JUNIOR national players Pooja Lam and Ricardo Narine and seasoned senior Loris Nathoo emerged victorious in the three Rapid Guyana Chess Federation/ Mobile Money Guyana Inc (MMG+) tournaments that were recently played online.

The junior players battled over seven rounds with a time control of 15 minutes with two second increments, while the seniors played 10 minutes games with two second increments.
In the Female battle, 13-year-old Lam was flawless to her full quota of points. Sherlyta Campayne placed second, after she was beaten by Lam. The battle between the two rising players proved tactical with Campayne
gaining ground early before Lam fought back in the middle and latter stages of their clash.

Jessica Callender finished third overall with five points, while the ever improving Faraa Gaskin, Kristin Xavier and eight-year-old Kataleya Sam all showed fight.
Narine, who is one of the better junior players in Guyana was able to finish with six points in the Junior Rapid tournament.

In his seven rounds, he won five games and drew against Jerod Roberts and Kyle Couchman.
Junior Blitz champion Keron Sandiford finished second. He also scored six points, but lost to Narine in the fourth round, hence the direct encounter tie break system came into effect.
Narine, who represented Guyana well at the FIDE Online Olympiad in August proved superior in the 45-move battle, due mostly to his tactics and end-game skills.

Couchman, who secured 5.5 points, placed third.
Overall, a number of very young players excelled, including eight-year-old Julian Mohabir, who finished with an impressive four points. Fellow eight-year-old Arush Ramnarine finished with 2.5 points, just below seven-year-olds Adhiraj Kissoon and Javier Davenand who ended with three points each.

SENIOR BATTLE
Meanwhile, Nathoo played unbeaten in the senior battle, among his victims were former National Champion and Fide Master Anthony Drayton.
That clash proved a battle of wits. Although Drayton had a superior start, he was unable to stop Nathoo’s counter plays which eventually led to the defeat.

The three winners received $10,000 each through MMG. The second place finishers collected $8000 and third place $7000.
The tournaments were hosted on the Tornelo.com platform and was managed and supervised by FIDE arbiter John Lee.