Kyle Couchman and Ciel Clement were the top male and female finishers in the National U14 Rapid Open and Girls Chess Tournament, which concluded on Saturday, July 16, at Queen’s College.
Twelve-year-old Kyle Couchman was victorious ahead of 31 other boys playing in the tournament. Young Kyle continues to display his excellence over the board, having finished in fourth place earlier this year at the National Junior Championship. He was also the youngest player to qualify for the event.
Meanwhile, second place went to up-and-coming twelve-year-old Micaiah Enoe. In third place was eight-year-old Aquilani Swaminadha, who played splendidly and took home the Best Under-12 chess player in the Open Tournament.
Siblings Julian Mohabir and Landon Mohabir won Best Under-10 and Best Under-8, respectively. The Mohabir boys continue to dominate in these categories as they both won previously in the National Junior Qualifiers Tournament earlier this year.
Ciel Clement from Region 6, who also played in the Junior Qualifiers, showed her improved skills by winning the girls category of the U14 nationals. Maliha Rajkumar, competing consistently throughout the year. Third place went to Anaya Lall, who is set to depart a few days with the National Chess team representing Guyana in India at the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad.
The forty young players competed in seven rounds of rapid matches with 15 mins plus 5 mins increments. Trophies were presented by Queen’s College teacher, Ms. Henry, who also serves as chess coordinator at the school, along with Chief Education Officer at the Ministry of Education, Dr. Marcel Hutson.
The Guyana Chess Federation continues to offer weekly online classes to students who are taught the basics of chess, various chess tactics, and how to solve chess puzzles. The GCF also provides free membership on Chesskid.com to registered federation students. The tournament was conducted by FIDE Arbiters John Lee and Anand Raghunath. The GCF wishes to thank the board of directors of Queen’s College for providing the venue to host the tournament. The GCF will also host the National Under-16 Rapid Chess Tournament at the Marian Academy on Sunday, July 31st, 2022. Registration will be done online at guyanachess.org, and the tournament will consist of the same format, seven rounds: 15 mins+5 sec increments. Children who are not yet 16 years as of January 1, 2022, can participate.
