Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber completed a strong run in the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) National Junior Championship Qualifiers, finishing top of the standings after the seventh and final round on Wednesday at Olympic House, Liliendaal.
Pitamber, who entered the final day as the tournament leader, defeated Alek Ubaldo-Singh in round seven to end on six points from seven games and secure first place in the seven-round Swiss-system event.
WCM Aditi Joshi also finished strongly, beating Jaden Todd in the final round to move to 5.5 points and claim second place. Alexander Zhang drew with Nicholas Zhang to end on five points, while Kataleya Sam defeated Aquilani Swaminadha and Jeremy Cole beat Abel Fernandez Ciria to also finish on five points.
The final round produced several important results in the qualification race. Darrel Abrams and Matthew Singh drew their board-four clash, while Aiden Tinnie defeated Dominic Sam and Javier Davenand beat Ciel Clement. Vir Narine also recorded a win over Saura Ruplall, and Divya Persaud defeated Emma John.
Pitamber had gone into the final round on five points after drawing his sixth-round game against Singh on Tuesday. At that stage, he led Alexander Zhang and Joshi by half a point, with several players still in contention for the top nine places.
The final standings saw Pitamber first on six points, followed by Joshi on 5.5. Alexander Zhang, Kataleya Sam and Cole finished on five points, while Nicholas Zhang, Singh, Abrams, Tinnie and Davenand all ended on 4.5 points.
However, only the top nine finishers advanced from the qualifiers, meaning Davenand narrowly missed out despite finishing level on points with the ninth-placed Tinnie. The qualifiers now set up the next stage of the National Junior Championship, where the successful players will join reigning National Junior Champion Kyle Couchman.
Qualified players
1. CM Sachin Pitamber
2. WCM Aditi Joshi
3. Alexander Zhang
4. Kataleya Sam
5. Jeremy Cole
6. Nicholas Zhang
7. Matthew Singh
8. Darrel Abrams
9. Aiden Tinnie
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