Junior chess players among Guyana’s standout performers in Jamaican tournament
Eleven local chess players competed last Sunday in the Jamaica Online Open Tournament.
According to the Guyana Chess Federation, the open chess championship was contested by a total of 124 players from across the Caribbean in the various categories.
In each category, six rounds of matches were played on the Tornelo.com chess platform.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Federation reported that Pooja Lam from Saraswati Vidya Niketan, who placed 3rd in the U1300 category with five (5) points, was the best performer for Guyana from the female side. It noted that Lam has distinguished herself on the local scene in numerous online tournaments this year, including the FIDE Youth World Cup.
Guyana’s Naomi Barkoye placed 4th with four wins and a draw, while Maliha Rajkumar, Aniyah Couchman and Naila Rahaman finished 8th, 11th and 12th respectively after six (6) rounds.
On the boy’s side, the Federation said, Kishan Puran placed 3rd with four wins and two draws from six games. He drew his final game against the eventual winner of the U1300 absolute category, Jamaican Ajay Tennant.
Kyle Couchman, Arysh Raghunauth, Mahir Rajkumar and Xavier Pratt placed 16th, 30th, 38th and 51st, respectively.
The statement said Junior blitz champion 2020 Keron Sandiford, of St. Stanislaus College, was Guyana’s lone competitor in the U1600 category and he finished 28th after defeating half of all his opponents.
“The junior players have demonstrated much improvement in their play, no doubt as a result of the frequent online competitions throughout the year and the training by [International Master] Atanu Lahiri, the Federation added.