THE National Sports Commission (NSC) has thrown its full support behind Guyana’s top junior chess players, enabling them to travel to Barranquilla, Colombia, for the prestigious FIDE World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad. The team of four, accompanied by coach and FIDE Master Anthony Drayton, is set to compete on a global stage from August 16–23.
The team is led by Kyle Couchman, the 2025 National Junior Chess Champion, who will take his place on Board One. Couchman has had a remarkable rise in the ranks and is currently the third-highest active FIDE-rated player in Guyana.
Rounding out the talented squad are three other standout players: Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber: The youngest CM in the country and the current U-16 Open Chess Champion, Pitamber will play on Board Two. He and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi earned their titles at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Hungary.
Alexander Zhang: A proven international competitor, Zhang will play on Board Three. He was Guyana’s top player at the recent CARICOM U-16 Junior Tournament and also performed well at the 2024 Inter-Guiana Games.
Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi: Playing on Board Four, Joshi is the reigning U-16 Girls and Women’s Chess Champion. She brings a wealth of experience to the team, having earned her WCM title at the 2024 Chess Olympiad.
With 90 teams and over 350 players registered, the competition will be intense. The Guyanese team is the highest-ranked nation from the CARICOM region in the tournament. The event will follow a nine-round Swiss System format.
The Guyana Chess Federation is confident that this experience will be a major boost for the players’ growth. The federation extended its gratitude to the NSC for sponsoring the team’s airfare, making their participation possible.