Lee, Shariff favourites for today’s Marian Academy Chess competition

Marian Academy, following their `Chess in Schools’ initiative will today stage a chess competition from 09:00h-15:00h in the school’s auditorium, Carifesta Avenue.

For over six years the institution has been implementing the ‘Chess in School initiative as an extra curriculum activity for both the primary and secondary departments, a release from the school stated.

The `Chess in Schools’ initiative has been implemented in schools world-wide where chess is used as a sport and a tool to improve performance academically.

Guyana through the National Sports Commission (NSC) has implemented the programmes nationwide this year.

With over 80 registered students, this tournament is expected to be yet another big event for the kids of the club between the ages of 7-16 years.

Top players such as Ethan Lee, and Sasha Shariff are expected to participate. Lee, who is ranked fourth among Guyana’s top juniors, recently won the St. Stanislaus College Open Chess competition while Shariff was recently elected to represent Guyana at this year’s World Chess Championships scheduled to be held in Batumi, Georgia.

Both players also played in this year’s Carifta Chess Championships that was held in Paramaribo, Suriname in March and are having a good year, effectively making them tournament favourites. Eyes will also be on Roshawn Washington and Dwayne Bess who also participated in this year’s National Junior Chess Championships.