The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) has announced its Developmental Chess tournament proudly sponsored by Jade’s Wok.

The classical format games aim to foster talent development of its team of Under-18 players, who will participate in the Inter Guiana Games later this year in Suriname.

The tournament will be held from October 6th to October 8th, 2023, at School of the Nations and will be a five round Swiss system consisting of 90 minutes with 30-second increments.

The FIDE-rated tournament is limited to 20 players, including the eight invited team members of the Inter Guiana Games. FIDE-rated players from 1600 to 1300 were eligible to participate.

The U-18 team members were selected based on their outstanding performances at various National Chess competitions, such as the National Junior Chess Championship and the National Women’s Chess Championship Tourneys held during 2023.

The Inter Guiana Games is an annual event first started in 1967, with the three neighbouring countries: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana whose athletes competed in various sports disciplines. Chess was reintroduced this year after a long hiatus. The GCF is excited to participate in this event.

The Open team members are Ricardo Narine, Kyle Couchman, Alexander, and Nicholas Zhang and the Girls’ team comprising Aniyah Couchman, Italy Ton-Chung, Maliha Rajkumar, and Aditi Joshi. The event will also feature the participation of National Women’s Chess Champion Jessica Callender and National Junior Chess Champion Keron Sandiford. Notable chess players Jaden Taylor, Kishan Puran, Ciel Clement, and Justino DaSilva will also be competing for the top spots.

Trophies and cash prizes of $15,000, $12,000, and $9,000 will be awarded to players who finish first, second and third respectively.