GAICO Construction seals major chess sponsorship

GAICO Construction has presented its sponsorship package for four Grand Prix chess tournaments being staged by the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF).
The construction firm, at its Georgetown office on Friday, October 4, handed over a cheque for $320,000 to the GCF to cover prizes for the events.

GAICO Office Manager Champa Maraj extended her company’s support to the GCF at the simple presentation ceremony. “GAICO is a one-hundred-per-cent Guyanese company and Managing Director Komal Singh is always in support of Guyanese activities which promote youth initiative and harmony,” she said.
GCF Treasurer Davion Mars expressed his gratitude to GAICO for being the premier sponsor of the series and outlined the purpose of the competitions.
“The Grand Prix initiative is a points-based system recently implemented which will aid in the selection of Guyana’s best chess talents, who will go on to represent Guyana at the 2020 Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia,” Mars related.
The first GAICO tournament concluded on Sunday, September 29 at the National Racquet Centre and Wendell Meusa emerged undefeated. Senior player Glenford Corlette was the only player to secure a draw with Meusa while other players lost their matches to the tournament leader. Former junior champion Joshua Gopaul dominated the junior category, and Samirah Gobin of Al Ghazali Islamic Academy was adjudged the best female player.
The second GAICO Grand Prix is set to begin soon and would be open to all chess players. The combatants will record more wins, losses, and draws from the gruelling confrontations expected over the chess board.

Grand Prix Point Standings
Wendell Meusa – 20 Pts
Taffin Khan – 15 Pts
Loris Nathoo – 12 Pts
Davion Mars – 9 Pts
Shiv Nandalall – 7 Pts
Glenford Corlette – 5 Pts
Frankie Farley – 4 Pts
Joshua Gopaul – 3 Pts
Justino Da Silva – 2 Pts
Ethan Lee – 1 Pt