FIDE International Tournament: Wins for Rajkumar, Zhang and Shariff as focus shifts to Under-12, Under-16 players

Following the stellar performances of their Under-10 counterparts, Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) players for the Under-12 Open and the Girls Under-16 competitions recently commenced their participation in the International Chess Federation’s (FIDE’s) Cadet and Youth World Cup online tournament.
With four rounds thus far completed in two days, the Under-12 boys were able to secure 3 points; one each for Mahir Rajkumar, Alexander Zhang and Omar Shariff. The first-round victory for Rajkumar was an upset that was welcomed by the Guyana team with victory over India’s Ashwath Mittal.
Rajkumar seized the moment when his opponent blundered on move 22 in not advancing his knight and missing the mate that was being set up, which Rajkumar took along with the Queen.
Alexander Zhang played well with the black pieces to win his round 3 game against Aponte Tores of Puerto Rico.
In round four, Omar Shariff played with the white pieces and got his name among the points with a meaningful victory over his opponent Tores (the same opponent faced by Zhang in the third round from Puerto Rico). Maciah Enoe, the fourth member of the team, was still to score after some tough games in the early rounds.
In the girls U16 competition, Adia Alphanso and Aniyah Couchman were having a tough time facing some talented players to go without winning a game for the four rounds completed. In round one, Adia Alphanso played brilliantly until she ran into time trouble and went down in her game against Greece’s Ernie Ergazki.
The performance of the Under- 10 team gave the Guyana boys and girls some hope. In a recap of that category, Aqualani Swammadha starred their campaign, as he put on a good show to end his ten games on five points.