Guyana’s Team 1 made significant strides after the second day of the CARICOM Classic Chess Competition currently being held at the Ramada Princess Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara.
Team 1, which consists of Guyana’s top senior players, Candidate Master (CM) Taffin Khan, FIDE Master Anthony Drayton, National Women’s Champion Jessica Callendar, and Shazeeda Rahim, garnered two team wins in the third and fourth rounds of the competition to push Guyana to second on the overall table ranking.
However, Guyana Team 2, the junior representatives of the host nation, suffered losses to sink to rank 9 out of 10 on the rankings.
In the third round yesterday morning, Team 1 beat St. Lucia 3-1, with CM Khan, FM Drayton, and Rahim all beating their opponents, while Callendar suffered the only loss. On the other hand, Guyana Team 2 suffered a 1-3 loss to Jamaica as Kyle Couchman and Sasha Sharif both conceded matches to their Jamaican opponents, while 13-year-old Aditi Joshi and Keron Sandiford held their own to draw their respective games.
In the afternoon session, the fourth round saw Guyana Team 1 come up against immediate neighbour Suriname with a 3-1 win. CM Taffin continued his unbeaten streak, while Drayton and Rahim also chalked up wins, with Callendar again unsuccessful.
Team 2 for the host nation faced St. Lucia and were routed 0.5-3.5 as Kyle Couchman was the only Guyanese to score half of a point in his draw against his St. Lucian counterpart. Joshi, Shariff, and Sandiford all tasted defeat.
Trinidad and Tobago continued their strong showing to extend their lead at the top of the table, while Guyana (Team 1) moved up from fourth to second on a good day at the office.
Barbados, Jamaica, and St. Lucia close out the top five, with The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Suriname, Guyana (Team 2), and Dominica occupying sixth through 10th in that exact order. Round five of the tournament begins today at 10 a.m. at the same venue.
