Once again, West Demerara’s Taffin Khan demonstrated that he belongs to the select inner circle of chess in Guyana when he won the last Gaico Constrution Chess Tournament, which concluded on Sunday at the National Stadium, Providence.
Khan’s enviable Grand Prix points stand at a handsome 61, the highest among players of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF). He secured six victories and a draw in the 7-round tournament.
Surprisingly, Khan’s only draw emanated from the mind of Rajiv Lee, a student of Queen’s College. He placed third in the tournament, preceded by Glenford Corlette, with Shiv Nandalall and Loris Nathoo in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
Meanwhile, in second place of the competitive Grand Prix race is Wendell Meusa, with 44 points, followed by Loris Nathoo (33), Ronuel Greenidge (30) and Davion Mars (30). Meusa and Anthony Drayton, two of Guyana’s strongest and more successful chess players, did not participate in the final Gaico tournament. However, Drayton’s place to represent Guyana at the 2020 Chess Olympiad in Russia is impregnable since he is the 2019 National Chess Champion. Meusa, on the other hand, is an exceptionally strong player and he can accumulate additional Grand Prix points easily. Added to that, Meusa is just behind Khan on the leader board of Grand Prix points, so it would’nt be difficult to catch him.
In the junior chess tournament, which was conducted alongside the Gaico one, Samirah Gobin of the Al Ghazali Islamic Academy emerged victorious. She was followed by Ricardo Narine, of Queen’s College, Sasha Shariff, of Marian Academy, and Nellisha Johnson.
