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Two former chess champions; one title; who will win?
Who will it be, Taffin Khan (right) or Kriskal Persaud?
Former national senior chess champion Kriskal Persaud and his former junior counterpart, Taffin Khan are scheduled to face off in a keenly contested duel tomorrow afternoon to decide this year’s champion when the Neal and Massy/Seven Seas National Chess Championships concludes at the Keishar’s Sports Club from starting at 17:00hrs. The match became necessary after both players ended the national senior championships, played in a round robin format, on a 11 1/2 points stalemate.
The two players were locked in fierce rivalry for the most part of the tournament and when play resumed over the past weekend at the Ocean Spray Hotel, Kriskal Persaud held a half point lead over Khan. The arc shifted somewhat when Learie Webster held Persaud to a draw in round twelve and Khan defeated Frankie Farley. The scores were then 9 1/2 points apiece. Khan then defeated Ryan Singh in his next game while Persaud gained a walkover from Errol Tiwari, who withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons.
The situation became dicey in the final round when Ryan Singh gained an advantage over Persaud, forcing him to accumulate two sets of double pawns and with a bishop versus five pawns and a Knight. However, Singh made a huge blunder when he compromised his Knight allowing Persaud to regain control of the game and eventually seal the win. In the meantime, Khan chalked up a crucial victory over his father David, to ensure the tournament ended on a stalemate
The points standing after fourteen rounds reads; Kriskal Persaud and Taffin Khan (11½), David Khan (9½), Learie Webster (8½), Frankie Farley (5½), Ryan Singh (5), Ron Motilal( 2½) and Errol Tiwari (2). The format of the playoff will comprise three rapid games of twenty, fifteen and ten minutes each and two blitz games of five and three minutes each.
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