David Khan and Kriskal Persaud with two wins each, surged into the lead of the Seven Seas-sponsored Closed National Chess Championships, which began yesterday at the Ocean Spray Hotel, Kitty.
Khan, who has a 1386 FIDE (World Chess Federation) rating, defeated Ryan Singh (1456) in round one and Learie Webster in the next round. Former national champion, Persaud, won against Ron Motilall and Frankie Farley respectively.
Webster, Errol Tiwari and Taffin Khan (1727) each have one point. Webster and Tiwari defeated Taffin Khan and Farley respectively while Taffin Khan won against Tiwari.
Motilall, the junior chess champion, and Singh ended with half a point after their second round encounter ended in a draw.
Matches continue today at the same venue from 10am.
Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, yesterday encouraged the players to give their best when he declared the tournament open.
Dr. Anthony spoke of the development the game has been making and pointed to the incorporation of chess into the school system, and the inclusion of chess in the upcoming Inter-Guiana Games where Guyana will be represented by Ron Motilall, Sue Hai Feng, and Cecil Cox along with three other players.
And, on the matter of the exclusion of current national chess champion, Wendell Meusa from the tournament, Dr. Anthony is expected to discuss this at a meeting with members of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), tomorrow.
According to the GCF, Meusa is on a six month suspension which ends in December after he made certain allegations.
Meusa, the federation said, failed to prove the allegations or alternatively apologize for the remarks he made.
Pharmaceutical Manager, June-Ann Eastman, of tournament sponsor, Geddes Grant, conveyed the company’s delight to be able to partner with the GCF in staging the event.
