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GCF/Gaico Grand Prix Chess Tournament… Taffin Khan secures masterful tourney victory
The top performers pose with their prizes following the conclusion of the event.
Kaieteur News – Candidate Master Taffin Khan has once again proven his skill over the board by winning the second Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) organized, Gaico sponsored Grand Prix Tournament. Khan won seven of his eight matches, withhis only draw being against Loris Nathoo who came in second place.
Nathoo is renowned for his very solid play in the chess community, and he did not disappoint. The two played theopening and middle game well, with Khan attempting to force Nathoo to make inaccuracies and mistakes. Nathoo held strong, and the two traded down to a draw.
Nathoo won five and drew three of his matches, finishing the tournament on 6.5 points to winthe second-place trophy.
Third place was FIDE Master Anthony Drayton with 5.5 points who lost to Khan anddrew his game with Nathoo. During the second round of the tournament, Draytonwas defeated by veteran player and Stabroek News columnist Errol Tiwari. The opening was played with minor inaccuracies from Tiwari, giving Drayton a considerable positional edge.
Disaster struck, as Drayton blundered his queen to Tiwari, turning the tide completely in Tiwari’s favour. Drayton resigned the game immediately afterwards. Tiwari was later defeated by Roberto Neto.
In round 6, Frankie Farley played against Nathoo. The two solid players began with theiropenings, with little to no errors but little to no extravagance at the same time. The position became closed afterwards, a wall of pawns blocking any real intrusion into the position.
However, a seemingly innocent trade of pieces was offered by Nathoo which Farley accepted. As a result, the position erupted with life as Nathoo’s pieces stormed across half the board, while Farley’s were left on the farther end, away from the action.
The innocent trade was devastating for Farley, as 10 moves later lead to a forced checkmate by Nathoo, who claimed victory 3 moves later.
In a clash between the older, more experienced player, Justino DaSilva and rising star 14 yearold Pooja Lam in round 5, indicated that the odds were in DaSilva’s favour. The opening was sharp, as DaSilva gambled a pawn for a devastating attack, but Lam’s defence appeared to be sharper. DaSilva quickly lost steam in his attack and now entered into a poor middle game.
In an attempt to draw, DaSilva closed the position defensively, but Lam, after reorganising her forces, broke through and began claiming the advantage gifted to her by her opponent. Theendgame ended as swiftly as it started, as Lam’s advantage snowballed inducing a resignation from DaSilva, marking a glorious day in her promising chess career as a female junior chess player.
Women’s Champion Sasha Shariff (5 points) took away the trophy for best female player inthe tournament.The trophy for best junior female went to Pooja Lam (4.5 points).
Jessica Callender (5 points) received the trophy for the best U20 player in the Grand Prix.Medals were also awarded for 4th to 10th places to Roberto Neto, Errol Tiwari, Sasha Shariff, Jessica Callender, Jarell Troyer, Pooja Lam and Frankie Farley respectively.
Taffin Khan received his prize from Company Secretary Marcia Lee.
A total of 27 players competed in the 4-day tournament.Notably, five local junior players have made the International Chess Federation (FIDE) rated players list as of May 1st, 2022. These players are; Junior Champion Ricardo Narine, Ronan Lee, Oluwadare Oyeyipo, Jessica Callender and Pooja Lam.
The National Qualifiers tournaments for the Open category and Women’s category will beheld this weekend May 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th at the National Stadium Providence. Interested persons can register only on guyanachess.org. The deadline for registration is May 6, at 5pm.
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