Fourteen-year-old Fatima College student Joshua Johnson has qualified for the national chess championship finals a fourth time. Johnson scored five points to finish on top of the first of four preliminary contests.
Also qualifying with him are Kevin Cupid who scored five and Adrian Winter Atwell who collected three and a half points. The six-round north qualifier, played at St Mary's College, attracted a total of 15 players.
Atwell got the benefit of the tie-break as five other players also scored three and a half points; Andrew Bowles, Ravishen Singh, Mahendra Singh, Brian Lee Moon and Cecil Lee.
Johnson first qualified for the national finals at eleven, the youngest player to do so. At the same age, he was also the youngest to win the national Junior Championship, holding this title for three years. He is a gold and silver medallist from both the CAC and Carifta games.
Kevin Cupid, 21, is another ranking youngster who has had a notable cereer in the junior ranks. Last year, the former Holy Cross College student crashed into the ranks of national qualifiers with an unbeaten performance, finishing the seven round preliminary on six points. In the process, he defeated FM Ryan Harper and Ravishen Singh, former national champion. Cupid topped the Under-18 category in 2009 and the Orchard Grand Prix in 2007.
Atwell has demonstrated his consistency by qualifying once again for the finals.
Last year he took second place to champion FM Ryan Harper in the finals with Ravishen Singh in third place.
On the basis of this result, the three will be part of the five-man team to represent T&T at the 41st Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, next August.
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