USVI Chess Federation Hosts St. Croix Open Scholastic Chess Tournament

United States Virgin Islands Chess Federation

April 28, 2023

Right to left: Isaiah Benjamin, Joshua Henry, Nathan Benjamin, Andrew Trotman, William Gentilucci, Sara Jones, Ian Ainger, Taino Esannason, Stacey Christopher (Submitted photo)

On Saturday, April 22, the United States Virgin Islands Chess Federation hosted the 2023 St. Croix Open Scholastic Chess Tournament at the Alfredo Andrews Elementary School in conjunction with Education Connections VI. The Federation thanks the VI Lottery for sponsoring this event.

Elementary, middle school and high school students competed in three divisions in this five-round chess tournament. Students from Ricardo Richards Elementary School, Good Hope Country Day School, Hope of Learning Academy and St. Croix Educational Complex attended the tournament.

In the Under-19 Division, the winners were Isaiah Benjamin (1^st place) and Nathan Benjamin (2^nd place), both from St. Croix Educational Complex.

(L-R) Margaret Murphy, 1st place winner under-14 Ian Ainger, and Ricardo Ricard’s teacher Ms. Timothy (Submitted photo)

In the Under-14 Division, the winners were Ian Ainger (1^st place) and William Gentilucci (2nd place), both from Good Hope Country Day School, and Sara Jones (3^rd place) from Ricardo Richards School. Also, honorable mention awards went to Jadora Burke, Stacy Christopher and Taino Esannason from Ricardo Richards School.

In the Under-10 Division, the winners were Andrew Trotman (1^st place) and Joshua Henry (2^nd place), both from Ricardo Richards School.

1st place in the under 19 years old group with FIDE organizer Margaret Murphy (Submitted photo)

Decorative trophies from Mitchell-Larsen Studio were presented to the winners. The federation thanks Ms. Timothy from Ricardo Richards School for attending the event with her students, and the parents who were gracious spectators.

Lunch was provided by the Federation; pizza from Napoleon’s was a welcome addition to the tournament.

Finally, thanks go to the officials from the U.S. Virgin Islands Chess Federation who assisted at this tournament. Margaret Murphy, president, tournament organizer and chief arbiter; Anthony Mongiello, treasurer, arbiter; and Shawn Williams and Akelam Romain assisted at this tournament. Also, the organizers thank Marisa Allen of Education Connections VI for helping to coordinate the tournament venue.

The Chess Federation is planning more tournaments, both scholastic and adult, this year to promote the sport of chess throughout the territory, both on St. Croix and St. Thomas.