Unbeaten Rajiv Lee wins TOPCO Juices Junior Chess Qualifiers

Queen’s College student Rajiv Lee emerged unbeaten to take the first place trophy in the DDL TOPCO Juices Junior Chess Championship Qualifiers at the National Aquatic Centre.

Lee also scored an upset with his solid play over former Junior champion Joshua Gopaul. Jaden Taylor of St. Stanislaus College was the only player to squeeze a draw from Lee.

Ricardo Narine, also of Queen’s College, was adjudged the Best Under-16 player and Arysh Ragnauth of School of the Nations secured the Best Under-12 spot. Chelsea Juma of St. Stanislaus College won Best Female Player from among the eight players on the distaff side.

The tournament attracted an impressive field of 27 eager young minds seeking a place to qualify for the National Junior Chess Championship in 2020. The standings at the end of the seven-round competition are: Rajiv Lee 6.5 points, Joshua Gopaul and Jaden Taylor 5.5 points each, Ethan Lee and Omesh Dyal five points apiece.

Ricardo Narine, Odit Rodrigues, Darwin London and Chelsea Juma are grouped together with 4.5 points each. Luca Dotto, Sasha Shariff, Anasie Fredericks, Oluwadare Oyeyipo and Nellisha Johnson netted four points apiece. The remaining 13 young players accumulated a reduced score from their matches.

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) intends to run off another qualifier tournament to allow another batch of young players to enter the 2020 National Junior Chess Championship.

Following the conclusion of the two qualifiers, 10 junior chess players will face each other for the coveted title of National Junior Chess Champion.