After ten gruelling rounds of Chess, the Guyana U10 players have presented spectators with a glimpse of the future grandmasters of chess during the International Chess Federation’s (FIDE’s) Youth and Cadet World Cup.
The two youngest members of the team, Aquilani Swammadha and Julian Mohabir, each just 7 years old, have gained five and four points respectively. The almost-18 months of ongoing training with IM Atanu Lihari was well worth the investment by the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), after seeing the returns of such.
Aqualani Swammadha finished 112th in a field of over 220 players from the best chess playing countries in the world. His five points have placed him behind just one Jamaican player and ahead of all others in the English- speaking Caribbean.
Julian Mohabir is on 158th with a commendable four points at the end of the tournament, while Nicholas Zhang and Jacob Mac Donald have gained 3 and 2 points respectively.
The tournament has been the second of its kind since the pandemic forced chess to move major championships online.
Meanwhile, aside from the Under-10s, the older counterparts commenced their campaign, starting on the 6th of August, when Omar Shariff, Alexander Zhang and Mahir Rajkumar of Mae’s Schools will be competing in the U12s open, and Adia Alphanso and Aniyah Couchman in the Under- 16 girls.
Aniyah Couchman
Following two rounds of play, the only win of the day came from Mahir Rajkumar with a remarkable victory over India’s ELO 1419 rated player Ashvath Mittal.
The game was, as previously mentioned, the only game won for the day, with Adia Alphonso, in her first game, preforming creditably with some brilliant play, before falling into time trouble and eventually losing to her opponent Eirini Ergazaki of Greece.
