Reigning Junior Chess Champion Ricardo Narine (right) receiving his prize
Reigning Junior Chess Champion Ricardo Narine has emerged as the winner of the October Rapid Chess Tournament organized by the Guyana Chess Federation.
The seven-round Swiss tournament kicked off on Sunday, October 20th, at the David Rose Special School on Thomas Lands in Georgetown, and this Open tournament drew a mixture of rated and unrated players, who competed in the same division for top prizes. Thirty players, eleven of whom were females, competed for the top 5 spots and cash prizes totalling $40,000.
Nineteen-year-old Ricardo Narine was the overall winner with six and a half points. He claimed the first prize of $20,000 plus a trophy. Kyle Couchman placed second with six and a half points also. He won a $10,000 cash prize and a trophy. Kishun Puran ended with 5 points, and came in third. National Women’s Champion Jessica Callender cemented her fourth-place win with a superb performance that earned her five points, and veteran player Darshanand Ramlall of Region Two (Essequibo Coast) finished in fifth position with four and a half points.
In accepting his first-place prize, Narine commented, “Going into the tournament, I noticed a lot of new faces and I was not sure what to expect from them. After seeing their games, I was impressed by their skill level. Still, I remained confident in my winning chances, or at least podiuming.”
Top 5 winners after the October Rapid Chess Tournament
Callender, the lone female to make the top five, said she enjoys the challenges of Open tournaments because they force her to play the best game she can. She said she was confident of securing at least one of the prizes despite going up against the male opponents.
The tournament was supervised by FM Anthony Drayton, assisted by Gilbert Williams, head of the Youth and Development Committee of the GCF.
The GCF would like to thank the David Rose Special School for their continued support for chess. The GCF and the David Rose Special School had partnered earlier this year to hold chess tournaments at the school to facilitate a growing number of players from both the federation and the Special Education Needs sector.
