Seven junior chess players are representing Guyana at the XXI Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival in San José, Costa Rica, which runs until November 8.

The tournament is hosted by the Costa Rican Chess Federation (FCA) in coordination with the Chess Confederation for the Americas (CCA) at the Gimnasio Nacional in the Metropolitan Park La Sabana. It features 12 categories, from U8 to U18, across Open and Girls sections.

Guyana's contingent is led by National Chess Champion Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber, the second seed in the U16 Open category. He is joined by Women's Chess Champion WCM Aditi Joshi in the U16 Girls category and National Junior Chess Champion Kyle Couchman in the U18 Open category.

National U14 and U16 Girls Champion Kataleya Sam will compete in the U14 Girls division, while current U14 Champion Abel Fernandez Ciria will play in the U14 Open category. Mark Defreitas and Vir Narine will represent Guyana in the U10 and U12 Open categories respectively.

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) said the players are accompanied by their parents, with Head of Delegation Mrs Fernandez Ciria leading the group.

The nine-round Swiss-system event began on Monday with an Opening Ceremony at 9am, followed by Round 1 at 9:30am and Round 2 at 3:30pm. A single round is scheduled for November 3, with Rounds 4 and 5 on November 4 and Round 6 on November 5. Rounds 7 and 8 will be played on November 6, and the final round on November 7, followed by the closing ceremony at 5pm.

The standard time control is 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move from move one.
The FCA will also host a Rapid Tournament on November 3 and a Blitz Tournament on November 5. The player list and pairings will be published on Chessresults.com.