Three chess players were awarded prizes for their outstanding achievements in chess for 2023 in the National Sports Award Ceremony on Thursday, 28th November 2024, on the lawns of the Castellani House and Arka Gallery. The formal event was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport in collaboration with the National Sports Commission (NSC). Guyana’s top athletic performers, coaches, and officials in all disciplines were recognized for outstanding performances in local, regional, and international competitions.
Members of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) were on hand to represent the chess community and celebrate with the 2023 chess athletes who were recognized for their stellar performance and sportsmanship.
Copping the Runner-up award for Senior Sportswoman-of-the-Year was WCM Jessica Callender, currently the reigning National Women’s Chess Champion and holder of the 2023 National Women’s Chess Championship Title. Callender started playing chess when she was 11 years old, and now over a decade later, she has represented her country numerous times, most notably at the recent Olympiad in Budapest Hungary. She earned her Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title at the 2022 Olympiad in India. Callender is also a National Arbiter and has completed the FIDE Arbiter training. As a FIDE certified School Instructor, she uses her free time to train younger chess players and volunteers at the GCF chess club. She is now a chess coach employed by the Ministry of Education.
For Junior Sportswoman-of-the-Year, the Runner-up award went to eleven-year old Kataleya Sam. The junior player copped the 2023 Under 12 Girls Chess Champion title and is the current reigning Under 12 Girls Chess Champion. Sam has been actively playing chess for the last four years and has represented the country at prestigious events. She made her mark in the junior chess world when she earned her Conditional Women’s chess title (WCM) for outstanding performance in the Under-10 female division at the XIV CAC Youth Chess Şenlik held in Trinidad and Tobago in August 2023. Sam was also part of the junior contingent which represented Guyana at the recent Pan American Youth Championships XXXIV in Orlando, Florida. She attends Queen’s College and assists young and upcoming players in her school’s chess club.
In the category of Sportswoman Person with Disability (PWD), the winner of this award went to the exceptional Anaya Lall. Anaya holds the 2023 Under 14 and 16 Female Chess Championship Titles. Anaya’s amazing career as Guyana’s first national Deaf chess player began at a bottom house school for Deaf children in Tuschen, a village in Region 3 on the East Bank of the Essequibo. Born on 5th February 2010, she was then 8 years old. Anaya never faltered in her love for the game and, over the next decade, would prove herself a real champion, gentle and shy and a core of steel. Her consistently excellent performances at the national and international level as a Deaf chess player have made her an icon for inclusivity and a shining example for all youth living with a disability.
Among the high points of her career was her participation at the 44th Chess Olympiad in India in 2022 as the only Deaf player to ever represent Guyana internationally and, at 12 years of age, the youngest player on the team. Anaya has been the spark that ignited the Special Needs School chess program, now being implemented by the Guyana Chess Federation across Guyana, with annual inter school competitions and ongoing teacher training. This has already led to two more young Deaf players competing nationally.
The GCF extends warm congratulations to the ladies on their well-earned awards and wishes them well in their future Chess journey.
Other players and officials nominated from the GCF were CM Taffin Khan for Senior Sportsman of the Year, Keron Sandiford for Junior Sportsman of the Year, FM Anthony Drayton for Male Coach, and FIDE Arbiter John Lee for Male Sports Official. Corporate Sponsors who were nominated by the GCF for 2023 were Gaico Construction (large), De Sinco Trading (medium), and Jade’s Wok (small). Avinash Ramzan was nominated for Sports Journalist of the Year.
The Honorable Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Mr. Charles Ramson, in his address, highlighted the Government’s investment in sport and firm belief that by intelligently building a collaborative environment, a lot can be achieved for Guyanese athletes.
The GCF congratulates all the winners and nominees of the 2023 National Awards. The GCF recognizes the importance of acknowledging outstanding individuals in sport and commends the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport and the NSC for maintaining and enhancing this 70-year tradition. The GCF would like to
acknowledge the inclusion of the private sector and the media in these awards and their vital part in the growth of chess in Guyana. Gratitude is extended to the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport for their hard work and dedication to sport in Guyana.