Close battle in Knights chess

In the sixth round last Thursday night, David Christopher held his lead, though with a narrowed margin, with an exciting draw against second-placed FIDE Master Mario Merritt.

Christopher now has five and a half points against Merritt’s five.

Christopher played the white pieces in the match against Merritt and opened with the Bird System that has been infrequently seen in this tournament.

Merritt kept the game on an even keel up to the middle game with a solid defence against Christopher’s more active minor pieces.

However, after forcing the exchange of queens, Christopher secured a decided pawn and positional advantage. Merritt then put up such a stubborn resistance that Christopher came under severe time pressure and frittered away his chances of winning against his wily opponent.

After eliminating Christopher’s remaining pawns Merritt forced a draw by insufficiency of material.

Also close at the heels of front-runner Christopher, is current national champion FM Ryan Harper, who extended his winning streak to five after his first round setback.

Harper, playing black, won against Kishore Ramadhar in a very evenly fought Sicilian. In a thrilling finish, the flags of both players’ clocks teetered on the brink with Harper winning out in the last seconds of the game.

Leonard Duncan, with a win against the out-of-form Christo Cave, and Dr Eddison Chang, who beat junior champion Marcus Joseph, complete the quintet who share chances at the prestigious Knights title.

Harper is also on five points while Duncan and Chang each have four and a half points.

Other results of round six (white player first): Jesse Sudan lost to Christian Posthoff; Niklas Hedlund def Rohan Heerah; Daryl Davis def Ian Ali; Esan Wiltshire def Jayson Paul by default; Rafael Guerrero lost to Frank Sears; Louis Wiltshire lost to Christopher Raphael; Cecil Lee def Alpacino Smith; Shamah Khan lost to Andrew Bowles; Hayden Lee lost by default to Joseph Gill; Vandoff Smith lost to John Everon; Mateo Duke lost to Carl Jacobs; Jarryon Paul lost to Trevor Flower; Avinash Maharaj drew with Javanna Smith. Ian Solomon — bye.

The seventh and final round of this exciting tourney is scheduled for Thursday from 7.30 pm at RHAND Credit Union building, 57-61 Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.

Pairings are as follows (current points in brackets): Harper (5) vs Christopher (5-1/2); Merritt (5) vs Chang (4-1/2); Duncan (4-1/2) vs Ramadhar (4); Posthoff (4) vs Davis (4); Joseph (4) vs Hedlund (4); E. Wiltshire (4) vs Cave (3-1/2); Sears (3-1/2) vs Raphael (3-1/2); Everon (3) vs C Lee (3); Bowles (3) vs Gill (3); Ali (3) vs Sudan (3); Heerah (3) vs Jayson Paul (3); Jacobs (2-1/2) vs Guerrero (2-1/2); Flower (2) vs L Wiltshire (2-1/2); H. Lee (2) vs Khan (2); A Smith (2) vs V. Smith (2); J Smith (2) vs Solomon (1-1/2); Duke (1-1/2) vs Maharaj (1-1/2); Jarryon Paul— bye.