CANDIDATE Master (CM), Taffin Khan, secured qualification for Guyana’s Chess Olympiad team after a sublime performance in the just concluded National Chess Championship at School of the Nations auditorium.
The competition saw Khan having to defend his 2023 title against the top 9 players from the qualifier tournament where he picked up 8 outright wins and a draw in the nine-round championship.

Khan’s draw came in round 1 against junior, Ethan Lee, before he took outright wins over Kyle Couchman, Loris Nathoo, Sachin Pitamber, Keron Sandiford, Ronuel Greenidge, Roberto Neto, Justino Da Silva and Anthony Drayton.
Second place went to FIDE Master Drayton who copped 5 wins 2 draws and 2 losses.

Khan leads the standing for the Olympiad with 182 points after also collecting first places in one grand prix tournament as well as the national championship last year and the national qualifier in 2023.
Both the National Open Champion and the National Women’s Champion secured automatic spots on the team.
The other top five players in the running for a spot on the Olympiad team are Sandiford (128) points, Loris Nathoo (92 points) , Justino Da Silva (86 points), Ethan Lee (68 points), Jaden Taylor (66 points) and FIDE Master Drayton (65 points).

The top ladies in the running to represent Guyana are Jessica Callender (186 points), Aditi Joshi (168 points), Sasha Shariff (124 points), Ciel Clements (104 points), Treskole Archbald (96 points) and Shazeeda Rahim.
The players will compete in several other grand prix tournaments to determine who will make up the top 8-12 players to represent their country.
The 45th Chess Olympiad, organised by the International Chess Federation will comprise open and women’s tournaments. It will be held in Budapest, Hungary from September 10 to 23, 2024.