-leads rankings after four rounds
Reigning National Champion, Candidate Master (CM) Taffin Khan, has had a superb start in defence of his Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) title over the past weekend.
The New GPC Inc. sponsored 2024 National Championship got off to a start on Saturday and continued on Sunday with four of 9 scheduled rounds completed at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown. At the end of those rounds, CM Khan had dispatched all comers racking up three wins and a draw.
In the first round, Khan faced Ethan Lee and with time running out and neither player able to pin down the other, they agreed to split the points. In the second, third and fourth rounds, Khan was his usual ruthless self and secured outright wins over Kyle Couchman, Loris Nathoo and Sachin Pitamber to accumulate 3.5 points, leading the ranking table.
On the other hand, youngster Keron Sandiford has acquitted himself in a quiet but strong manner to emerge second ranked behind CM Khan after the weekend’s play.
With two wins, a draw and a loss, Sandiford sits second with 2.5 points. Sandiford drew his opening encounter against Candidate Master (CM) Ronuel Greenidge while he recorded wins over Justino Da Silva and Ethan Lee. However, Sandiford conceded a loss at the hands of experienced campaigner Nathoo.
Seen as a strong challenger before the National Championships, FIDE Master (FM) Anthony Drayton sits in third place also on 2.5 points, albeit behind Sandiford due to a lesser number of tie-breaks.
Federation’s (GCF) National Championships on Sunday.
Drayton, much like Sandiford, recorded two wins, a draw and a surprise first round loss against youngster Kyle Couchman. Sandiford rebounded however, to beat Sachin Pitamber and Ethan Lee. However, he could not get past CM Greenidge and had to settle for a draw.
CM Greenidge rounds out the top four also on 2.5 points while Loris Nathoo (2 points), Kyle Couchman (2 points), Justino Da Silva (1 point), Ethan Lee (1 point), Sachin Pitamber (0.5 points) and Roberto Neto (0.5 points) occupies fifth through 10th in that exact order.
The National Championships will continue from Friday June 7 at the same venue and conclude over the upcoming weekend.
