Cave trails in New India chess

Sean Perryman, who is having a fantastic debut in the national finals, is now joined by the 2002 champion, Ryan Harper (FIDE master) with five points from six games.

Perryman shared the lead for the first four rounds along with Christo Cave (National Master) and defending champion with perfect scores.

But both suffered defeats in the fifth round. Harper was able to capitalise on their defeats by convincing wins over fellow FIDE masters Mario Merritt and Michael Pouchet, thus maintaining his unbeaten record in the tournament.

Perryman was able to regain ground by winning his sixth round game over Hayden Lee, also a first time finalist.

The story of the weekend however was Ravishen Singh, whose performance single-handedly opened up the entire tournament.

Singh, a silver medalist at the 2002 chess Olympiad, scored key victories against Perryman and Cave, the tournament leaders after four rounds.

This performance puts him in third place on 4.5 points where he is joined by Yogendranath Ramsingh (National Master) and former national champion who had a draw and a win against FIDE masters Frank Yee and Michael Pouchet respectively.

With the top three finishers gaining automatic selection on next year’s Olympiad team and with five rounds to go, the race seems to be among six players who are separated by one point.

Cave and Dr Eddison Chang are on four points and are expected to put out the type of strong performances that can secure a lead this weekend.

Rounds seven and eight take place this weekend from 4 pm at the Rooftop of Rhand Credit Union, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.

The following are this weekends fixtures—

Round 7— Cecil Lee vs Hayden Lee; Hayden Lee vs Christo Cave; Frank Yee vs David Christopher; Ryan Harper vs Sean Perryman; Michael Pouchet vs Dr Eddison Chang; Yogi Ramsingh vs Ravishen Singh; Mario Merritt vs Yogi Ramsingh; Dr Eddison Chang vs Mario Merritt; Ravishen Singh vs Ryan Harper; David Christopher vs Micheal Pouchet; Sean Perryman vs Christo Cave; Cecil Lee vs Frank Yee.