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With the National Junior Chess Qualifiers concluded earlier this week, the young chess players are rested and revived to bring their best game to the board on day one.
The Qualifiers were only a glimpse of the players capabilities, with surprise wins and losses emerging after rounds one and two on Friday, July 14th.
Kishan Puran was the first to face off against the reigning Junior Champion Ricardo Narine on day one. He fought valiantly but was powerless to scrape a victory as Narine earned his first point on the nine-round journey to defend his title.
Meanwhile, qualifying champion Ethan Lee faced Oluwadare Oyeyipo in Round One. The two young men made it to the Nationals without facing off against each other once in the qualifying event. It would appear they were comparable today, their match ending in a draw where Lee was a pawn up with the material advantage but low on time and in a precarious position.
Oyeyipo went on to face Narine in round two where the result was once again, a draw, with the two players splitting the point as they steeled themselves for the matches ahead.
Matthew Singh, however, earned a decisive victory over Kishan Puran. Puran remained with just three pawns against Singh’s four pawns, a queen and a rook when he capitulated.
In Lee’s final game of the day, he was defeated by Under-14 Champion Kyle Couchman. While Lee’s opening tactics gave him a positional advantage, Couchman launched an assault on Lee’s king which he was helpless to defend against or overcome. He resigned the game and Couchman finished day one undefeated, having claimed victory in round one over the Under 16 champion Alexander Zhang.
Undefeated players in the tournament thus far are Couchman and Ronan Lee, both on 2 points, with Narine, Sandiford, and Singh on 1.5 points heading into day two.
Oyeyipo has 1 point. On half a point is Ethan Lee.
Still to earn a victory are Puran, Alexander Zhang, and Nicholas Zhang.
The 2023 Junior National Chess Championship is a Round-Robin ftournament under the time control of 90 minutes with 30-second increments. Games will play between July 14th and 19th at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The Guyana Chess Federation extends gratitude to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport for once again providing the venue for the tournament and to the event title sponsor De Sinco Limited and Milex: one of the leading distributors of fast moving consumer goods in Guyana.
Going in to round three, players recognise that:
Reigning champion Narine is off to a good start, but he has to keep winning if he wants to defend his title.
Qualifying champion Lee is down on points, he will need to find a way to improve his standing if he wants to challenge for the title.
Couchman has made a strong start to the tournament and is one of the players to watch.
The tournament is still wide open, and there are a number of players who could challenge for the title.
