Pecorelli ‘three-peats’ in Trinidad!

After winning the inaugural Caribbean Chess Carnival, International Master Humberto Pecorelli has travelled from Cuba to Trinidad’s Port-of-Spain the last two years to defend his title. He now qualifies for a nickname given his historic ‘three-peat’… winning three times in a row.

Humberto Pecorelli Garcia wins the 2009 Caribbean Chess Carnival

This year boasted arguably the strongest field with Barbados’ IM Kevin Denny returning and Nigeria’s IM Oladapo Adu being added. WGM Ilaha Kadimova of Azerbaijan would also be amongst the top seeds.

Pecorelli repeated his formulas by holding the stronger players and beating choice players to draw distance from the field. One choice player may have been Adu since that put the Cuban at 4-0 and allowed him to take a few draws later. However, Ariel Marichal and IM Gerar Lebredo made a late run to pull within a 1/2-point. In the end, the field would come up 1/2-point short.

Nevertheless, it would end with three Cubans 1-2-3 and three Venezuelans at 4-5-6 completing the domination of the Spanish-speaking players. IM Maria Ubaldo-Suarez had a good tournament and took the 6th spot with 6/9 including a tense win over FM Ryan Harper.

Adu and Harper ended on 5.5/9. IM Kevin Denny was looking to provide a challenge, but lost last two rounds to Ariel Marichal and his countryman FM Philip Corbin. He ended on 5-4. Suriname’s Roger Matoewi ended on an even score.

In the under-20 section, Romario Sanches of Suriname edged out Jamaica’s Damien Davy winning his last four rounds. His 7.5/9 won the gold followed by Davy’s 7/9 and Christopher Raphael and Keron Cabralis ending on 6.5/9.

Suriname also took the under-14 with Immanuel Kromosoeto (right) winning with 7.5/9. In order to overtake front-runner Mahendra Singh, he won his last five games in a row including a last-round win over Singh. The under-10 saw Barbados’ Yu Tien Poon blitz through the entire field with a 9-0 massacre. His closest competition with Martinique’s Charles Collet with 7/9.

The tournament got rave reviews from the players and appeared to be very well received. The tournament will certainly get stronger and many will be motivated to knock Pecorelli off his throne next year.

Classic Photo: IM Kevin Denny battles FM Philip Corbin in the last round of the Caribbean Chess Carnival. WGM Ilaha Kadimova of Azerbaijan delights in the moment. Photo by FM Philip Corbin.