FIDE Master Anthony Drayton played unbeaten to win the Guyana Chess Federation-organised, GAICO Construction-sponsored, Grand Prix Chess tournament, which concluded last Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium.

The chess tournament is the first over-the-board event for a while (due to the pandemic) and is one of several tournaments which will determine the National team for the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad to be held in Chennai, India from July 28 to August 10, 2022.

In the eight-round event, Drayton, one of Guyana’s top-ranked players, secured 7.5 points against his counterparts. His only blemish was a draw against the second-place winner and seasoned player, Adrian Roopnarine.
Roopnarine ended with six points after he lost to veteran player, Loris Nathoo, and also drew with third-place finisher Davion Mars.

Mars gained 5.5 points after also drawing with Ethan Lee and Loris Nathoo. His only loss was against Drayton.
Nathoo finished a close fourth with 5.5 points.

Keron Sandiford copped the Best Junior prize, also with 5.5 points, after losing to Drayton and Mars and drawing with Ethan Lee.
Chelsea Juma was presented with the Best Female prize and Pooja Lam received the Best Junior Female prize.

Trophies and cash prizes were presented to the top three players and medals were presented to the 4th-10th-place finishers (Nathoo, Sandiford, Lee, Oluwadare Oyeyipo, Jaden Taylor, Juma and 12-year-old Arysh Raghunauth).

Female player Jessica Callender was unable to continue the competition due to an accident on the way to the final day’s games.

Vice-president and FIDE Arbiter, Anand Raghunauth, thanked the committee members of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) for their contributions over the past months and encouraged the talented young Guyanese chess players to continue to train and to become involved in the other aspects of the federation.

Drayton and Mars are currently involved in the training of new members of the GCF.

Meanwhile, according to a release from the GCF, sponsor GAICO Construction and a number of administrations made the tournament possible.

“Special thanks go to FIDE Arbiter, John Lee, and Head of Development of Chess, who ensured that the games were streamed live on the GCF’s webpage, guyanachess.org and Youtube, keeping viewers at home up to date with the progress of the games.

The GCF for the first time had broadcast live games, utilising electronic chess boards supported by programmes which allow games to be streamed over the internet in real-time.

This venture will continue to be a vibrant aspect of future chess tournaments and the federation hopes to acquire more electronic boards in order to improve and develop its mandate in taking chess to higher levels in Guyana.”