After five rounds of the national chess championship finals, 24-year-old Kevin Cupid has taken the lead by a full point ahead of second placed FM Mario Merritt who is on 3.5. Cupid, former Holy Cross College student, is unbeaten so far, scoring victories against CM Adrian Winter Atwell, FM Joshua Johnson, Anderson Gordon and Mahendra Singh while drawing with CM Dev Soondarsingh.
Merritt is also unbeaten with two wins, against FM Ryan Harper and Mahendra Singh, and three draws against David Christopher, FM Frank Yee and Soondarsingh. Also on 3.5 are Christopher with three victories and two draws and Winter Atwell who lost to Cupid, drew with FM Frank Yee and defeated Soondarsingh, Hayden Lee and Sears.
Harper and Johnson are on three points each, Gordon on two and a half, Yee and Soondarsingh on two each, Lee on one and Sears is yet to score.
The interest of the championship finals, being played at RHAND Credit Union head office in Port-of-Spain, is now whether Cupid can maintain his lead to the eleventh and final round. His growing strength since his days as a prominent junior and his performance so far in this supreme contest indicate that he has what it takes. Still, the race to the national championship is far from over. The second half of the finals, then, should be a fascinating affair.
Here are the dates and times for the remaining six rounds:
Friday, 7 pm; Saturday, 4.30 pm; Sunday 3.30 pm; October 30, 7 pm; October 31, 4.30 pm; November 1, 3.30 pm.
After four rounds of the female finals, former champion WFM Aditi Soondarsingh and Shannon Yearwood lead with a perfect score. Soondarsingh has victories against Shemilah James, WFM Javanna Smith, Della Marie Walcott and Najarah Rahaman. Yearwood has beaten WCM Gabriella Johnson, Sadiqah Razark, Ami Ali and Shemila James.