Junior chess champions
This year's Junior Chess Championship organised by the Malta Chess Federation was hosted by St Benedict College Chess Academy at the Boy's Secondary School, Kirkop, and sponsored by APS Bank. Four Swiss tournaments were run in parallel with 48...
This year's Junior Chess Championship organised by the Malta Chess Federation was hosted by St Benedict College Chess Academy at the Boy's Secondary School, Kirkop, and sponsored by APS Bank. Four Swiss tournaments were run in parallel with 48 participants vying for seven national titles.
Robert Zerafa, 19, of Marsaxlokk. Zerafa won the top category making this a prestigious double after having won this competition also in 2007. He won four games in a row and easily drew the last encounter to secure first place. Zerafa will as from next month be reading for a BSc. in Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Malta.
Sam Sacco placed a meritable second while Luke Saliba, who was third overall thanks to a superior bucholtz score, was declared Under-18 champion. Luca Vassallo from St Elias College, Sta Venera, clinched the U-16 title.
In the U-14 category, the title went to Jean-Luc Mangion from Pembroke with 5/5. Mangion, a student at St Aloysius' College, Birkirkara, was U-12 champion last year, also with a full score. Two other promising youngsters, Vincent Zerafa and Jake Darmanin were second and third respectively. Clarissa Cremona was best female player in her age-group, an award she has won for several years.
Jean-Pierre Xuereb from Sliema, who attends Stella Maris College, Gżira, won the U-12 title. Nicholas Armeni and Daniel Abela were joint second while Nathan Galea was third. Aurora Tesi won the best female award.
Adrian Cutajar, 10, of Gudja is the new U-10 champion after placing first thanks to a superior Bucholtz score than that of Andrew Thake who was declared second overall. Both players were on 4/5 after the last round. Cutajar is a pupil at William Baker Gudja Primary 'C', part of St Benedict College. Mauro Vassallo was third while Jamie Farrugia was best female and fourth overall.
The U-8 title was deservedly won by Timothy Portelli with five straight wins. Portelli is a pupil at St Benedict College's Francis Ebejer Żurrieq Primary School 'B'. Gabriel Grima also had a great tournament ending in second place, one point behind the champion. Third place went to six-year-old Michael Farrugia.
For more information view the website: www.chessmalta.com.