The Dominica Chess Federation hosted the HHV Whitchurch, Creamery Ice-Cream Inter-schools Chess Tournament on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at the Dominica State College.
The following 7 schools participated in this event:
- Convent High School
- Dominica Community High School
- Dominica Grammar School
- Isaiah Thomas Secondary School
- Orion Academy
- Pierre Charles Secondary School
- St Mary’s Academy
Each school’s 4-member team was placed in one of two groups, A or B. The format was, every team would play each member of the group once, and the top two teams from each group would advance to the semifinals.
Match Points were awarded in the following manner:
Win – 3 points
Loss – 0 Points
Draw – 1 point
At the end of the day’s games, with match points awarded based on the wins of each team, these were the final standings of each group:
| GROUP A | GROUP B | ||||
| Place | School | Point | Place | School | Points |
| 1st | SMA | 7 | 1st | DGS | 6 |
| 2nd | ITSS | 6 | 2nd | Orion | 3 |
| 3rd | CHS | 4 | 3rd | DCHS | 0 |
| 4th | PCSS | 0 | |||
Worthy of mention are the following 11 students who were considered Outstanding Players of the day. They each played at least 2 matches and had a 66% game score or higher.
1. Lucas Sorhaindo – St Mary’s Academy
2. Emmanuel Jolly – Isaiah Thomas Secondary
3. Kelly Huang – Dominica Grammar School
4. Pzaddi Trocard – Dominica Grammar School
5. E’jhadi Maxwell – Orion Academy
6. Cajani Dejean – St Mary’s Academy
7. Walson Pacquette – Pierre Charles Secondary
8. Kermit Robinson – Orion Academy
9. Ayani Casimir – Convent High School
10.Gideon Belleau – Isaiah Thomas Secondary
11.Kiam Jolly – Isaiah Thomas Secondary
The teams to face off in the semifinals are: –
St Mary’s Academy vs. Orion Academy and the Dominica Grammar School vs. the Isaiah Thomas Secondary School.
From the results of the semifinals, there will be the third-place playoffs and finals to be held on the same day.
Tournament director – Nigel Francis who is Vice President of the Dominica Chess Federation and Chief Arbiter – Larry Thomas, the Federation’s Technical Assistant are pleased with the participation of the students in the tournament thus far. The Federation is thrilled that young players continue to learn and enjoy the game of chess and are willing to challenge themselves by competing at high levels.
The DCF thanks their headline sponsor – HHV Whitchurch & Co. Ltd. as well as the Dominica State College who provided the venue, for the successful staging of the first leg of this inaugural inter-schools chess tournament.
