Drayton prevails over top field to be crowned champ

R. Sookraj & Sons Outback Adventures Rapid Chess Open…

Confronted with perhaps the most competent slate of players ever to have been fielded in a local chess tournament, Anthony Drayton, Guyana’s only chess player with a FIDE ranking above 2000, and currently the 2019 Senior National Chess Champion, prevailed over the competition to emerge overall winner.

The tourney was the R. Sookraj & Sons Outback Adventures Berbice Rapid Chess Open, organized and held by the Berbice Chess Association at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus on Sunday, December 1st, 2019; and the field of players included two former senior national chess champions of Guyana: Wendell Meusa (2009, 2013, 2018) and Kriskal Persaud (2007, 2008).

Although Meusa ended the tournament with six points as Drayton did, he lost to Drayton when the two clashed in an earlier round; while Davion Mars, Treasurer of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), ended on five-and-a-half points to secure the third prize.

Former champ Kriskal Persaud had to be content with the fourth prize of Best Berbice Player, having ended on four-and-a-half points. The fifth prize went to another Berbician, Omesh Dyal, who ended on four points to garner the Best Junior Player Award. Dyal, who hails from Port Mourant, Corentyne, is a fourth form student at Queen’s College, Georgetown. He credits his prize-winning performance in this competition to his playing the game at Queen’s College almost every day during the recess and lunch breaks.
Besides the first four prize-winners, who are all FIDE-rated, the field consisted of another ten FIDE-rated players, among them Loris Nathoo, Justino Da Silva, and Shiv Nandalall.
The Berbice Chess Association (BCA) wishes to express its sincere gratitude to R. Sookraj & Sons Outback Adventures for their sponsorship of this competition. The BCA also thanks the University of Guyana Berbice Campus for allowing the use of its premises for the competition to be staged.