Former junior chess champion, Joshua Gopaul and Uddhav Bagwandeen have chalked up three wins in as many rounds as over the board chess returned last weekend with the December National Chess Championships.
At the National Stadium, chess saw its first over-the-board tournament since the pandemic halted play back in March.
Some 3 players turned out and despite the heavy downtime, both Gopaul and South Africa’s Bagwandeen did not miss a move. Gopaul faced his toughest match of the day when he came up against veteran, Rai Sharma in the second round where he converted a pawn advantage into a win. Meanwhile, Bagwandeen’s hardest match was against Gilbert Williams in the third round. Both leaders will now clash in round four.
Sharma, Ryan McKay, Alex Sahadeo and Williams are locked on two points each.
Tournament Director, Rashad Hussain explained, “It’s good to see persons playing chess again in tournament format after a 10-month break from the sport, some players are complaining about being rusty.”
He added, “Even though some players are able to play in online tournaments, some aren’t and use over the board tournaments as motivation to practice and play chess, so even though some believe the internet tournaments are the way forward, many are in favor of coming out and playing chess.”
Hussain related that he hopes this tournament can kickstart a return to normalcy with the sport.
Following the Christmas holidays, December 27 will see the Guyana Chess Federation hosting its 2020 National Rapid Chess Championships for both juniors and seniors. The seniors category will be internationally rated.
Interested persons are asked to make contact with Hussain for Registration or further information.
