Pitamber, Couchman and Fernandez win as Guyana ends CAC youth campaign
Sachin Pitamber, Kyle Couchman and Abel Fernandez secured final-round victories as Guyana completed the 21st Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival on November 7, with Kataleya Sam recording the team’s highest finish.
Sam placed fifth in the Under-14 girls’ division with six points from nine rounds. Pitamber matched that score to finish sixth in the Under-16 Open division, while Aditi Joshi was ninth in the Under-16 girls’ section with 4.5 points.
Guyana’s seven players collected three wins and a draw in the closing round at the Gimnasio Nacional. The other three games ended in defeats.
Candidate Master Pitamber defeated Puerto Rico’s Dhyaan Patel, who holds the same title, to complete a campaign featuring four victories, four draws and one loss. His final-round win followed a draw against Panama’s Adrian Cortes in round eight.
Pitamber’s only defeat came in round seven against Puerto Rico’s Jarek Pacheco, after he had scored wins in rounds three, four and six.
Couchman also finished with a win, overcoming Costa Rica’s Aaden Ortega to reach five points and take 13th place in the Under-18 Open division. He had drawn with Panama’s Candidate Master Jose Fabrega in round eight, recovering from defeats in rounds six and seven.
His overall record was four wins, two draws and three losses. Earlier in the competition, Couchman defeated Costa Rican FIDE Master Sebastian Angulo and drew with Guatemalan FIDE Master Ricardo Ordonez.
Fernandez produced Guyana’s strongest finish across the last two rounds, winning both games in the Under-14 Open division. After beating Costa Rica’s Eydan Castillo in round eight, he defeated Jamaica’s Darren Murphy to end on 4.5 points in 28th place.
Fernandez finished with four wins, one draw and four losses, having also won in rounds two and six.
Sam’s fifth-place finish came despite a final-round defeat to Panama’s Lily Garcia. She had moved to six points by beating Trinidad and Tobago’s Sandhya Ramsaroop in round eight.
Sam won her first three games, including a victory over Jamaica’s Victoria Aung, and added wins in rounds five and six before her success against Ramsaroop. Her other losses were against Costa Rica’s Sofia Loria and Leticia Guerrero, leaving her with six wins and three defeats.
Woman Candidate Master Joshi completed her tournament with draws against Jamaica’s Kayla Moses and Panama’s Sofia Ayala in rounds eight and nine respectively. She drew seven games overall, defeated Guatemala’s Mireya Ponciano in round five and lost to Honduras’ Woman Candidate Master Diana Bobadilla in round six.
Vir Narine finished 37th in the Under-12 Open division with four points after losing his final game to Costa Rica’s Matias Orozco. That result followed a draw against another Costa Rican, Fabio Acuna.
His three victories came against Suriname’s Aryan Jankie, Barbados’ Ian Harvey and Costa Rica’s Santiago Vargas, while his full record included two draws and four defeats.
Mark De Freitas ended with 2.5 points in 38th place in the Under-10 Open division. He drew with Justus Moxey in round eight and lost to Liam Hepburn in round nine, both opponents representing the Bahamas.
His earlier victories over Costa Rica’s Nathan Ramirez and Panama’s Alejandro Rocha contributed to a record of two wins, one draw and six losses.
Sam, Pitamber, Couchman, Joshi and Fernandez all finished with at least 4.5 points. The November 2–7 festival used a nine-round Swiss format, with each player receiving 90 minutes and a 30-second increment per move from move one. Results counted towards national and international ratings.
Source: Kiskadee Watch
