Sam leads Guyana with 5 points at regional youth chess festival

Kataleya Sam remained Guyana’s leading scorer at the 21st Central American and Caribbean Youth Chess Festival in San José, Costa Rica, after winning twice in four rounds to reach five points from seven games in the Under-14 Girls division.
Sam was sixth with two rounds remaining, while Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber had 4½ points and sat 12th in the Under-16 Open. Pitamber also picked up two wins between Rounds Four and Seven, and was unbeaten through six games before losing to Puerto Rico’s Jarek Pacheco.
Guyana recorded three wins in Round Four at the Gimnasio Nacional. Pitamber beat Puerto Rico’s Stefan Marín, Kyle Couchman defeated Costa Rican FIDE Master Sebastián Angulo in the Under-18 Open, and Mark De Freitas overcame Panama’s Alejandro Rocha in the Under-10 Open.
Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi drew with Jamaica’s Glory Murphy in the Under-16 Girls division, while Abel Fernandez shared the point with Costa Rica’s Judah Azofeifa in the Under-14 Open. Sam’s three-game winning start ended against Costa Rica’s Sofía Loría, and Vir Narine lost to Barbados’ Dominic Cadogan in the Under-12 Open.

Sam recovered in Round Five with a win over Jamaica’s Natalya Hinds. Narine beat Barbados’ Ian Harvey, and Joshi took her first win of the tournament against Guatemala’s Mireya Ponciano after four successive draws. Pitamber drew with Puerto Rico’s Malcolm Pérez, while Couchman drew with Guatemalan FIDE Master Ricardo Ordóñez. De Freitas lost to Honduras’ Andre Maloff, and Fernandez fell to Costa Rica’s Mikel Arrieta.
Four Guyanese players won in Round Six. Sam defeated Costa Rica’s Sofía Rodríguez to move into second place in her division, while Pitamber beat Honduras’ Brayan Juárez. Narine secured his second straight win against Costa Rica’s Santiago Vargas, and Fernandez defeated Costa Rica’s Julián García. De Freitas lost to Jamaica’s Aiden Brown, Joshi fell to Honduran Woman Candidate Master Diana Bobadilla, and Couchman was beaten by Guatemalan FIDE Master Héctor Linares.
Joshi earned Guyana’s only half-point in Round Seven with a draw against Costa Rica’s Nayareth Gabb. Sam lost on the top board to Costa Rica’s Leticia Guerrero, while De Freitas fell to Fidel Corrales, also of Costa Rica. Guatemala’s Marco Gramajo defeated Narine, Honduras’ Eric Navarrete beat Fernandez, and Cuba’s Diego Jiménez overcame Couchman.
After seven rounds, Joshi was 10th, Couchman 17th and Narine 29th in their respective divisions, each with 3½ points. Fernandez was 37th with 2½ points, and De Freitas was 33rd with two. Sam next faces Trinidad and Tobago’s Sandhya Ramsaroop, who also has five points, while Pitamber meets Panama’s Adrián Cortés. The nine-round tournament is scheduled to end on November 7.

Source: Guyana Times