WOMEN candidate master Sheriffa Ali ended with the maximum three points after three rounds to top the list of competitors vying in the ongoing Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) National Junior Qualifiers Tournament which began last weekend at the National Resource Centre, Woolford Avenue.Of the 18 players in the competition, Ali was the only player to have assembled straight wins throughout the weekend. She is closely followed by Saeed Ali and Roberto Neto, who had 2.5 points apiece by the end of play on Sunday.
They are followed by John Wong, Jaden Taylor, Jessica Callender, Joshua Gopaul, Ghasham Allijohn, and Akili Theophil, all having two points each.
Of the remaining players, Asiyah Bacchus, Aravinda Singh, Aleem Baseer, Nellisha Johnson, Waveney Johnson, Kristoff Persaud and Anthony Johnson have all, thus far, secured one point each, while Areefa Budhu and Shivranie Persaud are yet to get out of the starting blocks and gain a point.
After taking a win over Shivranie Persaud in round one on Saturday, Ali prevailed over Jaden Taylor in the 2nd round, and John Wong in the 3rd round on Sunday.
Other players who also got off to a great start and recorded victories on the opening day of competition were Neto, Saeed, Callender, Wong and Taylor.
On Saturday, Neto was more than Aravinda Singh could handle, while Saeed was Areefa’s first stumbling block that she failed to get past.
Baseer suffered defeat at the hands of Callender. Wong and Taylor triumphed over Anthony Johnson and Akili Theophil, respectively, to take their first points.
Though Neto and Saeed continued with wins when the competition opened on Sunday with round two, it was in round three when they were pitted against each other that things really got tough.
The two equally-matched opponents had to end up settling for a draw, walking away with 0.5 points each for their efforts. Previously, in round two, Neto had played to a win against Gopaul, while Saeed won against Ghasham.
Rebounding from his opening day loss Theophil bounced back to succeed in his next two matches in the competition, against Shivranie and Aravinda.
Aravinda, Baseer, Nellisha, Waveney, Kristoff and Anthony all finally picked up their first wins in the third round of the competition.
With three of the seven rounds of the tournament already completed, the final four rounds are set for this weekend, October 8-9, at the same location. The fourth and fifth rounds are scheduled for Saturday, while the sixth and final rounds will be played on Sunday.