ST. JAGO WIN PCJ SCHOOL CHESS CHAMPS FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW

Photo: THE WINNING TEAM:  Members of the St. Jago A Chess Team, Tajae Morgan (second left), Joshua Christie (third left), Akeem Brown (fourth left), Michael Christie (third right, partially hidden) and National Master, Alistair Walker (second right) pose with their trophies after winning the PCJ Group National Schools Chess Championship. Sharing in the moment with the Champions are St. Jago’s Coach, National Master, Mikhail Solomon (far left) and Jamaica Chess Federation President, Ian Wilkinson.

Kingston, Jamaica – March, 2016: St. Jago High School scored an emphatic 3.5 – 0.5 win over Campion College in the final round of the PCJ Group National Schools Chess Championships to secure the national title for the third consecutive year.

After a draw in their round three match, both St. Jago A and Calabar went into the final round tied for the lead with five points each.  As a result, both teams needed an outright win to stay on course for the title.  With their feet to the fire, Calabar could only manage a 2-2 draw against St. Jago B, which left the door wide open for St. Jago A, who made no mistakes in dispatching Campion College. This left St. Jago A alone atop the standings with seven points.

Decarteret College took second place on tiebreak over Calabar, St. Jago B and St. Catherine A, as each school ended on six points.

Individual category prizes were awarded to the Zone Champions, Mannings High, Glenmuir High, Wolmer’s Boys, Ardenne High and St. Jago High while Excelsior Girls and Wolmer’s Girls were adjudged best girls teams.

National Master, Shreyas Smith and Malik Curiah both of Calabar, took home the awards for Best Boards one and two respectively, Glenmuir’s Wayne March was the Best Board three, Best Board four went to St. Jago’s Akeem Brown and the Best Reserve was Tajae Morgan, also of St. Jago. St. Jago’s Coach, National Master, Mikhail Solomon was adjudged the Best Coach.

Title sponsors, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) expressed satisfaction with the execution of the tournament which wrapped up over the weekend at the PCJ Auditorium in Kingston. 

“The 2016 National Schools Chess Competition was efficiently run by the organizers and well contested by the competitors and we commend the Jamaica Chess Federation for their efforts to engage students across the country in this beneficial sport,” said Camille Taylor, the PCJ’s Manager, Information & Corporate Affairs.  

In closing the Championship, President of the Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) Ian Wilkinson said, “The JCF is again particularly pleased that the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica has continued to ‘fuel’ the development of the sport at the junior level. We look forward to a continued fruitful partnership as we endeavor together, to develop more minds through the sport of chess.”