– defeats Joshi in a marathon battle
Jessica Callender emerged triumphant in a successful defence of her women’s title after a four-hour-long battle yesterday with 13-year-old Aditi Joshi, who finished as the runner-up at the Guyana Chess Federation’s (GCF) 2024 National Women’s Championship.
Calendar needed an outright win in the 9th and final round of the championship to retain her title but faced a stern challenge from a determined Joshi. However, in the end, Callender’s experience showed and she came out on top, finishing with 8 points from 9 rounds and only conceding one defeat.
Speaking after her successful title defence, Callender noted, “Of course there was a bit of pressure knowing that this final round game was, you know, you have to win this last game; I mean, if I drew it would have gone to the playoff game. But basically, I had to win this last game to retain the championship, but I wasn’t too stressed. The thing is, when you have been playing chess for a really long time, you know that you always have to stay calm and relaxed, or that’s when you start to make mistakes. All I did from yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday) was basically just relax”.
Joshi, for her efforts, finished as runner-up to Callender after a stellar showing for her age, ending on 7 points from her 9 rounds ahead of Sasha Shariff (6 points) and Treskole Archibald (6 points), who finished third and fourth, respectively.
The tournament, sponsored by Diamond Insurance, began last weekend on April 27. The FIDE-rated competition was supervised by FIDE Arbiter John Lee, with the players getting chances to earn ratings depending on their respective success in winning the games against rated opponents.
