National chess champion FIDE Master (FM) Ryan Harper will be going all out to capture the second annual Pan American Life Insurance Challenge Trophy which was won last year by (FM) Marcus Joseph in his absence abroad.
The tournament begins tomorrow at Pan American Life Insurance Group (Palig) Plaza, St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain. Harper remains fresh from the 41st World Chess Olympiad which took place last month in Tromso, Norway, where he was T&T most outstanding player. He is in fine form and will start as favourite. His biggest challenge will come from his Olympiad teammates (FM) Mario Merritt, Candidate Masters (CM) Ravishen Singh, (CM) Joshua Johnson and (CM) Adrian Winterroach.
Other Candidate Masters (CM) Vishnu Singh, (CM) Kevin Cupid, (CM) Dev Soondarsingh, (CM) Esan Wiltshire and veterans (CM) Cecil Lee and (CM) Frank Sears are also in the reckoning. Not to be underestimated are Andrew Bowles, David Jones and Colin Knight all of whom have already qualified for this year's National Finals to take place next month.
Last year's female champion, Women Candidate Master (WCM) and eight times Women's National Champion Aditi Soondarsingh will defend her title among the female players. Soondarsingh, was a top performer at the World Olympiad scoring four wins and two draws from ten games which included a shock draw against Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Laima Domarkatie from Lithuania and another shocking victory against Woman International Master (WIM) ESSA Kholoud Al-Zarouni of the United Arab Emirates. Her teammates, new Woman Cadidate Master Gabriella Johnson and Najarah Rahaman are expected to give her good challenge.
A large number of juniors have registered in the junior category. However, 12 juniors will be leaving on October 3 for Columbia to participate in the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) youth championship and will be unable to complete the round.
The seven-round championship begins at 10 am and players interested in participating can contact tournament director Bhisham Soondarsingh at 761 7091 or Andrew Bowles