Keron Sandiford and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi clinched first place in their respective categories in the I-CEE-sponsored Grand Prix 1 Chess tournament at the David Rose Special School that concluded on Sunday, October 12, 2025.
Sandiford finished in fine form with an impressive seven points after playing unbeaten in the eight-round classical style format of the open category.
The 22-year-old defeated six of his opponents, with his two half points coming from draws with third-place winner Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber and second-place winner Kyle Couchman in rounds five and six, respectively.
In the closely-contested open category, top seed Couchman gained second place in the competition with seven points after losing to Sandiford on the tie-break system.
Couchman’s two half points came from draws against Sandiford and Pitamber. In their match that lasted less than 40 moves, Sandiford and Couchman agreed to a draw in an even endgame with rooks, pawns, and kings remaining in the fight. In third place, Pitamber also played unbeaten with 6.5 points, with an additional draw against Jaden Taylor.
Gilbert Williams and Rashad Hussain gained 5.5 points each, while Taylor, Shiv Nandalall, Kishan Puran, and Joshua Gopaul finished with 5 points each. Sandiford’s match with CM Pitamber lasted a marathon 91 moves.
Their battle ended with only the two kings remaining on the board as they exhausted each other’s pieces with captures and clever manoeuvres in an endgame that made checkmate difficult.
In the female category, Joshi also played unbeaten, gaining a remarkable eight points. The 15-year-old 2025 Women’s Chess Champion continued to dominate the local female chess arena with her strategic and consistent play.
WCM Joshi defeated former National Women’s Champions Sasha Shariff and WCM Jessica Callender among her opponents.
Joshi successfully breached both Callender’s and Shariff’s king defences to claim victory in their encounters. The U-12 Girls’ Chess Champion Kataleya Sam fought her way to the second-place prize with 6 points. Her only loss came against Joshi in the fourth round.
Sam’s notable games included her victory over seasoned player Shariff and draws with Ciel Clement and Treskol Archibald. Archibald took away the third-place prize after ending with 5.5 points. Former Women’s Champion Callender placed fourth with 5.5 points after fighting her way back following her loss against Joshi in the third round and Archibald in the fifth round. Shariff, Clement, Chelsea Harrison, and Maliha Rajkumar all ended with 4.5 points each. The FIDE-rated tournament attracted the largest turnout ever for a Grand Prix qualifying tournament with 36 males and 18 females vying for a chance to represent Guyana in the 2026 Chess Olympiad.
The tournament was overseen by FIDE Arbiter John Lee, who also live-streamed the top 12 boards for viewers at home. Results were published on chess-results.com. Cash prizes, totalling $100,000, were sponsored by I-CEE and awarded to the top three players in each category.
The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) would like to extend its gratitude to I-CEE for once again coming on board to support chess in Guyana. Interested persons can follow the GCF on Facebook and Instagram. All information about chess clubs and registration for membership with the GCF can be found at guyanachess.gy.
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