It was a fairy tale finish for the Portelli family of Zurrieq as masters Timothy and Isaac secured the top spot of both the under-10 and the under-8 category at this year’s Junior Chess Championship last Friday.

The competition, organised by the Malta Chess Federation, was held at Stella Maris College in Gzira where junior chess is thriving thanks to the efforts of College director Brother David, a keen chess enthusiast himself, and members from the Malta Chess Federation.

In the under 8s, second place was won by Matthew Bugeja. Second place in the under 10s was taken by Michael Farrugia, who had a great tournament, while Gabriel Grima managed a meritable third with 3/5 points.

The ‘eternal rivals’ Jamie Farrugia, Adrian Cutajar and Gabriel Farrugia had to play a gruelling three round decider on the last day of the competition to determine the top notch of the U-12 category.

At the end it was Jamie’s cool nerves that won her the honours as she managed to beat both her rivals in time-troubled Blitz games. She was declared U-12 champion. Gabriel took second place and Adrian was third.

In the top category the overall winner was Jean Pierre Xuereb. Xuereb won four out of five games. Julian Camilleri was second while Max Depasquale was third.

A special mention goes to Matthias Parnis for his debut and good show among much stronger opposition; to Benjamin Zammit for his quick mind to resolve difficult chess puzzles during the break time; to Tristan Vella and Rafel Grima for the good games they played and for not giving up when the odds were against them.

At the end of the competition Stephen Farrugia, on behalf of the Malta Chess Federation, thanked the participants and their numerous relatives for their continuous support. He thanked Brother David, of Stella Maris for hosting the competition and finally congratulated all the players for their enthusiasm and for all the good moves they played. He reminded them that success requires effort and in chess, not unlike other subjects, the key is studying. A chess player must balance the amount of time available between playing the game and studying the games of the masters.

Raymond Azzopardi, who was the tournament director, distributed the prizes to the winners.