Poon reigns as Under-20 champ

Yutien Poon of The Lodge School emerged champion in the Under-20 section of the Sagicor Open chess tournament.
Poon, the reigning CARIFTA Under-16 champion, won on a tie-break from the current CAC Under-18 youth champion, Orlando Husbands, as each scored 6.5 points from a possible seven.
Both players conceded only a draw in their direct head-to-head clash with each other and swept all the other opposition before them.
In the final round, Husbands defeated Jonathan Shepherd of Harrison College while Poon swept aside Vijay Morris.
In the battle for thirrd place, Haifeng Su of Guyana prevailed after clinching a victory over Lydia Nurse of Queen’s College.
Coming into the last round, he was on 3.5 points along with Jerome Harewood and Justin Maloney. However, with Maloney and Harewood drawing with each other, this allowed Su to pull clear, leaving Harewood and Maloney to settle for fourth and fifth, respectively.
Nurse was the best female on show in the field.
Emerick LaFortune of Martinique won the Under-16 section with six points just ahead of local Bryan Prescod and another Martiniquan Lionel Buisson, who both finished on 5.5 points.
In the Under-12 section, national Under-12 champion Kyle Sandiford narrowly won with six points from American Oden Calvert, who had 5.5 points.
The tournament saw top quality chess in a competitive and friendly environment and saw good regional rivalry as junior players from Guyana, Martinique and the United States battled with local players. (PR)