After more than 20 years, the national inter-club chess tournament will be revived on Saturday afternoon at Windsor, Arima. The event is being organised by the Promenade Chess Club which has now extended its operations to the eastern borough. PCC president Hayden Lee made this announcement when he addressed the prize giving function following the DeVerteuil Memorial open tournament at RHAND Credit Union building, Port-of-Spain, last Thursday. The Promenade Chess Club, (PCC) formed several years ago among a random group of players, launched its Arima "branch" recently. The eastern players now meet every Saturday at the KFC Pizza Hut, Windsor, which has donated its outlet as a venue for the inter-club contest. The PCC, which has had a see-saw existence since its inception, has apparently come energetically to life under the presidency of Hayden Lee, one of the country's prominent and popular players. At Arima, the PCC brings together such well known participants as Christo Cave, David Christopher, Anderson Gordon, Guelmo Rosales, Ronnie Chung, Nicholas Chin, Roger Çhin Fong and Alvin Redman.
Lee told players at the Knights' prize-giving that the inter-club tournament was intended mainly to foster greater harmony and camaraderie among the country's chess clubs and he expected the fullest possible participation. In an interview afterwards, Lee said the event had the blessing of the T&T Chess Association and that all the recognised chess clubs, including Knights, Southern, Checkmaters and Paladins had been invited. "But any other chess club, those in country areas for example, who meet for the fun of the sport, will be very welcome," he added. The tournament will be a nine-round Swiss rapid play (20 minutes per player) starting at noon. At the DeVerteuil Memorial prize giving, president of Knights' Çhess Club Louis Wiltshire, noted the increased number of juniors taking part in the event and saw it as a positive sign for the future of the sport. He complimented parents who brought their youngsters to the event.
Wiltshire also paid tribute to the yeoman efforts of his predecessor, the club's late president Lucio Araujo, who developed and ran the two popular open tournaments, the Knights' Open and DeVerteuil Memorial almost singlehandedly for many years. The Knights' president also expressed the club's gratitude to RHÅND Çredit Union Society for its ready support in providing a spacious and central venue for the club's tournament. Winners of the Memorial, Sean Perryman and Ravishen Singh who both scored six points from the seven round contest, shared the first and second prizes of $1500 and $1000 respectively. The prize fund of $5,200 was also shared by Çecil Lee, five and a half; Christopher Raphael, Ryan Harper, Marcus Joseph, Sebastian Åboud, Dr Eddison Çhang and Ånderson Gordon, all on five points. Best Junior prize was split between Keron Cabralis and Joshua Johnson; Ian Grant, Best Unrated and Joanne Rattan Çhung, Best Female collected $200 each while Louis Wiltshsire and Ian Solomon shored the Best Under17 ELO prize.