DeSinco National U12 Rapid Chess Championships: Mohabir, Zhang, Xavier among winners

The DeSinco National Under-12 Rapid Chess Championships concluded last Saturday, January 12th, with Alexander Zhang winning the Open Category and Kristin Xavier winning the Girls Category.

A total of 45 competitors (16 girls and 29 boys) under 12 years of age came out and played with skill and competitive spirit. Hosted online on the Tornelo.com platform, the championship featured seven rounds of games in the Swiss format with a time control of 15 minutes, with a 2-second increment with every move, and was supervised by FIDE Arbiter John Lee.

Alexander Zhang came in first with six (6) points, after winning five of his matches and drawing his games against Nicholas Zhang and Arysh Raghunauth. Those games drew the most spectators of the entire tournament. This principled game in round 6 took place between the two veteran players, with rehearsed opening theory from both. A solid game sprinkled with tactics gave Raghunauth a major advantage against Zhang. With precision, Raghunauth led the game to the end, whn unfortunately Raghunath’s time had elapsed. The players agreed to a draw, with Zhang having insufficient pieces for an outright win, and Raghunauth low on time.

Nicholas Zhang finished second with 5½ points, losing only to Mayas Khan, who secured the third-place spot with 5 points.
In the Uunder-10 Open category, 6-year-old Landon Mohabir upset the field with his 5-point finish, which guaranteed him the number one slot in this category.
In his Round 7 game against Mahir Rajkumar, Landon Mohabir fashioned a clean win against his veteran opponent. The game exploded with tactics and opportunities for both sides at the very start, but concluded after 19 moves with Mohabir victorious.
Adam Rahaman and Alek Ubaldo–Singh came in second and third respectively.
In the Under-8 category, Vir Narine came in first and Javier Davenand won second place.
Girls’ Tournament winner Kristen Xavier held a wonderful game against Anaya Lall. In the face of attacks of brutal appearance by Lall, Xavier persevered. The double-edged position was soon turned to Xavier’s favour, ending the tactical nightmare set by her opponent. Kristin cemented her status as the first-ever Under 12 Girls’ Rapid Champion by defeating all of her opponents. Anaya Lall was a close second with 6 wins, losing only to the overall winner.
Eight-year-old Kataleya Sam was third on five points, conceding two matches to Kristin Xavier and Anaya Lall.
The young Anaya Lall and the even younger Kataleya Sam battled it out in an intense Round 3. The advantage shifted back and forth in what could only be a sign of equal skill. Sam’s fierce aggression had been matched by Lall’s experience. The advantage fell to Lall as the tactical mid-game ended, and she ended it swiftly by checkmating her opponent in what could only be the most impressive game of the Girls Tournament.
For Under-10 Females, Skyler Gurchuran was awarded first place. In second was Nemisha Jagmohan, and third place was won by Saudia Deo.
The winner of the Under-8 Female tournament was Isabella Shariff.
Notable games from the tightly contested Open category came from Jacob Frank McDonald, Mahir Rajkumar, Arysh Raghunauth, Julian Mohabir, Tejasvarun Kandavel, Omar Shariff, Ethen Pompey and Vivek Persaud.
And from the Girls’ Tournament, impressive displays came from Alayna Ally, Faraa Gaskin, Ariana Munroe, Daivya Jagmohan, Aditi Joshi, Athena Gilkes, Mira Kivik and Neeharika Shetty.