Meusa, Persaud dominate ‘Clash of Champions’ first weekend

The National Aquatic Centre was on Saturday graced with a series of captivating chess matches as the Guyana Chess Federation kicked off their ‘Clash of Champions’ tournament. Consisting of both male and female categories, this competition will span two weekends, with seven rounds of play. Each game has a 1-hour, 30-minute time control, with a 30-second increment per move.
The first weekend of competition saw three rounds being played, with the expected candidates taking the lead.

With an international ranking of 1972, Candidate Master Wendell Meusa took charge of the male category by racking up 3 points from the three games. He currently leads the competition by .5. Davion Mars follows closely, gaining 2.5 points from his three games. Glenford Corlette, Robert Neto and Calvin Giddings are all tied on two points apiece; whilst Loris Nathoo sits on 1.5 points. Another tie sees Saeed Anwar Ali, Cornelius Pasqual and Jaden Taylor having 1 point each. Ghansham Allijohn and Savir Gookul have struggled to make their mark on the points’ standings. The female competition missed the participation of WFM Maria Varona Thomas and Nellisha Johnson. However, those in attendance managed to put on a great showing. Attorney-at-Law Yolander Persaud surged to a commanding lead with 3 points, being 1.5 points in front of her closest opponent. Chelsea Juma had a mixture of wins and draws to earn herself 1.5 points. She is currently tied with Sasha Shariff.
Upcoming star Waveney Johnson seemingly could not find her footing, recording losses in the first set of games.
The competition will continue on May 12 and 13 with the remainder of the seven rounds.