JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION VICTORIOUS IN CURACAO FOR 2019 JUNIOR CHESS TOURNAMENT.
By JJosepha News
Willemstad, Curacao. In a brief interview with the JCF organization, JJosepha News asked a few initial questions to understand the significance of Curacao’s Chess Federation hosting the 8th CARIFTA Junior Chess Championships.
JJOSEPHA NEWS: 1. What were your hopes for the junior CARIFTA Chess participants?
THE JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION: 1. Before going into Carifta this year we had high expectations of our team, as many are currently or have been National Champions for their Age Groups. That said, we knew it would be a tough competition because we would face the best kids from 10 other countries! Our main goal was to improve on our performance of the previous Carifta held in Suriname. Last year we came away with 8 awards – 3 golds and 2 silvers in official categories and 3 bronze in the age group sub-categories. This year although we had a slightly bigger team, the field was also way bigger, and we managed a medal haul of 17 awards including the top country – that was 7 awards in the official categories (including 2 golds) and 9 awards in the age group sub-categories (5 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze). This was also the first time Jamaica has won the country prize outside of Jamaica, and we had a much smaller team than many of our rival countries, so we are particularly encouraged by this performance.
JJOSEPHA NEWS: 2. What was the general census on the tournament and the competition?
THE JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION: 2. The tournament was really very well supported and attracted the best players in the Carifta territories. In spite of a few hiccups with the timeliness of information about pairings before each round, the tournament was well run and the hosts were very hospitable. The venue and accommodation was also very comfortable and the whole set up enabled both kids and parents and coaches to be comfortable throughout the competition.
JJOSEPHA NEWS: 3. How did the delegates felt visiting Curacao?
THE JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION: 3. Most of our team had never been to Curacao before so it is always a great experience to travel and meet new people across the Caribbean. For some it was a great opportunity to meet up with players they have met at other regional tournaments before. The team was treated to a very nice excursion to the Sea Aquarium and a visit to Punda, so we saw a little of what Curacao has to offer which was great.
JJOSEPHA NEWS: 4. What is the Jamaican Chess Federation going to do to maintain their championship level performance and possibly repeat with a net year championship overall win?
THE JAMAICA CHESS FEDERATION: 4. I think the team is very encouraged by their performance, and the JCF recognizes that these players represent the future of chess. Funding is always an issue to get the juniors the support they need for further development. This includes coaching, travel locally for those who live outside of the capital city, overseas travel and tournament entry fees. The JCF is in the process of creating a Junior Development Plan which will outline our plans to grow the talent we already have in Jamaica and get them ready for the 9th staging of Carifta to be held in Guyana next year as well as other regional tournaments. We recognize that it is about quality over quantity, and we will be grooming the players that are up and coming. And in order to ensure another great performance at Carifta we would want to ensure we have our best players representing Jamaica in each age group category.
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