National Chess Championship gets under way

The 2010 Seven Seas National Chess Championship began yesterday at the Ocean Spray Hotel. Two games were contested and two will be played today. The eight participants are the eight top finishers from the qualifying tournament which was held recently.

The double round robin tournament is expected to be a tedious and a rigorous one, since each player is opposing one opponent twice – with the White pieces and the Black pieces. At the end of the tournament the participant with the highest points will be crowned National Chess Champion of Guyana. It’s a 14-round invitational tournament and promises to be a fighting one.

Last Sunday, the business enterprise of A Ally and Sons sponsored a one day rapid chess tournament at the New Amsterdam Town Hall. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the A Ally and Sons business in New Amsterdam. The tournament was won by West Demerara’s Taffin Khan and former national champion Berbician Kriskal Persaud, placed second. In the junior category of the tournament, North Georgetown secondary school student Suhai Feng emerged victorious. In photo are the top finishers of the tournament, and the representatives of A Ally and Sons Ltd. The tournament was organised by the Guyana Chess Federation.

The championship is sponsored by Geddes Grant which is a member of the the Neal and Massey Group of Companies. On Thursday evening, Geddes Grant gave the participants some specially printed T-shirts in addition to a number of hampers of its products. The T-shirts will be worn on the playing days of the championship.

Shirov v Wang

The Fifth Tal Memorial Chess Tournament concludes today in Moscow following ten days of strenuous play among some of the world’s finest grandmasters. The tournament is held annually in honour of former world champion Mikhail Tal. Here is Wang Hao’s stunning surprise win over one of the favourites to win the tournament, Alexei Shirov.

Shirov, A (2735) – Wang Hao (2727)
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (1), 5.11.2010

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Nf3 h6 8.Be3 Nd5 9.Bd2 c5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.c4 Nb6 13.Rc1 Be7 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.b4 Be7 16.c5 Nd5 17.Ne5 Qc7 18.Qa4+ Kf8 19.f4 g6 20.0-0 Kg7 21.Qb3N Rhd8 22.Rce1 Bf6 23.Ng4 Bd4+ 24.Kh1 h5 25.Ne5 b6 26.cxb6 Qxb6 27.b5 Bxe5 28.fxe5 a6 29.a4 axb5 30.axb5 Rab8 31.Rb1 Qd4 32.Qb2 Qa4 33.h3 Rdc8 34.Bg5 Rb7 35.Qb3 Qe4 36.Bf6+ Kh7 37.Rfe1 Qd4 38.Red1 Qb6 39.Bh4 Rc3 40.Qa2 Qc7 41.Bf2 Rc2 42.Rb2 Rxf2 43.Rxf2 Nc3 44.Rc1 Nxa2 45.Rxc7 Rxc7 46.Rxa2 Rc1+ 47.Kh2 Rb1 48.h4 Rxb5 49.Re2 Rb1 50.Kg3 Rf1 51.Re3 Kh6

White Resigns! Black has a won endgame. 0-1