15 hours ago
10
Gold medallists Ty Humphrey and Sandhya Ramsaroop spearheaded a stellar performance for Trinidad and Tobago at the 21st Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival in Costa Rica held from November 1 to Sunday, leading a nine-player delegation to a four-medal finish.
Humphrey delivered a standout performance, earning two titles. Playing up an age group, he went undefeated with eight wins and one draw (8½/9) to win the Under-12 Open Standard Championship, earning a qualification path for the FIDE Master (FM) title upon reaching a 2100 rating. Returning to his own age category (U-10) for blitz, Humphrey won his final seven consecutive games to secure his second gold with 8/9.
Ramsaroop earned T&T’s third gold medal by capturing the U-14 Girls’ Rapid title with 6/9, placing eighth overall in a combined field. She also added a bronze medal to the tally in the U-14 Girls’ Blitz with 5/9.
The rest of the delegation also turned in strong performances across their divisions.
Cardel Miller marked his international debut by finishing fourth in Under-8 Open Standard with 5½/9, while also placing seventh in rapid and tenth in blitz. Catherine Ali climbed from the 15th seed to finish sixth in U-12 Girls’ Standard with 6/9 after winning her final three games.
In U-8 Girls’ Standard, Jordyn Flament finished 11th with 5/9 and Sienna Mike placed 22nd with 3/9. Naomi Flament represented the team in the U-10 division, scoring 3/9 in rapid and 2½/9 in blitz.
In the older categories, Luke Gillette won his final three blitz games to place 13th in U-16 Blitz (5½/9) alongside a 3/9 finish in standard play, while Candidate Master Kael Samuel Bisnath placed 18th in U-18 Open Standard with 4½/9.
Altogether, T&T returned home with three gold medals and one bronze. The Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association, in a release, congratulated all nine players, as well as the families and coaches who supported their international campaign.
English (US) ·