Guyana’s chess champion Taffin Khan is an imperturbable personality, an unflappable character. He is a living example of warmth, wit, grace, tact, wiliness, finesse, resourcefulness and resilience. All pertaining to chess of course.
Khan, who is from the West Demerara, has chosen chess as his number one pastime and he has demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that he is good at it.
He is never tense at the chess board.
When he plays, his facial expression is completely devoid of any external preoccupations. When he announces check or finds a significant move, he makes no noise about it. Khan is, as my grandfather used to say, “as cool as ice”.
That is his temperament. The same cannot be said of all chess players.
For example, when I first learned chess, I developed a tendency for standing up at the chess board instead of sitting, when I played an approving move. Nowadays, I see players slamming down chess pieces when they make a complimentary move. Years ago, I lost a treasured wooden knight when a player slammed it down with passion; it broke into two pieces. Since then, I admonish players quietly when I observe incidents of a similar nature.
Georgetown’s top chess player Wendell Meusa is on his way to winning the 2022 National Chess Championship. He has a perfect score (four victories from four games ), whilst Khan has two victories and a draw from his four.
Loris Nathoo is the only remaining player, I believe, who can possibly take a game from Meusa in his remaining five encounters. He already defeated the two top guns: Khan and Anthony Drayton. I would say Nathoo has an opportunity for turning the tables on Meusa because he did some years ago. Outside of that, Meusa’s chances for seizing the crown are possible, if not excellent.
In the Women’s Championship Nellisha Johnson is leading with a perfect score of four points. Her successes included Adia Alphonso, Maliha Rajkumar, Angel Rahim and her sister Waveney Johnson. She is yet to play the defending champ Sasha Shariff; winner of the National Qualifiers Jessica Callender; Anaya Lall; the strong Pooja Lam, and one other. It is therefore difficult to pinpoint a winner at this stage.
During the Women’s Championship, I happened on an endgame late in a position where there was a passed rook pawn, but the opponent’s king covered the queening square. All the other pieces were removed. The position is drawn regardless of which player has the move since two kings cannot stand next to each other and the defending king cannot be removed from the queening square. Nevertheless, in my estimation, the women players have developed immensely in the past two years of regular online chess competitions and I would not be surprised if Guyana snares a title at the impending Olympiad in India.
Chess game
White: Wendell Meusa
Black: Godfrey Taylor
Event: 2022 National Chess Championship, National Stadium, Providence, Guyana, May 21
Type of Game: Queen’s Pawn Opening
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. g3 O-O 6.Bg2 d5 7. O-O Re8 8. a3 Bxd2 9. Nxd2 Nd7 10. Qc2 h6 11. Rfd1 c6 12. e4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Qxe4 f5 15. Qf4 Nf6 16. Re1 Bd7 17. Ne5 Qe7 18. h4 Nh7 19. h5 Nf6 20. Bf3 Bc8 21. Re3 Nd7 22. Ng6 Qf6 23. Rae1 Nf8
24. Ne5 Kh7 25. Bd1 g6 26. hxg6 Nxg6 27. Nxg6 Qxg6 28. d5 Bd7 29. Qc7 Black resigns. 1-0.
