The Brighter Future Chess Championship has concluded with Chess Master Anthony Waylea Jr. emerging as the winner of the competition.
The After six rounds of play, four players; Thomas Saah, FM Barcon Harmon, CM Anthony Waylea, Jr. and James Stephen Tondo, led the tournament with 5pts each; separated only by tiebreaks.
Going into the final round, Thomas Saah was paired with CM Anthony Waylea, while James Stephen Tondo was paired with FM Barcon Harmon. CM Waylea was able to secure a win in a very dramatic game, while FM Harmon had to convert his very slim advantage to a win.
With the two, CM Waylea and FM Harmon, on the same point after 7 rounds, they had to move to tiebreak 3 (Buchholz) to decide the winner, which ended in favor of CM Waylea.
The top ten players from the competition were CM Anthony Waylea the winner, FM Barcon Harmon, Thomas Saah, David Leroy Debblay, James Tondo, Abigail Karyah, Kennedy Z. Kengo, Foday W. Kondoh, Cornelius K. Wreh and Wesley Obey.
Other winners in separate categories are Wesley Obey and Abigail Karyah.
Despite missing two games, Mr. Wesley Obey still won the Over 50 category. This category is strictly for players over 50 years of age and Obey has won it for the 2nd time.
Abigail Karyah won the junior category undisputedly. She had the best performance; 4w 2d 1l, in a very stacked open section. She is estimated to have gained over 100+ FIDE Rating; thus, reaching the required rating for the World Chess Women title.
The tournament was officiated by Wilfred Smith as Tournament Director, Elijah Dennis as Chief Arbiter and Melvin Weah who served as Deputy Chief Arbiter.
The tournament was organized by the Liberia Chess Federation in collaboration with Brighter Future Liberia, a local organization that is working towards improving the lives of young Liberians.
This event was a brush-up from the 2022 edition of The National Chess Championship that ended in December.
