Former National Champ claims top prize at inaugural Berbice Rapid Chess Open

The first ever open chess competition organized by the Berbice Chess Association (BCA), the A. Ally &Sons Berbice Rapid Chess Open 2019, was won by former Junior and two-time former Senior National Chess Champion Kriskal Persaud at the University of Guyana’s Berbice Campus, Tain, Corentyne, on Sunday, September 1st.

From left to right are the top performers of the event; Frankie Farley, Darwin London, Kriskal Persaud, Chandradat Ramnarain, Loris Nathoo, and Jacob Nauth

Persaud, himself a Berbician, pitted his chess skills and experience against a field that included two former Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) Presidents in Shiv Nandalall and veteran chess columnist Errol Tiwari, four current executive members of the GCF in Frankie Farley (President), Professor Gonathinayagam Subramanian (Vice President), Loris Nathoo (Fund Raising Director) and Steve Leung (Executive Committee Member).
The competition was sponsored by well-known Berbice business entity, A. Ally&Sons, and had on offer to be won five trophies, each paired with a cash prize.
The competition was played on Swiss Format for seven rounds. Rashad Hussain, Tournament Director of the GCF was efficient in conducting the competition.
Among the other players were South African National Uddhav Bagwandeen, who is a medical student at Texila American University, East Bank Demerara; Lottia Williamson, a student of English at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus; Marley London, brother of Darwin London; John London, father of the London boys.
Chandradat Ramnarine (aka Mike) presented the trophies and cash prizes to the winners on behalf of A. Ally & Sons.
Krishnanand Raghunandan, President of the BCA, welcomed the players and expressed the Association’s gratitude to sponsor, to the University of Guyana Berbice Campus for making available its premises to stage the competition, and to the GCF for providing the chess sets and clocks used in the competition. He expressed the hope that this competition will become an annual affair.
The BCA would also like to thank the various media houses for providing coverage of the competition.