Candidate Master Taffin Khan emerged victorious at the anticipated President’s Cup Rapid Chess Tournament, with Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi seizing the female crown. The long-awaited chess competition, organized by the Guyana Chess Federation, was graciously hosted by His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Sunday, December 1st, 2024, under the Benab at State House, Main Street, Georgetown.
Eighty-two chess players participated in the seven-round Swiss event under a time control of fifteen minutes per player, with a five-second increment after each move. The one-day tournament was played in two categories: Open and Female, attracting chess players from every skill level. The Open section saw substantial competition from the fifty-two contenders, the youngest player at seven years of age, while in the Female section, twenty-eight women and girls competed for a chance to be among the prize winners.
CM Khan played unbeaten with 6.5 points with his draw against FM Anthony Drayton. Drayton, also unbeaten, placed second with 6 points, after conceding draws to Khan and Saeed Ali. Ali placed third with 5.5 points, with his only loss being against CM Khan. Young Alexander Zhang placed fourth with 5.5 points, while Junior Chess Champion Ricardo Narine placed fifth with 5 points.
WCM Aditi Joshi, evvel again lived up to expectations, scored wins over her five female opponents and two draws against WCM Jessica Callender and Treskole Archibald ending with 6 points. Callender earned the second-place spot with 5.5 points with WCM Sasha Shariff and young Anya DeGroot placing third and fourth, respectively, with 5.5 points each. Ciel Clement placed sixth with 5 points.
Trophies and Cash Prizes amounting to five hundred thousand dollars were presented to players in the top five positions in each category.
Gift certificates totaling forty thousand dollars and medals were also presented to Best Under 12 and Best Under 14 winners in each category, while cash prizes amounting to forty thousand dollars went to the Best Under 16 and Best Under 20
winners in each category. Alek Ubaldo-Singh and Saura Ruplall took home the Best Under 12 prizes for their categories, while Nicholas Zhang and Emma John won the Best Under 14 prizes. The Best Under 16 prizes went to Kyle Couchman and Tharisha Montes De Oca while Kishan Puran and Treskole Archibald each won the best Under 20 prizes in the open and female categories, respectively.
These prizes were presented to all the winners by His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali in a short presentation ceremony at the end of the tournament. The GCF wishes to thank His Excellency for hosting the President’s Cup, providing the cash prizes and trophies, and for the words of encouragement and support offered to all the chess players. The President also pledged 500 chess sets in his commitment to ensure the game remains inclusive to all Guyanese players who are eager to learn new skills.