I. Introduction 

The championship was held in the US Virgin Islands from December 8 to 13, 2018 with the participation of fourteen (14) players, of which four (4) were over sixty-five (65) years old, among them one (1) female. The Federation of American Virgin Islands, chaired by Margaret Murphy, was the organizer of the event, being the main arbiter Omar Añeses Bocanegra and assistant arbiter Edwin Delgado Delgado. The event was attended by players from eight (8) federations, namely: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, United States, Panama, Uruguay.

II. System of Play, Categories and Oportunities for Titles and Norms

According to the CCA Regulations for the event, it is assumed that there are two separate categories, one for over sixty-five (65) years called Senior and another for over fifty (50) years called Veterans. Add the regulation that will be played in each category nine (9) rounds under the Swiss system, and if there are less than nine (9) players play a Round Robin. It is also provided for a women's championship if there are more than ten or more women enrolled.

For its part, FIDE regulations for continental championships establish that in order to obtain dietary titles and standards, the category must have at least five (5) federations.

Given that only one female was registered in the event, no women's championship was held and the female player was included in the Senior category. The organizers of the event brought to our attention the very small number of players registered for the Senior category to perform a round robin, a concern that was also expressed by the players. Being only four players, playing a round robin would play only three games and none could obtain titles or rules for not having five federations. On the other hand, the category Veterans with ten players would play a Swiss to nine rounds according to the regulation of the CCA for being more than nine (9) players, which is a contradiction given that this number of players, ten (10), is ideal for a round robin of nine rounds. This detail of a Swiss for ten players instead of a round robin has its differences as in the case of abandonment of the event by a player.

Before all this, it was decided with the consent of the players of the Senior category to unite both categories to play nine rounds under the Swiss system, with individual awards by category and with the possibility that all participants had the opportunity to obtain a standard or title under the category of Veterans.

III. Awards

In the Category of Veterans the International Master Jefferson Pelikian was champion for the tie-breaking system, with International Master Bernardo Roselli being runner-up. The third place went to the FIDE Master Diego Mussanti.

Pursuant to FIDE regulations and having eight (8) participating federations, we have that the Champion Jefferson Pelikian is a creditor of a grandmaster norm, and Diego Mussanti, by coming third, is creditor of an International Master norm.

In the Senior Category the International Master Leon Piasetski was champion for the tiebreaker system, with FIDE Master Jorge Medina as runner-up. In third place was Julie Anne O'Neill.

The tables by category of the cash prizes are as follows:

Seniors 50+

Seniors 65+

IV. Additional Observations

The game room had air conditioning, relative silence, adequate space and lighting for the event. The games were played on individual tables which were placed with enough space between them and in accordance with the FIDE regulation. The schedules of the rounds were fulfilled according to the published bases prior to the event.

All the games were played, there being no forfeit. The only game resolved irregularly was the game Molina vs. Roselli of the ninth round that was awarded to the black side in the ninth play after the phone of the player of white pieces sounded. There was no claim from the affected player, having announced and published at the beginning of the event that cell phones and electronic devices were not allowed in the game room, including the restrooms.

The only other incident occurred at the beginning of the seventh round, as there was a momentary interruption of the electric service, with a subsequent activation of the emergency lights. This incident was attended according to the circumstances and after that the parties continued their normal course.

The swiss manager program was used for pairings, and pairings and results were published both in the venue and on the website chess-results.com.

All the games of the tournament were digitalized and published round after round in chess-results.com, so all the players to prepare had access to the games played by their opponents throughout the tournament.

Along with this electronic communication, enclose the file generated by the swiss manager program to report the results to the FIDE server for rating purposes. Also, the “pgn” file with all the games of the event.

In Saint Croix, Virgin Islands, on December 13, 2018.

Cordially,

Omar Añeses Bocanegra
Chief Arbiter