National Junior Qualifiers to be hosted on February 24

The Guyana Chess Federation is set to host its National Junior Qualifiers on February 24. The tournament is set to run for two weekends, concluding on March 3, at the National Resource Centre.
The event will comprise seven rounds, with a classical time format of one hour, with a five-second incremental time added after every move from move one. Some of Guyana’s best and brightest young chess talents will all be competing to be in the final eight who will go on to the championship bout of the highly coveted title.
Defending National Junior Champion Joshua Gopaul is not expected to compete in the qualifiers, but will meet the qualifying seven in a round-robin event of the same time format set for later this year. Andre Jagnandan, who has been making a loud impression in the junior category by winning said category of the James Bond Birthday Blitz and placed third in the Junior Category of GCF One Day Rapid back in January, expressed his enthusiasm towards the upcoming event.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, Jagnandan stated that he expects to finish amongst the highest podium positions of the qualifying seven and comfortably move onto the championship finals. He also mentioned that he does not intend to underestimate any other participant and expects stiff competition from the other juniors. “I am training and I have a game plan going forward. The qualifiers should be challenging but I am quite confident of qualifying”, Jagnandan concluded.
Other rising stars in the junior category include Marian Academy’s Ethan Lee, Aravinda Singh, Queen’s College Rajiv Lee, Christ Church’s Akili Theophil and Ghansham Alli John, Jaden Taylor and Chelsea Juma all of St Stanislaus College, among others, who are expected to make an appearance.