CARICOM classic chess tournament…

FIDE Master Anthony Drayton and Candidate Master Taffin Khan kept Guyana in podium position after two stunning victories against Cayman Islands when play continued on Friday in the CARICOM Classic Chess Tournament at the Ramada Princess Hotel.

As the competition progressed into round 7 on Friday, Khan and Drayton steam rolled their opponents.

Khan playing with the white pieces faced Clifford Shaw where he outplayed his opponent, while Drayton defeated Christopher Young with his black pieces.

Drayton chose a semi slav against Christopher’s Queen’s Gambit.

The middle game had Drayton exploiting his space advantage on the queen side whereas Christopher did the same on the king side.

Drayton then had to defend a major attack from Christopher who was now under serious time trouble.

In the time scramble at the end Christopher walked into a fork which Drayton capitalised on, instantly forcing Christopher to resign.

Also picking up a win was Shazeeda Rahim when she battled Zara Majid.

Jessica Callender after a grueling game that went the distance picked up a draw against Laia Swaminathan.

The junior Guyana team went down to Barbados 3-1 with their 1 point coming after draws from Kyle Coachman and Sasha Shariff (half a point each).

Keron Sandiford and Aditi Joshi lost their clashes outright to Emar Edwards and Hannah Wilson.

Meanwhile on Thursday Anthony Drayton and Taffin Khan picked up wins in round 5 as Guyana took a 2 ½ to 1 ½ win over Bahamas.

Khan got the better of Avian Pride and Drayton beat off competition from Joseph Ferguson.

Shazeeda Rahim picked up a draw against Polina Karelina with Jessica Callender suffering the only loss of the round.

In round 5, the nations’ youth team players Sandiford, Coachman and Shariff, all lost their clashes against Suriname with Aditi Joshi taking a draw against Maylee Tjong to see them go down 3 ½ to ½ point.

In round 6 the juniors again lost, this time to Bahamas 2 ½ to 1 ½ points.

Kyle Couchman picked up the lone win over Joseph Ferguson in his matchup with the white pieces and Aditi Joshi tied with Chika Pride to collect the half point.

The senior team settled for a draw 2-2 against Barbados in round 6.

CM Khan and FM Drayton won their clashes to give their team 2 points.

Khan beat Emar Edwards and Drayton got pass fellow FIDE Master Phillip Corbin.

Jessica Callender had a tough opponent in Women Candidate Master Katrina Blackman who defeated the Guyanese and Shazeeda Rahim also lost to Hannah Wilson of Barbados.