KFC Guyana sponsors National Women’s Chess Championship

KFC Guyana has donated the sum of $250,000 towards the National Women’s Chess Championship tournament to be held in June 2022. This will be the first female over-the-board competition to be held since February 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top female chess player Sasha Shariff was crowned women’s champion in the 2020 tournament. Shariff was also most recently the top female competitor at the Junior Nationals.
The Guyana Chess Federation’s Women in Chess Community is pleased with the initiative by KFC Guyana, which expressed interest in specifically promoting female chess competitions. The community, which was formulated on February 20th 2022, includes girls and women within the Guyana Chess Federation. It is intended to promote and encourage growth and development in chess, as well as social and interactive sessions which will benefit young girls within the chess community, and help them to come together and build a common bond and passion for the game. Training sessions for girls and women will help to build a strong community of female chess players, as well as empower them to become a formidable force to be reckoned with both on and off the chess board.
Chess increases cognitive and critical thinking skills, encourages creativity and planning and strategic skills, as well as build confidence. It also protects against dementia and helps ADHD.
Pamela Manasseh, Marketing Officer of KFC stated, “KFC Guyana is ecstatic to be the primary sponsor of the National Women’s Chess Championship tournament. KFC has a long history of sponsoring and supporting our local athletes as they compete both at home and abroad, and this tournament is no exception. We wish the competitors the best of success as they compete in this event.”
The GCF is happy to have KFC on board, and looks forward to continuing this partnership. Women and girls who are interested in learning the game are encouraged to register with the GCF on its website guyanachess.org under the Women in Chess Community.
The Guyana Women in Chess Community would also be hosting beginner classes for girls and women in chess this Saturday, April 30th, at the Guyana National Stadium. The first session will be from 10:00h to 11:00h, while the second will be from 14:30h to 15:30h.