STR Wood Inc National Online Blitz Championships: Meusa wins unbeaten, Kandavel is Junior Champion

Candidate Master (CM) Wendell Meusa is the new National Online Blitz Champion after playing nine rounds undefeated in the STR Wood Inc-sponsored tournament. The former national champion will now be awarded the top prize of $40,000.
Irshad Mohamad came in second with eight points, only conceding one match to Meusa and receives a prize of $25,000. In third is CM Ronuel Greenidge who finished with seven points, with $15,000 as his prize.

The chess championships were held on Tornelo.com last Saturday, February 5 and saw nine rounds of fierce competition among junior and senior players.
In the fifth round, tournament winner Meusa faced off against runner-up Mohamad. The opening was a clear indicator of both players’ experience, but Meusa led the game towards a favourable position as an unfortunate trade left stark weaknesses in Mohamad’s structure. With that, Meusa confidently led the game towards the endgame where he traded his queen for Mohamad’s two rooks. On the verge of checkmating, Meusa made a fatal mistake which Mohamad took advantage of. The position had completely flipped to Mohamad’s favour. In a panicked frenzy, Mohamad attempted to convert his advantage into a crushing win, but his time had elapsed. Meusa walked away victoriously from one of the most entertaining games of the tournament.

Former national champion, FIDE Master (FM) Anthony Drayton placed four after finishing on six points while Frankie Farley finished fifth on 5.5 points.
Reigning Junior Champion Keron Sandiford was unable to retain his title after losing to Tejasvarun Kandavel in the final round of the tournament. This game ended up being the deciding factor whether Sandiford would hold on to his title or if the 11-year-old Kandavel would succeed in taking it away. The juniors played the opening moves immaculately, showing good preparation on both sides of the board. After 10 moves of the quiet opening had passed, chaos erupted. Sandiford threatened Kandavel’s king on the king side while Kandavel blew open the centre to attack Sandiford’s uncastled king in the middle. One attack was more potent than the other as Kandavel, either through sheer luck or brilliance, played an incredible pawn and knight sacrifice stranding Sandiford’s king in the middle of the board with nowhere to go. Three moves later, Sandiford resigned, making way for Kandavel to be crowned the 2022 Junior Blitz Champion after a decisive 18-move victory in the final round.

Kandavel finished the tournament on 5.5 points after defeating five of his opponents and drawing his match against Jessica Callender, who received the Best Female prize. Callender finished the tournament on five points after winning four of her games and drawing two matches. Both Kandavel and Callender will be rewarded with trophies and cash prizes of $20,000.
The tournament was supervised by FIDE arbiters John Lee and Anand Raghunauth.
The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) has expressed its thanks to STR Wood Inc for sponsoring the National Blitz Championship last weekend. STR Wood Inc specialises in the harvesting and production of all species of wood used in construction, bridge building, utility poles and furniture making. STR Wood Inc is an associate of STR Group. The Group, through its associate companies, has been a proud sponsor of chess tournaments over the years, especially in the junior categories. STR graciously affirmed “that chess teaches planning and foresight, increases concentration and memory and helps a person develop problem solving skills, critical thinking and creativity. STR Group commits our continued support to the Guyana Chess Federation in its laudable efforts to make chess more accessible to all. We encourage other corporate sponsors to do the same”.