…Puran finishes as top Junior

JUSTINO DaSilva emerged victorious in the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) Independence Chess Tournament, which was held over the weekend at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The 32-year-old won five of the six rounds in the shortened over-the-board event (it was originally scheduled for three days.

His only defeat was to 15-year-old Queen’s College student, Kishan Puran, who finished as the top Junior performer with four wins.Second place went to Gilbert Williams, who also finished with five points, but had to settle as runner- up since his lone defeat was to DaSilva.

Joshua Gopaul placed third in the senior division with four points.

According to DaSilva, he played each game on merit. “No one ever won a game by resigning, there were games where I was completely lost, some of them with [check] mate in three or four. The opponent just did not see it. My decision not to resign resulted in wins.”

He said that statistically, the win was the biggest of his career, but he would have wanted to triumph against some of the bigger names in the game.
In the Junior Division, Puran finished ahead of Jessica Callender, who ended on 3.5 points.

Raveon Adonis, Shelby Williams, and Rafael Shaw all finished with three points each.

According to GCF’s Director of Tournaments, Rashad Hussain, the next over-the-board battle with be a shorter version of the game.
“Many players cancelled their participation and requested the shorter formats of the game in blitz and rapid, so the next tournament will be of one of those formats, in June.”