Last year, two chess gladiators entered the ring to match wits in an "Annotation Chess Clash." FMs Ryan Harper of Trinidad and Warren Elliott of Jamaica are two talented players who play with boundless energy.

The two Caribbean chess mavens tackled the task of annotating the complicated Anand-Ponomariov game from the 2002 Mainz rapid match. Both players received identical sets of rules and were given adequate time to prepare their annotations.

Afterwards, each set of annotations were voted on and in the end, Harper won a close battle by a score of 54.84% to Elliott's 45.16%. A search is already under way for a challenger to FM Harper. This competition is as much a learning exercise for the two players and everyone who took part.

Posted by The Chess Drum: 24 July 2003