Guyana clinched a silver medal in the chess segment of the Inter Guiana Games (IGG), which was staged in Cayenne, French Guiana, with Alexander Zhang playing unbeaten throughout the entirety of the competition.
This was disclosed by a release from the Guyana Chess Federation. According to the correspondence, “Guyana was represented by CM Sachin Pitamber, Alexander Zhang, and Omar Shariff for the male team, and WCM Aditi Joshi, Ciel Clement, Italy Ton-Chung and Kaija Clement made up the female team. The male team entered the competition with one member short due to Kyle Couchman’s absence. Day one of the tournament started with three of the six rounds of the Double Round Robin format, with 30 minutes per player plus 30 seconds increment after each move.”
The Guyanese lost to Suriname 1.5-.2-5 in round one of the men’s division. Guyana, following a bye in round two, lost to French Guiana in their second encounter, with the only point secured against the foe emanating from Zhang. In round four, Guyana and Suriname played to a 2-2 stalemate. Guyana, after receiving a bye in round five, defeated French Guiana 2.5-1.5. Zhang once again was victorious, as was Pitamber, while Shariff secured a draw.
Meanwhile, the female team lost to Suriname in rounds one and four while they defeated French Guiana 3-1 in round three and 4-0 in round six. Guyana secured byes in rounds two and five. Both teams ended in second place in their respective divisions.
