Candidate Master Wendell Meusa returned to action with a bang by playing undefeated to win the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) STR Wood-sponsored national online blitz tournament last weekend.
Meusa ended the nine-round Swiss system tournament with the maximum nine points. He however, received a scare from second placed Irshad Mohammed who was on the verge of an upset win in their fifth round encounter only to lose on time.
Meusa, a former national champion, took home the first prize of $40,000. Mohamad was second with eight points, and received $25,000. Third was Candidate Master Ronuel Greenidge with seven points and he won $15,000.
The tournament was held online last Saturday at Tornelo.com and saw nine rounds of fierce competition amongst junior and senior players. In the Meusa/Mohammed clash, both players showed their knowledge of the opening before Meusa exploited the weakness in Mohammed’s position following a trade.
Meusa then traded his queen for Mohammed’s two rooks but on the verge of checkmating Mohammed, Meusa made a blunder allowing Mohammed to regain the upper hand.
“The position had completely flipped to Mohammed’s favour. In a panicked frenzy, Mohammed attempted to convert his advantage into a crushing win, but his time had elapsed. Meusa walked away victoriously from one of the most entertaining games of the tournament,” a release from the GCF stated.
Former national champion and current FIDE Master Anthony Drayton placed fourth with six points while GCF president Frankie Farley finished fifth with five and one half points.
Reigning Junior Champion Keron Sandiford lost his title to Tejasvarun Kandavel in the final round of the tournament. This game was the title decider.
“The juniors played the opening moves immaculately showing good preparation on both sides of the board. After 10 moves of the quiet opening had passed, chaos had erupted. Sandiford threatened Kandavel’s King on the King side while Kandavel blew open the center to attack Sandiford’s uncastled King in the middle. One attack was more potent than the other as the 11-year-old Kandavel, either through sheer luck or brilliance, played an incredible pawn and knight sacrifice stranding Sandiford’s King in the middle of the board with nowhere to go. Three moves later, Sandiford resigned, making way for Kandavel to be crowned the 2022 Junior Blitz Champion after a decisive 18-move victory in the final round,” the release highlighted
Kandavel finished the tournament on five and one half points after defeating five of his opponents and drawing his match against Jessica Callender who received the best female prize. Callender finished the tournament on five points after winning four of her games and drawing two matches.
Both Kandavel and Callender will be rewarded with trophies and cash prizes of $20,000. The tournament was supervised by FIDE-arbiters, John Lee and Anand Raghunauth.
“The Guyana Chess Federation would like to express its thanks to STR Wood Inc for sponsoring the National Blitz Championship last weekend. STR Wood Inc specialises in the harvesting and production all species of wood used in construction, bridge building, utility poles, and furniture making. STR Wood is an associate of the STR Group. The group, through its associate companies, has been a proud sponsor of chess tournaments over the years, especially in the junior categories,” the GCF stated.
STR Wood Inc stated its continued support of the GCF. “STR graciously affirmed that chess teaches planning and foresight, increases concentration and memory and helps a person develop problem solving skills, critical thinking and creativity. STR Group commits our continued support to the Guyana Chess Federation in its laudable efforts to make chess more accessible to all. We encourage other corporate sponsors to do the same,” the company stated.
