National Under-12 Chess Tournament to be contested this weekend

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) will commence 2020 with a bang as it stages an integral competition that is likely to determine which of its young players will represent Guyana at the regional level in a few months’ time.
The occasion will be the 2020 National Under-12 Chess Tournament that will give the youngest players an opportunity to flex their minds and skills. The upcoming tournament will be title-sponsored by DeSinco Trading under its Moo Milk brand. Also in support of the tournament are Rambarran Transport Services and School of the Nations, who will act as the hosts.
Registration for the Moo Milk Junior Championships will be conducted on Saturday January 18, after which the tournament will commence and run for two days (January 18 and 19). The young chess players will be involved in seven rounds of Swiss System action in two categories, male and female.
The likes of Mahir Rajkumar, Arysh Raghunauth, Jacob McDonald, and Omar Sharriff will bring their CARIFTA Junior Chess Championship 2019 experience to the competition, which is expected to significantly boost the level of chess. Other strong contenders in the Moo Milk Junior Championship will include the Zhang brothers, Alexander and Nicholas; Dante Persaud; Micaiah Enoe; Javy Archibald; Sean Fraser; Marcus Hinds and Ricardo Ramlall.
Maliha Rajkumar is tipped to dominate the girls’ section of the tournament, with Anaye Lall asserting herself as another strong contender. The female division is also expected to see participation from Jane Singh and Isabella Rodrigues giving a strong push to winning.
Adding a little flavour to the competition will be the likelihood that selection for the Junior CARIFTA Chess Championships in April will be made based on the Under-12 players’ performance at the national competition. The ninth Junior CARIFTA Chess Championships will be hosted right at home in Guyana from April 10 to 13 at the Princess Ramada Hotel, East Bank Demerara (EBD). Guyana’s participation at the CARIFTA championships is expected to increase significantly given the fact that they are the host country. The contingent in 2018 in Suriname consisted of some six players, while 2019’s contingent to Curaçao had increased to 14 players.
Parents, guardians, and players who wish to participate in the national Under-12 tournament coming up this weekend can contact the Chess Federation’s junior chess section on 681-8771. (Jemima Holmes)