Guyana’s chess team for this weekend’s Inter-Guiana Games
Teenaged Guyanese athletes set to compete in this year’s Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) departed the “Land of Many Waters” for Suriname on Wednesday night. The team were expected to arrive on Thursday.
Guyana will be represented in eight disciplines, namely chess, futsal, football, lawn tennis, swimming, basketball, volleyball, and athletics, from today, November 17 to Sunday, November 19.
The athletes are expected to return from the Games on November 20.
Prior to the departure of the IGG team, the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) shared, “The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) has fielded two Under-18 teams to participate in the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) this weekend in Suriname.”
The Open team consists of former Junior Champion Ricardo Narine, 2023 Under-14 Champion Kyle Couchman, 2023 Under-16 Champion Alexander Zhang and 12-year-old Nicholas Zhang.
The girls team comprises Aniyah Couchman, Italy Ton-Chung, Aditi Joshi, and Maliha Rajkumar.
The young team was selected by their performances in the National Junior Championship and the Women’s National Championships for 2023.
The 2023 IGG games are scheduled from November 17 to November 19, 2023, where athletes of eight sport disciplines will compete with their colleagues from Suriname and French Guiana.
A look at the athletics team for this year’s IGG
The IGG was first held in 1967 as a yearly event. Chess was added to the list of events in 2009 under the stewardship of former Minister of Sport, Dr Frank Anthony. Last year ended the five-year hiatus that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The GCF is excited to participate after many years, stating that the opportunity for the Guyanese players to have more exposure internationally is significant for their growth and development in the game.
The officials accompanying the team are Coach FIDE Master (FM) Anthony Drayton, Head of Delegation Preya Rajkumar and Archana Joshi.
The GCF extended gratitude to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr and Steve Ninvalle, Director of Sports and the National Sports Commission, for providing uniforms and organising travel for the teams.
