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New Chess champion crowned as Wendell Muesa checkmates Taffin Khan
A consistent display of brilliant moves characterized by craftiness and experience earned Wendell Muesa 6 points and the Senior National Chess Championship when the National Senior Chess Championships concluded at the Ocean Spray Hotel, Rupert Craig Highway and Stanley Place Kitty, Sunday evening last.
Meusa studies his game against Khan which eventually earned him the national title.
Defending champion, Taffin Khan, fell short by a ½ point and was forced to relinquish his crown and settle for the second place slot. Anthony Drayton scored 5 ½ points and clinched the third place while Glenford Corlette and Errol Tiwari scored 4 points apiece with the former player benefiting from the tie break system.
Davion Mars and Roberto Neto scored 2 points apiece while Rashad Hussain failed to register a point and remained in the cellar.
The tournament was highly competitive, endorsed by the final point standings. The pundits had predicted that the winner of the Muesa/Khan encounter would have eventually clinched the crown and though the prediction eventually materialized, there were moments of doubts.
Khan and Muesa faced off on the second day of the competition and the latter player triumphed after sacrificing a rook for Khan’s knight and bishop which restricted Khan from attacking or counters and afforded Muesa a slight advantage and the eventual win.
Muesa had said then that his toughest challenge was past and he had envisaged a smooth sailing thereafter. He suffered a setback when former junior champion, Anthony Drayton, won their succeeding contest and put a monkey’s wrench in his plans.
Unperturbed, Muesa rebounded with victories over Mars and Neto while benefiting from a walk over after Hussain failed to turn up for their game on Saturday last. In the meantime, Khan defeated Mars on Saturday and followed up with wins over Corlette and Tiwari on Sunday but in the end the earlier loss to Meusa was decisive and cost him his crown.
Meanwhile, a relaxed Meusa spoke with Kaieteur Sport at his home yesterday morning and admitted that the competition was truly fierce. He said that he was more impressed than surprised and he feels that this is indeed good for the future of the sport.
The new champion commended the Tournament Director, Irshad Mohamed, for the professional way in which he conducted the tournament. “He managed the tournament expertly and kept a tight rein on discipline and order,” said the new champion.
The national championship now over, Meusa said that he would like to take his game to another level. He said that the parent body, FIDE, will be hosting a chess Olympiad in Norway and the best 5 players out of Guyana will be eligible to participate.
He then took a gander at the best team to represent this country. “I would like to see such players like (Taffin) Khan; he is still a great player, Drayton has the skill to develop into a great player and would be a great asset on the team; National Junior Champion, Haifeng Su is also a good strategist and could hold his own while I would suggest that (female player) Maria Gonsalves be considered for this tournament,” said Muesa.
The new champion currently enjoys a FIDE rating of 1966 and said that he is aspiring to surpass 2000 which would represent the highest rated FIDE player locally. Muesa feels that much more should be done if Chess is to continue along the developmental trend and calls on Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Frank Anthony to support the establishment of a Chess club to harness the budding talent in Georgetown and other regions.
He is thankful to the many organisations that continue to place faith and funds in the sport and singled out Demerara Distillers Ltd, Banks DIH Ltd, Red Cherry, Trophy Stall and Caribbean Containers Inc. “These firms are true friends of chess and it would be nice if other corporate entities could join them in support of the sport,” concluded the new chess champion.
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