GCA’s Senior Chess Championships begin this weekend at Providence Stadium

This Saturday and Sunday will see tons of chess action taking place at the National Stadium at Providence, as some of the country’s brightest prospects compete in the National Senior Chess Championships being staged by the Guyana Chess Association.

This competition replaces the one that was scheduled for 2020 but had to be put off because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, having had their calendar approved by the COVID-19 Task Force, the GCA will go ahead with staging this competition on Saturday and Sunday, January 30th and 31st respectively.
The competition is expected to run every weekend until completion, with only the two players in a game being present in the room.
Reigning champion and FIDE Master, Anthony Drayton, will be testing his skills against Candidate Master Wendell Meusa, who is keen on reclaiming the title. Former champion and Candidate Master Taffin Khan will also be vying for the top spot.
The likes of Loris Nathoo, Glenford Corlette, Davion Mars, Errol Tiwari, Saeed Ali, Roy Sharma and Justino DaSilva are among the other players who have qualified for the competition. In addition, Adrian Roopnarine, Shiv Nandalall and Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) President Frankie Farley are among a list of standby players.

Commenting on the upcoming competition, Farley has said, “It should be a very interesting tournament. Possibly, it can have some upsets, but we expect great talent and good results from the tournament.”

The Championship schedule is as follows:
Round 1 – Saturday, January 30th @ 2pm
Round 2 – Sunday, January 31st @ 9am
Round 3 – Sunday, January 31st @ 3pm
Round 4 – Saturday, February 6th @ 2pm
Round 5 – Sunday, February 7th @ 9am
Round 6 – Sunday, February 7th @ 3pm
Round 7 – Saturday, February 13th @ 2pm
Round 8 – Sunday, February 14th @ 9am
Round 9 – Sunday, February 14th @ 3pm