Pitamber, Rajkumar win national Under-16 chess titles

Thirteen-year-old Sachin Pitamber emerged triumphant as the new National Under-16 Boys Chess Champion, alongside 15-year-old Maliha Rajkumar who captured the title of National Under-16 Girls Chess Champion last weekend at the Marian Academy Auditorium.

Some 50 young and passionate chess players engaged in the One-Day championship to test their chess skills in seven rounds of fast-paced chess.

The keen competitors were matched using the Swiss Pairing System and played with a time limit of 20 minutes per game with 5-second increments after each move.

Pitamber now holds the double title of National Under-14 and Under-16 Chess Champion for 2024.

He tied with 6.5 points with his closest rival, 14-year-old Kyle Couchman, the 2023 National Under-16 Open Champion, but emerged as champion on a tiebreak.

With all points tallied, Alexander Zhang ended the tournament in third place with five points, followed closely by outstanding performances from Timothy Cole and Arysh Raghunauth in the fourth and fifth places respectively.

Notable performances came from Mayas Khan, Dominic Sam, Omar Shariff and Ethan Persaud each earning 4.5 points, with Jacob McDonald, Ethan Thakurdin, Vir Narine, Logan Simpson, and Amaziah Wood with individual scores of four points each.

In the fiercely contested female category, Maliha Rajkumar, with strategic finesse, gained her 2024 National Under-16 Girls title with a six-point score against gifted opponents.

Aditi Joshi was next in second place with a commendable showing with five points, while Parnita Kishun and Ciel Clement skillfully secured the third and fourth places respectively.

Amara Branche ended her demonstration of talent with 4.5 points, while Kataleya Sam, Tharisha Montes De Oca and Vienna Bharosay ended this seven-round journey with four points each.

Winners in the main categories were honoured in a brief award ceremony following the tournament.

Trophies were presented along with certificates of participation by GCF Board Member and Director of Public Relations, Shiv Nandalall.

Along with the championship trophy, Pitamber also received the prize for the Best Under-14 Open Player, and Joshi secured the Best Under-14 Female Player prize.

Eight-year-old Vir Narine received the best Under-12 Open Player medal, and the Best U-12 Player in the Girls category went to 10-year-old Kataleya Sam.

The GCF congratulates all players who participated in the Under-16 tournament and encourages players to continue improving their game.

The Guyana Chess Federation extends its gratitude to the Marian Academy for hosting this prestigious event. The tournament was supervised by the young National Arbiters Odit Rodrigues and Kim Shing Chong, assisted by Ethan Lee, Kishan Puran, Ricardo Narine and Oluwadare Oyeyipo.

The GCF applauds the efforts of these young chess players who volunteer their time to assist in events such as these.

The Federation will be gearing up for the CARICOM Classic Chess Team Tournament set for March 3-10, 2024. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram and our website guyanachess.gy to keep updated with events. (Guyana Chess Federation Press Release)