CM TAFFIN KHAN IS THE 2025 NATIONAL BLITZ CHESS CHAMPION

Candidate Master Taffin Khan assiduously worked his way through sixteen rounds  of play to achieve the National Blitz Chess Championship title last Sunday, March  16th, 2025, in the Exhibition Room of the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre.  The tournament lasted a few hours and was staged one day after the 2025  National Rapid Chess Championship. 

The extremely grueling, faster-paced eleven-round Swiss format tournament  featured a time control of 3 minutes with 2-second increments per player. The  tournament saw some interesting matchups and upsets, leading to the semifinal  knockout round, where the final four top finishers faced off across the board. 

Leading in the top four were FM Anthony Drayton, CM Taffin Khan, CM Sachin  Pitamber, and Kyle Couchman, who entered the second phase. The competition  became increasingly challenging when the top seeds, Drayton and Khan, faced off  against the top juniors Couchman and Pitamber.  

However, the juniors were no match for the top seeds in the knockout phase as  Drayton and Khan emerged as the winners, leaving Couchman and Pitamber to play  for third and fourth positions.  

The Drayton/Khan match for the championship ended in high drama, where at the  end of 2 games, the players were tied at one point each, triggering the Armageddon  Round. For this game, the player with the white pieces starts with 5 minutes on  the clock and must win outright to gain the point. The player with the dark pieces  begins with 4 minutes and would be declared the winner if the game ends in a draw  or a win by black. Khan won the toss and played white and proceeded to bring  Drayton’s unbeaten streak to an end. 

Drayton settled for second place after coming very close to winning his second  championship title for the year. Couchman took third place, while Pitamber came  in fourth. 

The fifth place went to CM Loris Nathoo, who ended with 6.5 points, while Saeed  Ali took sixth also with 6.5 points. WCM Aditi Joshi and Keron Sandiford placed  seventh and eighth with 6 points, respectively. Notable performances came from  Mahir Rajkumar, Prince Dunn, Kim Shing Chong, Oluwadare Oyeyipo, and Aravinda 

Singh, who all finished with 6 points. The Chief Arbiter for the tournament was FIDE  Arbiter John Lee.  

The top five players received a total of $115,000 in cash prizes, sponsored by the  Guyana Chess Federation at a post-tournament ceremony. Khan was awarded the  championship trophy, and the sixth and seventh-place winners earned a free  month’s membership to the Pegasus Chess Club.  

The GCF extends thanks to the management of the Guyana Pegasus Hotel for  providing the venue for the weekend tournaments.