Davion Mars, on Sunday last, won the 2020 national Rapid chess championships which was contested at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara.
Mars ended with 7.5 points, courtesy of seven wins and one draw in the nine-round event. The eventual champion lost to Joshua Gopaul in round six and drew with Uddhav Bagwandeen in round two.
South African Bagwandeen hit the podium for the second time in two weeks after winning the December open last week. He won six of his nine games and drew two games to the eventual champion Mars in round two and the highest-rated player in the tournament, Roberto Neto. His lone loss came at the hands of veteran player, Rai Sharma in round seven. Neto finished fourth with Rai Sharma securing the fifth position.
Meanwhile, former junior chess champion for both Standard and Rapid chess in 2019, Andre Jagnandan, secured 6.5 points to gain bronze; he got six wins, one draw in round three to Neto, and two losses to Mars in round four and Uddhav in round six.
In the junior division, former junior champion (2018), Joshua Gopaul, was the definitive champion with six points; Jessica Callender, who scored five out of nine points, lost to Gopaul (round four) in the process.
Third place went to Nellisha Johnson, who scored 4.5 points; she lost to both Callender (round 3) and Gopaul (round nine). The federation’s Director of Tournaments, Rashad Hussain, in commenting on the success of the tournament said: “It was a fast-paced tournament, we had a competitive run at the top for the title with four persons taking the lead at different points of the tournament. With one tournament left for the year, we look forward to closing on a positive note.”
The final tournament for the year will take place on Old Year’s Day; it will be the 2020 National Blitz Chess Championships with nine rounds expected to be completed at an eighth-minute time limit per player for each game. Registration can be done via phone call or Whatsapp to Rashad on 658-3004.
