Several national champions named in Chess team for  Inter-Guiana Games

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) has fielded two Under-18 teams to participate in the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) this weekend in Suriname.

The Open team comprises former Junior Champion Ricardo Narine, 2023 Under  14 Chess Champion Kyle Couchman, 2023 Under 16 Chess Champion Alexander Zhang, and 12-year-old Nicholas Zhang.

The Girls’ team comprises Aniyah Couchman, Italy Ton-Chung, Aditi Joshi, and Maliha Rajkumar.

According to the GCF, the young team was selected by their performances in the National Junior Championship and the Women’s National Championships for 2023.

The 2023 IGG games are scheduled from November 17th to November 19th, 2023, where eight sports disciplines compete among their respective colleagues from Suriname and French Guiana.

The delegation arrived on November 16 and departs on November 20.

The GCF noted that  IGG was first held in 1967 and held every year, and Chess was added to the list of events in 2009 under the stewardship of former Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony.

Last year ended the five-year hiatus that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GCF is excited to participate after many years, stating that the opportunity for the Guyanese players to have more exposure internationally is significant for their growth and development in the game.

The officials accompanying the team are Coach FM Anthony Drayton, Head of Delegation  Preya Rajkumar, and Archana Joshi.

GCF thanked the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission for covering the expenses for the trip.