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Alexander Zhang and Anaya Lall are the new 2023 U-16 Chess Champions surpassing Couchman, Pooja Lam, and Italy Ton-Chung in the highly contested tournament. The competition saw a record number of participants of 79 children. This total included 25 girls, the highest number of females to have competed in a single tournament in Guyana’s history.
Each player competed in 7 rounds of 20mins+5sec rapid games at the Marian Academy on Monday, July 3rd, 2023, hosted by the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF).
With intense competition amongst a skilled crop of youth players, Alexander Zhang was able to claim the U16 Rapid Title, while National Deaf Chess Player Anaya Lall emerged victorious in the Girl’s event which ran simultaneously with the open category.
Zhang, a Queen’s College student, was victorious over Landon Mohabir, Ethan Persaud, Sachin Pitamber, Alex Benjamin, and Micaiah Enoe; while drawing his remaining matches against Dominic Sam and former Under-16 Champ Kyle Couchman. He finished the tournament with 6 points.
Couchman, also finishing on 6 points, secured 2nd place in the event, while newcomer Alex Benjamin from Diamond Secondary School, finished 3rd on 5.5 points. Notable performances came from Dominic Sam of St. Joseph’s High and Isa Bremner of Qayyim Academy, who also gained 5.5 points. Aquilani Swaminadha, Micaiah Enoe, Ethan Persaud, Vivek, and Veer Persaud all ended on 5 points each. In the Open division, Zhang’s brother Nicholas, was awarded the prize for Best U12 player, while Aquilani Swaminadha won the Best U10 and Landon Mohabir the Best U8.
Having displayed much skill for the game locally and internationally, Lall emerged victorious over her competitors despite being the only player with a disability competing in the event. The 13-year-old is a student of the Tuschen Deaf Academy. She played undefeated to finish on 7 points, defeating reigning National Women’s Champion Pooja Lam, former Under-16 title holder Italy Ton-Chung, former Under14 champion Ciel Clement, Arabela Charles, Kataleya Sam, Kristin Xavier, and Amara Branche.
Pooja Lam secured the 2nd spot and Italy Ton-Chung, the 3rd place, wtih 5 points each. Remarkable performances from 10-year-old Kataleya Sam, Maliha Rajkumar, and Aditi Joshi placed 4th, 5th, and 6th places, respectively, with 5 points each.
The Best U12 Player prize went to Faraa Gaskin, Best U10 to Kataleya Sam, and Best U8, Hailey Gurchuran.
Medals were given to the best players from Region 3, 6, and 10 to Isa Bremner, Joanna Sheppard, and Stafford Washington, respectively.
The National tournament was conducted by FIDE arbiters John Lee and Anand Raghunauth. Assistant Arbiters were Ethan Lee, Sheriffa Alli, Roberto Neto, and Saeed Alli, all chess players of the GCF.
President of the GCF, Anand Raghunauth, was encouraged by the increasing number of participants in recent times in the National tournaments, lauding the efforts of the chess in schools program which had seen remarkable growth during the Covid-19 pandemic. Raghunauth aims to establish chess clubs in each school so that children can have a co-curricular activity while enjoying the numerous benefits of playing chess. He also stated that the GCF, while aiming to grow the number of chess players in the country, hopes to prepare the more seasoned chess players to play a more administrative part within the federation. He noted that several young people are already involved in the Arbiter process, Coaching, Public Relations, Graphic Design, Leadership, and Volunteering programs.
There were participants from 17 schools from Region 4, Region 3, Region 6, and Region 10. Notable attendances came from Marian Academy, Queens College, Bishop’s High School, School of the Nations, St. Roses High, and St. Stanislaus College, while Qayyim Academy from Region 3 and Vryman’s Erven Secondary from Region 6 also sent a contingent.
The GCF wishes to thank Century 21(Guyana) for sponsoring the event and to Marian Academy for their unwavering support in providing the venue. Trophies, medals and Certificate of Participation, were presented to the chess players.
Players will now turn their attention to the fast-approaching Junior Qualifiers; the first step in the journey to the 2023 National Junior Championship Title this weekend.
