Guyana’s Jerod Roberts won with a perfect six points. Second place went to Campion College’s Joshua Bertram who finished with five points. Two Wolmerians finished with 4.5 points, with Alexander Bloomfield claiming third on tiebreak from Khalil Donaldson.

The top females in the U1300 section were Trinidad & Tobago’s Celine Mohammed, Creative Kids Learning Academy’s Emilia-Rose Leake and Guyana’s Naomi Barkoye, who all finished with five points, Mohammed winning on tiebreak from Leake and Barkoye, respectively.

Anadkat was excited about his second win in a Jamaica Chess Federation event. “It feels great to win the tournament, especially after coming back from a third-round loss against Trinidad & Tobago’s FM Ryan Harper. I also appreciate the Jamaica Chess Federation holding such high-quality international events. Finally, I would like to thank my university, JK Lakshmipat University, for their continued support towards sports.”

The six-round event was played in four sections — the Open section, U1600 Absolute, U1300 Absolute, and U1300 Female. This annual event is named in honour of Jamaica’s hall of fame recipient, former Jamaican international player and Jamaica Chess Federation administrator, the late IA FM John Powell. The event was open to international players and was played online via the Tornelo platform. Participants numbering 101 from 10 countries — Antigua & Barbuda, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Spain, Guyana, India, Kenya, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica — were represented in the competition.