Latest update March 30th, 2025 12:59 AM
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Ethan Lee grinds to assume the lead
DeSinco National Junior Chess Championship…
Kaieteur News –In what was perhaps the most highly anticipated showdown of the day, Ethan Lee defeated Rajiv Lee to assume the lead in the National Junior Chess Championship Qualifiers.
The three and a half hour game saw Rajiv and Ethan play a game of pressure and patience where they both were down on time. The opening laid the foundation for the game where Ethan exerted the initial pressure and it was up to Rajiv to refute it.
Keron Sandiford battled Sasha Shariff on the penultimate day.
Like every good tale, the game hit its peak, where a single move by Rajiv relieved the pressure and played a drawn position, or spell disaster if miscalculated.
Unfortunately, the latter had manifested, leading Rajiv to scramble to hold on against a slew of new threats from Ethan. The new strain on the position led to a losing endgame for Rajiv, allowing Ethan to walk away victorious.
As the points stand, at the end of six rounds, Ethan and Ricardo Narine have both secured their place in the Junior Nationals regardless of their results in matches the following day.
Narine defeated all of his opponents until he faced Ethan in the sixth round which resulted in a stalemate. They now each have 5.5 points. Coming in at 5 points are Rajiv Lee, Ronan Lee, Matthew Singh and Keron Sandiford.
The day ended as a clash on board 5 occurred between Queen’s College students Matthew Singh and Kyle Couchman. Singh emerged the winner over 12-year old Couchman. From the beginning, unorthodox play ripped across the board as both players attempted to gain the edge on the other.
Tactically rich positions followed and rich positions present lucrative opportunities. Couchman slipped in his calculation just before the endgame, allowing Singh to gain enormous progress by winning material.
Couchman, however, would make Singh work for his victory. Three and a half hours of play led to blunders by both sides, as Singh lost his advantage, rendering the game a theoretical draw. As the game came to a close, an exhausted Couchman erred one last time, allowing the position to be converted from a draw to a win for Singh, ending the day.
Couchman now sits on 4 points and has it all to play for in the final round as he takes on Angel Rahim, also on four points. Jaden Taylor, clawing his way back to 13th place, will be hoping to win his last game and maybe have a chance for a place in the top 10.
About 15 players are jostling for the last five places and it will be an intriguing final round for place in the prestigious Junior Championship.
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