The Hunt for Titles is on! Bajan FM Warner closes in on IM title
The SubZonal 2.3.5 Championships changed gear as the tournament reached its 6th round. With only 3 more rounds to go, IM Miguel Sanchez Munoz is in clear 1st place while other players are beginning to count how many more points they need to get an International Title. Those who score 4.5 will become Candidate Masters and those who score 6 points will become FIDE Masters. Of course the top 3 players will become International Masters. As a sign of how close things are, round 6 produced the most number of draws thus far: there were 7 drawn games and 20 decisive games – 10 wins with white and 10 with black. This is in stark contrast to round 1 in which there were only 2 drawn games.
Let us look closer at the title hunt. So far Marcus Joseph of Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuelan players Marichal Gonzales and Mora Moron have secured the CM titles. Just 1 win and 1 draw now will secure them the FM titles.
Other players who are almost certain to get titles include Surinam’s Romario Sanchez and Trinidad & Tobago players Adrian Winter Atwell, Kevin Cupid, Ravishen Singh and Vishnu Singh. After round 7 we will have a better idea of how the titles may be distributed.
The big game to watch in round 7 is the leader Munoz playing white against Bajan Delisle Warner. A win from Warner will put him very close to the long awaited IM title. On the 2nd board Mora Moron is playing top seed, Puntier of the Dominican Republic. Both Puntier and Mora Moron are hoping for titles with Puntier eyeing the IM title. Trinidad IM hopefuls Marcus Joseph and Ryan Harper will also be playing each other. This is really nail biting so I think you better be there at Ambassador Hotel today.
For details of the standings please visit- http://www.chess-results.com/tnr128344.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=7&fed=DOM&flag=30&wi=821
