The 2025 National Under 16 Chess Championships, hosted by the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), roll into action this Saturday, February 8th, 2025, at the School of the Nations with almost 60 contenders from across the city set to compete.
Tournament organizers are pleased with the overwhelming support from our sponsor, Kitty Square Mall, who have once again stepped up to support the junior chess tournament.
The seven-round tournament will be played in two categories, the Open and Girls section under the Swiss format with a time control of 20 minutes plus 5-second increments after the first move is played.
Players from the recently played U12 and U14 Chess Championships tourneys are expected to return to challenge some of the more seasoned contenders of the game, such as fifteen-year-old Kyle Couchman, the highest-rated junior player in Guyana who holds an ELO rating of 1868 and Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber, age fourteen, who has an ELO rating of 1779, is also vying for the Under16 Open Chess Championship title. Hoping to get into the top spots are the Zhang siblings, Alexander and Nicholas, both rated players, who have proven to be strong contestants in these competitions, with Nicholas having recently won the National Under 14 Chess Title for 2025. Other challengers in the Open section are Alek Ubaldo-Singh, Mahir Rajkumar, Omar Shariff, Micaiah Enoe, and 2025 National U12 Champion Abel Fernandez.
In the Girls section, Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi, age 14, is competing for the Under 16 Girl’s Championship title along with other players such as Ciel Clement, 2025 Girls U12 title holder, Kataleya Sam, Lusianna Farlot, Rebha Lachhman, Angelina Yhap and Tharisha Montes De Oca among others.
Trophies are up for grabs for placements of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each section. This tournament will also award trophies for the Best U8, U10, U12, and U14 players with medals for the 2nd and 3rd place in the U8 and U10 age categories.
The tournaments are being run concurrently by FIDE Arbiter John Lee and his capable arbiters team will supervise the tournament. The GCF thanks the tournament venue sponsors, School of the Nations, and its sponsor for the
tournament the Kitty Square Mall, located in Dowding Street, Kitty, a leading Distributor for GTT and Digicel phone cards, top-up and MMG, and Enet, serving vendors across Guyana.
Persons interested in learning and playing chess can join the federation at guyanachess.gy or contact us at guyanachess@gmail.com. Information on the tournament is also available on the website. Follow us on Facebook, and Instagram, and visit our website to keep updated with chess activities.
