Joshi flawless after 4 rounds, Drayton leads Open category – National Chess Championships 2026…

FIDE Master (FM) Anthony Drayton and Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi have taken the lead in the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) National Chess Championships following the completion of four rounds of play over the weekend at the David Rose Special School.
In the Open category, Drayton sits at the top of the standings with 3.5 points from four games, just ahead of defending champion Candidate Master (CM) Taffin Khan, who also has 3.5 points but trails under the tie-break system.
Drayton opened the tournament with victories over Rolex Alexander and Jaden Taylor on Saturday before securing another win against Keron Sandiford in round four on Sunday. His only dropped point came in round three when he drew with Kyle Couchman.

Khan, the defending men’s champion, began his title defence strongly with wins against Leslie Campbell, Alexander Zhang and Rolex Antoine Alexander before being forced to split a point with teenage prodigy CM Sachin Pitamber in round four.
Taylor and Pitamber currently share third place with three points each, while Couchman and Sandiford are tied on 2.5 points after four rounds. CM Ronuel Greenidge and Rolex Alexander have one point each, while Alexander Zhang and Leslie Campbell are yet to register a point in the competition.
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Championship, defending champion WCM Joshi has been flawless so far, winning all four of her matches to lead the standings with a maximum four points.
Joshi defeated Parnita Kishun, Italy Ton-Chung, Anaya Lall, and Treskole Archibald in the opening rounds to launch a solid title defence. The young standout made history last year when she became only the second 14-year-old to capture the national women’s title.

WCM Sasha Shariff occupies second position with 3.5 points, while former national champion WCM Jessica Callender and Ciel Clement share third place with three points each. Anaya Lall sits fifth with two points.
The championships will resume this coming weekend with rounds five to eight scheduled for March 21 and March 22, before the tournament concludes with the final round on March 28.

Open Category – Top 5 (After 4 rounds)
1. FM Anthony Drayton – 3.5 points
2. CM Taffin Khan – 3.5 points
3. Jaden Taylor – 3 points
4. CM Sachin Pitamber – 3 points
5. Kyle Couchman – 2.5 points

Women’s Category – Top 5 (After 4 rounds)
1. WCM Aditi Joshi – 4 points
2. WCM Sasha Shariff – 3.5 points
3. WCM Jessica Callender – 3 points
4. Ciel Clement – 3 points
5. Anaya Lall – 2 points