After nine rounds of action, a playoff round will be utilised to determine the National Junior Chess Championship between Ethan Lee and Ricardo Narine, after the duo finished tied on 6.5 points, and were adjudged as the top two finishers by the Buchholz and Sonneborn-Berger tie-breaker systems.
This was disclosed by an official release from the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) which also stated that while the trio of Ricardo Narine, Ethan Lee, and Rajiv Lee, all finished the tournament on 6.5 points, the computerised tie-break systems of Buchholz and Sonneborn-Berger were used to decide the top two finishers, of which Lee and Narine emerged.
The release explained, “The Players in First and Second places according to the standings will be required to participate in a playoff to decide the National Junior Champion. The playoff will consist of three games with 15 minute, 10 minute and 5 minute time controls. These matches are scheduled for 2pm Saturday afternoon. Computerised tie-break systems Buchholz and Sonneborn-Berger were used to determine the top two players who will face off this weekend for the title namely: Ethan Lee and Ricardo Narine.”
Lee, who suffered an opening loss to Matthew Singh, rebounded to defeat the likes of Mayas Khan, Rajiv Lee, Ronan Lee, Kyle Couchman, Keron Sandiford, and Sasha Shariff. His only drawn encounter came against Jessica Callender. His other loss in the final round, which denied him the title, transpired against his impending foe Ricardo Narine.
On the other hand, Ricardo Narine also defeated Khan, Singh, Ronan Lee, Callender and Shariff. His losses occurred against the duo of Couchman and Sandiford, while he drew with Rajiv Lee.
“Other players who finished in the top five are Rajiv Lee (6.5), Kyle Couchman (6) and Keron Sandiford (5.5) who placed third, fourth and fifth respectively. Ronan Lee ended on 4 points, Sasha Shariff on 3.5 points, Matthew Singh and Jessica Callender on 2.5 points with Mayas Khan on 1.5 point”, the release informed.
Meanwhile, the GCF is scheduled to stage several tournaments including the Grand Prix Tournaments, the National Open Qualifiers, National Open Championship, and the National Women’s Championship, with the latter determining the team for the Olympiad in Chennai, India.
“Information regarding these tournaments are posted on guyanachess.org and on the GCF’s Facebook page. The second Grand Prix tournament is scheduled for April 23rd, 24th, 30th and May 1st 2022. Registration is done only online and the deadline is April 22nd at 5 pm”, the release added.
