Sandiford dominates U20 Rapid Chess Championship

Jan 03, 2023 Sports

– Narine, Lee, Lam secure prizes

Kaieteur News – Nineteen-year old Keron Sandiford ended 2022 on a high note, securing the top prize in the End-of-Year Rapid Chess Under-20 Championship, which was sponsored by the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF).

Junior Rapid Champion, Keron Sandiford

Notably, Sandiford has long excelled in the fast-paced format of the game; finishing as the top Guyanese player at the FIDE Online Rapid World Cup in 2020.

He ended the recent U20 Rapid Championship on 8.5 points after nine rounds, with his only draw coming from his clash with Oluwadare Oyeyipo.

In second place is reigning National Junior Champion, Ricardo Narine, who ended the tournament on 7 points. Narine lost to U14 and U16 Rapid Chess Champion, Kyle Couchman, and eventual winner Sandiford.

Ethan Lee also finished in third place on 7 points, just a half point ahead of Couchman, who came in fourth place in the tournament. Lee was ranked in third place due to a round three loss against Narine, resulting in a tie-break by direct encounter. His only other loss came in round four against Sandiford.

Taking home the prize for best female was 2022 National Women’s Champion 14-year old Pooja Lam, who also finished in fifth place overall among 24 participants in the event. She ended the tournament on five points; only losing to Kishan Puran, Ricardo Narine, Ethan Lee and Keron Sandiford.

Also on five points were Emmanuel Primus, Nicholas Zhang, 2022 U12 Champion – Alexander Zhang, Kishan Puran, Rolex Alexander, Italy Ton Chung and Micaiah Enoe.

Pooja Lam received her prizes from Arbiter Anthony Drayton.

Winners received cash prizes of $30,000, $20,000, $10,000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, respectively, while the best female received $10,000. FM Anthony Drayton was the tournament organizer and chief arbiter for the Tournament. Drayton recently took up the post of head of the Youth Committee within the federation.

The next one-day Rapid Tournament was scheduled for yesterday, January 2nd, 2023. Players were to compete in nine rounds under a time-control of 10 minutes per player, with a one second increment after each move.

The top player in the event received $50,000 cash. Second prize claimed $30,000, third prize – $20,000 and the best female was awarded $20,000.