Over 30 juniors set to play in National Chess Championships

A total of 12 girls and 23 boys have registered to compete in Saturday’s National Under-12 Rapid Chess Championships sponsored by DeSinco Trading Limited.

“We will have a new junior champion this year, as Kyle Couchman, who won the most recent edition of the event in 2020, is now too old to compete. The Open event is expected to be keenly contested, with all the top boys having experience in the Junior Rapid World Cup.
“The female category is also highly anticipated, with the likes of players such as Anaya Lall, who competed in last year’s World Chess Championship for Persons with Disabilities.
Vice President of the Guyana Chess Federation, Anand Ragunath, said, “The building blocks were set two years ago, and with most of the top players engaged in high-level training, the quality of play is expected to be high. The top players will have it tough, as several are now exposed to training, and any of them could emerge victorious. The younger players also pose a threat, as they too have acquired the skills necessary to win games, but don’t have the experience as yet.
“This tournament sets the stage to showcase the youngest players’ development over the two-year period. FIDE instructor Davion Mars and IM Atanu Lihari have worked with these players for an extend time, and U12s chess is simply at a higher level than we have been accustomed,” he added.
Games are set to begin from 2pm sharp on Saturday on the tornelo.com platform.
Prizes will be awarded for the top three (3) players. The Best Under-8 and Under-10 players would also be rewarded. The tournament will be supervised by FIDE Arbiter John Lee.