The Tribune

WOMAN Candidate Master (WCM) Daijah Johnson concluded her historic run at the International School Sports Federation’s (ISF) Virtual World Schools Championship against a field that comprised some of the top players across the globe.

Johnson, the first Bahamian to qualify for the final at the online tournament, scored four points and finished at No.26 overall among the group of 40 finalists.

Pipia Ekaterine of Georgia was the top finisher in the field with eight points.

The lone competitor from the region, Johnson also competed against players from Iran, China, Armenia, Argentina, Montenegro, Brazil, Morocco, France, Romania, Kazakhstan and Nigeria.

Johnson advanced to the tournament finals after emerging as one of the top 40 participants at the ISF Qualifiers earlier this month. The first woman in the Bahamas to ever receive an International Chess Federation (FIDE) title, she won five matches in the qualifier to advance to the final with a finish of No.38 overall.

The remainder of the Women’s Under-17 team at the qualifier included Olga Roussos and Trinity Pinder. Roussos and Pinder were very close to qualifying in the top 40 at No.41 and No.46 in the rankings respectively.

Pinder was the first participant for Team Bahamas and won in the first round against a higher rated player. She finished with four points. Roussos, who also participated in the Online Chess Olympiad in August, finished with 4.5 points.

In September, the Bahamas became the newest member of the International School Sports Federation and chess was the first sport contested.

Team Bahamas competed in several divisions at the ISF qualifiers.

In the Women’s U-14 qualifier Makayla Horton scored three points and was No.47 in the field of 51 competitors. In the Men’s U-14 division, Avain Pride scored 6.5 points to finish at No.65 in the field of 75.

Finally, in the Men’s U-17 qualifier Nathan Smith scored 5.5 points to rank No.60 in the group of 113 entrants. For the remainder of Team Bahamas, Noah Albury scored 4.5 to come in at No.79, Hodari Prince and Aiden Mart both scored four points to finish at No.92 and No.93 respectively, while Trevor Bridgewater scored three points to finish at No. 103.