Chess Players go after Meusa’s crown following successful qualifying round

Nov 15, 2016, Sports, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....ul-qualifying-round/

After seven rounds of competitive action, seven players have qualified to compete for the National Senior Chess Championship when the qualifying rounds concluded at the National Resource Center, Woolford Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

Those players making the cut are former National Senior Champion, Taffin Khan, who finished the tournament on 7 points, Anthony Drayton (5 ½), Davion Mars (5 ½), Roberto Neto (5), David Khan (4 ½), Joshua Ferdinand (4 ½ ) and 11 year old Akili Theophil (4).

Defending champion, Wendell Meusa, was at the venue when the final game was played and while oozing confidence of retaining the title, is not oblivious of the stiff challenge ahead. Former senior champion, Taffin Khan should be Muesa’s most potent challenger after he topped the points table with 7 points. He will be keen to retain his form for the actual tournament scheduled to get underway within the next two weeks.

When the tournament continued last Saturday morning Drayton defeated Calvin Giddings before losing to Taffin Khan. The latter player had earlier benefitted from a bye after Maria Varona Thomas had opted out of the tournament after feeling unwell. Mars then won from Chino Chung before he returned to take care of Calvin Giddings. Other winners on Saturday included David Khan over Rashad Hussein; the former player also got a bye from Chung. Joshua Ferdinand won his games over Nellisha Johnson and Neto, respectively.

In the final game on Saturday, Taffin Khan defeated Theophil, while Drayton and Mars’ game finished in a draw. The game between David Khan and Joshua Ferdinand also ended in a draw while Neto outplayed Joshua Gopaul. Rashad Hussain scored a win over Calvin Giddings while Frankie Farley defeated Shazeeda Rahim. Andre Jagnandan defeated Jaden Taylor, while Ghansham Allijohn won from Jessica Callender.

The players will return to practice sessions in preparation for the senior championships within the next two weeks. While the competitors have already been established, President of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), Irshad Mohamed, said that he has been inundated with requests to include an additional 4 players in the mix. He said that he will examine the constitution and rules of the sport before arriving at such a decision.

The tournament was played on a Round Robin format and Meusa, who recently secured his transfer from Barbados Chess Federation to the local entity, will now have to compete against those qualifying players if he is to retain the crown for the third time. He has chalked up a FIDE rating of 1967 and is the highest local FIDE rated player.

Meanwhile, even as he prepares to defend his crown, Wendell Muesa will leave these shores for Suriname where he will compete in the South American Chess Championship scheduled for the Princess Ramada Hotel, Paramaribo from November 20-28.