2024 Ready Mix Chess Championships Qualifiers heat up

The 2024 Ready Mix National Open Championship completed four rounds of the qualifiers last weekend, May 18-May 19, 2024.
The seven-round tournament began on May 11, with the first two rounds played at the School of the Nations campus. Over 40 chess athletes, both juniors and seniors, males and females, have registered for the qualifiers, hoping to fill out the top nine spots in the upcoming 2024 National Championship.

After six rounds of play, the top contenders are FIDE Master Anthony Drayton, Justino DaSilva, and Candidate Master Ronuel Greenidge on 5 points each, with Keron Sandiford, Kyle Couchman, and Roberto Neto on 4.5 points each. Aditi Joshi, Loris Nathoo, Sachin Pitamber, Gilbert Williams, Ricardo Narine, and Matthew Singh are all on 4 points each. Following with 3.5 points are Ethan Lee, Jayden Taylor, Rolex Alexander, Shiv Nandalall, Rai Sharma, and young Jeremy Cole.
The seventh and final round will be played today, Saturday, May 25, to determine the top nine qualifiers who will test their wits to dethrone the defending National Champion Taffin Khan in the championships scheduled to commence on June 1, 2024, at the National Racquet Centre. Khan captured the title against his challenger, Loris Nathoo, last December in less than an hour during a fast-paced play-off.
The games will be played according to the time-control Swiss format with 90 minutes for each player with an additional 30 seconds after every move. Games can be viewed online on boards one to eleven on www.view.livechesscloud.com. The competition is being supervised by FIDE Arbiters John Lee and Anand Raghunauth.
The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) extends its sincere gratitude to the tournament sponsors, Ready Mix Concrete Limited, for their invaluable support in promoting chess within Guyana. The GCF also wishes to thank the management of the School of the Nations for readily facilitating the tournament venue at short notice.
Interested persons who wish to join the Federation can do so on guyanachess.gy. The GCF also offers chess classes every Saturday from 10:00h-12:00h (10 am to 12 pm) to school students at School of the Nations. For additional information, please message us on Facebook or WhatsApp number 7074529.