Zerafa lands junior title

The APS Junior Chess Championship 2007 came to a close last week at St Elias College, Sta Venera. Two parallel Swiss competitions were played, one for U-20s and the other for U-14s.

Robert Zerafa, 18, of Marsaxlokk, is the new junior champion. He scored 4.5 points out of a possible five, beating Gary D'Amato, Sam Sacco, Kevin White and three-times winner Mark Cardona in the process. His only drawn game was against his brother Patrick. The latter claimed third place behind Cardona who was second on four points.

White was the U-18 title winner and Kyle Bonnici secured the U-16 honour.

In the U-14 competition Luca Vassallo, Christian Xuereb and promising U-12 champion Jeanluc Mangion ended their commitments with four points from five games.

Thanks to a superior Median Buholtz, Vassallo, a St Elias College student from Dingli, was declared champion. Xuereb and Mangion were second and third respectively. Rita Saliba was the best female player in the tournament.

At the end of the competition, R. Azzopardi distributed the trophies to the winners in the presence of the numerous guests at the college.

Malta Chess Federation spokesman Stephen Farrugia thanked the rector of the college, Fr Charles Mallia, for his continuous support to the local game. He also thanked APS for their commitment to the development of the junior players and congratulated all participants for their good showings.

Noel Grima was tournament director.

Final Standings

Under-20: 1. R. Zerafa 4.5; 2. M. Cardona 4; 3. P. Zerafa 3.5; 4-7. K. White, S. Sacco, C. Farrugia, L. Farrugia 3; 8-10. K. Bonnici, A. Xuereb, P. Leone Ganado 2.5; 11-13. D. Saliba, V.E. Farrugia, D. Psaila 2; 14. L.M. Saliba 1.5; 15. D. Spiteri Belcher 1; 16. G. D'Amato nil.

Under-14: 1-3. L. Vassallo, C. Xuereb, J.L. Mangion 4; 4-6. R. Saliba, D. Agius, R. Mercieca 3; 7-9. J. Darmanin, N. Mercieca, J.P. Xuereb 2.5; 10-11. M. Bondin, C. Spiteri Belcher 2; 12. J. Borg 1.5; 13. J. Xuereb 1; 14. R. Sammut nil.