Marian Academy emerged victorious at the National Chess Interschool Invitational, hosted by the School of the Nations on March 26th, 2024. The tournament, which attracted fifty participants, aimed to ignite a passion for chess among beginners and intermediate players.
In a surprising outcome, Queen’s College secured second place, tying with the host school. However, the individual champion title belonged to Queen’s College’s Mahir Rajkumar, who dominated the field with six wins and a single draw. Marian Academy dominated the remaining top spots, with 12-year-old Alek Ubaldo Singh and 14-year-old Micaiah Enoe taking the second and third places in the male division. The top female players were all from Marian Academy – Chelsea Harrison (10 years old), Kristen Xavier (14 years old), and Tharisha Montes DeOca.
Marian Academy’s chess team’s success highlights the school’s enduring commitment to chess development, particularly amongst beginners and intermediates. Their strong performance begs the question: who will be the next chess prodigy to emerge?
The tournament also awarded top finishers in each age category. Jaden Jagoo claimed the Under-18 title, while Samuel Barkoye and Tremusa Marshall secured first and second place in the Under-16 category. Omar Shariff and Tejasvarun Kandavel emerged victorious in the Under-14 division, with Julian Mohabir and Javier Davenand taking the top spots for Under-12 players.
Beyond competition, the event fostered connections between established chess powerhouses and young-bloods in the community. With the essential backing of the Guyana Chess Federation, the School of the Nations rolled out the royal treatment, enlisting the expertise of National Arbiter Odit Rodrigues to assist their very own chess teacher, Oluwadare Oyeyipo, in orchestrating this grand event.
Oyeyipo invited local chess royalty, Women’s Champion Jessica Callender, Junior Champion Keron Sandiford, and former Junior Champion Ricardo Narine to supervise and ensure fair play throughout the competition as official arbiters.
But the School of the Nations has more than just victory on their minds. By integrating chess into their primary curriculum, they’ve become trailblazers in
Guyana, offering their students a clear path to success from an early age. It’s a move that will hopefully shake up the academic scene favoring the growth of chess.
As the chess pieces advance across the board and with new alliances formed, one thing is certain: the world of chess is reaching a boiling point in Guyana, which is sure to produce many more competitions and subsequent champions on the chessboard of Guyana’s future.
The Guyana Chess Federation is delighted with the initiative of School of the Nations as the tournament was organized by the young people within the federation. President of the GCF, Anand Raghunauth, lauds the success of the tournament and encourages more similar events which will promote a competitive chess environment among beginners of the game.
