Candidate Master (CM) Taffin Khan (2005) and Loris Nathoo will contest a playoff encounter to be crowned the 2023 National Open Chess Championship after ending tied atop the standings at the conclusion of the nine-round tournament.
This was confirmed by an official release from the Guyana Chess Federation. According to the correspondence, the playoff match was necessitated after the duo ended with a score of 7.5 points apiece at the conclusion of the competition, further adding that a date and venue for the encounter will be announced shortly.
The release further stated that the duo will contest a three-game match of speed chess, with the total playing time of the three encounters lasting a maximum of an hour.
The release stated, “Each contender will be allotted 15, 10, and 5 minutes on the clock from the first to the third games, respectively, under the watchful eyes of Tournament Arbiter John Lee. Yet still, if the scores are even after three games, both contenders will move to the sudden death stage of the play-off in blitz chess with five minutes each on the clock. The clock will countdown both opponents’ time as they grapple to score wins over each other.”
This is Khan’s second appearance in a playoff following his participation in 2010, while Nathoo will be making his debut at this juncture.
Meanwhile, National Junior Champion Keron Sandiford and Jaden Taylor ended in joint third place on five points at the conclusion of the event, while Justino Da Silva secured the fifth position on 4.5 points. Saeed Ali and Junior Sachin Pitamber finished 4 points apiece for joint sixth place, while Gilbert Williams and Junior Ethan Lee ended jointly in seventh place with 3.5 points. Junior Rolex Alexander finished in the cellar on 0.5 points.
