Bertram Scott, "IM Simutowe wins Jamaican Open,"  Jamaica Ambassadors Chess Academy, 18 October 2006 (Kingston, Jamaica).

Zambian International Master, Amon Simutowe won the 2006 Jamaica Open Chess Championship with a perfect 6/6 score. This was Simutowe's second trip to Jamaica having won the Harold Chan Open in 2004 with a similar 6/6 perfect score.

Playing a simple waiting game, Simutowe defeated Bertram Scott in the 1st round, dispatched candidate master Daren Wisdom in the 2nd, outfoxed the formidable national master, Russel Porter in the 3rd round, withstood the stern test of FM Warren Elliott in the 4th, made short work of the usually tough NM Shane "The Magician" Matthews in the 5th, and wrapped-up the coveted Jamaica Open title with a 6th round win over NM Equitable Brown. Matthews played solidly to finish 2nd with 5/6 followed by Porter and Lorne tied for 3rd place with 4½ points each.

The Jamaica Open proved to be a very exciting event with many young players registering upsets over their more highly rated counterparts from as early as the first round. Candidate masters Peter Myers and Daren Wisdom were both on the hunt for norms to wrap-up their national masters title, but both were unsuccessful. Myers suffered upset losses to Gary Hue in the first round, and was tagged by Mikhail Solomon in the third round, while Wisdom's title hopes were delayed after he lost to Solomon in the 6th round.

The Amateur section was won on tie-break by Paul Brooks from Lucien Rowe after both players finished with 5½ points each. Mikhail Solomon played well to score 4 points, including upset wins over Myers, Scott, and Wisdom, and was adjudged the best Junior of the Open. Annesha Smith scored 4 points to capture the best female prize.

(Editor's Note: The Jamaican Chess Federation also reports, "After the tournament, which had over eighty entrants, Simutowe gave a brief lecture and then conducted a simultaneous exhibition. The exhibition saw him playing thirty-one (31) players simultaneously, including four Jamaican chess masters. He registered 28 wins and settled for three draws to FIDE Master Warren Elliott, Maurice Robinson and Peter Myers.")

Standings

Posted by The Chess Drum: 19 October 2006