Chess team off to the Inter Guiana Games

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) has fielded two Under-18 teams to  participate in the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) this weekend in Suriname.  

The Open team consists of former Junior Champion Ricardo Narine, 2023 Under  14 Chess Champion Kyle Couchman, 2023 Under 16 Chess Champion Alexander  Zhang and 12 year old Nicholas Zhang. 

The Girls team comprises Aniyah Couchman, Italy Ton-Chung, Aditi Joshi and  Maliha Rajkumar.  

The young team was selected by their performances in the National Junior  Championship and the Women’s National Championships for 2023.  

The 2023 IGG games are scheduled from November 17th to November 19th 2023,  where eight sports disciplines will compete among their respective colleagues  from Suriname and French Guiana. The delegation will arrive on November 16th  and depart on November 20th.  

The IGG was first held in 1967 and held every year. Chess was added to the list of  events in 2009 under the stewardship of former Minister of Sport, Dr. Frank  Anthony. Last year ended the 5-year hiatus that occurred during the Covid-19  pandemic. The GCF is excited to participate after many years, stating that the  opportunity for the Guyanese players to have more exposure internationally is  significant for their growth and development in the game.  

The officials accompanying the team are Coach FM Anthony Drayton, Head of  Delegation Mrs. Preya Rajkumar and Mrs. Archana Joshi.  

The team is expected to arrive with the eight other sports disciplines on  November 16th. 

The GCF thanks the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, the Honorable Charles  Ramson Jnr and Mr. Steve Ninvalle, Director of Sports and the National Sports  Commission for providing uniforms and organising travel for the teams.