Ethan Lee seems to be unstoppable in the junior chess arena as the Advanced Section of the Wendell Meusa Chess Foundation Emancipation Kids Cup title now marks his fourth consecutive tournament triumph.
For him, the record speaks as he impressed with 28 games of which 26 were won and two drawn.
His highly anticipated match against Guyana National Junior Champion Joshua Gopaul was his last real test.
Gopaul, with the White pieces, secured an advantage in the Scotch Opening and, some inaccurate play from Lee saw him losing a Rook for a Knight and a pawn.
However, Gopaul had overextended his Queen into the opponent’s territory which resulted in it being trapped.
After winning Gopaul’s Queen, Lee made light work of the remaining pieces and secure a full point.
Ghansham Allijohn played to a solid draw against Lee in round five with the Black pieces. Allijohn simplified Lee’s aggressive play to secure a draw.
In Round six Lee was a Knight down against Savir Gookul but even though a piece down, Lee pressured his opponent who was in time trouble which resulted in Gookul making a decisive error.
By the last round Lee had already secured the tournament and played calmly where a draw was extended and taken by fellow schoolmate Odit Rodrigues.
Lee finished on six points from seven games.
Taking second place was Gopaul on 5.5 points and third were Jaden Taylor and Rajiv Lee both tied on 5 points each. Ghansham Allijohn and Odit Rodrigues finished on 3.5 points each followed by Ronan Lee and Jessica Callender on three points each.
Jorrell Troyer ended on 2 points and Jonathan Stephney on 1 point.
In the Beginners Section, Sophia Singh returned to chess with a bang winning all 7 of her games, checkmating every opponent.
The 15-year-old St. Joseph’s High School student took a little over a year break from chess but showed she still had it especially when she defeated Angel Rahim in a lengthy game that lasted nearly three hours.
Her win against USA junior player Rashad Gilgeous should be noted since the players played the sharp Evan’s Gambit when she sacked her Bishop to force mate in three in two different variations.
Taking second place was Rahim who is playing chess for only one month. Rahim executed chess principles perfectly from opening guidelines to basic tactics of pins, forks and skewers that was too much for her beginner opponents.
Her only defeat came to the more experienced Singh where she put up a great fight.
Finishing in third was Triston Singh who accumulated 5 points with his only losses coming at the hands of Singh and Rahim.
The organisers said they would like to thank everyone who contributed or assisted to making the event a success including the National Sports Commission, American University of Peace Studies, Red Cherry, Julio’s Ice Cream, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Bibi Rahim and Mrs. Maurlene Lee.
