AFTER two weekends of challenging, exciting, and power-packed moves on the chessboard, Keron Sandiford, a former Junior Chess Champion, has emerged as the winner of the 2025 National Open Chess Qualifiers, which concluded last Sunday at the David Rose Special School.

Sandiford secured first place with 6.5 points in the eight-round competition, with six wins and one draw. Although he faced stiff competition throughout the competition, he proved he was a force to reckon with.

In a Round Five match-up with top Junior Kyle Couchman, Sandiford got the better of his opponent in about 50 moves. A major battle unfolded during their faceoff. Couchman tried desperately with his Rooks to attack and threaten Sandiford’s King. But, in the cat-and-mouse struggle, Sandiford also maneuvered his Rooks, Knight, and three menacing pawns to confine Couchman’s King. With nowhere to run and checkmate soon to follow, Couchman gave up the fight in the final moves of the game.

In Round Six, Sandiford confronted Saeed Ali, a former Junior Champion. Both players reached an endgame with Queens still on the board. However, a cunning Sandiford took advantage of a devastating X-ray to capture Ali’s Queen, forcing him to resign and accept the loss.

Sandiford suffered his only loss in the tournament to reigning Junior Champion Ricardo Narine in Round Seven. He was matched with Joshua Gopaul, another former National Junior Champion, in Round Eight. That encounter lasted less than twenty moves, and Sandiford was again victorious.

Fifteen-year-old Couchman finished in second place with 6 points from the eight rounds, with five wins and two draws. He secured a walkover from Narine in Round Eight, and his only loss was to Sandiford.  Narine finished third with 6 points with notable victories over Gopaul and Sandiford. He suffered a loss in Round Five against CM Sachin Pitamber.

Pitamber finished fourth place with 6 points: five wins and two draws. His only loss came against CM Ronuel Greenidge.

Greenidge, one of Guyana’s most seasoned players, earned the fifth-place spot with six points after suffering losses against Couchman and Sandiford.

In sixth place is fifteen-year-old Alexander Zhang, who is no stranger to the chess competition with five and a half points. He secured five wins and one draw and lost against Narine and Pitamber. Gopaul took the seventh-place position with five points, including five wins and three losses against Sandiford, Narine, and Pitamber.

WCM Aditi Joshi secured her eight-place position with five points after drawing four games and earning three victories. The current Women’s Chess Champion only lost in the 5th Round against Gopaul. Her notable draw in this tournament was against AFM Davion Mars. Joshi is the only female in the top nine qualifiers. Rounding up the top nine players is Rolex Alexander, with five points.

Of the nine players who have qualified to enter the National Championship, two are former National Junior Champions, notably Joshua Gopaul and Keron Sandiford. The reigning National Junior Champion Ricardo Narine and Women’s Champion Aditi Joshi are among the nine candidates to play CM Taffin Khan in their attempt to unseat him and take the National Champion title.

In a surprising turn of events, newcomer to the tournament scene, Marcia Lee, pulled off a seventh-round victory over FIDE rated player Treskolé Archibald in a 55 move, roller-coaster game. Lee was one of the 7 female players who challenged the field.

Chess enthusiasts can look forward to the National Chess Championships, starting from May 24th to May 26th, May 31st and June 1st, 2025, at the David Rose Special School. The competition will utilise a Round-Robin format, ensuring each of the ten talented players will face off against every other participant across nine intense rounds.

Our appreciation is extended to the David Rose Special School for their kind provision of the venue. We also acknowledge the invaluable contributions of FIDE Arbiters Mr. John Lee and Mr. Anand Raghunath, whose expertise ensured the systematic and disciplined execution of all games.

The top twelve boards were live-streamed on lichess.org.