The DDL Topco Juices seven round chess tournament concluded yesterday at the Kei-Shar’s Sports Club. At the time of writing, Raymond Singh and Taffin Khan were joint leaders, having defeated each of their individual opponents and having drawn with each other.
The tournament is a preparatory one for the much-anticipated FIDE International which is to be held in Guyana beginning July 1. This round-robin tournament will feature six local players and four foreigners from within the Caribbean region and will be conducted by an international arbiter. The six local players who have qualified to participate in the tournament are Taffin Khan, Ronuel Greenidge, Shiv Nandalall, Loris Nathoo, Ryan Singh and David Khan.
Former national champion Raymond Singh has indicated that while the local standard is fair, players need to learn more theory if they are to take their games to a higher level. The internet, he suggested, is a useful learning tool for improving one’s game. He also stressed the need for consistency among the stronger players in tournaments. So far, Taffin Khan has been the most consistent player for the federation for the year, having been in the winners’ circle for all the tournaments in which he has participated. For the juniors, Saeed Ali is showing great promise. National junior champion Cecil Cox is back, and it is felt that with some regular play, he would be difficult to beat.
More details about the local FIDE tournament will be communicated to the public in due course.
Aronian v Gelfand
The 23rd Ciudad De Leon tournament was held recently in the Spanish city of Leon. The participants were Gelfand, Vallejo, Aronian and Dominiguez. Israel’s grandmaster Boris Gelfand won the tournament. Here is his final game.
Aronian, L (2783) – Gelfand, B (2741)
XXIII Rapid KO Leon ESP (2.6), 6.6.2010
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.b3 Bd6 6.Bb2 0-0 7.Be2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 f5 12.Bd3 Nd7 13.h4 Qe7 14.g4 c5 15.gxf5 exf5 16.Bxb5 Ne5 17.Bxe5 Bxe5 18.Rc1 f4 19.0-0? fxe3 20.fxe3 Rxf3 21.Rxf3 Qxh4 22.e4 Bxe4 23.Bc4+ Kh8 White Resigns!! 0-1.
