Female Candidate Master, Maria Varona-Thomas moved within one win of retaining her title with two rounds remaining in the National Women’s Chess Championship.
After two rounds yesterday at the National Resource Centre, Woolford Avenue, Varona-Thomas extended her lead by defeating young Sasha Sharif in the fourth round and Angel Rahim in the fifth to move on to five points.
Round four also saw Waveney Johnson earning her first points a draw with Rahim who was a piece up but could not convert her advantage into a win while Samira Gobin gained a walkover from Aneesa Hussain.
Juma also gained a walk over from Hussain in round five while Gobin defeated Waveney Johnson.
Meanwhile, Nellisha Johnson eased past Juma in round four and got the better of Shariff in round five after a marathon almost three-hour and over 80 moves battle.
Gobin, who occupies third place, will face Varona-Thomas and Nellisha Johnson in the final two rounds today. (Romario Samaroo).
