CANDIDATE Master Wendell Meusa stormed to championship honours when the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) National Blitz Championship was held on Saturday afternoon.

The former senior National champion finished with nine points in the nine-round Swiss (five minutes plus one-second increment) online battle.

Irshad Mohamad, who finished with eight points, placed second overall, while another Candidate Master, Ronuel Greenidge, placed third with seven points.

Despite his dominance, Meusa, 33, said he felt “a bit rusty” during the clashes, since it was his first tournament in almost two years.

Although he expected the 2019 National Rapid champion, FIDE Master Anthony Drayton to be his strongest opponent, it was Mohamad who pushed him to the limits.

The former Guyana Chess Federation president, who won the 2021 April Open Chess Tournament (Blitz and Rapid) had an upper advantage but lost on time.

In an invited comment, Mohamad, whose only loss was to Meusa, said that the eventual winner played well and that he had him thinking a lot, hence the loss of time.

“He did not make many mistakes, he played very strongly.”

Mohamad was also impressed with the development of 2020 Junior Blitz champion Keron Sandiford.

“Sandiford took me all the way down in my game. He played exceptionally well. I was a bit surprised at his game.”

The teenager finished with 4.5 wins.

Overall, Drayton finished fourth with six points while current GCF president Frankie Farley placed fifth.

Eleven-year-old Tejasvarun Kandavel also finished with 5.5 points and was adjudged as the best junior. He registered wins against Sandiford and a major upset against seasoned senior Loris Nathoo.

The Marian Academy student, who was also able to draw against Jessica Callender, has been dedicated to his GCF training over the last year.

Callender ended with five points to finish as the top female player, while Pooja Lam, who also ended on five points, but lost to Callender, finished as the second-best female.

Over two dozen players took part in the event, which was supervised by John Lee and assisted by Anand Raghunauth (FIDE trained arbiters).