-Taylor, Ramataursing and Gobin on top

TEAM Guyana currently sits in fourth place after three days of competition in Curacao at the eighth CARIFTA Junior Chess Championship.

When action continues today, the Guyanese players will look to move into podium position. According to coach of the side, Wendell Meusa, the main objective is to break into the top three for a chance of an overall team medal.

After five rounds of play, Jamaica are in the lead, followed by Barbados and Trinidad. We are ahead of Suriname and three other nations in the eight-team tournament.
The Guyanese players had their best round yesterday when the players tallied a total of 8.5 points out of 14. In the previous four rounds, they scored 5, 6, 3.5 and 3.

Leading the charge for the home side were Milan Ramataursing, Samirah Gobin and Jaden Taylor. All three players have tallied three points each. Eight-year-old Ramataursing has so far registered two wins and two draws. His last draw, yesterday, was against a player with a 1345 rating. If the Marian Academy student finishes his last two rounds strong, he can medal.

Gobin, who attends the Al Ghazali Islamic Academy, registered back-to-back wins in rounds four and five, while Taylor registered a win and a draw in his last two rounds. Like Ramataursign, Taylor is the only Guyanese player with only one defeat.

To date 12 of the 14 players have recorded points, with 10 of them scoring on Sunday.
Gobin, Taylor, Chelsea Juma, Joshua Khan, Arysh Raghunauth, Maliha Rajkumar and Savir Gookul registered wins yesterday, while Ramataursing, Jacob McDonald and Ghansham Allijohn finished with draws.

Overall, Allijohn and Jarrell Troyer are on 2.5 points each, with Juma, Raghunauth, siblings Maliha and Mahir Rajkumar, and Gookul on two points each.