National Master (NM) Valentine Cox dominated the 2023 Bahamas Chess Federation's (BCF) National Chess Championship, winning the prestigious event with an impressive eight out of nine points. The only player to beat NM Cox was FIDE Master (FM) Cecil Moncur in Round 9. NM Cox won his first national chess championship 47 years ago, in 1975. He went on to win the title again in 2002 and 2015 according to BCF records.
The 2023 BCF National Chess Championship took place over two full weekends, starting on Friday January 13 January and
culminating on Sunday January 22. This year, the tournament, which was sponsored by Colina, was held at the J. Whitney Pinder Building on Collins Avenue.
The 2023 BCF National Chess Championship was said to be exciting, filled with several shocking defeats. Young Avian Pride beat FM Cecil Moncur in Round 3 and Trevor Bridgewater pulled off an upset in Round 9, beating Candidate Master (CM) Kendrick Knowles. The 2023 BCF National Chess Championship was also a historic one as it was the first local chess tournament ever live streamed. The BCF secured electronic chess boards and chess clocks made by Digital Game Technology (DGT). DGT tournament boards are used at Chess Olympiads, world chess championships and all major chess tournaments around the world to show the games live as they happen.
"I would like to thank Colina for their sponsorship of the 2023 Bahamas National Chess Championship. I would also like to applaud all the players for participating in this historic tournament and congratulations to the winners," exclaimed BCF 2nd Vice President Curtis Pride. "We encourage you all to continue to participate in BCF tournaments this year and support the Bahamas Chess Federation. The Bahamas Chess Federation is committed to giving all chess players in The Bahamas exposure and opportunities to travel regionally and internationally to improve your ratings and gain titles and ratings."
BCF President CM Kendrick Knowles said: "I am proud that we were able to secure the DGT digital boards and live stream these games. We had persons watching from all over the world, including Norway, Jamaica and Switzerland. This is a huge accomplishment and it allows us to attract more attention to Bahamian chess tournaments and our players."
The 2023 BCF National Chess Championship was a FIDE rated tournament, set up in a nine-round Swiss format with game in 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. Chief Arbiter for the championship was International Arbiter (IA) Andre White. White was assisted by Deputy Chief Arbiter Angel Pride.
Finishing second behind NM Cox was CM Byron Small with 7.5 points. Finishing third was Moncur with 6.5 points, and coming in fourth was Avian Pride with 5.5 points.
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