Couchman sharpening game for Chess Olympiad challenge

By Michelangelo Jacobus

Guyana’s back-to-back National Junior Chess Champion Kyle Couchman is placing greater emphasis on calculation, consistency, and practical decision-making as he prepares to represent the country at the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Speaking to Guyana Times Sport, Couchman said his preparation has been centred on improving the areas he believes will be most important when facing stronger international opposition, including calculation, opening preparation, positional play, and endgames.
A major part of that work, he explained, has been developing more discipline in his thinking process and avoiding rushed decisions at the board.
“My preparation has mainly focused on improving the areas of my game that I feel will make the biggest difference against stronger opposition,” Couchman said.
“I’ve been working on calculation, opening preparation, positional understanding, endgames, and especially being more disciplined when calculating instead of making decisions too quickly.”

Couchman has also been playing training games and reviewing them afterwards in an effort to identify repeated mistakes. With the Olympiad expected to provide a demanding schedule against high-quality opposition, he said consistency would be just as important as producing individual strong performances.
“My goal is to arrive in Samarkand in the best form possible and be able to perform at a level above my current rating,” he said.
His preparations were recently boosted by training sessions with experienced Serbian Grandmaster Aleksa Striković, who worked with members of Guyana’s national team.
According to Couchman, those sessions highlighted the need for a more structured approach to calculation and a deeper understanding of positions.
“One of the biggest things I took away was the importance of calculation discipline,” he explained. “I can sometimes see ideas quickly, but don’t always calculate them deeply enough or compare all of the candidate moves before making a decision.”
Since the sessions ended, Couchman has continued working independently through calculation exercises, game analysis, opening study, and endgame practice.
He has also changed the way he reviews his mistakes, looking beyond individual errors to determine whether they are linked to recurring weaknesses in his game.
“Instead of just looking at where I made a mistake, I try to understand why I made it and whether it’s part of a recurring weakness,” he said.
Couchman expects opponent-specific preparation to also play an important role at the Olympiad. Once pairings are known, he intends to study opponents’ recent classical games, preferred openings and playing styles before selecting positions he believes will give him the best practical chances.
The reigning junior champion has represented Guyana internationally on several occasions and believes those experiences have taught him the importance of remaining confident against higher-rated players.
He noted that previous tournaments have shown him that ratings do not always determine the outcome of a game and that proper preparation can help bridge the gap against stronger opposition.
However, Couchman acknowledged that the Olympiad would represent another level of competition.
“I expect it to be intense, but also really exciting,” he said. “There will be players from practically every part of the world, including some of the strongest players on the planet.”
Couchman has set himself the personal target of performing at approximately 2100 strength while also looking to improve his FIDE rating and continue progressing towards his long-term ambition of becoming a FIDE Master.
His main priority, however, is contributing to Guyana’s overall performance.
“If I’m given the opportunity to play, I want to score as many points as possible and help the team achieve the best result we can,” he said. “I also want to leave the Olympiad knowing that I played every game with full effort and represented Guyana well.”
Maintaining consistency throughout the lengthy competition is expected to be one of his biggest tests, particularly with limited recovery time between rounds and the possibility of repeatedly facing unfamiliar and highly-rated opponents.
Couchman said his work on general positional understanding and calculation is designed to make him less dependent on opening preparation when games move into unfamiliar territory.
The young chess player has also had to balance his Olympiad preparation with academics. He recently completed his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and is preparing to enter sixth form.
Couchman has remained around the 2000 FIDE rating mark for some time, but said the challenge of breaking through that barrier has provided additional motivation rather than discouragement.
The Olympiad, he believes, will provide another opportunity to measure his progress against quality opposition and continue his development towards becoming a titled player.
“It’s an opportunity to test myself against some of the strongest players I’ve ever faced, learn from the experience, and hopefully take another step towards my long-term goal of becoming a stronger titled player,” Couchman said.
For Couchman, a strong performance would also carry wider significance for Guyanese chess.
“Most importantly, I want people watching from Guyana to see that our players can compete internationally and that Guyanese chess has the potential to keep growing.”