Joshi secures Guyana’s only half-point in Round 7 of CAC youth chess

Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi drew with Costa Rica’s Nayareth Gabb Díaz to earn Guyana’s only half-point in Round 7 of the Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival at the Gimnasio Nacional in San José, Costa Rica.

Joshi played black on Board 4 in the Under-16 Girls division. The draw took her to 3½ points from seven games and 10th place. The other six Guyanese players lost their games.

Kataleya Sam remained the delegation’s leading scorer with five points, placing sixth in the Under-14 Girls division after losing to Costa Rica’s Leticia Fiorella Guerrero Díaz on the top board. Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber suffered his first defeat of the tournament against Puerto Rico’s Jarek Pacheco Calderón on Board 2 and was 12th in the Under-16 Open with 4½ points.

Kyle Couchman and Vir Narine each stayed on 3½ points. Couchman was 17th in the Under-18 Open after losing to Cuba’s Diego Jiménez Leyva, while Narine was 29th in the Under-12 Open after his defeat to Guatemala’s Marco Esteban Gramajo Tovar.

In the Under-14 Open, Abel Fernandez Ciria fell to Honduras’ Eric Johel Navarrete Cálix and was 37th with 2½ points. Mark De Freitas stayed on two points and was 33rd in the Under-10 Open following his loss to Costa Rica’s Fidel Corrales Corrales.

Joshi will play Jamaica’s Kayla Moses, with both on 3½ points. Sam meets Trinidad and Tobago’s Sandhya Ramsaroop in a matchup between two players on five points, while Pitamber faces Panama’s Adrián Ignacio Cortés Franco, who enters the round half a point ahead of him.

Couchman will play Panamanian Candidate Master José Bernardo Fábrega Van der Laat and Narine meets Costa Rica’s Fabio Acuña Porras. Both pairings feature players on 3½ points. Fernandez Ciria faces Costa Rica’s Eydan Castillo Salazar, who has two points, while De Freitas meets The Bahamas’ Justus Moxey, who also has two.

Two rounds remain in the nine-round Swiss tournament, which uses a time control of 90 minutes per player with 30 seconds added per move from move one.

Source: Kiskadee Watch