World champions compete in Chess blitz

By Errol Tiwari On In Chess with Errol |
Christ Church Secondary School student Nellisha Johnson (left), ponders as she decides on her next best move against University of Guyana graduate and the Ministry of Housing’s Shazeeda Rahim during the Engineering and Construction Incorporated (ECI) chess tournament. Nellisha resides in Orealla, some 60 miles up the Corentyne River and learnt chess in her village four years ago. She won the trophy for the Best Junior Female player in the ECI competition. (Chess photos by Ryan Singh)
Christ Church Secondary School student Nellisha Johnson (left), ponders as she decides on her next best move against University of Guyana graduate and the Ministry of Housing’s Shazeeda Rahim during the Engineering and Construction Incorporated (ECI) chess tournament. Nellisha resides in Orealla, some 60 miles up the Corentyne River and learnt chess in her village four years ago. She won the trophy for the Best Junior Female player in the ECI competition. (Chess photos by Ryan Singh)

Last Thursday and Friday, former world chess champion Garry Kasparov opposed new US champion Fabiano Caruana, and the other two top finishers of the 2016 US championship, namely Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura, in a sensational blitz contest. One year ago, Kasparov engaged British grandmaster and one time world title challenger Nigel Short in a similar contest and erased him by a 8.5 – 1.5 margin. Kasparov’s current contestants, however, are among the finest active blitz players in the business, and it would be interesting to witness the outcome.

20131103chessBlitz chess is fast and furious. Each player is allowed 5 minutes plus a 3-second delay on his timer. The game is won by checkmate, by resignation or by a loss of time. The blitz behemoths are playing for a prize fund of US$50,000. Kasparov plays chess anonymously on the internet. Did he overcome his opponents?

News coming to hand has specified the first day of the 18-round tournament has been completed. Day one ended with Nakumura and So taking the lead with 5.0/9. While the