Walker Wins Forbes Burnham Trophy
AFTER THE eventful penultimate and final rounds which featured several upsets, Andrew Walker emerged winner of the National Individual Chess tournament which ended last Sunday at the Chess Hall on Main Street.
Walker who finished the tournament on 7 1/2 points won the Forbes Burnham Trophy from last year’s holder Anthony Dowding who, along with Ray Grant, Raymond Singh, Raymond Moon and Francis Teixeira ended on 7 points each.
Carlton Hackett, Ivan Nedd and Marland Wood finished on 6 1/2 points each.
The ninth round was exciting throughout with Woon and Teixeira scoring two of the biggest upsets in the tournment.
Woon who was at least two points behind the leaders disposed of Dowding while Teixeira took care of Grant who was leading the table on 7 points at the end of the eighth round.
In the other matches, Walker got the better of Daniel Fung and Hackett defeated Errol Tiwari, and this set the stage for the final round showdown.
At the end of the round, Walker and Grant led the field on 7 points each, followed by Teixeira and Hackett on 6 1/2 points.
Grant suffered his second defeat when he was beaten by Singh, Woon scored his second upset, this time over Hackett, Dowding defeated Fung while Walker was surprisingly held to a draw by Teixeira.
At the completion of the tournament t e n players were shortlisted by the Guyana Chess Federation to go into training in preparation for the Trinidad and Tobago Open Championships scheduled for the twin-island Republic from April 1 to 4.
The players called are John Macedo, Andrew Walker, Anthony Dowding, Carlton Hackett , Marland Wood, Rawle Edinboro, Chet Singh, Raymond Singh, Ray Grant and Francis Teixeira. A four-member team will be named shortly to participate at the championships.
In the meantime, the Federation’s second major tournament for this year starts on Friday with the Patron’s Open tournament for the Desmond Hoyte trophy.
The six-round Swiss system tournament continues on Saturday and ends on Sunday at the Chess Hall on Main Street beginning at 10 a.m. each day.
Registration of players participating in the tournament will take place on the opening day starting at 9 a.m.