The third Grand Prix Chess tournament ended with Kyle Couchman emerging as the winner of the Open Category and Sasha Shariff in the Female Category.
Couchman amassed 6 points out of the eight-round tournament after four wins and four draws to push ahead of the seventeen contenders. His final battle against senior Rashad Hussain gained him the top spot after being tied with Keron Sandiford and Ethan Lee at the beginning of the last round with 5 points. Couchman defeated Tremusa Marshal, Loris Nathoo, and Ethan Lee and drew with Jaden Taylor, Sandiford, Ronuel Greenidge, and Roberto Neto.
Lee emerged as the second-place winner with 5.5 points after he and reigning Junior Champion Sandiford went head-to-head in the final round, and both players agreed to a draw. Lee initially obtained a dominant position with mounting threats from his two unobstructed Rooks poised to invade. But Sandiford managed to neutralize his opponent’s gains. The match entered an endgame with active queens and the few pawns of both players potentially becoming targets. Sandiford was on the verge of capturing Lee’s helpless pawns but Lee struck back, using his Queen to continuously threaten Sandiford’s King. In the brief tussle, Lee forced his opponent to redirect his attention and focus on the safety of his all-important King. With dwindling chances of victory on either side, both players subsequently agreed to a draw.
Sandiford came in third with 5.5 points after defeating Rafael Park, Rashad Hussain, and Jaden Taylor and drawing with Ricardo Narine, Couchman, Sachin Pitamber and Roberto Neto.
Seniors Roberto Neto took the fourth spot with 5.5 points, CM Ronuel Greenidge, fifth with 5 points, and Rashad Hussain with 4.5 points. Jaden Taylor, Kim Shing Chong, Sachin Pitamber, and Kishan Puran ended with 4.5 points, and Loris Nathoo and Ricardo Narine with 4 points.
Meanwhile, on the female side, Sasha Shariff emerged victorious with 6.5 points ahead of Women’s Champion Jessica Callender, also on 6.5 points due to the tie-break system. Shariff and Callender had 5.5 points before the final round, and both won their matches against Nellisha Johnson and Angelina Yhap, respectively.
In the final round, a confident Shariff outplayed her female counterpart, Johnson, with a Knight and two Rooks wreaking havoc. Johnson was unable to defend her deteriorating position, despite fighting valiantly with only two Rooks. Shariff won more material, and Johnson could not avoid the virtual loss.
Aditi Joshi placed third with 6 points, and Ciel Clement and Treskole Archibald came in fourth and fifth, respectively, with 5 points each. Nellisha Johnson ended with 4.5 points. The top three winners in each category obtained cash prizes amounting to seventy thousand dollars. The tournament was sponsored by the Guyana Chess Federation with supervision by FIDE Arbiter John Lee. Points were awarded to the top contenders according to the Grand Prix system
devised to obtain the top five players in the Open and Female categories, who will participate in the Chess Olympiad later this year. Qualifying tournaments such as the Grand Prix series, the National Open Qualifiers, and the National Championships determine the outcome of the Olympiad team.
The federation would like to thank the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport for providing the venue of the Guyana National Stadium for the four-day tourney.