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Jamaica's chess is headed to another plateau as the eagerly anticipated inaugural Chess League, sponsored by corporate giants, LASCO, gets underway on Saturday, 25th March, 2006 at Holy Childhood High School with the opening ceremony at 11am. The first round is set to "pawn off" at 1 pm on the same day.
The tournament, the first of its kind in Jamaica, is scheduled to run for several months and will be played in Chess Olympiad format on weekends with each team playing on four boards with two reserves. The time control will be game in two hours. The average mean rating of each team must not exceed 2150 and no team can field more than two titled players (NM, WNM, FM, IM or GM).
Already, interest in the tournament is very high and a lot of "trash talk" has been making the rounds from a number of players who are already dusting off, and re-arranging, their furniture and shelves to make way for their trophies!
Of particular note is the fact that a number of Jamaica's well-known players have indicated plans to form new clubs primarily to enter the tournament. The league is set to be a colourful one especially with the various "threatened" names (for example, the "Knightmares"!) to grace the event.
The detailed rules and registration forms for the tournament can be found at www.chessjamaica.org, the website for the Jamaica Chess Federation. Clubs/Teams from all over Jamaica are invited to be a part of history and register by the deadline (4th March, 2006).
Ian Wilkinson,
President,
Jamaica Chess Federation
8th February, 2006
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