Askari Elson seems set to win the Sagicor Open Junior Chess championship for the  2^nd time after rounds 6 and 7 drew to a close this afternoon at the NUPW headquaters.

Askari defeated fellow countryman Murali Areti in their round 6 encounter after they were both leading going into round 6. In round 7 he drew with Darren Wisdom of Jamaica who was trailing him by ½ point going into their round 7 encounter today. Elson is now ½ point ahead of Wisdom who is in 2nd position on 6 points.

In other Clashes on the top boards Barbadian players Murali Areti and Olaudah Pryce   played a game that petered out into a theoretical draw. Also arriving at the same conclusion were fellow Trinidadian players Inran Hosein and Marcus Joseph. On board 5 Allan Munroe the defending champion staged a come back   by defeating rising star Craig Clermond from the Lodge school.

The battle of the day came on board 2 between overseas players Sean Perryman of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaican National junior champion Alain Morais. In a mad time scramble in the last 5 minutes of play, Perryman blundered his rook which allowed Morais to blitz out the remaining moves to score the point.

On the lower board Justin Blackman who recently won the Sagicor under 12 title lost at the hands of girls and ladies champion Desire Derrick of Trinidad and Tobago. While on board 8 Alex “ Boy wonder” Jackman went  down to Brian Branch of the Lodge school.

Going into the final Jamaican players Morais and Wisdom are tied in 2^nd position on 6 points  while  Barbadians  Areti and  Price and  Imran Hosein of Trinidad and Tobago are   all tied in 3^rd position on 5 ½ . The  stage is now set for an exciting climax to this year’s event.

The top pairings for final round:

Board 1            Askari Elson (B’dos) vs. Olaudah Price (B’dos)

Board 2            Darren Wisdom (Jam) vs. Alain Morais (Jam)

Board 3            Murali Areti (B’dos) vs. Imran Hosein (T&T)

Board 4             Martyn Del Ccastilho (B’dos) vs. Avinash Wahi (Suriname)