Sue Hai Feng used the oldest recorded chess opening the Giuoco Piano to grab his first two wins of the Challenges of Youth Empowerment tournament which continued yesterday at the American University of Peace Studies on Sheriff Street.

With a  draw against Raan Motilall in round one and a loss to Ryan McKay in round two, Feng went for the sharp Guioco Piano to snatch wins  against Nialanand Singh and Anthony Drayton in rounds three and four respectively.

Playing the white pieces used the gambit to gain command of the centre on his way to the “Game of the Round” win over Singh.

Feng achieved great central control, space for mobility and quick development of pieces for an early advantage of an attack.  Singh, whose form is not to the best in the tournament, sought to counter attack when his best bet would have been to defend stoutly.  This allowed Feng a tactical combination of a queen and bishop battery, which forced mate on h7 after 15 moves. In his clash against Drayton, Feng captured the audience after displaying a wonderful technique with his bishop, knight and pawns versus Drayton’s rook and pawns. Despite being a difficult end game to play, Feng proved he had both the talent and the confidence to succeed.

Feng once again opted for the Giuoco Piano but Drayton later exchanged a knight and a bishop for Feng’s pawn and rook. This later proved to be crucial when Feng quickly activated his piece majority. Obtaining the initiative Feng finished the game by trapping Drayton’s rook with a bishop and a pawn that forced Drayton to resign.  Nevertheless the day was not all lost for Drayton, who had, earlier in round three, achieved his first win of the tournament against Farad Baksh, whose Philidor’s Defence lead to his own demise. Baksh allowed his opponent to develop too easily, and Drayton, playing the black pieces, got early equality in the game. Drayton, who was the much more solid player of the two, capitalized on a late blunder by Baksh in a pawn end game. And while positions were equal for most of the game, it was Drayton’s persistence which brought him the win after 73 moves. Baksh was then checkmated after 25 moves by Raan Motilall, in a game that displayed the capabilities of the West Demerara Secondary School students.  In round four Raan and his brother Ron, played to a draw.