Team Guyana, comprising 17 young chess players, has concluded its campaign at the Pan American Youth Chess Festival in Medellín, Colombia, with several national champions posting strong results against a field of nearly 1,000 competitors from 30 nations.
The tournament, held from July 26 to August 2, was hosted jointly by the Colombian Chess Federation and the Chess Confederation for the Americas (CCA). Competitors faced off across the Absolute and Girls divisions, spanning categories from U-8 to U-18.
Guyana’s standout result came from National Junior Chess Champion Kyle Couchman, who scored five points in the nine-round U-18 Absolute category. Rated 1962 ELO, Couchman recorded four wins and two draws, with his three losses coming against strong Colombian opponents — Juan Esteban Cabiativa (2148), Xavi Hernandez Jimenez (2112) and CM Samuel Toro Ramirez (2063). Seeded 41st, he finished 34th out of 86 contenders, highlighted by a Round 4 draw against Mexico’s CM Miguel Angel Lopez Garcia (2217).
National Women’s Champion WCM Aditi Joshi recorded 4.5 points from two wins and five draws in the U-16 Female category. National U-14 Open Champion Abel Fernandez Ciria finished with four points in the U-14 Absolute category, while National U-12 Open Champion Aiden Tinnie also ended on four points in the U-12 Absolute category.
Alek Ubaldo-Singh scored 3.5 points in the U-14 Absolute category, while Rebha Lachhman finished with three points in the Girls U-14 category. Alexander Zhang recorded three points in the U-16 Absolute category, and Emma John finished with three points in the U-16 Female category.
In the U-12 Absolute category, Vir Narine and Jeremiah Jacobs finished with three points each, while Sanjay Suman scored two points and Arian Tinnie scored 1.5 points. In the Girls U-12 category, National U-12 Girls Champion Divya Persaud finished with three points, while Amaya Sharma finished with two points.
In the U-10 Absolute category, Mark Defreitas scored three points, while Jordan Jacobs finished with one point. Parnav Suman, the youngest member of the contingent, recorded 2.5 points in the U-8 Absolute category.
The players returned on Sunday after a week of competition, with several recording gains in their ELO ratings, according to the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF).
The GCF said national player Keron Sandiford served as coach and head of delegation, while parents Gwen Tinnie and Patrick John provided guidance and supervision throughout the tournament, alongside other accompanying parents. The federation described the trip as its largest-ever delegation, at nearly 40 individuals.
