The Female Division of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) will kick off its annual women and girls tournament this weekend with the 2024 Women’s Chess Championship Qualifiers and 2024 Women’s Chess Championship, sponsored by Diamond Insurance.
The seven-round qualifying tournament starts today, April 13, and continues April 14, April 20 and April 21 at the National Racquet Center, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.
Sasha Shariff
The final round will be played on Sunday, April 21, when the top nine performers will qualify to play in the championship tournament, vying for the title of 2024 Women’s Chess Champion, coming up against reigning Women’s Champion Jessica Callender, who is looking to defend her title.
The tournament will see some of Guyana’s best female players go head-to-head in testing their skills to determine who will make it to the Championship.
Some notable players on the tournament roster vying for the top spots are Sasha Shariff, 2023 Women’s Chess Champion runner-up; Aditi Joshi, current National Under-14 Champion; Shazeeda Rahim; Ciel Clement; Nellisha Johnson and youngsters Chelsea Harrison and Saura Ruplall.
Two rounds will be played each day, using the Swiss format with a time control of 90 minutes with 30 seconds of additional time after each move.
Shazeeda Rahim
The Chess Federation wishes to express its appreciation to the management of Diamond Insurance for its continued support in promoting the sport of chess in Guyana, especially towards the women’s and girls’ competitions. It is the second year that Diamond Insurance has supported women in chess.
The 2024 Women’s Chess Championship Qualifiers and Chess Championship tourneys are part of the qualifying process for the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary in September this year. Top performers will gain Grand Prix points from these tournaments and the 2024 Grand Prix Tourneys, which will then be tallied and calculated to see who will make the top five for the Guyana female team.
For more information on upcoming tournaments and to keep updated with player stat details, please visit the GCF website at www.guyanachess.gy.
Interested persons who wish to join the GCF can do so on guyanachess.gy. The GCF also offers chess classes every Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm to school students at School of the Nations. For additional information, please message us on Facebook or WhatsApp number 7074529.
