NATIONAL junior chess champion Haifeng Su will begin his title defence today as he faces seven of Guyana’s top junior challengers in the Sasha Cells 2012 National Junior Chess Championship which is being hosted at the Ocean Spray Hotel. Action gets under way at 14:00hrs with Anthony Drayton, who recently emerged unbeaten in the qualifiers, going head-to- head with the current champion. The other players who are vying for the title are Ron Motilall, Saeed Ali, Carlos Petterson, Davion Mars, Dravin Drickpaul and Trenton Bennett.
According to reports coming out of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), Haifeng is optimistic that he would retain the title or remain in the top three.
However, Drayton is also in high spirits to come out on top. He said he wants to perform well enough to avoid a playoff. A playoff to determine the 2012 champion would be likely if two players end up with a tied score at the end of the seventh round.
Each game will have a maximum time of 90 minutes and each round can last up to three hours. Rounds two and three will be contested on Sunday, October 14 at Olympic House, Kingston and the remaining rounds would be played during the week and next weekend.