Defending champion maintains lead

WITH six matches remaining, defending senior champion Taffin Khan is unbeaten after eight rounds in this year’s Guyana Chess Federation (GCF)-organised, Geddes Grant/Seven Seas-sponsored national senior chess championship which is being contested at the Ocean Spray Hotel in Kitty.
In what can be a repeat performance on his way to the junior title in 2008 in which he won all his games, Khan remains is in top form, as he defends the senior title and up to last Sunday, none of his seven opponents had recorded even a single draw in their encounters with him over the chess board.
Eight players, among them four juniors, are engaged in the round robin challenge with the seniors for the 2011 title of National Senior Chess Champion.
After eight rounds of action, the points standing for the four senior players reads Taffin Khan (8 points), Maria Thomas (6), Frankie Farley (5½) and Glenford Corlette three points.
The four junior players namely Anthony Drayton (4½), Saeed Ali three (3), Rashad Hussain (1½) and national junior champion Sue Hai Feng (1/2 point) make up the list of competitors.
Both Hussain and Feng were absent following the resumption of the championship last weekend and their absence has affected their scores significantly.
The championship resumes tomorrow at the same venue, where another four rounds would be played over the coming weekend.