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National Junior Chess Championship…Defending champion Joshua Gopaul loses twice, Jaganandan, Allijohn and Lee share lead
Andre Jaganandan contemplates his next move.
Defending national junior champion Joshua Gopaul got an awakening call when he returned to the chessboard last weekend in the opening rounds of the National Junior Chess Championship when he was defeated by Andre Jagnandan and Ethan Lee.
In round one, playing with the White Pieces against a Grunfeld Defence, Gopaul missed the simple 5, Bxf6 Bxf6 and 6, Cxd5, winning a simple pawn through the basic tactics of removing the defender.
However, the tactical Lee was ruthless when hunting Gopaul’s uncastled king thereby forcing him to resign on move 14.
Gopaul’s second game was longer than his first, played with a lot of inaccuracies which the informed Andre was keen to spot. Again, playing with the White Pieces, Gopaul went for the Queen’ s Gambit, however Andre Jaganandan went for the Chameleon Defence using his opponent’s inaccuracies to slowly grind his way to victory.
Jaganandan won his first round game against the higher FIDE rated player Jaden Taylor. Taylor with the Black Pieces went for the active and solid Grunfeld Defence but lost his way playing an inferior variation which the inform Jaganandan spotted and capitalised on.
Ghansham Allijohn got off to a perfect start as well. In round one he opted for the Scotch Game with White against fellow club mate Jarell Troyer. After early Queen’s exchanges, Allijohn outplayed his opponent strategically and positioned to secure his first win.
Even with the Black Pieces, he maintained his solidness to fend off some aggressive chess by Jaden Taylor as well in round two.
Queens College’ Rajiv Lee is also sharing the lead after round 2. In round one against Chelsea Juma, he played the Scotch Game as well. However, inaccuracies by both players saw the initiative being pushed from player to player.
However, Juma missed her winning chance on move 14 when she played the defensive 14…c6 instead of the counter attacking 14…d5 which would have blasted the center open for her better developed pieces against the opponent’s uncastled king.
This is failing to seize the moment and the initiative for a winning chance in chess. As a result, Juma lost an undefended Knight through a skewer. In round 2, Rajiv Lee fought hard for over 50 moves to secure his second point against the challenging Jaden Taylor.
Ethan Lee and Chelsea Juma’s round 2 match up was highly anticipated as well since the two players have almost the same FIDE ratings. Against d4, young Juma went for the tricky and counter aggressive Chigorin Variation of the Queens Gambit Decline.
Juma was able through tactical combinations to win the exchange of a Rook vs a Knight but could not have converted this advantage since Ethan gained enough drawing chances from an outside passed pawn. Round 3 will be contested on Friday.
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