Couchman and Lall emerge victorious

MOBILE Money Guyana (MMG) has partnered with the Guyana Chess Federation for the execution of the organisation’s National Under-14 Chess tournament in the Open and Girls’ categories.

The tournament, which was held in the Queen’s College compound from 09:00 0hrs to 15:00hrs last Saturday, saw fierce competition among the young contenders. Seven rounds of play were held under a time control of 20 minutes per player, with five seconds added to the clock after each move.

Production Marketing Manager of mmg+ Diana Gittens said that the partnership with the Federation is a part of the company’s commitment to youth development.

“Chess is an important sport that plays a vital role in the cognitive development of children and young people, and we are supporting the activities of the Chess Federation in promoting the game among youth,” Gittens said.

Emerging successful was 13-year-old defending champion Kyle Couchman, of Queen’s College, with 6.5 points after seven matches. Couchman, who holds the 2022 National Open Under-14 and Under-16 titles, skillfully outmaneuvered his opponents once again to come out ahead of 12-year-old Alexander Zhang, who earned the second place with 5.5 points. Thirteen-year-old Micaiah Enoe, of Marian Academy, placed third with 5.5 points.

While Alexander and Micaiah finished on the same points, the former was ranked higher due to the Buchholz tiebreak system, which takes into account the scores of the opponents that a player has defeated. The player with the highest total Buchholz score (highest sum of the scores of the opponents that player has defeated) is ranked higher.

An elated Couchman received the top trophy from MMG+ Diana Gittens during a simple ceremony at the end of the game, after, moments before, gracefully conceding a draw in his final game against Micaiah Enoe.

Couchman said that he aspires to go on to represent Guyana at the international level.