I-CEE GRAND PRIX 1 CHESS TOURNAMENT CONCLUDES

Keron Sandiford and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi clinched first  place in their respective categories in the I-CEE-sponsored Grand Prix 1 Chess  tournament at the David Rose Special School that ended on Sunday October 12,  2025. Sandiford finished in fine form with an impressive 7 points after playing  unbeaten in the eight-round classical style format of the Open Category. The  twenty-two-year-old defeated six of his opponents, with his two half points  coming from draws with third-place winner Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber  and second-place winner Kyle Couchman in rounds five and six, respectively.  Joshi also played unbeaten after gaining a remarkable 8 points in the Female  Category. The fifteen-year-old 2025 Women’s Chess Champion continued to  dominate the local female chess arena with her strategic and consistent play.  

In the closely contested Open category, top seed Couchman gained second place  in the competition with 7 points after losing to Sandiford on the tie-break  system. Couchman’s two half points came with the draws against Sandiford and  Pitamber. In their match that lasted less than 40 moves, Sandiford and  Couchman agreed to a draw in an even endgame with Rooks, Pawns and Kings  remaining in the fight. 

In third place, Pitamber also played unbeaten with 6.5 points, with his additional  draw against Jaden Taylor. Gilbert Williams and Rashad Hussain gained 5.5 points  each, while Taylor, Shiv Nandalall, Kishan Puran, and Joshua Gopaul finished with  5 points each.  

Sandiford’s match with CM Pitamber lasted a marathon 91 moves. Their battle  ended with only the two Kings remaining on the board as both opponents  exhausted each other’s side with captures and clever manoeuvres in an  endgame that made checkmate difficult. 

In the female category, WCM Joshi defeated former National Women’s  Champions Sasha Shariff and WCM Jessica Callender among her opponents.  Joshi successfully breached both Callender’s and Shariff’s King defences to claim  victory in their separate encounters. 

The U-12 Girls’ Chess Champion Kataleya Sam fought her way for the second place prize with 6 points. Her only loss came against Joshi in the fourth round. 

Sam’s notable games were her victory over seasoned player Sasha Shariff and  draws with Ciel Clement and Treskolé Archibald.  

Archibald took away the third-place prize after ending with 5.5 points. Former  Women’s Champion, Jessica Callender, placed fourth with 5.5 points after  fighting her way back to the top after her loss against Joshi in the third round  and Archibald in the fifth round.  

Shariff, Clement, Chelsea Harrison, and Maliha Rajkumar all ended with 4.5  points each.  

The FIDE-rated tournament attracted the largest ever for a Grand Prix qualifying  tournament with thirty-six males and eighteen females, vying for a chance to  represent Guyana in the 2026 Chess Olympiad. The tournaments were overseen  by FIDE Arbiter John Lee, who also live-streamed the top twelve boards for  viewers at home. Results were published on chess-results.com. 

Cash prizes, sponsored by I-CEE, totalling $100,000 were awarded to the top  three players for each category.  

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) would like to extend its gratitude to I-CEE  for once again coming on board to support chess in Guyana. 

Interested persons can follow the GCF on Facebook and Instagram. All  information about chess clubs and registration for membership for the GCF can  be done on guyanachess.gy.