Jamaicans blank South Koreans

JAMAICA'S NATIONAL chess team turned in an impressive performance, blanking South Korea 4-0 in their second-round match of the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy on Monday.

Shane Matthews, Jomo Pitterson, Warren Elliott and Duane Rowe all won their games.

In round one action on Sunday, Jamaica went down 0.5-3.5 to Uzbekistan.

Jamaica's Olympiad veteran and seven-time national champion, national master Matthews, drew with grand master, Aleksey Barsov on board one to secure Jamaica's half point.

Jamaica, who were given a finalised ranking 102 in the field of 149 registered entrants, will next play Finland who are ranked 53rd.

In the women's tournament, Jamaica were beaten 2-1 by Argentina in round one and 3-0 by Indonesia in round two. There was some consolation for the Jamaican women, however, as their sole point, which came against Argentina, was secured by national women's champion Deborah Richards who stunned women's international master, Marisa Zuriel.

The Jamaican women's team, which was given a finalised ranking of 79 will next play Iraq, who are ranked at 88.