National chess champion Taffin Khan replaced Anthony Drayton as the leader of the inaugural Red Cherry sponsored ladder tournament by winning all of his matches last Sunday at the Kei-Shar’s Sports Club Hadfield Street.
The national champ was able to rebound from his upset defeat to junior player Saeed Ali in the opening rounds and is now poised to take control of the 36 round tournament.
Ronuel Greenidge and Irshad Mohammed placed second and third respectively in Sunday’s competition.
Khan is now ahead of his main rivals on the chess ladder, followed by former national champion Kriskal Persaud, Greenidge and Drayton.
Drayton suffered mixed fortunes during Sunday’s play and slipped downwards while promising junior player Ali suffered a similar fate. Greenidge, who entered the fray since the tournament began, performed creditably with an almost flawless score on Sunday. He dropped one game to Taffin Khan but defeated Persaud and Drayton to gain a place on the upper rung of the ladder.
The points standings at the halfway mark of the competition read: Khan 45, Persaud 39, Greenidge 38, Drayton 37, Ali 35, Chino Chung and Glenford Corlette 32 each, Roberto Neto 29, David Khan 28, Davion Mars 24 and Sheriffa Ali and Joshua Pedro 22 apiece.
The fourth round was contested yesterday.
A final involving the top four players following the completion of the preliminary rounds will take place on August 11. The winner of the final will receive $50,000 cash, a trophy and a Red Cherry voucher worth $50,000. Prizes are also distributed to the top three performers after each preliminary round.
