Le Roi Wins New Bahamas Junior Chess Crown
Le Roi
Thompson (center) from Kingsway Academy receives the RBC Finco Bahamas
Junior Chess Champion trophy from RBC Finco representative Ms. Coretta Rolle.
Le Roi was the only player out the Bahamas' 17 top chess juniors invited to
the tournament to score a perfect four out of four victories to capture the
coveted prize. Le Roi's most feared rival was his brother Lemaro Thompson
(third from left) who at only 13 years of age
finished second after being trumped by Le Roi in the last round. Other top
finshers were: Levardo Rolle, 11 years old in 4th place (far left); previous
Bahamas Junior Champ Elton Joseph in 3rd place (6th from left); and newcomer
Germaine Williams in 5th place (right). Bahamas Chess Federation's
Tournament Director Mr. Warren Seymour (second from left) praised RBC
Finco's 29 years support as the longest running sponsor of chess in the
Bahamas.
In his first outright tournament victory, Kingsway Academy student
Le Roi Thompson won the 2003 RBC Finco Bahamas Junior Chess Championships on
Saturday August 23 at C.C. Sweeting Senior High School.
The Bahamas Chess Federation's invitation-only tournament fielded 17 of the
best under 20-year olds in the nation.
Sixteen year-old Le Roi Thompson, who has won seven division trophies in his
short two year chess career, fought off his brother Lemaro Thompson in the
final round of the four round Swiss tournament to clinch the all-important
4th point for victory.
The Thompson brothers dominated as Lemaro finished 2nd having taken the
scalp of former RBC Finco Bahamas Junior champion Elton Joseph, who began
the tournament as the slim favourite.
Along with 13 year old Lemaro's 2nd place, the best performance for age was
achieved by Levardo Rolle who moves to S.A.C. this year. Levardo, only 11
years old, won a surprising game over Nadia Smith, the country's top ranking
female junior and one of the country's top five junior players. Levardo
finished the tournament fourth with three wins, ahead of many older players.
A relative newcomer to chess, Germaine Williams of C.O.B., who was also the
eldest in the field, caused a first round upset by beating one of the
country's top juniors Gerald Higgs. Williams and Higgs finished fifth and
sixth respectively.
At the presentation, Tournament Director Warren Seymour thanked RBC Finco
for their continued support of youth chess.
"Finco has been a mainstay of the development of this fine pursuit in our
country. In fact, RBC Finco is our longest supporter having sponsored junior
chess since since 1974," said Seymour. In presenting the five trophies,
company representative Ms. Coretta Rolle said RBC Finco was proud to have
supported chess for such a long time.
The new invitation-only tournament was hailed a success as it produced a
more relaxed and thoughtful atmosphere, according to Warren Seymour.
Federation President Thierry Boeuf encouraged the juniors to study. He
praised the Thompson brothers for working hard and for developing their
talents seriously.
"Le Roi and Lemaro are a force to be reckoned with in the future," said
Boeuf. "Juniors ought to attended the chess clinics and buy and read more
books. Although there were many fine games, you still have much to improve
in the middle game and in basic techniques including end-games.
In a post-tournament interview Le Roi said his secret was training
andpractice.
"At home, there's always a chess baord set up ready to go. We play chess at
least an hour a day. When we come back from a tournament we plug into Fritz
(computer chess program) and see how we could have improved our games. We
also read a lot of Grandmaster books," said Le Roi. "Recently I've been
reading Nimzovich's 'My System' and John Nunn's 'Secrets of Practical
Chess'."
Le Roi, who came third in the Finco tournament last year, set his sights on
winning it this time round. He says he feared mostly his brother, rather
than Elton Joseph, the former 2002 champ. Joseph has had a string of
victories in 2003.
"I saw how hard my brother was training leading up to this tournament," said
Le Roi. "In the final round I was very worried about facing him. He was
playing white, but he slipped when he gave me a rook and three pawns for his
bishop and a knight. I was so concerned not to lose that I was playing more
carefully than usual, and that helped me. On the day, I just played the
better game and made fewer mistakes."
Talking about his brother Le Roi said, "He's just 13 so he's pretty good,
just as good as me. Betwen us, whoever plays white usually wins," said the
new champion.
"My goal is to win a strong international tournament. From there, I don't
know how far I can go," said Le Roi.
The Chess Federation's next tournament is the Vitamalt Classic at 10 a.m. on
Sept 6th at C.C. Sweeting Senior High. All members are encouraged to
attend.