MMG+ partners with Guyana Chess Federation for Under-14 Tournaments

Feb 28, 2023 Sports

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Kyle Couchman and Anaya Lall emerge victorious

Kaieteur News – Mobile Money Guyana has partnered with the Guyana Chess Federation for the execution of the organization’s National Under-14 Chess Tournament in the Open and Girls Categories.

The tournament, which was conducted in the Queens College Compound  from 9:00 hrs to 15:00hrs on Saturday February 25, saw fierce competition among the young contenders.

Seven rounds of play were held under a time control of 20 minutes per player, with 5 seconds added to the clock after each move.

Product Marketing Manager of mmg+ Diana Gittens said that the partnership with the Federation is a part of the company’s commitment to youth development.

“Chess is an important sport that plays a vital role in the cognitive development of children and young people and we are supporting the activities  of the Chess Federation in promoting the game among youth.”

Gittens added that the company believes that the  Guyana Chess Federation continues to underscore the importance of chess in teaching concentration, evaluation, patience and calculated risk taking.

“It’s an honor to be associated with the development of this sport and its positive characteristics.

This tournament indicates commitment to the game and we are immensely proud of all the young participants”.

Emerging successful was 13 year old defending champion Kyle Couchman from Queens College with 6.5 points after 7 matches. Couchman, who holds the 2022 National Open Under14 and Under16 titles, skillfully outmaneuvered his opponents once again, to come out ahead of 12 year old Alexander Zhang who earned the second place with 5.5 points of the same school and 13 year old Micaiah

Enoe of Marian Academy, who placed third, also with 5.5 points.

While Alexander and Micaiah finished on the same points, Alexander was ranked higher due to the Buchholz tiebreak system, which takes into account the scores of the opponents that a player has defeated. The player with the highest total Buchholz score (highest sum of the scores of the opponents that player has defeated) is ranked higher.

An elated Couchman received the top trophy from Product Marketing Manager of mmg+, Diana Gittens, during a simple ceremony at the end of the game. He had moments before gracefully conceded a draw in his final game against Micaiah Enoe, after dominating the tournament from the beginning. Couchman said that he aspires to go on to represent Guyana at the International level.

“I’m happy about winning because there were some really challenging points but I was able to get over it. My dream is to go on to represent Guyana at really big International tournaments”.

Couchman managed to defeat Arush Ramnarine, Vivek Persaud, Ethen Pompey, Julian Mohabir and siblings Alexander and Nicholas Zhang.

Notable performances from Ethan Thakurdin, Nicholas Zhang and Vivek Persaud who all finished on 5.5 points, were given medals for fourth, fifth and sixth places.

Julian Mohabir won the trophy as the Best U10 player while Aquilani Swaminadha, who is notably this year’s Under 12 Open Champion earned the 2nd place U10 trophy. Arush Ramnarine was 3^rd place among the U10, Landon Mohabir earned the Best U8 trophy while Vir Narine was 2nd place U8 and Lester Thomas was 3rd place U8.

In the Girls Tournament, national deaf chess player Anaya Lall earned the Under14 Girls Chess Championship title. Lall amassed wins against Ciel Clement, Aditi Joshi, Atalya John, Kataleya Sam, Parnita Kishun, Jahzara Jackson before earning a half point in her final round due to a stalemate with Nemisha Jagmohan. It is worth mentioning that Lall is the youngest player to have ever qualified and represented Guyana at a FIDE Chess Olympiad, and also the only Guyanese to have competed in the World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities.

Kataleya Sam took home two trophies; one for second place in the Girls Championship and one for best U10 player. She finished on 6 points, with her only loss being against the champion Lall.

Ciel Clement finish 3rd on 5 points. Nemisha Jagmohan was the 2nd place U10 while Chelsea Harrison won 3rd place U10.

President of the Guyana Chess Federation, Anand Raghunauth, said that the competition which had more than 70 participants was the largest the Federation has organized at the junior level.

“We had a serious competition and the winners were very skillful. We have 12 year old children challenging top junior players in a very competitive way. This is something new and it shows that our training program is working”.

Mr. Raghunauth was happy to see such a tremendous turnout for the tournament and expressed that the GCF has made great strides in encouraging children across the country to engage in the game of chess and it is the hope that more schools will come on board to establish chess clubs as part of their extra-curricular activities.

He said that the GCF is focused on raising the quality of competition among children. Girls especially are encouraged to participate and grow in strength and the GCF believes in training the younger generation to be involved in the sport at every level so that the intangible benefits of chess will be realized as more involvement can only result in the greater good for future generations.

The tournaments were supervised by FIDE Arbiter and Head of Development of the GCF John Lee, with assistance from National Arbiter Jessica Callender along with Roberto Neto, and CM Taffin Khan and FM Anthony Drayton.

The tournaments saw participation from students of Queen’s College, Marian Academy, School of the Nations, Mae’s School, Bishop’s High, Richard Ishmael Secondary, Westfield Prep, Georgetown International Academy, St. Roses High, St. Joseph’s High, New Guyana School, Tuschen Deaf Academy, Wisburg Secondary, Academy of Excellence, Parfait Harmony Primary, St. Stanislaus College and Valmiki Vidyalaya Primary.

The Board of Directors of the GCF expresses its immense gratitude to MMG for supporting this auspicious event. MMG has consistently supported the advancement of chess among youth across Guyana and the GCF looks forward to a continued partnership in the future.

The GCF also thanks Queen’s College for providing the venue once again to facilitate the U14 Chess Championships.

The next upcoming tournament, the National U16 Rapid, promises to be event more fiercely contested.

All of the contestants received certificates of participation and tokens of appreciation from mmg+.

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• Anaya Lall, Guyana Chess Federation, Kyle Couchman, Mobile Money Guyana, Queens College

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