Drayton, Varona-Thomas officially crowned chess champions

The Guyana Chess Federation, at a simple but significant ceremony on Friday afternoon, recognised the outstanding performers of the various National Championships of 2019.

FIDE Master Anthony Drayton played unbeaten to capture the Open Category. Drayton finished the tournament with seven points from seven games. Candidate Master Taffin Khan took the second position with six points with his lone defeat coming against FM Drayton.

Loris Nathoo, Roberto Neto and Kriskal Persaud all finished on 3.5 points; with the application of the tie-breaker, Nathoo was adjudged third, Neto fourth and Persaud fifth. Shiv Nandalall took the sixth position, while Saeed Ali took seventh.

In the Women’s Championship, WFM Maria Varona-Thomas also played undefeated to secure seven points from seven games. Chelsea Juma and Nellisha Johnson both finished on five points, but Juma won second spot on the tie-breaker.

Fourth position went to Samirah Gobin, while sixth and seven went to Sasha Shariff and Angel Rahim respectively. Waveney Johnson took seventh, while eighth position went to Aneesa Hussain.

In the Sasha Cells Junior Championship, Andre Jagnandan, playing in his first Junior championship, secured the title with five and a half points.

Ghansham Allijohn and Rajiv Lee finish with four and a half points, with the former copping second on the tie-breaker. Ethan Lee took the fourth, while Jayden Taylor ended fifth. Chelsea Juman, Joshua Gopaul and Jarrel Troyer took the sixth, seventh and eighth position respectively.

The Guyana Chess Federation wishes to express its appreciation to the Director of Sports Christopher Jones and the National Sports Commission, Sasha Cells and Trophy Stall for their contribution in making these tournaments a success.