Guyana’s strongest performances at the hybrid 2026 CARIFTA Rapid Chess Championships came from its youth players, with Sachin Pitamber placing second in the Under-16 division, Kyle Couchman finishing fifth in the Under-18s and Abel Fernandez Ciria taking seventh in the Under-14 category.
The competition was played virtually with Guyana’s players competing out of Olympic House, Liliendaal.
Pitamber was the standout performer among Guyana’s more than 30 entries across the eight divisions. The 16-year-old Candidate Master accumulated 7.5 points from nine rounds, finishing level with Under-16 winner Thie-yen Fung of Suriname.
The two players were separated by the tiebreak after Fung won their seventh-round meeting. Pitamber responded by winning his final two games to secure the runner-up position.
Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi also finished inside the top 15 of the Under-16 competition, placing 11th with six points. Nicholas Zhang was 17th with 5.5 points, Alexander Zhang placed 24th with five, Parnita Kishun was 37th with four and Emma John ended 47th with 3.5.
Guyana’s Open and Women’s competitors found the going more difficult against the senior fields. Candidate Master Taffin Khan was the country’s highest-ranked Open player, placing 17th with six points. Khan lost only once during the nine rounds, adding four wins and four draws.
FIDE Master Anthony Drayton made a strong start with four consecutive victories before finishing 31st on five points. Keron Sandiford placed 47th with 4.5 points.
Trinidad and Tobago occupied the first two positions in the Open competition. Joshua Johnson and Kevin Cupid both scored 7.5 points, with Johnson taking first place on the tiebreak. Suriname’s Jason Yeung was third with seven points.
In the Women’s division, Jessica Callender won five games and finished 15th with five points. The Woman Candidate Master was among the early leaders after collecting five wins from her opening six rounds, but defeats in the final three rounds pushed her down the standings.
Sasha Shariff, also a Woman Candidate Master, placed 28th with four points. She recorded victories in the first, fifth and ninth rounds, along with two draws. Suriname’s Elise Wu dominated the competition with eight points, finishing one point ahead of Barbados’ Hannah Wilson and Chanon Reifer-Belle.
Couchman narrowly missed a top-three position in the Under-18 competition. He collected six points through five victories and two draws and was placed fifth after the tiebreak. Jamaica’s Corbin Harvey won the section with 7.5 points, while Ky-mani Wijnhard of Suriname and Hannah Wilson of Barbados followed with seven each.
Ciel Clement added four points for Guyana to place 20th, while Micaiah Enoe was 28th with three points.
Fernandez Ciria made a perfect start to the Under-14 competition by winning his first five games. He completed the event with six points and placed seventh after three defeats in his final four rounds.
Alek Ubaldo-Singh also scored six points and finished 13th. Aquilani Swaminadha and Kataleya Sam secured five points each to place 21st and 27th, while Sana Sreebalakumar was 53rd with 3.5 and Rebha Lachhman finished 57th with three.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Jacek Lau won the Under-14 division with eight points.
The provisional competitions were contested over nine Swiss-system rounds using a rapid time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds for each move. The results were also calculated for international ratings.
Discussion