A total of 158 players took part in the Grant Memorial Presbyterian School’s inaugural Open One-Day Rapid Play Tournament last Saturday, making it the largest single chess event in the local history of the game. The majority of participants were juniors, from Under-20 to novices, and they filled the assembly hall of Naparima Girls’ High School in San Fernando with their youthful enthusiasm and burgeoning love for the royal game.
The winners of the tournament, of course, are to be congratulated, but it seems important to note that an even more significant victory was scored by the growing sport of chess itself especially among the country’s youngsters. In fact, of the 143 juniors taking part, a total of 72 contested the two categories of novices, a clear indication that more T&T parents are beginning to appreciate the benefits their children can derive from playing this mind-enhancing game.
In addition, the practical success of this competition did not happen by chance; it was the result of several cooperating factors led by the supportive management of the Grant Memorial Presbyterian School and its dynamic chess club which happens to be the largest such group in the country. Launched just over three years ago, the GMPS Chess Club has multiplied several times over, from an initial membership of ten to the present total of 137 active players. However impressive, these growth figures tell only part of the story, as the club, under the dedicated and enlightened leadership of its founder-president and coach David Martin, has established an impressive, practical, ground-breaking example of the all-round benefits that chess can confer in the process of developing the minds and personalities of our youngsters.
The club’s enthusiastic members have not only garnered a treasury of trophies, medals, awards and certificates in competitions but have also demonstrated the positive influence of the game in their scholastic efforts. As Martin points out, the lowest term test result of club members is 70 per cent, the highest being 98. And 60 per cent consistently score 90 per cent and higher. A computer businessman, Martin has provided the chess playing youngsters with a full range of technical and electronic equipment but now finds the growing club pressed for space as it has outgrown available accommodation at the school. His hope now is to find a suitable venue somewhere in the southern city.
Maybe that help will come from San Fernando Mayor Marlene Coudray, a surprise visitor to the tournament, who responded to what she saw by promising to assist the club in finding an adequate meeting place and to accept the “challenge” of sponsoring another chess tournament in the South. Apart from the support of GMPS Principal Monica Baksh, Martin also obtained valuable assistance from two other sources: AMSA Distributors of Chaguanas, the sponsors, who provided 50 trophies and $11,400 in prize money and the T&T Chess Foundation which supplied a range of equipment and technical assistance including arbiters.
In addressing the tournament, the Principal told its young participants they had chosen well, a sporting activity “which can uplift your spirit and thought, that is, both body and mind.” Referring to an article in the National Education Magazine, she said that “research has shown that chess confers many educational benefits, including developing problem-solving ability, abstract analytical skill, spatial ability, memory and concentration.” She added: “Mr Martin has rubbed that into me, especially when two of our chess players have qualified for the finals of the Mental Math competition.”
Mrs Baksh concluded by quoting Benjamin Franklin, an ardent chess player himself: “The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement, several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it...For life is a kind of chess...there are points to gain, competitors to contend with and a vast variety of good and ill events to face.”
Anthony Arjoon, managing director of AMSA Distributors, advised the youngsters to apply what they learn in chess to their everyday lives. The tournament was contested in four categories. The Open section which attracted 15 players was won by Presentation College student Vishnu Singh, half a point ahead of Sean Perryman and Joshua Johnson who scored four points each. The Under-20 group of 29 was headed by national scholarship winner Rafael Guerrero who finished with a perfect score of five points, a full point ahead of Kristeph Cassimire, Sanjay Roopchand, Mahendra Singh and Videsh Ramsaroop, all on four.
Javanna Smith played unbeaten among the 31 participants in the Under-14 category, scoring four and a half. Behind her were Sylvan Yearwood, Justin Labastide, Gerad Sealy and Dimitri Pacheco, all on four. Topping the 21 Under-10s was Mikel Martin with a perfect score of five. Mikel, son of the club president and GMPS student, finished a full point ahead of Sean Yearwood and Karissa Sonoo.
Among the 45 in the Novices A category, Keshan Ramnarace finished with a perfect score of five, a point ahead of Diego Fournillier, Lexington Kangoo, Jurian Gomez, Inkim Matthew, Issiah Mondesir and Frederick Ali. In the Novices B section, with 27 players, Rishab Kushwaha also won all his five games, finishing a point in front of Phillip Mohammed, Leanne Walcott and Vijay Bhagaloo.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt
By Carl Jacobs
Team TTO
Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee