A view of the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow, Russia, March 25, 2024. /CFP

The third Grand Prix Chess tournament ended with Kyle Couchman emerging as the winner of  the Open Category and Sasha Shariff in the Female Category. 

Couchman amassed 6 points out of the eight-round tournament after four wins and four draws  to push ahead of the seventeen contenders. His final battle against senior Rashad Hussain gained  him the top spot after being tied with Keron Sandiford and Ethan Lee at the beginning of the last  round with 5 points. Couchman defeated Tremusa Marshal, Loris Nathoo, and Ethan Lee and  drew with Jaden Taylor, Sandiford, Ronuel Greenidge, and Roberto Neto. 

Lee emerged as the second-place winner with 5.5 points after he and reigning Junior Champion  Sandiford went head-to-head in the final round, and both players agreed to a draw. Lee initially obtained a dominant position with mounting threats from his two unobstructed  Rooks poised to invade. But Sandiford managed to neutralize his opponent’s gains. The match  entered an endgame with active queens and the few pawns of both players potentially becoming  targets. Sandiford was on the verge of capturing Lee’s helpless pawns but Lee struck back, using  his Queen to continuously threaten Sandiford’s King. In the brief tussle, Lee forced his opponent  to redirect his attention and focus on the safety of his all-important King. With dwindling chances  of victory on either side, both players subsequently agreed to a draw. 

Sandiford came in third with 5.5 points after defeating Rafael Park, Rashad Hussain, and Jaden  Taylor and drawing with Ricardo Narine, Couchman, Sachin Pitamber and Roberto Neto. 

Seniors Roberto Neto took the fourth spot with 5.5 points, CM Ronuel Greenidge, fifth with 5  points, and Rashad Hussain with 4.5 points. Jaden Taylor, Kim Shing Chong, Sachin Pitamber, and  Kishan Puran ended with 4.5 points, and Loris Nathoo and Ricardo Narine with 4 points. 

Meanwhile, on the female side, Sasha Shariff emerged victorious with 6.5 points ahead of  Women’s Champion Jessica Callender, also on 6.5 points due to the tie-break system. Shariff and  Callender had 5.5 points before the final round, and both won their matches against Nellisha  Johnson and Angelina Yhap, respectively. 

In the final round, a confident Shariff outplayed her female counterpart, Johnson, with a Knight  and two Rooks wreaking havoc. Johnson was unable to defend her deteriorating position, despite  fighting valiantly with only two Rooks. Shariff won more material, and Johnson could not avoid  the virtual loss. 

Aditi Joshi placed third with 6 points, and Ciel Clement and Treskole Archibald came in fourth and  fifth, respectively, with 5 points each. Nellisha Johnson ended with 4.5 points. The top three winners in each category obtained cash prizes amounting to seventy thousand  dollars. The tournament was sponsored by the Guyana Chess Federation with supervision by FIDE  Arbiter John Lee. Points were awarded to the top contenders according to the Grand Prix system 

devised to obtain the top five players in the Open and Female categories, who will participate in  the Chess Olympiad later this year. Qualifying tournaments such as the Grand Prix series, the  National Open Qualifiers, and the National Championships determine the outcome of the  Olympiad team. 

The federation would like to thank the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport for providing the  venue of the Guyana National Stadium for the four-day tourney.