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.