Gopaul favoured to win junior chess championship

By Errol Tiwari On In Chess with Errol |
Anthony Drayton is seen receiving his trophy recently from President of the Guyana Chess Federation James Bond at the Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal. Drayton won the strong National Senior Qualifier Chess Tournament and is a favourite to win the 2018 National Chess Championship. He won the inaugural Caribbean Chess Cup in December in Barbados.
Anthony Drayton is seen receiving his trophy recently from President of the Guyana Chess Federation James Bond at the Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal. Drayton won the strong National Senior Qualifier Chess Tournament and is a favourite to win the 2018 National Chess Championship. He won the inaugural Caribbean Chess Cup in December in Barbados.

“[Chess] makes man wiser and far-sighted.” – Vladimir Putin, during the 2001 World Championship knockout in Moscow, as quoted in Chess Base.

The 2018 National Junior and Senior Chess Championships will commence on Saturday, March 10. The venue for the two championships will be announced in due course. The prime favourite to win the Junior Championship is the St Stanislaus student Joshua Gopaul, because he won the Junior Qualifier Tournament.

In the Senior category, things are a bit more complicated. Anthony Drayton won the Senior Qualifier Tournament, but the current national chess champion Wendell Meusa was not required to participate. However, he is required to do so for the National Championship to defend his title. Meusa will join the seven qualifiers who were the top finishers of the Senior Qualifier Tournament. The National Championships will be contested as single round-robins in the classical format. Both championships will be FIDE-rated.