Junior chess is becoming more pronounced in Guyana with the hosting of a fair number of tournaments recently. Last week Moo Milk sponsored the qualifiers for the National Junior Championship and Queen’s College student Kyle Couchman won.
Nine players qualified to compete in the National Junior Championship, which will begin shortly. The players will be joined by the 2023 National Junior Champion Keron Sandiford making the figure a round ten.
It will be interesting to observe whether Couchman can take down Sandiford, the likes of Sachin Pitamber, Ricardo Narine, Aditi Joshi, Alexander Zhang, and others and win the championship.
In the game Pitamber vs Narine, which is featured today, there is an interesting move in 3…f5 which represents the Schliemann Variation of 
the Ruy Lopez. This move was played by Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu against Vidit Gujrathi in the third round of the 2024 Candidates Tournament in Toronto. Described by Hikaru Nakamura as an insane variation, this line offers some wild possibilities for both sides. From the black’s side the position resembles the sharp-edged King’s Gambit, something more popular among club players than the chess elite.
In Pitamber vs Narine, black took the king pawn on his 4th move, which I believe was a prudent choice making a clear way for the queen bishop and opening a path for his rook. Pitamber gained a significant advantage when he won a rook for a knight. The move 15. Qd5! by Pitamber was brilliant. The follow-up with 17. h4 is another good move. Black’s game crumbled when he lost the exchange early in the game.
The 2024 National Junior Championship begins Friday, July 26 at the David Rose Special School, Thomas Lands.
