Joshua Johnson and his sister Gabriella Johnson are now T&T's highest rated chess players.
According to the latest FIDE standings, Joshua, 17-year-old FIDE master, now enjoys a rating of 2214 which puts him ahead of national champion FM Ryan Harper rated at 2199. His 16-year-old sister WFM Gabriella, is now rated at 1888, ahead of second placed Javanna Smith rated at 1727.
The superior rating of this brother and sister pair obviously reflects their development and outstanding performance in the sport, both at home and abroad, over the last few years. Joshua, for example, gained the FM title at 15 and excelled at the last two Olympiads, at Tromso and at Azerbaijan. He also topped a field of 31 at the Central American and Caribbean Chess Festival outplaying top rated youngsters from Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba.
Gabriella led the T&T female team at Azerbaijan, scoring 7.5 from ten rounds, outclassing her four female teammates.
The new FIDE rating list, released at the end of November, puts FM Mario Merritt and FM Vishnu Singh in third place on 2165 each.
Following them are FM Kevin Cupid 2162 in fifth spot, FM Adrian Winter Atwell and FM Marcus Joseph tied for sixth place on 2148. Allan Munroe eighth on 2115, Kurtis Chong ninth on 2073 and 16-year-old Isaiah McIntosh tenth on 2066.
Four other T&T players are rated above 2000: Esan Wiltshire, former champion FM Frank Yee, FM Anderson Gordon and FM Ravishen Singh.
With respect to the juniors, 13-year-old Alan-Safar Ramoutar is placed 3rd, rated 1893 and ranked 19th overall. Next come Gabriella Johnson 1888, 21st ; Mikel Martin 1880, 24th; Christian Ammon, 1831, 32nd; Simon Ramdath, 1800, 38th; Sean Yearwood, 1758, 45th; Javanna Smith 1727, 48th; Shannon Yearwood, 1696, 51st; Daemon Ramsumair 1621, 60th; Varenyam Maharaj 1568, 70th; Matthew Inkim 1533, 74th; Gerard Sealy 1525, 75th; Reece Roopnarine 1515, 76th; Karissa Sonoo 1499, 79th; WC Shemilah James 1482, 83rd; Amy Ali 1460, 84; Athena Martin 1444, 86th; Kriston Mason 1379, 91st; Tyrell Lewis 1373, 93rd; Jennika Lynch 1344, 94th; ten-year-old Zara La Fleur 1343, 95th; Jordan Robertson 1331, 96th; Jordaine Ramnarine 1330, 97; Akeisha Jones 1328, 98th and Jaedon Maharaj-Ali 1299, 100th.
Trinidad and Tobago is now placed 108 in the chess world with a ranking of 2146. By comparison, Jamaica is placed 111 with a ranking of 2133 and Barbados 113 with a ranking of 2123. The three top ranked countries in the world are Russia rated 2745, USA 2702 and China 2695. With respect to GMs, Russia leads with 236 followed by Germany with 91.
Among the English-speaking Caribbean countries, Barbados has 19-year-old FM Orlando Husbands with a rating of 2278, Jamaica has Elliot Warren rated at 2263 and TT Joshua Johnson, 2214. However TT has 14 players rated over 2000 whereas Jamaica has 12 and Barbados seven. T&T also has the distinction of having more than 100 players rated over 1000 whereas Jamaica has 92 and Barbados 59.