Impressive start for young chess players in Desinco National Junior Championships

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.