Jumbo Jet National Chess & Diamond Fire Women’s Chess championships underway

The Jumbo Jet Auto Sales National Open Chess Championships and the Diamond Fire Insurance sponsored National Women’s Chess Championships began today (Saturday, March 14, 2026) at the David Rose Special School.

The battle for the championship crown commenced at 09:00h.

In the National Open Championship, defending Champion CM Taffin Khan stands ready to face a formidable field of senior and junior challengers who have shown their experience and tactical brilliance throughout the qualifiers to secure their spots in the top nine.

To retain his title, Khan must fend off seasoned players FM Anthony Drayton, CM Ronuel Greenidge, Keron Sandiford, Rolex Alexander, Jaden Taylor, and Leslie Campbell.

Simultaneously, he faces the junior titans, including U16 Open Champion Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber, reigning National Junior Champion Kyle Couchman, and the determined Alexander Zhang, all of whom are eager to claim the championship.

On the Women’s side, a unique drama unfolds as defending champion WCM Aditi Joshi faces a gruelling double- edged challenge. Not only must she defend her prestigious title against a relentless field of challengers, but she is also locked in an intense battle with her academic examinations.

Standing in her way are former champions WCM Sasha Shariff and WCM Jessica Callender, both determined to reclaim their former glory. They are joined by seasoned veterans Treskolé Archibald, Ciel Clement, Anaya Lall, and Italy Ton-Chung.

Adding to the pressure is the formidable young chess prodigy Kataleya Sam, the reigning U14 and U16 Girls’ Chess Champion, while rising stars Parnita Kishun and Sana Sreebalakumar wait in the wings, eager for the chance to dethrone WCM Joshi.

Twenty players are locked in battle, including the defending champions, fighting to retain their respective titles, while a pool of determined opponents are threatening to unseat them.

The first four rounds of the nine-round Round Robin tournament will take place this weekend, on Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15, 2026, before concluding over the next two weekends.

The tournament features a classical time control of 90 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment per move.

In a statement, the Guyana Chess Federation expresses its sincere gratitude to the Sponsors for coming on board to support the development of Chess in Guyana, and special thanks to the David Rose Special School for always providing the venue for our tournaments.

All boards for each category will be live-streamed on lichess.org by John Lee, FIDE Arbiter and Technical Director for the GCF. Results and pairings will be published on Chess-results.com.