Kyle Couchman, Ciel Clement win National Under 14 Rapid Chess Tournaments

The Guyana Chess Federation has concluded their U14 Nationals with top Junior players Kyle Couchman and Ciel Clement winning the Open and Girls titles, respectively.

The National U14 Rapid Open and Girls Chess Tournament was held on Saturday, July 16, at Queen’s College.

12-year-old Kyle Couchman was victorious ahead of 31 other boys playing in the tournament. Couchman continues to display his excellence over the board, having finished in fourth place earlier this year at the National Junior Championship, where he was also the youngest player to compete in the event.

On the girls’ side, Ciel Clement from Region 6, who also played earlier this year in the Junior Qualifiers, showed her improved skills by winning the girls category of the U14 nationals.

Other young players who took home titles in the Open tournament include 12-year-old Micaiah Enoe in second place and 8-year-old Aquilani Swaminadha, who also won the Best Under-12 chess player in the Open Tournament.

Siblings Julian Mohabir and Landon Mohabir won Best Under-10 and Best Under-8 player, respectively.

In the Girls’ tournament, second place was Maliha Rajkumar, while third went to Anaya Lall.

Lall is set to compete in the National Chess team that will be representing Guyana in India at the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad.

Chelsea Harrison was the Best Under-10 girl, while Arianna Binda was the Best Under-8.

Overall, 40 players competed in the seven rounds of rapid matches with a time control of 15 mins + 5 sec.

The tournament was conducted by FIDE Arbiters John Lee and Anand Raghunauth.

The Guyana Chess Federation is also set to host the National Under-16 Rapid Chess Tournament on Sunday, July 31, 2022, at the Marian Academy.