GCF rewards chess players for outstanding performance
The Guyana Chess Federation held its awards ceremony on Sunday June 5th, 2022 at the Park Vue Hotel, and players were given prizes for their outstanding performances in the sport over the past few months.
This encompasses a total of five major tournaments: the Junior National Chess Championship, the National Women’s Qualifiers, the Women’s Championship, the National Open Qualifiers, and the National Championship for 2022.
The full complement of prize winners at the GCF’s awards ceremony
In the Junior National Chess Championship, 17-year-old Ricardo Narine was presented with his Championship Trophy for earning the title of Junior National Champion 2022. Other players rewarded with trophies from the Junior Nationals are 2nd place Ethan Lee, 3rd place Rajiv Lee, 4th place Kyle Couchman, 5th place Keron Sandiford, and 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th places went to Ronan Lee, Sasha Shariff, Matthew Singh, Jessica Callender and Mayas Khan respectively.
In the Women’s Chess Qualifiers, the top 9 females received medals. With Jessica Callender receiving her first-place medal, 2nd place went to Pooja Lam and 3rd place to Anaya Lall, while 4th to 9th places went to Nellisha Johnson, Adia Alphonso, Maliha Rajkumar, Waveney Johnson, Angel Rahim and Elizabeth McRae respectively.
Pooja Lam received her Championship Trophy for her win at the Women’s National Tournament. At 14 years old, she became the youngest National Women’s Champion in Guyana’s history.
Junior Champion Ricardo Narine receiving his award from Frankie Farley
The Women’s Nationals were first held in 2018, when WFM Maria Varona Thomas won the inaugural title. The most recent Women’s Champion was 18-year-old Sasha Shariff, who came second in this year’s tournament. She has held the title since the Championship was last held in 2020, when had won at 16 years old. Other players awarded trophies from the Women’s Nationals are 3rd place Nellisha Johnson, 4th place Jessica Callender, and 5th place Anaya Lall.
In the National Open Chess Qualifiers, FM Anthony Drayton was rewarded for his win, with Wendell Meusa coming in 2nd, Roberto Neto 3rd, Loris Nathoo 4th; and with 5th to 9th places going to Frankie Farley, Ethan Lee, Rashad Hussain, Justino DaSilva and Rai Sharma respectively. They all received medals.
National Chess Champion for 2022, Wendell Meusa, was presented with his trophy, making this his eight National Title in Guyana.
Women’s Champion Pooja Lam receiving her award from KFC’s Ms. Pamela Manasseh
Taffin Khan received his trophy for his second-place win, with Anthony Drayton 3rd, Frankie Farley 4th, and Roberto Neto coming in 5th place.
Prizes were presented by President of the GCF, Mr. Frankie Farley, and Tournament Director Mr. Irshad Mohamad, who commended the players for their exceptional performances and participation. Due to the time constraint for naming the Olympiad Team for Chennai, India, the GCF hosted back-to-back tournaments over the last 3 months where FIDE arbiters John Lee and Anand Raghunauth worked tirelessly to make these tournaments successful, and the GCF is extremely grateful to them.
National Champion Meusa receiving his award from Irshad Mohamad
The Guyana Chess Federation hereby extends its heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to DeSinco Ltd, who sponsored the Junior Nationals, KFC Guyana for sponsoring the Women’s Tournaments, and Gaico for sponsoring the National Open Tournaments.
Special thanks to Mr. Mohamed Khan of Arrowten Incorporated for sponsoring the venue, and to Mr. Raul Couchman of Artistic Marketing for taking the photographs at the awards ceremony.
