Candidate Master (CM) Wendell Meusa won the Open Rapid Chess championships which was staged Monday at the School of the Nations facility, New Market Street.
This was confirmed by an official release from the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF). According to the correspondence, Meusa ended the tournament with a sublime score of eight points from nine rounds, with his only defeat coming at the hands of eventual fifth-place finisher Saeed Ali.
Glenford Corlette secured the runner-up position with seven points. Corlette lost to Meusa and Davion Mars, who ended on 6.5 points to finish fourth.
Roberto Neto also ended on 6.5 points but edged Mars owing to a direct encounter tie-break to seal the third position.
Neto suffered defeat to Meusa in their fourth round encounter, before losing to Corlette in the sixth round. He also drew with Ali in the seventh round.
“The top female was Jessica Callender, who finished ninth overall with four points. Her losses came against Meusa, Owen Mickle, Mars, Michael Chapp-Jumbo and Corlette. Fifteen players competed in the one-day event under a time-control of 10 minutes per player with a one-second increment after each move. This event was just the first tournament for the Guyana Chess Federation for the year. Anthony Drayton was the tournament organizer and chief arbiter for the tournament”, the release stated.
For his showing, Meusa walked away with $50,000 while Corlette and Neto walked away with $30,000 and $20,000 respectively for finishing second and third respectively. Callender pocketed $20,000 as the best female finisher.
