Magnificent Chess to stage Cameron Open

The tournament, which will be the final Chess Open for the year, will be staged over six rounds, three on Saturday and three on Sunday. There will be two sections: an open section in which anyone can play and a section restricted to players with a JCF rating below 1800 or who have no JCF rating.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three players in each of the sections. Other prizes to be awarded include best Under-6,-10,-12 and 14-year-old players, best rural player, best female player, best junior and best new player.

The tournament, which was formerly called the Christmas Open, was renamed three years ago in honour of former president of the JCF, Frederick Cameron. It is the first Open event ever to be 'franchised' out by the JCF to an external entity (Magnificent Chess Limited), which will be responsible for all aspects of its organisation.

The defending champion of the Open section is National Master Duane Rowe, while the defending champion for the under-1800 section is Ardenne High's Hakim Buchanan. Melisha Smith of Queen's High took the top female prize at the last staging of the Open.