Guyana Chess team in 2nd place after four rounds with 3 match points

Mar 07, 2024 Sports

Team 1 (Guyana) against Suriname during 4th round.

-Trinidad and Tobago leads with 4

Kaieteur Sports – The intense competition of the CARICOM Classic Chess Team tournament has resulted in Trinidad and Tobago in the lead with 4 match points, while Guyana Team 1 is in second place with 3 match points.

After two days and four rounds of grueling competition, members of the Guyana Team 1, CM Taffin Khan, are on 4 points, FM Anthony Drayton and Shazeeda Rahim are 3.5 points, and Jessica Callender is on 1 point. Guyana Team 2 members Keron Sandiford and Kyle Couchman are one 1 point each, Aditi Joshi is on .5 points, and Sasha Shariff is yet to come off the mark.

In round three, Guyana Team 1 faced off against the St. Lucian team. CM Taffin Khan (2000) defeated Arvin Nicholas (1745) of St. Lucia, firstly by trapping one of his knights, while placing his opponent in a bind.

Khan proceeded to capture more material, and the St. Lucian resigned after a weaker position. Anthony Drayton and Shazeeda Rahim, both defeated fellow St. Lucians, Justin James and Chelsea Wahid, respectively.

Jessica Callender (1585) went down to St. Lucian Tris-Ann Richards (1693) following a few inaccuracies that resulted in a losing position. Guyana Team 1 won the round against St. Lucia.

Guyana Team 2 played against Jamaica, resulting in a loss for Guyana. Keron Sandiford and young Aditi Joshi both drew with their opponents Nathan Hinds and Krishna Gray, respectively, while fourteen-year-old Kyle Couchman and Sasha Shariff both lost to Jhustice McDonald and Adani Clarke.

Shariff resigned from her opponent WCM Adani Clarke (1905), when their match was at the endgame stage. The female Jamaican player secured extra material and a passed pawn, which eventually would have been promoted for a win.

In round 4, Guyana Team 1 played against neighboring Suriname, while Guyana Team 2 played against St. Lucia. FM Anthony Drayton (1936) defeated Jason Yeung (1978) of Suriname, in their Round 4 clash.

Drayton overwhelmed his opponent by winning material, but he finally clinched victory with a runaway outside passed pawn, which the Surinamese was helpless to stop. A brilliant display by Guyana’s Shazeeda Rahim (1559) sealed the fate of her opponent, Maylee Tjong Tjin Joe (1611) of Suriname.

The two female players with a passed pawn each successfully promoted them to formidable Queens, but Rahim gained the upper hand with a pawn thrust by attacking the monarch of the Surinamese. With checkmate looming, Rahim’s opponent resigned. CM Taffin Khan defeated Surinamese Shaief Chashawa (1786) with extra pawns, creating a decisive advantage from promotion.

Sasha Shariff (1567) finally went down to St. Lucian Tris-ann Richards(1693) in the endgame with pawns and Kings remaining on the board. Shariff’s shattered pawn structure contributed to her loss, and Richards’ extra pawn and her aggressive King in the fray prevented a winning response from Shariff.

Although in a promising endgame position, National Junior Champion Keron Sandiford (1741) blundered his game and resigned to St. Lucian Arvin Nicholas (1745).

Round 4 resulted in a win for Guyana against Suriname 3-1, but a loss for Guyana Team 2 against St. Lucia.

Games continues today (March 7^th), with rounds 5 and 6, and on Friday, March 8th, with rounds 7 and 8. The final round will be played on Saturday, March 9th.

The Guyana Chess Federation wishes to thank all its sponsors for their generous support towards the CARICOM Classic Chess Tournament, especially FIDE, CCA, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Enet, and Exxon Mobil. Sincere thanks to the CARICOM Secretariat for their support and collaboration in making the tournament a reality.

• CARICOM, chess, Classic, team, Tournament