After three rounds of play in the Magnificent Chess University of the West Indies (UWI) Masters International Tournament, the favourite, Spanish Grandmaster Alfonso Romero Holmes, held the lead with two and ha half points, closely followed by Jamaican FIDE Master Warren Elliott, with two points.

Cuban International Master, Jose Vilela, held third with one and a half followed by Jamaican National Master, Shane Matthews and Swedish FIDE Master, Bengt Hammar, each on one point.

Jamaican Fide Master Jomo Pitterson and Barbadian FIDE Master Delisle Warner had each scored a half.

In round two games on Thursday morning at the Shirley Retreat Hotel, Holmes and Vilela drew after 25 moves.

Pitterson, playing his first game in the event, pulled off a surprise by playing 1.e4!

His opponent, Matthews, returned the compliment by replying 1.c6, unveiling the Caro-Kann defence and the players agreed to a draw after 20 moves.

Real fireworks

The only other game to be played in round two saw real fireworks as Elliott wielded the white pieces with vicious effect, sacrificing a knight en route to dismantling Hammar's Sicilian Nafdorf defence in just 21 moves.

In the round three games played at the Assembly Hall at UWI's Mona campus, Elliott again produced a gem of a performance, using his Benko Gambit to rout Warner, who could not put the white pieces to good effect.

Grandmaster Holmes main-tained his slim lead after winning a pawn and grinding down Pitterson in 68 moves, the game lasting almost five hours.

The Spanish maestro, who was obviously drained by the effort, showered praise on his Jamaican adversary, stating that Pitterson was "very, very good".