The Caribbean Chess Sub Zonal was held in Nassau, the Bahamas from June 25 to July 1, 2010. It was the first time in the tournament's history that it was held in the English speaking Caribbean. Entry was restricted to nominated players in the 15 member sub zones. The 9 round swiss tournament had a time control of 90/40, SD30 plus 30 seconds per move from move one. The tournament was the first Official FIDE event organized by the Bahamas Chess Federation (BCF) since it became a member of FIDE in 1974. The tournament comprised 27 players from ten (10) countries. The tournament venue was the College of the Bahamas School of Nursing, Grovernors Close, Nassau. The tournament resulted from excellent support from both the Private and Public sector. The sponsors of the event were Grandmaster Dave Norwood, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, the Bahamas Telecommunications Company and the British Colonial Hilton Hotel. The partners of the event were the Bank of the Bahamas and FIDE Development Committee.
World Champion GM Anatoly Karpov confirmed Thursday June 24, 2010 that he would be visiting Nassau. Notwithstanding the short notice, the BCF was delighted to have GM Karpov visit. The Federation was grateful that Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Minister of Tourism & Aviation and other Tourism and Ministry of Sports officials were able to adjust their schedules and meet with GM Karpov on Friday morning June 25, 2010.


From left to right: BCF President - Kean A. Smith, World Champion GM Anatoly Karpov, Minister of Tourism & Aviation -Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Director General of Tourism - Vernice Walkine, Acting Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture - Nicole Campbell, Director Sports Tourism Development - Tyrone Sawyer

Ms. Vernice Walkine – Director General of The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism makes the ceremonial first move

FM Jomo Pitterson (L) won the Caribbean Chess Sub Zonal 2010 with 7 points from 9 games. Jomo became the first Jamaican to earn the IM title

WGM Sarai Sanchez (VEN) also earned the right to apply for an IM title.
Barbados National Champion, Martyn Del Castilho won against WGM Sanchez in round 8 and finished third (on tie break) with 6 ½ points missing his IM title. He did earned the right to apply for a FIDE Master title however.

14 year old Keron Cabralis finish 4th place with 6 points beating out Shane Matthews for the second and final FIDE Master title that was available at the Caribbean Chess Sub Zonal 2010.

Hellen Mukiri-Smith, Lana Major and daughter Polina