Nineteen year-old Ethan Lee Tuesday emerged victorious in the Guyana Chess Federation’s De Sinco-sponsored junior chess qualifiers at the Providence National Stadium.
The former Marian Academy student played unbeaten in the seven round Swiss system tournament ending on six points.
Lee won five matches but drew his final two against Ricardo Narine and his brother Ronan Lee.
Narine, a former Queen’s College and current University of Guyana student, placed second with St Stanislaus College Keron Sandiford placing third.
Sandiford rebounded from a shock first round defeat to Julian Mohabir to qualify for this weekend’s Closed championships.
The top three players all finished on 6 points each.
The other players qualifying for this weekend’s Junior Nationals are Ronan Lee from Marian Academy, Rajiv Lee, from School of the Nations student and Sasha Shariff of the University of Guyana all of whom ended on five and one half points.
The remaining places were occupied by Jessica Callender an employee of MTV, Matthew Singh of Queen’s College, Kyle Couchman of Queen’s College and Mayas Khan of Marian Academy all of whom finished on five points.
Marian Academy student Micaiah Enoe, who also finished on five points, was awarded a trophy for being the best U16 player while Pooja Lam of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School finished on four and one half points and received the trophy for best U14 player. Nicholas Zhang, Of School of the Nations was the best U12 with four and one half points while Mae’s students, Mohabir (four points) and his brother Landon Mohabir (three points) were adjudged the best U10 and U8 player respectively.
Regional prizes were awarded to Anasie Fredericks from Region 2, Tapakuma, a student Of Anna Regina Secondary who finished on four 4 points while Oluwadare Oyeyipo of the University of Guyana, was the top player from Region 3 with four points. Queen’s College students, Ciel Clement from Region 6, and Jasmine Simpson from Region 10, finished on three and two points respectively, earning medals.
Present at the award ceremony was Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle who praised the progress the GCF has made in developing the sport across Guyana and attributed the success to strong leadership by GCF President Frankie Farley and his executive committee. He was also very impressed with the federation’s expansive Nursery Programme, noting that this tournament saw nearly 70 junior players competing at a high level. He has pledged the National
Sports Commission’s support in advancing the game even further in the future.
GCF president Farley remarked on the progress of the GCF over the past years and attributed its success to the executive committee which has been working diligently to ensure that chess in Guyana will continue to grow and provide opportunities to players of all ages. Anand Raghunauth, Vice President, in his address, emphasized the need for funding for various aspects in order for the federation to carry out its mandate.
The GCF expressed gratitude to De Sinco Ltd., who provided Beep products in the form of sanitizers and disinfectant sprays for the tournament as well as medals, trophies and gifts for the winners.
The GCF, in a release stated that it was looking forward to continued partnership with De Sinco Ltd.
The federation also thanked the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport for the use of the National Stadium, the GEA for providing water for the players and Sunshine Snacks for the snacks provided.
The junior nationals will be a 9-round Swiss system, round-robin competition beginning Saturday.
