Johnson, Meusa firmly ahead

May 24, 2022 Sports

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2022 National Chess Championships…

Candidate Master Wendell Meusa and Nellisha Johnson are currently leading in their respective tourneys, the Gaico sponsored National Open Chess Tournament and KFC Guyana sponsored Women’s Chess Championships.

Four rounds have been played so far, with both tournaments commencing last Saturday, May 21, at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. The two tournaments are being run concurrently, with the top ten qualifying players participating in each tournament and will conclude on Sunday, May 29.
These players are vying for the National Titles of National Chess Champion and Women’s National Chess Champion for 2022.
National Open Tournament Meusa is currently the only player in the Open tournament standing undefeated.
So far, he has defeated Rai Sharma, Godfrey Taylor, defending champion Candidate Master Taffin Khan and Fide Master Anthony Drayton who placed first in the qualifying tournament.
Loris Nathoo and Frankie Farley both follow closely behind Meusa on three points each. Ethan Lee and Khan are on 2.5 points each with Anthony Drayton and Roberto Neto on 2 points each. The remaining participants are Rai Sharma, Godfrey Taylor and Errol Tiwari.
Godfrey Taylor and Errol Tiwari entered the competition due to the withdrawal of Rashad Hussain and Justino DaSilva.

Meusa faced the defending chess champion Khan in round 3 on Sunday, in what was more than likely the championship deciding match. Khan, with the black pieces, chose a solid and closed approach against Meusa, and the two entered the middle game in an equal position.
Tiny inaccuracies by Khan allowed Meusa to scrape a small advantage for his position against the defending champion. However, Khan’s solid play had slipped and Meusa struck without hesitation. Meusa’s white pieces stormed Khan’s king, his advantage began to snowball. Pawn after pawn fell as Khan’s king ran for safety.
In an attempt to finish with stylish efficiency, Meusa sacrificed material as his position was already dominating. Even though the computer analysis indicated that Meusa had not only sacrificed material but also his winning chances, it would be highly unlikely that a human player could defend that position.
As exceptional of a player that Khan is, the position ended in victory for Meusa; a fitting result of a wonderful attacking game of chess.
National Women’s Tournament
Nellisha Johnson is so far undefeated in the women’s tournament. She has defeated Adia Alphonso, Maliha Rajkumar, her sister Waveney Johnson and Angel Rahim. On three points are Pooja Lam and defending women’s champion Sasha Shariff.
After a long intense showdown, Lam and Shariff drew their match against each other, earning a half point each. Defending Women’s Chess Champion Shariff played the white pieces against the Women’s Qualifiers winner Jessica Callender.
The game began with an unorthodox but equal opening by the players and began the middle game in an even position. By opposite side castling, Shariff made her intention very clear that an attack was coming, and that it was coming fast.
In an attempt to defend, Callender rerouted her pieces but had only worsened her position via tiny inaccuracies. Shariff’s pieces lunged at the Callender’s King. Pawns marched and pieces infiltrated, but alas, Callender’s defense had held.
She had traded her defensive pieces with Shariff’s attacking pieces, diluting the attack altogether. Unfortunately for her, Shariff had other plans. In the end, Callender had lowered the odds of her losing in the short term, but had destined her loss in the long term.
Shariff led the position into the endgame with an extremely powerful chain of pawns, one of which was a passed pawn. The passed pawn’s power rose at every piece exchange, giving Shariff an undeniable edge.
Disaster struck for Shariff when she blundered her pawn. The game was now even, but there were enough pieces available for something to go wrong. Time on both player’s clocks were low, sowing the seeds of fear and doubt.
The advantage swung back and forth, as both players missed devastating wins against the other in a highly complicated endgame. The final missed opportunity landed in front of Shariff, who agreed to a draw in a completely winning, complicated, but terrifying position, letting Callender get away.
The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) wishes to thank its sponsors Gaico Construction and KFC Guyana for its support for these tourneys. The GCF is extremely grateful to these companies for providing the opportunity to its chess players who once again are able to participate in over the board tournaments and looks forward to a continued partnership in the future.
At the conclusion of the National Tournaments, along with its point based system of calculation from its Grand Prix Tournaments, the GCF will determine the members of its 10-member Olympiad Team destined for Chennai, India in July/August 2022 to participate in the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad.

 

 

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