Three straight for St Jago

KINGSTON:

St Jago High School scored an emphatic 3.5-0.5 win over Campion College in the final round of the PCJ Group National Schools Chess Championships, to secure the national title for the third consecutive year.

After a draw in their round three match, both St Jago A and Calabar High went into the final round tied for the lead with five points each. As a result, both teams needed an outright win to stay on course for the title.

With their feet to the fire, Calabar could only manage a 2-2 draw against St Jago B, which left the door wide open for St Jago A, who made no mistake in dispatching Campion College. This left St Jago A alone atop the standings with seven points.

Decarteret College took second place on tiebreaker over Calabar, St Jago B and St Catherine A, as each school ended with six points.

Individual category prizes were awarded to the zone champions, Mannings High, Glenmuir High, Wolmer's Boys', Ardenne High and St Jago High, while Excelsior High's girls and Wolmer's Girls were adjudged best female teams.

National Master Shreyas Smith and Malik Curiah, both of Calabar, took home the awards for Best Boards one and two, respectively, Glenmuir's Wayne March was the Best Board three, Best Board four went to St Jago's Akeem Brown, and the Best Reserve was Tajae Morgan, also of St Jago. St Jago's coach, National Master Mikhail Solomon, was adjudged the Best Coach.

"The 2016 National Schools Chess Competition was efficiently run by the organisers and well contested by the competitors, and we commend the Jamaica Chess Federation for their efforts to engage students across the country in this beneficial sport," said Camille Taylor, manager, information and corporate affairs of title sponsors Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica.